RQS Fast Eddy Auto - spring 2022 indoor

Very slow growth: external temperatures are still low (min 5-8°, max 14-17°), and the grow box sits in an unheated room outside the house. The lamp, when turned on, raises the temperature just above 20-21° in the box, but when turned off in the early afternoon, it drops around 16°. I think I'll move to a 20/4 light cycle to reduce the cold, at least for the coming week. Spring is coming, by the way, so in the future the external temperature will be higher.

Second week has passed and the kids are alrgight. Temperature are rising, but this spring is going to be mad: external dropped tonight to 5° after a lot of rain, so I've added a small tubular heather in the box, the Lighthouse Ecoheat 45. It's connected to a digital controller from ElectroCornwall, I've set it to kick in if the temperature inside the grow box drops under 16°. Just in case... Currently, the light generates about 250 ppfd (according to Photone app), at plants top, running at about 50-55% of its power. Resolutions for the coming week: - Raise the light to 350-400 ppfd - Starting with nutrients - Start LST - Bring some company to the girls. Plenty of seeds in the drawer...

It's been an interesting week so far. Kinda slow, but many things happened. Let's see... First of all, the grow box has been updated: I've added a huge carbon filter to the setup, may be a little oversized for the tent (which is 60x60), but what the hell. It's a Pure Factory 125x400, with an extraction power of 240 m³/h. There are already some hints of pre-flowering in the girls, so it might be useful in the forthcoming days. Second: I've started some LST. It's my first grow indoor, and in my previous outdoor experiences I've let the plants do their thing without any intervention. I'm a little scared in bending the plants, but they seem happy. They're still growing short, by the way. Without LST, they might be 15 cm. tall, with an average of 2 cm. between each node. So, I've also started adding some nutrients to their meals. They still drink only .250 ml any other day, so I've started adding a few drops of Root Force and some BioGrow, checking the PH to stay around 6.2. I've also (slowly) increased the light. The Fecida CR600 runs now at around 75% of its power, and its height has been lowered a bit, sitting around 40 cm or less from the plants top. The result is about 550/600 µmol/m² on the canopies. Temperatures are still a problem. The lamp runs from 4pm to 11am, keeping the air in the 24-26° celsius range, but when it's off temperatures drops to 16-17°. Spring it's coming, so the next days will be hotter, I hope. I've also started with the fan, running about 30 minutes every two hours, while the extractor is still working 5 minutes each hour. That's all for today's update, see ya soon.

And we are now in full flowering mode! It always surprise me how these auto strain follows their own agenda: between the third and the fourth week from germination, no matter rain or shine, they start flowering. They are also growing, with lots of new leaves, alas they are still not tall. LST made them grow low and bushy, I hope for the best. But I'm expecingt them to start stretching, now. The Fecida CR600 now runs close to its full power (90%ish), about 40 cm over the canopies, providing an average of 5-600 ppfd on the plants top. I've tried to lower it nearer the plants, but the distance between the flowers and the leaves it's still too short, so the latter might suffer too much. Better be safe than sorry... They are drinking more (0,5 l each any other day, ph'd at 6.2), and I'm slowly increasing their meals, adding some flowering nutrients from BioBizz twice a week. Temperatures in the box has also raised, reaching 28-29° with the light on, so I've increased the air extractor working time (15 minutes every hour) and the internal fan. Weather is still a mess: we expect a sudden drop of the night temperatures in the coming days. But I'm sure I'll be able to keep the girls in their comfort zone.

Second week of flowering, and my very own lettuce plants are finally starting to gain some (sort of) height. I might fuck'd up a little with LST on one of the ladies: the main cola is stretching, leaving the other ones below. On the other plant, all the colas are growing at the same height, forming a nice, even canopy. I've started to increase their meals, slowly giving some more water and nutrients, keeping on the lowest side of the suggested doses. Some of the older leaves started to yellowing, so I've cutted them (but I don't think to call that a defoliage). Lowered a little the light, they seem to appreciate their environment. Temperatures are rising, sun is shining. Maybe I'll start to show them some natural light outside the box, in the future.

Are they still stretching? Not so much, I'm afraid. But the flowers are fattin' up, so I can't complain. I think I will end up with a 20 g of dry buds for each one (may be less, as a matter of fact), but it's still to early to say. We're in the third week of flowering, there is still plenty of time to build up the colas. Older fan leaves started to yellowing, I've defoliated a little to improve the airflow in the lowest part of the bushes. They still drink a little more than half a liter each, every other day, and I feed them with low doses of nutes twice a week on average. Long way to go yet...

