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Time for my third grow!
Germinated two seeds and planted the one that looked better.
Germination method was two circular make-up pads / similar to the paper towel method.
Gas Reaper Genetics calls for sanding or clipping part of the seed to help it germinate, so I used toenail clippers to help get it started.
This time I'm going with Gas Reaper Genetics Hellbender Auto.
The finished bud in the pics is what it is supposed to look like when done, apparently.
So I'll try and beat that ;-)
This is how it is described on North Atlantic Seeds:
"ANIMAL MINTS x ERIE SUNSET AUTO
70/30 indica/sativa. Height 28-36” inches. Density 9/10. Resin production 11/10 . Hellbender is phenomenal. Crossing Seedjunkys Animal Mints to My Erie Sunset Auto was a no brainer. It is one of my all time favorite crosses that I have ever made. Hellbender is by far one of the best autoflowers I have ever worked with. Hellbender is a medium sized autoflower. For best results 12 per 5×5 in 3 gallon pots. Hellbender produces absolute top quality cannabis in just under 70 days.
Autoflower, Feminized"
I'm going with a 5 gallon pot, so right out the gate I'm breaking the rules!
Well, I only get one plant with this size tent with how things have been growing..... so I'm going for broke.
I'm not using RO water this time and will try and use my tap water to see if it can be done.
I recently had a water softener put in but it uses Potassium pellets (so I don't kill plants with salt) and so will try to factor that in.
I'll spare you the reggae lyrics for my entries in this third diary.
I'm still going with tap water instead of RO water so my PPM is too high for the first week, and my temperature is getting high (unavoidable in the desert, I'm not going to buy an AC unit for this plant).
So far the leaves are a little twisted but this doesn't have me worried (maybe it should?) and otherwise she is looking OK to me.
If I start seeing signs of nute burn I'll go back to RO water as I did with my last two grows.
Otherwise, just going to stay the course and see where this plant takes me!
I mentioned in one of my first updates I got a new water softener (potassium pellets) and thought I'd try this grow using tap water.
As you can see from my leaves it wasn't going great.
I knew PPM/hardness but never knew exactly what was making up all that hardness.
I think there's something to be said for knowing exactly what nutes are in the water by starting with RO water.
I just switched back to RO (reverse osmosis water) + nutes and will carry that forward as I did with my other two previous grows.
She looks a little rough but I think she'll be able to bounce back - hopefully without being kneecapped, ruining the whole grow - we'll see!
Still have a couple rough leaves from my experiment with tap water but all new growth with the RO water + nutes looks good to me.
Started doing some LST this week and tied the main cola down to allow some others to grow and catch up over time.
This week was all about daily feeding + LST.
As you can see the main stem is tied down and there are a number of offshoots that have reached about the same height as what will eventually become the main cola.
Ideally I'll wind up with a relatively even canopy as with my last plant.
This Hellbender Auto is growing quickly at this point.
It is not as leafy so far as my last two plants and I kind of hope it stays that way.
Some of the older leaves show signs of nute deficiency but that has been par for the course for me these last two grows, the newer leaves end up looking fine as the plant gets bigger and as I said this plant is still growing "like a weed", so I'm not worried about it yet.
Will just keep doing what I'm doing and hope for the best!
She experienced tremendous growth this week, 7 inches in the last 7 days.
She is getting tall and has far fewer fan leaves / is far less bushy than my previous plants.
I'm not sure if this is caused entirely by genetics or by the higher temperatures (it is summer here in the desert).
I've started adding Liquid Koolbloom and tapering the amount of FloraGro being added.
Hopefully she doesn't get too much taller and starts to fill out during flowering!
Canopy is looking pretty even + reasonable to me following Low-stress-training. I don't think I have much more of that ahead of me.
Things are humming along.
I'm giving her a gallon of water with nutes a day and otherwise not touching her too much.
Her rate of growth has slowed down which is good because my light can't go much higher.
