Blueberry Auto

With the short grow time, I thought this plant was gonna take off right out of the gate, but it was pretty slow at the beginning of the week. Most of the other plants we've grown have gotten twice as big in the same amount of time. We were worried our soil was too hot, or that maybe the freebie seed was inferior. Had we miscalculated something? Looking back at the pics between the 8th and 13th (don't know what happened to my 9-12th), I guess the progress was actually pretty good, and maybe I was just being impatient. A few days ago, I started to see some real progress. She finally started praying, and making noticeable growth. The last two pictures show a 5 hour difference just today, so I'm thinking the slow start was for root development. Hopefully it doesn't happen too fast, since my soil settled a lot more than I expected. I'm thinking about trying to lift it some. It also finally got the cabinet to itself today after we moved the gorilla cookies photo out, so it will now be under the center of the light. We just used the Tent Buddy app to adjust lighting to 500 ppfd, and we'll see what happens over the next week! Since she is a blueberry, we have decided to call her Violet, after Violet Beauregard in Willie Wonka.

On day 9, Violet seemed like she was really starting to want to do things. By day 11, the wonky leaf was finally stretching all the way out, and she appears to be trying to correct her symmetry. She seems a little yellow in the center, and I'm not sure if maybe our mix is too hot, I need to up lighting, or maybe it's just her color. I've looked at some other BA grows, and some are a bit limey in color as well, so perhaps I'm overthinking again? (It started to darken up within a couple days, and I determined that some of the problem was lighting. Now that she's gotten up into a better lighting zone for her, her color looks much better.) We were wondering if she wouldn't like it better outside, since the monsoon is kickin' this year in Southern AZ, temps are great, and we are mostly past danger of 110+ for extended periods. We will see. From day 11 to day 14, she doubled in size across, even if we didn't get a ton of vertical growth. She's looking so much healthier, and really starting to stack up on the sides. This is the first time I have used a square, fabric pot, and I was taken with the idea of it. In the future, I will pack them different, with less romantic ideas about them keeping their shape. That said, I've decided not to lift the plant, and let it grow from where it is (I'm wondering how many of my decisions are fueled by the fact that i thought this was going to go a little faster, and I have a Barney's Farm Wedding Cake that I put off planting for this supposedly short as heck seed-to-harvest grow...) Something else we noticed too late is that the perlite we first bought has Miracle-Gro plant food in it, so we don't know what kind of effect that has had. We've bought different perlite now. I am wondering if she's not getting enough direct air flow, lending to the twist in the leaves (I kinda like the twisted look myself, tho I know it's not good for show.) I have weighed down the side of the pot to allow the fan to hit her directly, and we will find out if that helps fix the twist. She's trying so hard!

So much growth this week! :) On 8/22, I decided to try turning the light up some, as she seemed to crave more light. I am sensitive to the sun myself, and can be overly empathetic when it comes to any kind of plants and light, often underestimating either need or tolerance. I turned it up to about 600. A few hours later, it seemed as though I had made the right decision. She seemed to react well to the light. By bedtime, however, she was kind of droopy, a new development. I know they can take a couple of days to adjust sometimes, so I will give her some time. 8/23, Violet seemed to wake with the light, but was groggy getting out of bed, so to speak. Once she perked up, she was ready to grow, but once again, by bedtime, was more droopy than yesterday. 8/24, I watered almost a gallon this morning. She has grown A LOT. Not a lot of new layers of leaves, but great broadening of the ones she has. She is finally starting to get taller, and is really developing her side growth. She seemed to really appreciate the drink, but by bedtime, I noticed she was soooooooooo droopy, melted even. She looked exhausted and overworked. Looking at her, I am not surprised, as she is thickening up so much! I am going to do some research on the melting at bedtime. 8/25, Violet was still tired this morning, and slow to perk to her full lift. Some people said bedtime droop was normal with the plants, and some said it usually only lasts a couple of weeks, but she started doing it immediately after I turned up her light. After some research, I found out about something called the "Daily Light Integral," which measures the intense light a plant receives in a 24 hr period. A plant can only take so much, apparently. My hubby looked and found that our Tentbuddy app has a reading for it, so that's great. I also learned that DJ Short developed a different lighting schedule for his Blueberries, which was 17/7 veg, and 11/13 flower. I realize photos are photos, and autos are autos, but a Blueberry is also a Blueberry. So we set up our app, and found that #1, our light reading was almost 700! I swear it's like it gets bumped up sometimes (blasted fairies!), and #2, the DLI was WAY too high, even after adjusting the light to 500. I allowed room for issue with either the cell phone's ability to properly read it for some reason, or the app's margin of error, or user error, always a possibility. I set it at about 550. I had already turned it down before going to town, and she did seem to like it. This gave me a DLI reading of about 33.5, with 30 being the top of the veg range. The other thing I decided to do was enact the shortened schedule of 17/7, and I figured that into my readings. This is going to let her get more rest, and I will see if it's easier to find the proper work/rest balance that way. I think Violet's needs are changing as she's growing. This is supposed to be a fairly easy strain. I am thinking this is a Dutch Passion seed from pics of another grow here on Growdiaries. North Atlantic/Maine Clone sell two types of auto-flowering Blueberry, one by 420 FastBuds, and one by Dutch Passion. In this grow, the grower had three seeds from Dutch Passion. Two were perfect, and the third had the same leaf deformity that Violet has, and grew at a slower rate than the other two (It doesn't matter to me, Violet, I'm a little lopsided myself 😆) Dutch Passion recommends a 20/4 schedule for all autos, but I think Violet may be different. For several days, I have been noticing a nice sheen on the ends of the leaves that is reminiscent of Kentucky Blue Grass, so we are getting some leaf color, which I am totally fascinated with!! As for smell, she still just smells like a chlorophylly plant, with maybe a hint of something sweet to come, but you just can't quite capture what it is, though you try until you are lightheaded for enough of it to make a shape in your mind. This is turning out to be a really fun girl, even if we did get off to a slow start. She's beautiful, and thick, and sturdy, and has a "don't underestimate me" feel to her. I hope this proves to be true. Come on Violet! Show us what you got baby girl!!

