Blue Dream Auto

This is my second attempt at Hubloldt seed Blue Dream Auto. The first seed was started at the beginning of Aug but it was a runt. After 4 weeks it was 4 inches tall and was not doing well at all. I started a new seed Aug 28. Directly seeded into it's final 3 gal fabric pot. No transplanting since any interuption in growth due to transplant shock will cut down on final harvest of the auto. We are 3 weeks into this grow and this new seed is double the size of the last one. There is an odd discoloration on one of the leaves. My wife calls it a 'racing stripe'. No bugs (I checked with a digital microscope) or deficiancies.... just an odd variation in the single leaf. Using Gia Green in the coco. Modeling the grow after the Mr Canuck's youtube chan. Matt gets great results.... I am hoping to duplicate his successes. Happy with the growth so far. I'm growing this as a Christmas present for my son. I hope it is finished by Christmas time.

Week 4 was an amazing amount of growth. Grew 50% in height and the leaves are getting massive. Started LST at the beginning of week. By the end of the week the whole main stem was bending at the soil line. I abandon the idea and will let it grow in a Christmas tree pattern. The main stem is too stiff for lst but atleast a few side branches got a chance to catch up a bit. I'll try to spread those out a little later. I may still top this sucker or it will be too tall for the tent at this rate.

The plant is starting to pop out hairs on the end of it's growth tips.... she is starting to flower. I did some defoliation because the fan leaves are bigger than my hand and the plant was shading itself except for the upper canopy. I put a hoop cage on it to spread the branches and I tucked the main stem under to reduce the height by 6 inches. With the plant going into it's stretch I will quickly run out of space between the plant and the grow light so a little LST training was in order. I top dressed the plant with Gaia Green Bloom 2-8-4 @ 1 table spoon per gallon (3 gallon pot). Also added some worm castings @ 3 table spoons per gallon. This should be the last feeding till harvest since it only has a 10-11 week life cycle, this is the half way point and it still hasn't depleted the original coco amendments from when it was planted. The difference in size between the first Blue Dream Auto I started in August and this second attempt at the same amount of weeks growth is staggering. I am wondering if the ruterales genetic was dominant on the first attempt. That plant only got 8 inches tall after 5 weeks... this one is 24 inches. The past two weeks the plant has gotten an unintentional CO2 boost because I am brewing a 10 gallon batch of beer in the same closet I keep the grow tent. All creatures bennifit from the brewing of a fine IPA :)

This week the plant keeps stretching. Big internodes between leaves. Getting some small immature buds. Mid Week she was looking droopy so I added 1.5 gallons of water before a little run off. Was super dry. Fungus gnats have been an issue so I added a half of a mosquito dunk broken up and let it sit in a gallon of dechlorinated water. Used it to water the plant mid week. Then 1/2 gallon of the same mosquito dunk water at the beginning of weekend. Being totally dried out then watered with the dunks has wiped out almost all of the gnats. I'll have to remember this trick in the future. The main stem that was trained under the garden hoop has started to kink itself. Not sure if I should leave it or let it go. The main stem is about a foot taller than the rest of the plant so it will be growing into the light if I do. Did mild defoliation to remove some of the fan leaves that were blocking other fan leaves and bud sites. A couple stems that were at the bottom of the plant were removed since they will never reach the top of the plant anyway and were just using up the plant's energy. Added a pic of the whole grow closet and tent. Brewing beer beside the tent. Was done more out of lack of space but extra CO2 is a bonus for the plant. I don't have a CO2 meter so not sure if it is enriching the air much (but I like to think so). My 2 fav hobbies, beer and gardening. :)

I had to tie 3 of the tallest branches to the frame of the tent to pull them out of line with the light. They were growing about 4 inches from the light and I can't raise the light any more with out removing the ratchet straps and mounting the light to the top of the tent. Moving these branches to the side allows more light down the middle of the plant so hopefully this will improve over all yield by getting better light penetration. I'm not sure if a mild defoliation might help the light penetration but I don't want to slow down the plant's growth. The plant still has small popcorn buds. I was hoping the buds would have put on more size over this last week. Perhaps I am just too impatient. I have looked at Week by Week pictures of other auto flower strains and the plant seems a little bit behind for week 7. Humboldt seeds claim 10-11 week from seed to harvest. I am hoping the claim is correct.

This plant has a minimum of 2 weeks left to go and the leaves were yellowing substantially. It has obviously used up all of the Gaia Green organics and is pulling from the leaves. Since it has 2-3 weeks left to go I gave it General Hydropoincs flora series with a 1-2-3 bloom ratio. This will be the last feeding the plant gets. Just pure water from this point till it is finished. The plant is healthy and sucking up about 1/2 gallon per day. I water it with 1 gallon of de-chlorinated water every second day now. The buds are still very airy and not dense. I am hoping with a quick bump in nutrients it will start to thicken up and add some weight to the little pop corn buds it has. Mr Cannucks grow makes it look so easy but it has been a learning curve for me. Fungus gnats are back with a vengeance. I have been watering with mosquito dunks for the past 4 weeks. It initially knocked them down but it no longer seems to be very effective. I read on a forum to crumble up some dunks and add it to the top of the soil. I am trying that for the last 2-3 weeks of this plant's life.

No Pics this week. I got busy and totally forgot about it. Just adding week 9 now because I want it logged. Tric's are clear still. Plant is super yellow leaves. Probably harvest mid week 10 or week 11

Week 10, just coasting to harvest. The buds are starting to thicken up and the tric's are starting to turn cloudy under the microscope. Will probably chop the plant this weekend.

Was impressed with the harvest size. This plant was stretchy and I was expecting a minimal harvest but am happy with the end results. Packed on a lot of weight in the last 2 weeks of growth. I'll be back after drying is complete with the harvest weight. I can't seem to find the Dry Weight field so I put the dry weight in the Wet Weight. 3.46oz dried. Wow for such a small plant and a rooky grower that is a phenomenal harvest. Almost a quarter pound of trimmed and dried MJ.