Day 85 - Girls got a water and a feed after a bit of neglect. It was chop day for the AFA (see harvest week) so only pictures of the GCA and PCA herein. The leaves (including sugar leaves) have really deteriorated around the mature budsites - they are incredibly yellow - but there is also the beginning of something gross happening on the GCA's leaves upon which I'll seek some advice. The additional room with the AFA gone means a better position for the two remaining plants.
Day 86 - Just a tuck today really. Some of the bushy lower/less developed buds are feeling kinda fluffy and damp (hard to explain) so I've separated them out a bit and ensured a bit more airflow "down there".
Day 87 - Some trichome photos for the day. Honestly the GCA has a decent number of amber-headed trichomes and the pics here don't really do it justice. I am thinking about chopping the main head/decapitating the king tomorrow though I believe it'll take the plant days to recover. Could still do it for science? Thinking about my options.
Day 88 - 88, going great? A feed and 750ml each of water today. The fan leaves and sugar leaves are curling and crisping up extensively and, while not all of the buds have the same beautiful structure as the (chopped) AFA or the GCA's main cola, I am fair sure both plants are "done". There's extensive evidence of amber trichomes on both though I wouldn't be sure I've reached the magic 10%. Either way I think these girls are for the chop on Friday/Saturday.
Day 89 - The girls both got so thoroughly rusted over the last week that I'm not confident in the ability of their leaves to help develop their respective budsites. Particularly the top sugar leaves look particularly sad and curled. The only question remaining is whether they are for chop tomorrow or on Saturday!
Day 90 - Goodness gracious! Spent about 2 hours dry trimming the AFA only to yield 32g of dense nugs! Not too unhappy given that its a 2 gallon auto and I have ziplock bags full of trim. As a result, I was incredibly high when it came to check on the GCA and PCA. They sure are in their autumn colours now! Faded to yellow with a wee purple outline on the sugar leaves. A lotta curling and I gots to say just a really unhealthy look to all upper leaves on these plants. That said, only the GCA seems to be showing a good portion of amber trichomes, though the PCA is nice and milky. Chopping tomorrow come rain or shine!
You usually want to wait until they're a bit older than what you've got - at least 3-4 nodes and 5-fingered leaves are there... I would pull off what you've got and let the little one grow some more, tbh... or, if you've got more than one plant, try it on ONE as an experiment and see what happens...
Good luck
Is anyone able to give me some feedback on my LST and tucking technique? I am growing 3 autos in little 2 gallon pots and one in particular is ridiculously stacked/dense in its node development (the Godzilla Cookies Auto,, first photos!). Should I bend more/tie lower/more?
The LST looks good so far - try raising your lights to get the plants to stretch out more though... I'm not seeing any nutes in your diary? Did you just not put them in or are you not giving them anything? Now would be a good time to start your bloom nutes if you have them... and a touch of grow nutes to help them get bigger...
Good luck!
Kia ora whanau,
Each of my three flowering autos (the Herbies Beginner Auto Mix #1: Ape Fruit Auto, Purple Chill Auto and Godzilla Cookies Auto) has an issue with yellowing older leaves. Do I need more nitrogen or is this potentially something cal mag would address? TYVMIA!
I happens with autos faster, but the plant is using nutrients and energy for the top growth. When those big fan leaves start to yellow down low just pinch them off and put them in the compost. You want more airflow down low as the ladies start flowering anyway.
Oh my, OH MY!!!! This grow is looking fabulous @banurnerphone! You have done a truly magnificent job and I can't wait to see what kind of harvest you're going to get from them! KUDOS!!!!
@banurnerphone, What are you talking about for heaven's sake?! Unless you've got another pic of the Ape Fruit that I'm not seeing, she looks gorgeous, too - they ALL do... !!!!! What you're seeing is the natural progression of a highly colorful plant... her "Fall Colors" are just starting to come out and she is going to be blitheringly beautiful! And ALL trichs will cloud up, ALL trichs will turn amber... you want to wait until you can see MAYBE 10-20% of them amber before chopping - that's going to be "peak" harvest time... the longer you wait after that (i.e., the more amber you see) the more you're going to be in couchlock mode from her...
No, no, no, "first time Daddy" - you'll be fine, SHE'LL be fine... just have patience! :-D (Seriously GORGEOUS grow!)
thanks so much for coming to check in on my grow @GrowingGrannie, and double thanks for the compliment, it means a lot coming from you! While you're here, do you have any opinion on the readiness for harvest on the Ape Fruit Auto? Per my journal, it has definitely matured fastest and has the most even budsites/nicest bud structure of the three. HOWEVER, the trichomes on the AFA don't look to be particularly cloudy, and I'm wondering if the cloudiness-->ambering just might not happen? Unfortunately it got hit first by that calcium deficiency that you identified a couple of weeks back and it basically ended up losing all its fan leaves to yellowing. As you can see, even the sugar leaves are quite spotted yellow so I'm wondering whether the buds might have stopped maturing? Either that or I'm just an anxious first time daddy and I need to wait "two more weeks"?
Looking good man :) I find LST pretty tricky on autos too, obviously with photoperiods you have as much time as you want (in theory) to play around and let the plants bounce back. Take a look at my Zkittlez and Gorilla Glue diary, with Zkittlez i did my usual really light training, pretty much just defoliating and bending side branches to open up the canopy. With gorilla glue i tried actual "normal" LST, it didn't really work out the way i wanted it to, and i think it's part of the reason why she stunted for a while. Anyway, i'll stop rambling hahah. Take a look if you like :) the LST still worked, its just not ideal. Oh, and lollipopping i've found to be pretty good. Happy growing friend, followed :)
@b_C6969, Cool man, I have both freebie Zkittlez and CBD Lemon Auto seeds from Herbies that I'm waiting to plant so having a look at your detailed diary is getting me pumped :D
I've got a GCA going, day 16 right now. Thinking about fimming around the 4th node - would you do any HST if you could do over given the 'christmas tree' or just more aggressive with LST? I know you're not supposed to do it with autos but... maybe 😏?
@banurnerphone, thanks, I tied it down a bit early based on your results with the 4th node. My nodes are looking pretty close together as well. I'm away days 23-26, perfect timing 😅
@catdatty, Honestly I think it was just 4-5 nights away from the plant in preflower and the bud site got away from me. Also the node spacing on the GCA was so stacked that I was too delicate about tying when I only had my thick rubber ties.
Also, I woulda defoliated bottom third at the start of flower.
Good luck! 😜