Ultra Violet

Greetings and salutations. This diary will be following my Violet Kush Auto from Garden of Green. This diary will be my autoflower entry into the Autumn Cup contest. Diary Legend: 💧- Watered 🌱- Seedling 🌲- Cut Down 🍃- Defoliation ✂️- Topping or FIM'ING 🚂- Training (LST) Wk1 10/25/21: Day 1. 🌱Seed is above soil, needed to remove some membrane and the shell. possible stunting may occur. I didn't bury the seed very deep, as I didn't actually expect this one to grow, which likely helped cause the shell issue. going to call this the first day, that way I can keep an accurate record of exactly how it went down. 10/26/21: Day 2. She's still alive! True leaves are coming in, and the one remaining cotyledon is open and facing the light. I'm glad it's pulling through for now. 10/27/21: Day 3. 💩💧Still going strong, I like it. Still taking time to get going, but I know it has the ability to come through. Added in the recommended dosage of Gaia Green All Purpose at 1 tbsp per gallon of soil, which gives me 1 1/2 tbsp of nutrients. Watered in thoroughly, with a small amount of initial runoff, but it was sucked back up very soon. 10/29/21: Day 5. Still looking good. Overall smaller in stature then the average plant, but considering it was born with only one wing, it took longer to learn how to fly. Nutrients will start to take effect in the next few days, at that time the growth should be explosive. The decision on whether I train this plant or not still remains to be seen. I fell I've hindered growth in some of my recent grows because of training. Only issue I have with letting it go naturally, is it's size. I will have to raise the other plants to get the optimum amount of light to them, otherwise they might start to stretch. 10/31/21: Day 7. 💧Despite it's birth defect, it's now behaving like an absolute champ. Growth is better than others I've had at this stage, even with both wings. From passed experience with a friend's grows of this strain from G.O.G, I won't be needing to perform any LST to save space, as it likes to grow into a fantastic looking little bush. One main cola, with a whole bunch of little braches reaching nearly as high up, making for a nice little beauty.

Diary Legend: 💧- Watered 🌱- Seedling 🌲- Cut Down 🍃- Defoliation ✂️- Topping or FIM'ING 🚂- Training (LST) Wk2 11/1/21: Day 8. Growth is now at the rigorous stage, and will be having large changes each day, like I had noticed today. New leaves are nearly twice the size they were yesterday, but I'm not complaining. It seem to be going through water much better than other seedlings I've had. I need to water this one more often, so far, at least. I don't see any visible issues with the plant, which leads me to believe this strain might be able to handle full strength nutrients. 11/3/21: Day 10. 💧Holy Moly! The amount of growth over the last 2 days is amazing, big jump in size. I am happy for that, as it's sharing the same characteristics of the plants my friend grew. So far it shows no issues from being given the full strength dosage of nutrients. I never thought organic dry amendments would be so dang finicky. Honestly, it makes me want to go back to liquids, as I've never had an issue with the strength being too much, if anything, I was able to cut back with nutrients. 11/5/21: Day 12. Growth of leaves has now reached, and extended passed the edge of the pot. Height is still low, with minimal branching below. That is, for now. It still very early to decide if this pheno may require some training to help with height. I have plenty of height, but I'd rather keep it lower, if I can. Pot is still feeling heavy, so I will wait another day or two until it's dry. After looking back on other grows, this plant is by far the biggest one for it's young age. At least 1 1/2 times bigger than most, and a full twice the size as several others. Starting to wonder if I should think about topping this plant, as it might be one of those suitable cultivars. 11/7/21: Day 14. Day 14. I cannot believe the size of this plant, it's growing at an alarming rate. With the leaves being as fat as they are, I can definitely see the indica side of the plant showing through. I'm hoping it doesn't become an oversized beast, and it ends up staying short like the ones my friend grew. I still have plenty of time to decide on training, so we will see how it goes from here. Pot is dry enough to be watered again, so I will administer that later on well I do some transplants.