Ok, they are doing their thing: drinking (not so much), eating (lightly, but I'm increasing the nutes), sunbathing (well, I've raised the short one a little to make her even with her taller sister and take more light), resting at night and getting fatter. To tell the truth, I'm fully aware that they are both small. The tall one's main cola is around 30 cm high, the short one - well, you know - is a little less than 20 cm. So, I don't expect a big yeld. But I'll be very happy to collect something about 30-40 grams of dry buds, when the time comes. I think they'll need at least 3 more weeks. Any advice is mostly welcome.

Boring weeks are here: it's time to keep a close eye on the colas, and wait, wait, wait... Buds are becoming fatter, lower fan leaves are yellowing, the girls are drinking slightly more (750 cc every other day), smell is stronger (the oversized carbon filter was a smart choice!), temperatures are rising. We're now around 60 days from germination, I expect at least other two weeks or more before chopping them. So, the next one is probably the last week of nutrients, before the flush. I'll increase the nutrients doses, hoping to help them in this last phase.

The end is near! Well, not in a biblical way... but yes, cannageddon is coming, at least for these two girls. Thricomes are getting amber on the sugar leaves, fan leaves are yellowing faster, so I think chop time is coming. The agenda, so far: I'll feed them again today and tuesday tyey'll have their last supper (at least with nutrients). Next thursday I'll start to flush (plain ph'ed water, 10 liters each), and the following week I'll harvest, between day 75-80. Fingers crossed!

So, the usual question: are they ready or not? The usual answer: one more week to go. Whenever you ask if they are ready or not, the answer is always "one more week". So I've decided to wait again. I realized that they might have still something to give: only a week ago most of the calyxes where barely visible, hidden beneath the sugar leaves. Now they are emerging, still fattening up. Yes, trichomes on the sugar leaves are going amber, but on the calyxes they are mostly milky. They are sooo frosty, and they smell amazing. So, one more week, at least, before chopping. I'll feed them their last meal today, a rich one, and flush them the day after tomorrow. Only ph'd water for the following 7 days or so, then bye bye babies. Not so Fast, Eddy!

So, last week I was thinking, well, I might have fucked this up, it's late, I should be harvesting right now and I didn't even start to flush, I'm an idiot (and so on, ad lib.) Now, on second thought: it's ok. We're right on time. Let's give the girls another week. So, on day 76 I've flushed both of them. Five liters of lightly ph'ed tap water each, not too much. Just what the doctor ordered to wash their roots, without drowning them. And from that day on, only water, one liter at time (it's starting to be hot, here, so they surely need to drink). Truth is, both of them are still getting fatter. New calyxes are still emerging, with their white pistils. And they are huge! And frosty! And smell like crazy. So, another week, at the least. The first to go down will probably will the short one. As you can see in the pictures, her sugar leaves are turning purple. I don't know if it's normal, but she is a beauty. The tall one, with her big, big main cola, will follow after a couple of days. It looks lightly behind. Today it's day 80 from germination, it's ok to give them some more time.

And that's all, folks: chopping time has arrived, I'll harvest in the next few days (hours, maybe). Buds are sooo fat, leaves are yellowing faster, trichomes are milky with some amber spots. Two weeks after the (not so big) flush, I think we are ready. It seems that there's some light foxtailing going on, but as I read in other diaries it might be something connected with the genetics of this strain. Not a problem, my only concern is that the trimming is going to be a hell of a mess. The first one to go down will be the short one, followed by the tall one after a couple of days. I'll keep you posted with the results. Wish me luck!

And here we are, at the end of the journey. Both plants have been chopped and trimmed, and the drying process is going on in the grow box. I've kicked in the humidifier, just three minutes every two hours to raise the RH a little (temperatures are bloody high and humidity during the day is low, around 30-40%; adding some mist in the box helps raise the RH just a bit over 50%). Yeld seems to be on the lower side of my hopes: wet bud weight for each plant is around 115 grams, so - just to be optimistic - I expect to end with something between 40 or 50ish grams of dry, trimmed buds (I'll update the diary when they wil be jarred). In a couple of days of drying, the tall one main cola has lost half of its weight already, just to say. There are just a few grams of trimmed sugar leaves, still drying. Not enough to make hash or anything else, l'll keep them for the vaporizer. Smell is amazing, though, and still very strong. But now it's time to be patient: there's a strict no smoking policy here, at least until the first two weeks of curing. It's been a pleasure, and I think I've learned one or two things for the next grow. It was my first one indoor. Now I have a couple of plants going on outdoor to follow, and a plan to start again at the end of summer with some photoperiodic strain. Until then, thanks for following my adventure