She is taller and less leafy than my last two plants.
The fan leaves are extremely pliable for this strain, they bend easily without breaking so far in my experience.
I can't wait to see how she continues to flower, hopefully she bulks up nicely!
Her rate of vertical growth has slowed down and she is starting to form lots of buds.
It remains to be seen how fat they get, but they're definitely coming in.
I'll keep doing what I'm doing and hope for the best!
I definitely have some problems going with the fan leaves. It looks like a calcium or mag deficiency based on the popular websites for diagnosing these things.
I'm adding a decent amount of CaliMagic - more than I ever did for my other two plants prior to this.
I decided to try to flush before I increase those nutes in case of some nute-lockout, so I gave her only phed CalMag + RO water today.
If this flushing doesn't seem to help I guess I'll increase CalMag levels a little more?
Her leaves still aren't looking good, and it seems like a CalMag deficiency, although I've been adding a good amount and my pH is sound.
Obviously only new growth counts, but this plant hasn't put out a bunch of new fan leaves and isn't super bushy like my prior two.
The buds are still looking pretty decent (in person, anyway).
I think the real problem here is that she's stressed - I've gone to water her in the morning and it has been 90 degrees in the tent even with the fan going hard.
It is very hot all the time in the depths of the desert summer!
I'll keep on trucking, but I have a feeling I'll want to harvest her early given her appearance.
She is still hanging in there despite the issues with the fan leaves from last week.
I'd removed some of the worst leaves (they were mostly up top) which may also serve to get more light to the bottom buds.
I have my fingers crossed we can make it a couple more weeks - I'd rather harvest in early August than in late July.
Temperatures were down for about a week with the ongoing Monsoons, and I think she liked it alright.
She isn't looking any worse, although some of her leaves still look quite rough from before.
The buds are fattening up and other than those leaf issues she seems healthy enough to me.
I'll keep her going with an eye toward harvest in about a week and a half.
Harvested her today and she hangs upside down in the tent. Will trim in a few days after drying.
The last two grows I did wet trimming so I am curious to see how dry trimming goes.
I will update the weights and flavors etc after it has a chance to dry and cure, and I'll also update the strain rating accordingly.
Looks like I had some foxtailing going on near the end, and of course had leaf issues earlier on - growing without AC when the outside temp is >100 degrees in the Desert is easier said than done. I'm going to wait until the fall for my next grow ;-)
3rd time is apparently the charm! So, I'm sure you and and your little ones will do great!
Sending the best of vibes to you, your plant/s, and your mutual growth together! Good luck! 🌱
@@CheefDunnoNothin,
Okay cool. I just ordered the entire line of the first authentic Banner autos from the original breeder. Very excited to get em going.
@HashCakes, I prefer to vape so as taste goes I don't have much input.
A friend of mine that smokes everyday doesn't care for Hellbender because he believes it makes him feel very "dumb" the next day - he has stopped smoking it in favor of Bruce Banner (which is why my current grow is a Bruce Auto).
Another one that smokes everyday likes Hellbender a lot but stops short of raving about it & says he uses it to supplement some other bud that he prefers in order to make it "go further".
My own experience is no paranoia, no anxiety, no couch lock, no munchies, and no other obvious negative side effects (not any dumber than normal the next day!). For me it is just a nice mellow middle-of-the-road "high" feeling that stops short of being anything special or particularly memorable.
My overwhelming urge is to call it "vanilla".
It might be reasonable for people who are relatively new to cannabis to try a strain like this. I'm not sure what flavor/feel you're looking to achieve with your own grow but as you know phenotypes and growing conditions can make for some wild differences within the same strain so I hope it goes well for you!
Try hellbender in 3 gallon pots in a 3x3 =9 pots or optimal 5x5. They love growing in a sog and trellis if you have room to maneuver. I've grown a few strains. Bessie cake is my fave hands down
CheefDunnoNothin