Diary Legend: 💧- Watered 🌱- Seedling 🌲- Cut Down 🍃- Defoliation ✂️- Topping or FIM'ING 🚂- Training (LST) Wk3 11/8/21: Day 15. Turns out I was mistaken yesterday, the pot I was thinking about needing water, was a different pot. This one is still slightly on the moist side. With the growth I'm still seeing, it's definitely not wise to add more water just yet. 11/9/21: Day 16. 💧Pot was dry enough today that I gave it a nice dosage. Not enough to wet the entire pot, but enough to give it quite some heft to it. Plant is still the most beautiful one I've ever seen. So big and voluptuous, just the way I like em. The lower shoots have shot up quite a bit, making me feel relaxed, and that it won't be a tall shaft, but a nice bush. Leaves are the most indicative of an indica strain that I have ever seen. Even though they are long leaves, they are fat in the middle. Clearly I've been growing mostly sativa dominant strains, even though I thought they were leaning towards indica when I bought them. With this being a Kush and an Afghani cross, it's definitely my first true indica auto. I've grown some that were a mix, but this one is pure. I'm sure I will likely start growing more indica strains, as they allow me to smoke less during the day, so it will be most cost effective overall. I think I'll pair this with a Critical Lights next round, give me a tent full of dank buds. I decided to tuck back a few large fan leaves, to promote growth from below. I feel as if I will need to defoliate this plant in a few days, as the lower shoots are coming in nicely. 11/10/21: Day 17. Leaves I tucked back yesterday were only partially erect this morning. I tucked them back under, as the new shoots have already made a move towards the light. height is still holding strong, with less stretch as before, for good reason. 11/12/21: Day 19. 🍃💧Pot was feeling extremely dry, so I gave it one thorough watering. I had enough of the large leaves getting in my way, and also blocking the lower branches from getting light, so I removed the 4 biggest ones near the bottom, and the 2 big ones at the top. I tried tucking them back, but the stem is just too short and thick, so it just bounced back. I figured removing it wouldn't be an issue, so we will see how she goes on from here. Lower branches are extremely long, and two of them seem to be racing to be the tallest. Looks like it will turn out to be a nice little bush after all, but we still have the flowering stretch to go through, so things can easily change. 11/14/21: Day 21. 💧🍃Pot was dry already, so I have it a small dose this morning, and will finish it off later when I get back. I had also removed some more leaves, but only because they were completely blocking lower branches. Top two biggest leaves, and several of the lower leaves. The middle branches are just inches away from reaching the height of the center stem. I can see some pistils protruding from both nodes at the top, and nodes at the bottom, so it's definitely now on its way to begin flowering. The time to decide whether I add Bloom nutrients in now,nor later, is upon me. I feel it might be a little early, but I'd rather be early than too late. It's only a week anyhow. If I add it in now, it won't be available for a few days anyhow, so it might actually be the best choice. Also, from here on out, most seeds will be planted into pre amended soil, to get lots of nutrients sooner.

Diary Legend: 💧- Watered 🌱- Seedling 🌲- Cut Down 🍃- Defoliation ✂️- Topping or FIM'ING 🚂- Training (LST) Wk4 11/15/21: Day 22. Plant is still looking good. Hopefully those new nutrients gives off a nice boost during the stretching. It hasn't started yet, but I'm sure it will be seen by the weeks end. I'm finding it hard not to do a little training to some branches, moving them over and down a little, to allow the lower branches to get more light, and be the same height. If I do decide to, I will have to do it soon, before it gets too late. 11/17/21: Day 24. Pot is quite dry again, not sure how it can go through so much water. Fine with me, as the more I can water, the more nutrients it can uptake. I will give it one more day to stay dry, that way I know for certain it isn't overwatered. Growth is looking good, but still no visible sign of stretching, but it might just be warming up the rocket boosters, and will launch any moment. A few more pistils are visible, giving me more proof that it is time to start flowering. Hopefully the nutrients start to take effect in the next few days. 11/19/21: Day 26. 💧Plant is definitely now into the flowering stage, but has not shown any signs of stretching, just the formation of buds. Will water later on today, as it's quite light. Gave the plant a nice dose of water, pot was quite heavy after filling. It will be a good judge to see how much water it goes through. 11/21/21: Day 28. Plant is still looking good. As it stands, it is currently my best looking autoflower. I have a feeling it's because I didn't wait until the 4th week to give it more nutrients. All others I had waited, and all others have issues. Still not seeing any stretch, which is a little concerning, as it's just a little bush. I had hoped it would stretch out at least a little bit more. Oh well, this should make for some nice tight clusters of buds. I will give it a complete defoliation layer this week, but definitely before the end of it.