She really stacked it on this week! I'm really impressed by her structure, and if it weren't for fear of running out of vertical space in my little cabinet, I would be letting her grow upright into her full glory. I'm really digging the color variations. Yes, I know she's got a little twist here and there, but I think she's just beautiful! I couldn't get enough of watching her grow this week. 8/31, Day 24 In watching Violet at bedtime, I notice she is wilting a little earlier every night, and tonight, she had already laid her leaves down at 8:30. We raised her light a few clicks so she was back at 20",then Tentbuddy helped us adjust lighting. This time, I set the DLI at 30.5 which gave me a reading of just 502. I feel this is too low, but Violet is trying to tell me what she needs, and we're going to see if this helps. 9/1, Day 25 Looking at her this morning, I am really bothered by the fact that Violet's lower sights are not getting enough light. We've already decided that the lowest leaves need to come off to open up the ground to air flow, so after clipping those off, the bottom of the plant was opened up to more light already. I then decided to do some creative tucking. On the lower sides, I moved the big leaves to the sides, and pulled the bud top through to rest there at the side of the leaf. On the sides where the tops were higher, this didn't turn out to be practical. I split the big leaf and brought the top out through it's fingers, kind of like it is holding it up. I think this is really going to help get more growth, as we are wondering if we're seeing signs of pre-flower wanting to begin. 9/2, Day 26 After all of the adjustments made, Violet looks stunning this morning! She seems happy about the light level and exposed tops. More vibrant than ever this morning. 9/3. Day 27 Water day! 1 full gallon at 6.5ph. We were going to top dress today, but I was already wondering if my mix was a little hot in the beginning, and she's got some tips that are showing possible burn signs just on the tippy-tips. We are going to wait until next water, about once a week right now, to do this. So full and pretty today. Definitely in pre-flower! A little sooner than I had hoped, but I think it's pretty normal for this strain. 9/4, Day 28 First thing this I notice this morning is Violet holding her top tier up in a fully outstretched fan catching all the light she can, and I can see right through in between the top and the bottom. She is glorious! So happy about that drink yesterday, she can hardly stand herself. I take a few photos, and get ready to start (very light) LST today. I am just going to start the angle, since her stem is so sturdy, it feels like it may break or bend if I go too far. There is one side where she seems to have a natural path to pull to. I take off a couple of small leaves on the underside that seem like they are just going to restrict air flow, and pull her on over a little. It seems like not enough, but my hubby reminds me that I am going in stages, and not to be too impatient. Does he even know who he's talking to? He's right though, so I look at her again, and take a couple of pics, and see that it's more than it looked at first. I think Violet is going to love this!!

