So today, I made an executive decision and pulled one of my plants. It was tough, and I don't just mean getting the roots out of the basket. After spending this amount of time looking after these things, from their start to now, I guess I got a little attached. I had to take him out, to save the remaining crop. I was pretty sure it was a male, given the amount of tiny sacs I noticed. The remaining three aren't clear yet. One more might be a male. There's no signs either way from the remaining two.

The remaining plants are looking good and bad. The ones that have grown the tallest are the ones currently getting the most leaves burned. I can't raise the HPS lamp any higher, and I can't bend the plants any more out of the way. I would really appreciate any suggesting on how to keep them from frying. The temperature in the cabinet has risen, but only 5 to 10 degrees F. It is usually around 75 to 80 F in there now. They are gulping down over a half a gallon a water a day now. I'm not sure if I should trim them down, or if that would make things worse. The addition of the HPS and moving the T5 to side lighting has improved the plants which fall below about 12" from the HPS. What about the fried leaves? Should I trim them off, or leave them for any benefit to the remaining plant?

I found a tip from Pass That Shit on his grow log, about using your hand to sample the effect of the lamp. It does get pretty warm within the first 12" under the HPS lamp. But the cabinet overall is pretty cool, considering all that heat right under the HPS lamp. I guess the circulation is working pretty good. I think I should have switched to flowering sooner, before they got so tall.

Oh, and any suggestions on what to do with my exiled plant? Should I just wrap it up and toss it in the garbage? How do people dispose of such material? I can't imagine anyone digging through the garbage, but I'd rather be safe, than busted.