Summer 2022 Outdoor Autos - Mix 1/2

Weeks 1 and 2 of germination for: Wedding Cake Auto (Barney's Farm) Strawberry Banana Gelato XL (Sweet Seeds) Forbidden Runtz (Fast Buds) Seeds soaked for about 8 hours in a glass jar half filled with water - then transferred to small pots in grow tent. Light on 'veg' for 24 hours. Given that it's just the veg lights and not consuming many watts I figure it's best to just leave it on rather than mess around with timers, etc (one less thing to worry about!) Added a drop of Bio Bizz 'Bio Grow' to pots before germinating to dampen the soil (say half or a quarter of a glass) and noticed that they all seemed to kick off pretty quickly - or it's just me? Either way, a good start for these three strains. 1 Forbidden Runtz was a bit stubborn and refused to pop - but another soak in water and it popped just fine. All 3 were kept under a grow-light for 14 days and then transferred outside. Why? Because the birds living in the roof have, with some regularity in the past, come down and eaten any small seed that's just sprouting. It's a painful sight, but I can hardly blame them? Plants were in small plastic pots (indoors) then transferred to bigger fabric pots outside. I noticed over the last 2 years that size of pot doesn't mean a great deal with auto-flowers. Big or small - the yields were (relatively speaking) the same. May 17th - Germinating the remaining strains: Skywalker OG Runtz XL (Sweet Seeds) Gorilla Glue (Barney's Farm - sample) Gorilla Girl XL (Sweet Seeds - sample) Sweet Mimosa XL (Sweet Seeds) Using exactly same methods as previous three strains. Light indoors/will go outside in 14 days. I get very mixed results here, and based on experience this is the ideal time to be planting - based on the heat (it gets crazy hot - 40C at the peak) Not using a grow tent for the entire grow, I am very much at the mercy of the weather and all I can really do is treat them with care and cross my fingers. One thing that's been consistent is Sweet Seeds - honestly, compared to any other strain I've tried over the years, these guys tower over the competition - big, fat, bushy plants with some top buds... and fat :) So, this year I'm once again comparing the competition - I've not had the best time with Barney's Farm but I've also learnt a bit more over the last couple of years so maybe I'll get better results. First time with Fast Buds. So far, they are all doing very well. I've been an on/off grower for many years - but never taken it seriously (or gotten good results) until the last year or so. Even now, I'm happy with the yields (around 50-60g dry for autos) but not so happy with the smoke for one reason or another. I suspect it's down to the drying process which I've got a feeling I've been doing wrong (using small boxes and the dampness/humidity buildup caused a stale, unpleasant taste in a couple of strains). So, need to work on drying out this year. Also, for the first time, going to lower PH levels. Normal tap water here is 7.0-7.2 - I'd like to bring it down to 6.5. Have purchased the ph up/down bottles... now I just need to use them.