Sour Diesel Auto (Newbie Grow)

Germinated seed in cup of warm (bottled) water for 12 hours. Then transferred to the paper towel setup for an additional 12 hours before the taproot started to grow out! Didn't even need to re-wet the towels once. After soaking my soil cup in a water tray for 5 hours, I planted the seed in Black Gold Organic soil in an 18-oz Hefty cup. I sprayed the topsoil with a spray bottle & placed the cup under a warm incandescent light. Once the sprout emerged, I placed the plant under a 20-watt LED lamp inside a large popcorn tin with aluminum foil lining. This sustained the sprout for its first week of life.

Since humidity is important at this stage, I'm taking steps to keep my seedling moist. In addition to twice weekly waterings, I'm misting the leaves with a spray bottle 3 times per week & putting a Ziploc bag over the plant for 5 hours after each spraying to keep moisture in better. She's still under the weak 20-watt LED, but it's not doing her any favors in terms of size. I bumped the light schedule up from 14/10 to 20/4 to help her catch up. I installed my first 42-watt CFL bulb this week & it didn't go well. I put the light too close & it caused the seedling to "run away" from the heat at first. Luckily I was able to turn things around by moving it up higher & watering my thirsty plant.

Got my oscillating floor fan this week & started keeping it directly on the plant to help improve stem strength. Still doing a 20/4 light cycle & watering thoroughly twice weekly--once from the bottom & once from the top with foliar misting 3x weekly. To encourage vertical growth, I added a weak 12:1 solution of urine to her water. This was her first "feeding" of anything other than plain water & she loved it.

Plant is looking much better going into Week 4. Gonna keep things the same this week in an attempt to stretch the vegging stage out as long as possible, but I know autos are on their own timeline as far as flowering goes. I moved the CFLs up a notch as I was getting some taco'ing on my leaves from the heat, but other than that, nothing much to report. Still misting the leaves 3 times per week & keeping the fan on for circulation. The stem has beefed up nicely & she seemed to like the urine fertilizer. 😅 I was considering some LST but am just gonna let this one grow into its natural shape since its my first grow (as of now). I still can't conceptualize how all the buds will look when formed & which nodes will end up with viable flowers, so this will be a "teaching" plant for me. Not using any chemical nutrients & I don't know the other grow conditions such as humidity, temp, etc so I've left them blank. But the plant is in its original 18-oz. Solo cup & will stay there for the duration. This week should be pretty boring in terms of journaling but next week I'll change things up a bit as she transitions into flowering.

First week of flower is here! 😍 Last week was stressful: a nitrogen deficiency made itself known as the bottom fans started yellowing & drying up, so I made some grass clipping tea to use as fertilizer. It's a natural source of nitrogen & potassium so hopefully it will slow down the problem. I've applied it as a foliar spray so far & will also use it to water with as well after it's done steeping. I'll also be sprinkling some Tetramin flakes in with my watering this week to give the plant a nutrient boost. (Tetramin contains fish & shrimp meal & is a good source of phosphorus--don't bug out, I've used it before & it worked fine). I added back my 20 watt LED lamps for additional side lighting to help cover the whole plant better. Only used them 4 hours per day last week but am bumping that up to 6 hours this week. My watering schedule is also changing this week to 4 days per week with no more foliar misting to help bring down humidity levels. Finally, I'm switching from 20/4 to 18/6 since vegging is officially done.

My little Bonzai plant is doing better than I could've hoped for in Week 6. She's got a full 13 bud sites with healthy white pistils, though they don't show very well in the pictures due to all the fan leaves & my low-quality camera. The growth spurt has definitely taken hold as well, as she's gained at least an inch or two in vertical height. This week I'll be turning the LED lights on all day to maximize light coverage on the sides, as the CFLs only cover the tops. No soil amendments/nutrients since last week I bombarded her with fish food & grass clipping tea (which she seemed to love). The fan is running full time in my room to keep the heat & humidity down. She's giving off a faint smell of chlorophyll & skunk but it's only a noticeable "weed" smell when you rub her leaves or stem. Hope to see these buds continue to fatten as the week rolls on. 😸

My Solo cup girl has finally become a woman. This week I'll be feeding her some banana tea for a potassium & calcium boost to hopefully give those preflowers the oomph they need to get stacked. Just going to scrape the inside of a banana peel, boil it in some water in the microwave, strain & apply with my scheduled watering. I've read that banana peels are covered in pesticides so I'm mostly using the fruit itself to make the tea. It's even higher in potassium than the peel so hope that works out. 😏 The top leaves were starting to taco a bit due to the heat of the CFL bulbs, so I've been taking steps to keep temperatures down. Just turning them off for 15 minutes cools them down completely. There's still some minor leaf yellowing but nothing too bad considering her living situation. The buds are covered in white pistils and are growing noticeably bigger every day based on the daily pics I'm taking. This strain was incredibly difficult as a baby but is now much more hardy (knock on wood). Just waiting on her to get frosty like the snowman.

