[Balcony] Beginner Trying Techniques on 3 Gelato Autos - LST, FIM, Natural

I'm so salty that one seed didn't germinate still, but I'm trying not to hold it against the other two, even though one came out with a wonky cotyledon. At least I can tell them apart. They're on an eastern-facing balcony from sun-up until 3:30PM, then I rotate the fields so they're at my western-facing windows on the other side of the apartment. Starting on Day 11 I've been able to leave them out overnight. I put them outside from the start (first few days above ground with a few hours of morning sun then partial shade), and they seem to have tolerated it well. They're getting about a centimeter a day in width now without a ton of stretching. I had seedlings I only put out after the second week, and they were like a centimeter and a half taller and about the same width. Still, these seem a bit behind where the others were by the end of the second week. But I guess if they're behind together, that's okay.

I read a comment on Reddit that recommended watering from the outside in for smaller plants even because the roots will go where the soil is wet. And because I am highly impressionable, I've started watering these like little cannabis pour overs from the edge of the pots. They seem into it! I'm probably going to start training them next week. Still not sure which I'll top yet because they seem to be growing pretty evenly. I added two BAC biotabs each (https://www.dutch-headshop.eu/bio-tablets-soil-improver-bac-12-pieces) to the 3gal pots once they both had fourth nodes 16 days from seed. These have been really good so far for all the plants I've grown, starting them in Biobizz Lightmix and then just the tablets. Plus liquid nutes intimidate me still.

It's happening! It's going to be a high of 32C/90F and so very sunny, so why not train them today? They're both 22 days from seed as of training start. #2 got FIMmed: So I was planning on topping one but ended up choosing to FIM it instead because it's lower stress. I have no idea what will happen now. I've never done either before. I chose #2 because it seems to be having an easier time producing leaves so far. I have a video of the cut. I used a pair of bonsai shears. I was really second guessing that I actually had to cut the leaves? I missed one, and it just felt weird to go back in and cut healthy growth, even though I'd already took off most of the newest leaves. I am not convinced I did this correctly because I don't understand what happens with the tiny new node I didn't cut. We will see. #1 got LST'd: With LST, I maybe should have done it sooner. The issue is the leaves are wide enough that they would be touching the soil if I really bent it like I was planning. I even undid it and tried the other direction just to see that it was even wider across. I propped a leaf on the tie and will have to adjust it again tomorrow once the crown has righted itself. I also read that it's not good to keep them in ties once they've gone into flower for autos because it stresses them, but with two plants I had LST'd, removing the ties just resulted in them eventually straightening the stems back out. So I'll not do that again for this one. I'm also a bit obsessive about measuring my plants, and that's harder with LSTing. I have a ribbon tape measure I use to measure the main stem length instead of the actual height of the plant.

Week 5! I started training these last week. LST on #1: LST seems to be going well. I have a bunch of little nodes I can expose directly to the sun now. I'm only adjusting the ties every few days as the next stem portion grows out. FIM on #2: Looking at how the FIM leaves are growing back in, I think I should have gone even lower down than I did. The leaves grew out and fluffed out quicker than the undernodes would have had time to get more light I think. If you look at how it grew back, I apparently only hit like half the leaf, even though it really felt like I took most of it off! I read it's supposed to divert growing power to the lower nodes as well, but it recovered so quickly I doubt that happened. Still, it's cool to see the top level as almost a perfect circle as it grows out. I was hoping that FIMming would regulate the height a bit better because it's harder to manage these if they get over 70cm. #2 is already taller than my Dutch Orange Bud was by this week, and that plant's getting unwieldy. Main takeaway from this is these plants are so hardy! It was 30°C/90°F+ last week when I trained them, and they bounced back like it was nothing. The sites where I cut #2 look perfectly green and fluffy still.

Week 6! These have most def started flowering. I was surprised it was so soon, but actually their harvest windows start in 3 weeks. I just harvested a plant (not these, an auto Zkittlez at 74 days from seed) semi-early today because I found mold. It wasn't too bad, just a few sites, but it was frustrating to harvest because I had to. I really have no idea what to do about that when they're outdoors like this. I keep them out of the rain and bring them inside completely when it does get wet once they've started flowering. I'm hoping that because these have more room to grow compared to the Zkittlez that they'll be well-ventilated enough. But man, it is so easy to accidently lose everything. #1 LST: I'm really pleased with the LST results. I keep accidently inspecting the wrong cola because it is not obvious which one is the main one anymore. Like I was alarmed it had gone back to five-fingered leaves and then realized the cola I was looking at was just a branch. I'll probably look into defoliating a bit next week. #2 FIM: I do not know if this did anything. I still have residual salt that one seed failed to germinate because then I could maybe roughly tell if this one was growing differently. I had a caterpillar eat an entire fan leaf almost, so I also had some forced defoliation on some big inner fan leaves happen this week. This one is relatively tall and has the same growth trajectory as my Auto Dutch Orange Bud that had no training (like they literally have the same heights on the same days from seed this week). So I'm going to assume FIMming probably didn't affect #2's growth.

Week 7! These are really flowering now, and the flowers are so big! #2 has stopped gaining height and seems content to stay at 69cm tall. It was extremely warm and sunny this weekend (33°C/91.5°F). I missed documenting some days because I was focused on not melting. My b. But these really do thrive in this weather. I cannot relate. I decided to seriously defoliate them for the first time. There is so much sugaring on the leaves already! I left a lot on by the flowers that I usually would have trimmed because the trichomes are spreading out on them. This delights me because I don't actually like smoking and instead make edibles and tinctures, and this means more shimmery trim at the end. I'm also kind of dreading having to harvest these because I harvested some of my Rainbow Mix this weekend as well, and they were so sticky. All the plants irritate my skin as is (like picking them up makes my forearms itch), so we'll see what sticky monsters these ladies turn out to be. I hope they both make it. I also was in another district of Berlin over the weekend (Neukölln) and saw a bunch of plants in planters there. It's so funny because I literally haven't seen anybody openly growing anywhere else in the city even though we can, but there, there were ones proudly going from a first-floor balcony over a Späti and everything. It was really surreal.

Week 8! These are doing so well. There's been a bit of rain, and I've been taking these inside entirely when that happens. I did forget and managed to leave the taller one out overnight where it got rained on for a few hours probably. I put it in front of a fan for an hour. Still seems very sticky afterwards, so all is well I hope. They should be entering their harvest window in two weeks. It feels like these went by really quickly. My balcony will be empty again soon :(

Week 9! These enter their harvest window next week. These are so frosty, but the buds need to bulk up a bit still I think. It really feels like these plants escalated quickly, and now it's almost over. If everything goes well, I'm pretty sure they'll be done by the end of this month (August). They don't actually smell like much if anything, so I'm really curious what they'll taste like. My friend told me she really likes this strain, so I feel like I'm trying to make it over the finishline in her honor :)