The kiddie pool approach is really interesting. I imagine the periodic rotation by 90° is why the bare stalks can be seen to splay outward from the center. The leaf maturation sequence is also unique.
Bob
The splaying out began the night of a heavy thunderstorm. The soil was wet, leaf was heavy, and the outer stalks were trying to fall over. I held them all together with the yellow surveyors marking tape you can see in the photos. I agree the sun contributed. I failed to rotate for awhile and the south side plants were leaning toward the sun more than others.
The third pool was planted a couple of weeks or more later than the first two pools, the third pool was fertilized more than the first two pools because I was able to use the first two pools to determine how much I
should have fertilized. I did a better job with fertilizer on the third pool. All three pools ripened top down. They ripen faster as previously shaded leaf is exposed to sun. I can visibly see the changes in a couple of days. It took me a little while to catch on, some of the lower leaf from the first two pools are very thin and light because I was trying to prime the old way and it confused me. I thought something was wrong but it wasn't, it's just different.