It's been a crazy week, and I'm a day late posting this. Violet's appearance has changed so much since the week before last. This is her first week of flower, and like all kids that grow, it's like looking at her 6th grade picture next to her sophomore picture: hardly recognizable as the same plant! She's going blonde on us. Long, white pistils stick up like Wilson the Volleyball's hair. She's a crazy teenager now, and I can barely keep up with her growth! 9/6 day 30 Looking stellar today! I moved the tie wire up a little, and pulled her down more. I tucked and moved the large leaves down under the bud stems to allow light. a few hours later, and she has almost turned her top all the way up. Violet really seems to like all these little adjustments we are making to her light intake. 9/8 day 32 Although Violet still looks beautiful, I am noticing a loss of luster today when I look at her. I find myself looking for something wrong, but I'm not sure what. She just feels a little "off." I'm thinking I'll water tomorrow, because not only does she seem to need it a day early, But I am giving her her first top-dress with this watering, and I feel she's definitely ready. 9/9 day 33 Before watering and top-dressing Violet today, there are a couple of big leaves I am going to remove. I believe they have served their purpose, and this opens up the underneath to air and light. As I'm doing this, I definitely see a little sign of deficiency in the centers and along the veins of some leaves, and she just doesn't look as brilliant this morning. I rough up the top 1-1.5" of soil, and add my mix around the base as evenly as possible, and work it in gently with my fingers. I water in stages, pausing a little every once in a while to allow the water to soak the amendments. In my mind, this helps them to become available sooner through washdown, kind of like a tea, which I am going to experiment with someday. I think it is especially helpful for the worm castings, which should be the first nutrients available to the plant for this feeding. I'm thinking this is going to perk her right up. 9/10 day 34 I have never seen Violet look so happy! Stretching toward the light, so bright, beautiful, and healthy! I know dry nutrients aren't supposed to be available for a while, but I can totally tell she's been fed. She looks amazing! 9/11 day 35 Violet is the epitome of grateful happiness this morning. Every morning I look at her, and think she looks better than ever before. I am noticing a little white on some of the tips, and it reminds me of a phenomenon we noticed with our West Coast OG auto (Fastbuds) as well, like they were hungry, but a little nute-burnt at the same time. The hubs thinks this may be due to the Miracle-Gro in the perlite we used for both, which we didn't notice until after planting. We'll be using a different perlite next run, and hopefully we won't see this as bad again. We can already see a couple more fan leaves that need to come off, and a couple more LST points we are going to make for our next adjustments. I can't get enough of looking at the amazing structure of this beautiful plant, and I am sad that these leaves will be some of my favorites for color and beauty. I'm a real fan of the geometry of cannabis plants. They mesmerize me, and leaves of this plant seem to change colors in the light. She's a real treat to behold, and pictures don't do her justice. A few funky leaves still, but they are lost in the overall image. At this point, the average canopy height is about 7". If you stretch out her main cola, it's probably about 8.5" She is about 16" across. This is the part where Violet is really going to get down to business.

This week, we had a lot of filling out. Violet doesn't seem to grow as tall as wide! The leaves are so pretty, it's heartbreaking to cut them. 9/13 day 37 I thought I started noticing yesterday, but today, Violet quite obviously has red hairs! Hard to notice at a distance, up close, most of the buds have definite red hairs that match my own. Happy about her recent feeding, her luster is returning, and she's more and more full every day. 9/15 day 39 Every day is crazy hair day around this camp, and Violet always shows out with her long, white pistils. Over the last couple of days, the red hairs have been drowned out by more long whites, though I don't know why the back and forth. She is still getting very droopy kind of early, and no light adjustment seems to alleviate this. I've been reluctant to turn the light up to a proper level for flower so far because of it. Can not enough light cause similar symptoms? Every couple of days, I remove a leaf or two, do some tucking to uncover bud tops, and add or adjust LST. Getting wider than taller, she's really started to fill up the cabinet! 9/17 day 41 I take Violet out of the cabinet for what will probably be one of the last times, if not the very last. One fault of our cabinet is the narrow doorway, which we probably need to widen out at some point. Her layers are so well-defined and even, it is easy to see the separate tiers when looking at her straight on. I take off four big, sexy leaves, two of them the remaining original big fan leaves from the first nodes. There are still a couple more that need to come off the very top, but I can do those later, and I don't want to shock her too much at once. I also water 1gal today, enough to barely run out to preserve those nutes from last week's feeding. She looks very tired and sad as I tuck her back into the cabinet. Hopefully she will recover for morning pics. 9/18 day 42 Violet is slow to wake today. I have to detangle all her little leaves every morning, and today is extra. I'm going to adjust her light today. I've been waiting for her to not be so droopy at night, but we're going to see if it maybe helps instead of hurts. I do a moderate raise to 750 PPFD, about 45 DLI, to see how it goes. I also notice the return of the red hairs this morning! Unfortunately, there is no smell whatsoever yet, other than plant. Everyone who sees her says how healthy she looks. Anything that was appearing as light tips has filled out with color, and the beautiful blue-green leaves are full and lush. If everything I've read about this strain is true, we should only have a few weeks left with this plant, and the buds look like they're going to be nicely formed if we stay on course. I have so much hope for Violet's harvest!

