Advanced Nutrients Grow Micro Bloom ph perfect and Big Bud now in flower. I think they are a little light colored because the lights might have been a little too close, which is why I raised them slightly. Also I only recently added the second light for flower so that could be why they are slightly discolored. What do you think of the little bit of curling the top leaves are doing? I'm thinking it's also because the lights were a little too powerful/close this first week of flower along with the addition of the Big Bud, but I have to say overall I think they are responding pretty well, definitely in stretch mode!
I try to take a mental note of the weight like you said, less than .5L each plant, usually there is light runoff but definitely not 30% mostly because I'm trying to keep the mess down and don't want to encourage mold/pests inside the tent. They are in 5 gal pots but I wanted to keep the height low so I filled them roughly halfway.
I would say, growth wise, 4 weeks veg, but in real time, it was closer to 8 because of the hiccups along the way. I have been manicuring them along the way as well to let light into the lower bud nodes. As for the potting method I can't take credit for it, I read it someplace when I was looking at using the FFOF for the soil. Someone said to use FF Happy Frog (I think) to do the cup of barrier soil method but I already had basic potting soil so used what I had. I thought it was a great idea as well and had absolutely no issues with nutrient burns, even with the AN on top right from the beginning practically, which is one of the reasons I was surprised they didn't grow more during the length of time in veg I gave them.
I would say you can lay off the AN pH balancer as FFOF already has pH buffers in it. Did you amend the FFOF with anything or just went straight?
What is the advertised wattage of your lights? (brand/model?) Distance from plants?
In terms of watering, I find it hard to believe these plants only require .5L each. I have 5 gallons in mine and they take 6L every other day. Granted I'm in peat but I still believe you should be watering substantially more. Try watering much much slower on your next one, making sure you don't have a ton of spill over around the outside rim of the pot. Try to evenly distribute the water. Let it recede, wait a minute or two, and repeat. Repeat until first signs of runoff. Also, what is your Feed/Water schedule? I like to do F-W-F-W.
I would add more soil on top (not sure if FFOF would be the right choice to top dress with, someone could provide better input on that as I don't have experience with the medium.
Also, I'm surprised these things aren't starving. Big Buds is a 0-1-3 and the FFOF I believe is fractions of that. Typically I like to start my bloom nutrients the feeding before switch, and then throughout the rest of the grow. The nutrients I use is a 5-10-14, combined with a 1-15-30 after 3 weeks or so, and some calmag every other feed during early-mid flower, tapering off to every 2nd watering after weeks 4/5.
The curling could be a few things, but it would seem to me that it could potentially be lockout due to underwatering. RARELY are my plants drooping and I let mine get relatively dry compared to most (We have humidity / overwatering tendencies)
Also, what's your humidity levels? I would ditch the analog thermo and get yourself a Govee. It records data so you can see what happened when you're not home. Bluetooth connectivity.
TLDR - I would add some soil on top, ditch the AN pH balancer, increase water till run off (slowly as described above), and get a hold of some bloom nutrients. GH has a very reputable line. I use Lotus. There are plenty of options.