This week has been a roller coaster. While the banana tea clearly boosted bud size & trichome production, my leaves are now dying at a worrying rate. It's likely due to the banana tea--probably a pH problem or disturbance of the ionic balance in the soil due to potassium overload. My plan going forward is to do a thorough flush with clean bottled water followed by an application of a nitrogen/phosphorus-rich fertilizer of some sort. I will then lift the grow lights a bit while she dries out & recovers. I also bought some cheap pH strips to test the water...finally. Better late than never. 👻 I'm seeing my first dark pistils, so hopefully harvest is within reach. There are different estimations ranging from 60 to 75 days for this strain on various seed banks' sites. I was planning to chop around Day 84 but might have to go earlier if the yellowing doesn't let up. She's trying SO hard to preserve the bud sites & keep them green, but a few of the bottom ones are starting to lose color. On the plus side, she's looking frostier than ever with big healthy buds...it's just the leaves that are hurting. Say a prayer to the ganja Gods, y'all.

Today marks Day 63 in our journey. This week will be a repeat of last week: a simple NPK feeding early followed by an Epsom salt solution feeding later in the week. Will be using the LEDs full time to maximize flowering potential unless I run into any more problems. She is doing *much* better since the flush. Her buds are continuing to plump up & look like rock candy under the magnifying glass. It's a shame my camera doesn't show the detail on the trichomes & pistils. And the smell is finally starting to become noticeable upon walking in the room...but just barely. Touching a bud releases a pungent lemon diesel smell that's definitely true to the Sour Diesel name. She's not easy on the eyes but I think she'll produce some good smoke. 😎👌

Week 10/Day 70 is finally here! Can't believe it! Will be aiming for a Week 12 (Day 84) harvest if everything goes as planned. This week I'll be feeding maple syrup + brown sugar with her water to hopefully supply some last-minute nutrients & sugars (don't have any pure molasses). Beyond that, nothing special planned. Just maximum light, air circulation & stealth in the final stretch. Her pistils are about 75% dark up top but the bottom offshoots still look pretty immature. I can't see the trichome color well with my magnifying glass but many of them look fat & white like they could be harvested now. I'm going to wait it out until the whole plant can be hung to dry at once though. I don't mind some amber trichs--in fact, I prefer them since I get anxiety from smoking. Also: I cannot believe how quickly the plant regained her healthy green color last week after doing the flush & feeding her some cheap NPK ferts. Those leaves looked dead as a doornail in Week 7 & 8! It's a miracle! 💀👻🙌

Today marks Day 77 & the last week of my little plant's life. She will get plain water in the form of an ice water flush on Friday before her 2-3 day dark period begins. I'm also going to play around with some other stress techniques such as puncturing the stem with a sterile tack & cutting her fan leaves off in stages. This is meant to mimic a predator attack & the onset of colder weather, which will hopefully boost trichome production as a protective mechanism. (I know it's all experimental & not scientifically sound, but no harm no foul). I'm leaving town for a day or two during the dark period & when I come home it will be time for harvest. Can't wait to get her all trimmed & weighed out! Drying will take no longer than 7 days & the cure will go for 2 weeks but I will try to test a piece for the smoke report before then. 😵

Just smoked some of this herb in my one-hitter & am feeling nice! I haven't smoked anything but CBD flower in over a year so I'm working with a clean slate. Haven't cured it much yet but the smell is still strong. And the effects aren't scary like some strains. Just clear-headedness & inspiration to get out & move! My heart isn't pounding, which is the norm for me with ANY amount of weed. It hits ya right behind the eyes, relieving pressure & triggering a mad case of munchies. I'm really amazed at the lack of anxiety. I have Asperger's & feel I could share a joint of this strain with friends without getting withdrawn & paranoid. 😌 Great daytime weed with a smooth Sativa effect. Smells mostly like pine now while it was more citrus-y when wet; surprisingly not much of a diesel scent with this pheno. Thick orange hairs & an abundance of silver frost covering aquamarine buds with sunset-colored sugar leaves. (The pics don't do it justice). My final yield of 4.0 grams was enough to fill up a mason jar which will last me 6 months at least. This strain is my ideal: uplifting without triggering anxiety & relaxing without drowsiness. Amazing functional weed. 😵😵 This 1st grow has ignited a passion. Autoflowers are amazing & this strain was worth the time & effort. Can't wait to try growing some more varieties in bigger containers. Thanks for helping a newbie out, Grow Diaries! 🙌🙌🙌