It's been crazy at home, so I am a few weeks late on my posts. Violet is chugging along, though, making great progress! This week, I was able to document well about 1/2 way, and things after that are going to be a bit spotty for a couple of weeks. 9/19, Day 43 Violet seems to be adjusting well to the light change so far, after a whole 24 hours of change. Her tops are reaching high, and she is vibrating happily. 9/21, day 45 Early to bed and slow to rise, especially after turning the light up, Violet's downturned leaves give me a chance to see how much growth on the new tops has occurred over the last couple of days. The wild buttons are elongating, starting to look like buds. The structures along the stems are thickening up. I may remove those couple of leaves today, depending on how she looks in a couple of hours. -Violet resisted droopiness longer than any recent day since it started, so yay! We also put a scope on her today, and the trichomes are just starting to grow. It's like a little trichome nursery! Cute. 9/22 day 46 This morning was a much better waking. The top main cola leaves were standing up from lights on, and may not have lain down all night. Her other leaves were standing much, much earlier than they have been. I took a few more leaves off the top before looking at my notes, and realizing it has not been a whole day since my last little exfoliation, and I try not to take too many off because I worry too much about shock. I think she will be okay, though, I'm just 'noid. The buds are taller every time I look in the cabinet, and are filling out so nice! You can see the tops exploding with new growth. Violet has changed so much within the last 1-2 weeks, as a woman, it may take a long look to be sure it is the same person, grown out of the girl she used to be.

Not much supervision this week, we have a lot going on. Mostly defoliation, and watching the amazing growth! 9/28, day 52 I took 8 leaves off today, the most I've taken from Violet at once so far. Her buds are thickening up so fast, they're just in the way! 9/29, day 53 Violet looks hungry! I'm not surprised, she's a growing girl. Even more defoliation today. 10/1, day 55 I think I'm seeing the first purples on the bud tops! I'm so excited!! Today we are feeding and watering Violet, and then leaving on an emergency trip to our brother's for 5 days. I break the soil up from the outside of the pot by squishing it all around, and break up the top two inches. I spread the mix around and work it in with my fingers, which consists of 3 T Dr. Earth Flower Girl (1T per gal,) and 3 T Organic earthworm castings (3T per gal.) This is probably her last feeding. I can't wait to see her after several days, who knows what surprises Violet will have for us!

Violet! You're starting to turn violet! (You know I had to) 10/7, day 63 After being gone for several days, Violet is definitely showing purple!! Orange and white pistils both drape down, and stick out, poverty her blue-green leaves. Everywhere you look, you can see tall, frosty white trichomes. So much color! My MIL says maybe I should leave her alone more often 😅 Tomorrow I will do some maintenance, but today, she is just amazing me with her progress. 10/8, day 64 I took a bunch of leaves today. I didn't even count, as to not stress myself out. My dog helps me with that LOL He loves to eat the fan leaves, especially when he thinks he's sneaking them. The trichomes have exploded! They are so thick!! The colas are chunky!!! 2 in wide and filling out. I'm going to get more flower from this plant than I thought, especially since I thought she'd be finishing up right now, but she is clearly a ways from being finished. Her tallest point is about 10" tall, with average canopy at 9.5". I have forgotten to mention her smell the past week. After a fuel smell began to erupt the week before last, it built up pretty strong this past week. It has now started to have a blueberry tinge to it, so Violet smells like sweet blueberry fuel. I hope she's as gas as she smells!!

