Acapulco Goldzilla

Hey there Grow Mates. Last year was a bust. I'm still a newbie, and have already had some success with a Mexican Airlines autoflower by 2Fast4Buds. This diary though is all about Acapulco Gold feminized from Barney's Farm. I'm starting the diary late at week 15. In the pictures, you can see the progress. This morning I did something very risking, and mainlined the plant again for the third time. I think I've got another month before dusk begins earlier and flowering begins. It was nearly a meter high with 18 main lines before I cut her. I hope she survives. In terms of process, I started her indooors on April 1, 2021. I planted her outside April 11th in a 5 gallon fabric pot. I used Mother Earth Coco+Perlite and amended her with E.B. Stone Sure Start fertilizer. She is on daily drip, and I also deep soak her once per week. Each week, she gets a tablespoon of a custom blend of 75% Dr. Earth Premium Gold (4-4-4) and 25% Dr. Earth Flower Girl (3-9-4). I grind the fertilizer using an old coffee grinder thinking it will help the plant more easily access the nutrients. Once she begins to bloom, I will reverse the ratio.

She is recovering nicely from the severe pruning that I put her through. Not quite sure what I was thinking, other than doing it after smoking a joint of Super Lemon Haze. 😎 Still, this plant is very healthy. I added canes for each of the 18 main branches that I cut, and labeled each one. The structure will also help me run twine to support the 30+/- colas once she begins to flower. I'm hopeful that won't happen for another 3-4 weeks. This week, I also fed her 1/4 cup of Dr. Earth Acid Lovers fertilizer (NPK 3-4-3). I don't PH balance the water, but use the hose. I've tested the hose water though, and it usually comes out close to 7. Since Cannabis is supposed to like things more on the acidic side (PH 6 -6.5), this fertilizer is to help lower the PH of the soil. I also fed it to her at week 11.

It's been a few weeks since I've posted status. This monster is now on week 19, and she just started flowering. The sun gods are on my side🙏 I've not done any defoliation at all since topping her back in week 16. I've main-lined her 3 times to give her 18 long legs. I've tied each one to a bamboo stake and labeled them. The plan is to harvest in stages. I've only got one 3'w x 3'l x 4'h tent to dry her buds, and I think she might produce a lot of bud. I'm taking a very simple approach to watering and feeding. I am not balancing the Ph of the water. I've got her on drip, where she gets about 2.5 gallons of water per day. Tonight (day 128) I also sprayed her with Neem oil. All seems to be going good. Cheers mates!😎

Hi grow mates. Acapulco Goldzilla is starting week 22 on day 21 of the flowering stage. I was away for 2 weeks on holiday, and left her on timed drip of about 2 gallons water (neutral ph) daily. A few days ago, I fed her 1/4 cup of the dry flower fertilizer after soaking her first, then watering again after. I also give her an extra 2 gallons of water mid-day on some days. This week, I defoliated pretty heavily some of the sun leaves to give more air flow into the interior. She has grown into a 5 ft. beauty with 18 main lines. Each of those mainlines has 2-3 additional lines as shown in the pictures. I am a bit concerned about some of the yellowing fan leaves. In some cases, they just fall right off. Not sure if this is normal. If anyone has suggestion on where to start my research, let me know. I previously tried liquid nutrients, but ended up never getting it right. So, I switched to dry for simplicity. I did follow a tip from FastBuds (https://2fast4buds.com/news/best-feeding-schedule-for-autoflowering-plants) to blend my dry nutrients with 75/25 and 25/75 ratios of grow and bloom fertilizers, and I typically feed every two weeks.

The monster has fully matured. Her flowers are getting bigger by the day. I can also now see sugar leaves beginning to produce clear trichomes. Thanks @Clutch for the watering tip. I cut off the drip, and have switched back to manual watering, and it's helping. I think she was getting too much water, and not able to breathe. I also read a post on https://www.rollitup.org/t/is-it-normal-for-all-of-my-fan-leaves-to-fall-off.370074/ which confirmed when grown outside (my first indoor grow is Inside Jack), the fan leaves will drop once vegetation is over. She is still dropping yellowing fan leaves daily, and so I'm no longer pinching. With this transition, the colas and buds are showing more clearly. I'm still a newbie grower, and loving every minute of experimentation.

The stretch just finished. Her colas are now taller than the 6' high reed fencing. The yellowing of leaves seems to have stopped. I think it was getting too much water before. All seems good now.

One seed produced 4.75 ounces of cured bud. Germination began on April 1, and the seedling popped up 5 days later. I planted it outdoors on day 7 in a 5-gallon fabric pot, and initially used General Hydroponics liquid micro and bloom using the Lucas method. Then I accidentally left the liquids out in the sun for a few days, so I stopped using them. On week 7, I transplanted it into a 30-gallon fabric pot and began to use Dr. Earth dry fertilizers through to the end. I did not balance the Ph of the irrigation water I used. For most of the summer, it was on drip getting 1.5 gallons per day. I mainlined three times throughout the grow, the last on Week 13. Flowering began on Week 19 until harvesting at Week 27, Day 182. I did not weigh the wet bud. The taste is smooth, sweet floral taste that smells of mostly pine and a little citrus terpenes.