Diary Legend: 💧- Watered 🌱- Seedling 🥦- Vegging 🌷- Flowering 🌲- Cut Down 🍃- Defoliation ✂️- Topping or FIM'ING 🚂- Training (LST) 💩- Fertilized 🆕🏠 - New Home (transplant) Wk5 11/22/21: Day 29. Plant is looking good, no signs of it being in distress. I still don't see anything indicating it's going to stretch, so I'm prepared to have another short bushy bugger. Hopefully the yield isn't hindered at all, I would like it to be comparable with my friends grows of this plant. One things I'm sure of, is mine will taste better, as I'm using organic nutrients, and he uses Advanced Nutrients. I will give the plant a nice dosage of water later on this evening. It's not bone dry, but it's not far off, and I'd rather it get more nutrients. 11/23/21: Day 30. 💧As the pot was very dry, a gave it a large dose of water. No runoff though, as I'm still getting good at not overwatering to the point of runoff. In a few days I will remove most of the leaves from the buds, hopefully forcing them to bulk up. The technique is used by others, but they are working on plants that look much healthier than this one. It doesn't look completely terrible, but there are definitely some issues. As this is still my best looking auto while using Gaia Green, I will use this as my main guide. All new autos will be planted in smart pots, only 2 gallons or bigger, no more garbage cans. Vegging photos is still fine, just no more autos, unless I switch back to liquid nutrients, as they never had an issue back then. 11/24/21: Day 31. After lifting up the pot, I can tell that this plant wants lots of water. It's not light enough to even think about adding more, but there is a definite difference in weight from last night. I might start collecting specific sized containers, and use them to water. Like a 500ml bottle, a 710ml bottle, a 1L bottle, and a 2L bottle. That way I can start off with 500ml every other day. Then slowly switch the the larger bottle. Pending on the size of the pot, I likely won't go over 1L for autos in a 2 gallon pot. Anything in a 3 gallon pot, should easily be able to handle a full 2L, once it's a full on plant that is, as seedlings won't be needing that much. 11/26/21: Day 33. 💧Plant is doing alright, I suppose. The leaf spots I believe were caused by a mag deficiency, so I added in a good helping of cal mag treated water. It won't do anything for the already damaged leaves, but hopefully it will prevent it from happening again. I will now incorporate a cal mag feeding every three months, just to be sure. I don't think Gaia Green has any in it, so I will have to add it separately. Fine with me, as it's easy to mix. 11/28/21: Day 35. 🍃 After a heavy defoliation, the plant is very bare looking. I stripped away all the big leaves, and most of the smaller leaves. It's not a technique I've employed before, but it's something I'm hoping works out for me, as it will save me from further trimming during harvest.

Wk6 11/29/21: Day 36. Plant handled the heavy defoliation extremely well, it doesn't seem to have been phased. I say that, because the buds are noticeably bigger than before. The increase in that short of time, is something I like to see. Definitely a technique that I will me employing from now on, unless the buds have very little leaves blocking, like some sativas. I was not thinking, and didn't take note of anything further. Sorry.

Diary Legend: 💧- Watered 🌱- Seedling 🥦- Vegging 🌷- Flowering 🌲- Cut Down 🍃- Defoliation ✂️- Topping or FIM'ING 🚂- Training (LST) 💩- Fertilized 🆕🏠 - New Home (transplant) Wk7 12/7/21: Day 44. 💧Since I started a new job on overnights last week, I was extremely tired the past week, and forgot to update my grow logs. I watered yesterday, as it has been quite some time since I had given anyone some moisture. I will be giving the plant some bloom nutrients in the next day or so, bit still providing some All Purpose as well, so as not to lose so much nitrogen, like the autos have been. 12/11/21: Day 48.🍃💩💧 Procrastination is a bitch, but I'm getting over it again. I defoliated, fed nutrients, and gave it a thorough watering today. I decided to just give it straight Bloom, just like the previous mixture it was placed in. I had also moved the pot into the other tent to finish up, that way it frees up the other tent to start my testing runs.

Diary Legend: 💧- Watered 🌱- Seedling 🥦- Vegging 🌷- Flowering 🌲- Cut Down 🍃- Defoliation ✂️- Topping or FIM'ING 🚂- Training (LST) 💩- Fertilized 🆕🏠 - New Home (transplant) Wk8 12/19/21: Day 56. 💧In between my long updates, I still keep on watering. I've come out of my funk, and will get back to the updates. The bud development has been quite pleasing, still has a ways to go, but the finish line is in sight. Smell is very nice, a pleasant fruity smell, not something to worry your neighbours.