Violet sure has gone through some changes! She is late-middle age now, and being distracted the last couple of weeks, her aging caught me off guard, and I am both excited, and sad at the same time. We've been working so closely together, I am going to miss her when the time comes. This is how cows and turkeys become pets!! 10/10, day 66 There is some lightening in Violet's leaves. I know she was hungry before we fed her, but she responded to the feeding last time almost immediately, and she has a little nute burn on some of the tips of the smaller leaves, so I know she uptook nutrients. I can't quite figure it out, so we will keep an eye so we can get it under control asap. 10/13, day 69 I'm checking all the time, and I just don't know the reason for the lightening yet. She seems so happy! I've been defoliating some here and there, and today, I am taking a couple of branches back by the main cola and pulling them out a little, just so they can get a little more light between them for best development. I hope I haven't been over-defoliating. I have cut a few of the straight sugar leaves on the tops in between the colas, so hopefully that wasn't a bad move. Are you not supposed to trim those? She looks no worse for the wear, anyway, so we will just plug along for now. 10/14. day 70 We're starting to think that Violet's color change is simply due to fading. Her trichomes are all cloudy, with very few ambers, which are mostly on the purples. As a whole, though, the trichomes are thick. Her smell grows every day, and the blueberry is starting to strengthen. The buds are thick and firm. The colors - the orange hairs and purpling buds - get stronger every day, and soon, I think the only white remaining will be the milky trichomes. Violet has drank a gallon of water a week, which she has been taking in a single Friday watering. I wonder how many more she will need? 10/16, day 72 Violet is still not ready for watering, which should have been yesterday. Her color changes are definitely fade. The weather has been especially nice, and our air conditioner has been getting a break at night, finally! That being said, there was a night or two that the temp dropped to 54-55, and that has started bringing out the fall colors even more, including a few white foxtails. There are purple spots on the remaining fan leaves, which are fading to yellow. Other leaves have turned lime. She's very stimulating to look at, and I love the way her hairs curl up, and drip down, and how she smells so powerful. Violet has aged beautifully.

10/18, day 74 While only getting a tiny bit taller, the colas are bulking up, trichomes are developing, and the colors are amazing. She's so pretty! We're starting to take more stemmed leaves off in preparation for harvest, and they are ready to come off, with beautiful yellow fading. There are sooooo many reddish-orange hairs, and it seems most of the tops are being taken over by purples now. 10/21, day 77 Violet's leaves are turning brown and beginning to curl now. When looking at her trichomes, it seems there is not as much amber today as there was yesterday somehow. Every time we open the cabinet, it seems she has changed. 10/23 day 79 Violet has been exploding with trichomes the last couple of days, and I'm just like WOW!! Upon doing more research on trichomes and their development, I found an article that explains things so nicely (Link: https://www.greencultured.co/cannabis-trichomes-overview/ ) In this article, I learned about the three different types of trichomes: bulbous, capitate sessile, and capitate stalked. The stalked being the tall pretty ones we like to see, which also contain the most resin. At a certain point, the short sessiles develop into the stalked, increasing from 30% to 80-90%. This is kind of far down the article in the section titled "Latest Cannabis Trichome Research." It also explains that the stalked trichomes contain 16 cells while sessile trichomes only contain 8, so the stalked trichome explosion Violet has been having is doubling her medicinal value. I believe that her increasingly strong smell is a sign that this is good information, so I encourage you to check it out. I do not know them, nor have any arrangements with them, I really did just find the article that helpful. Oh, Violet, our time together is going to be over soon!!

10/26 day 81 We have made the decision: As of tonight, Violet is lights out, and on day 84, we will harvest her. We've never done a dark period before, and we may have wanted to start it a couple of days earlier, but we're learning here. The theory is that it helps boost the amount of trichomes and resin production because they are technically a defense mechanism, acting as protection from the sun. So theoretically, if you go a whole day dark, she will continue to build her trichomes during that time, giving you more upon harvest. She is a little thirsty already, a difference from last week, but she will not get another watering. Hopefully this will help with the hanging period. I'm sad that the trichomes on the very tops seem to have over-ripened some, our indicator that we waited too long, but it doesn't matter. I'm elated with how she's turned out. Goodnight Violet!! 10/28, day 84 Today is the big day. When I take her out of the cabinet, Violet looks stressed, tired, and thirsty, but beautiful still. Her smell has definitely gotten stronger. There is a candied sort of feel when you touch her, and her sugar leaves are not very flexible at all. It's like she's been dusted with sugary hair spray. I've been having a hard time taking worthy pics the last couple of days for some reason, and I assure you that the ones I have shared do not do justice to the beauty of Violet. Frustrated with my mediocre shots, I untie her. Her pot is so light. Now that the moment is here, I feel a little sick. I clear the soil from around her short, thick stem, take the pruners, and try to chop her. It takes both hands to squeeze the nippers hard enough to cut all the way through. It is comparable in size to a nickel or a quarter. Her underside is lush and green, with no signs of other colors. The whole crown weighs 15oz hanging from a fishing scale. She is a compact plant, but these nugs are DENSE!!They are literally hard to squeeze. I'm so impressed with what this free seed has yielded us! We cut each branch free of the main, trim anything with a stem, and they weigh 13.7oz hanging. It seems there are 6 big colas and several small ones, with three of the big ones being mamoos. We drop the light to the bottom of the cabinet, shut off the intake fans, and set the exhaust fan to run constantly at 1/2 speed. Tying each one with a wire, we hang them from the rafters, and close the door.