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7 Chemdogging seeds plus 2 wild card seeds go into the propagator.
This is my first Autoflower grow. I will write up the 2 wild card seeds in separate diaries, this journal is all about the Chemdogging.
3 days later and 5 out of 7 have popped
4 days later and 6 have popped
5 days later the last chemdogging seed had not shown so I gently pulled off a few layers of medium and there was the unmistakable light colour of new growth. The seed had germinated but I think I sowed it too deep and the shoot was struggling to break through to the surface. With enough of the medium removed it should now be fine - see pic.
This grow hasn't got off to the best start in terms of equipment - I dropped my temperature/humidity meter into a DWC bucket (it didn't survive) and my CDM ballast has developed a fault. The lamp went out and on restarting it glowed briefly then died (tried different bulbs - same result). Basically, the ballast is fucked so I ordered another and transferred the propagator under a single GN Telos 0008 LED. Have also ordered a replacement temp/humidity monitor. Cheers.
The last Chemdogging seed, although popped and alive, looks really weird so I have initiated another backup seed, just in case.
My new temp/RH monitor arrived today (love new grow kit!). It is called AirComfort and is Bluetooth enabled and pushes the data whenever my phone is in range of the sensor. Pretty cool. It also sends alerts if temperature or humidity stray outside of a preset range. It's very easy to position in the grow space and you can have multiple sensors reporting back to the app on your smartphone. Also, the data is persistent within the app, so you can review graphs of changes in temperature and humidity over days/weeks/months to your heart's content. Sweet.
UPDATE: The last seed to germinate, which looked totally fucked yesterday, has come through and looks 100%, just behind in development compared to the others. I am going ahead with germinating a back-up Chemdogging seed, just in case.
My Ceramic Metal Halide is back up and running and the combined light power for the tent is (240+240+250+315) 1.045 kW. Temperatures are ticking up and I have switched on the chiller for when the roots grow down into the nutrient. That last Chemdogging seedling has gone into the RDWC and I will decide what to do with the spare at a later date (if it germinates).
Roots are starting to extend beyond the limits of the DWC starter pots and will soon descend into the nutrient solution.
Germination week is over and I am calling this the first week of veg. All plants looking good and growing vigorously. I can tell by the root growth that everything is kushti.
DAY 14: I topped three plants (see pic) and am interested to explore how they compare to the non-topped ones. It seems as though opinion is divided as to whether or not it's a good strategy to top auto-flower genetics.
Of the topped plants, two were Chemdogging, the other is a Waist Deep Auto which I am documenting in a separate journal. They were all growing very vigorously and were each left with 4 active nodes.
DAY 15:
Plants that were topped yesterday show no signs of trauma!
Also dropped EC from 0.9 to 0.7
DAY 16:
The plant in the centre pot is looking a bit nutrient burned - lower leaves paper dry. It was right in the path of the humidifier output for a while which lead to mineral build-up on the lower leaves but not sure if there is a connection.
One of the plants was ready for LST (see pic), the rest have been leaf-tucked - where possible.
DAY18:
One of the Chemdogging girls is pulling ahead of the others in terms of development. It was one of the ones I topped but has been more vigorous than the others from very early on. It is the only one I have started using LST and I expect it to be the best producer. The others are still not quite ready for LST but are doing well - although the middle plant has really bad nutrient burn. Must be a phenotype thing because it is a recirculating DWC system so they are all effectively drinking the same nutrient.
I would definitely say these autos are more sensitive to nutrient levels than photoperiod plants
Dropped EC from 0.7 to 0.6
DAY 20:
Applied LST to all the remaining plants. Noticed they are starting to show pre-flower hairs. The plant with the burned leaves I have defoliated quite extremely (see pic) as a bit of an experiment.
DAY 22
The RH has been gradually increasing the last few days and I will soon be able to remove the humidifier. The plants are transpiring more water vapour as they increase in size.
Decided to remove some of the biggest, chunkiest fan leaves and have reduced the EC again to 0.4
DAY 23
*** A GOOD LESSON LEARNED! ***
The last couple of months I have been wondering why the tent has been almost touching 30C and today I learned why!! I noticed that I had positive air pressure in my tent - NOT GOOD. At first I thought either the fan controller or the extractor fan itself was faulty but when I disconnected the carbon filter, the tent instantly reverted to strong negative air pressure. It turned out that I had not cleaned the dust jacket on the carbon filter for months and months (11 months, to be precise) and it had become almost completely blocked. Now that it is cleaned I have a healthy negative air pressure and a temperature drop in the tent of around 4C - sweet!!
Applied more LST to the 3 topped plants (left hand side of tent) and removed the pair of lower-most shoots on each main branch of most of the plants.
DAY 25
My plan has always been to have the tent lit by four 240W LED units. Today saw that happen - I have just installed another 2 identical to the 2 already in place and I have removed the CDM and the HPS lamps. The girls are now basking under 960W of GN (GrowNorthern) Telos 0008 lighting.
I am defoliating the 3 plants on the right of the tent - started today. This means I have a column of 3 topped plants, a column of 3 left alone plants and a column of 3 defoliated plants in the tent. I will make a graphic to illustrate...
DAY 26
Defoliated plants have filled-out in 24hrs - see pics
DAY 27
Removed humidifier as there is enough transpiration to maintain tent around 50-55% RH. Applied some LST to the bottom right plant in the tent which is younger than the others but doing very well. From today using Shogun Hydro Bloom - flowering is underway on 8 out of the 9 plants.
DAY 28
Plants seem to have taken on a new lease of life since getting 100% LED lighting. Tent is around 4C cooler. I pruned most of the plants again today - removing low-yield shoots. Also did more LST on the youngest plant.
DAY 29
I'm calling this first week of flower as all are showing pistils. Defoliated two plants on the right pretty heavily (they're in the "defoliate" column) and two plants on the left (the "topped" column) lightly. The top right plant was very heavily defoliated and pruned of minor shoots to leave eleven developing branches in total. (see pic)
The plant in the centre pot continues to show nutrient issues on her leaves (see pic). I am baffled by this - the root system is completely healthy (see pic) and she feeds on the same nutrient as her sisters.
I am stepping up the light/dark cycle from 18/6 to 20/4 - the plants are in great shape and can take it.
DAY 30
Defoliated and pruned the last few weak stems from the plants on the left of the tent (the topped ones) - also the 3 on the right were pruned and defoliated.
DAY 31
Middle plant still suffering. I think it may be in a light hot-spot where all four leds overlap. Interesting to see what happens with a new set of plants on the next grow.
DAY 35
Was away for a few days but the RDWC system kept everything going without a problem. Defoliated and pruned the plants. The nutrient chiller is not needing to kick-in at all at the moment as ambient temperatures are cooler. When I came back from going away, the nutrient had dropped to 16C so I have an aquarium heater in there to keep it above 17C at least.
Today I changed all ten airstones. I have a 60L/min airpump and since the beginning of this grow, the buckets have not been bubbling as vigorously as this pump should drive them. With the new stones, the buckets are really "boiling" and I can hear the air sucking into the pump inlet (couldn't before). Having said that, I have had fantastic root development so even with the old airstones and limited bubbling, the nutrient solution was aerated enough.
DAY 36
It's very possibly too early to say, but I think I can already see a benefit from replacing the airstones. Plants seem really vigorous!
DAY 37
I was going to leave the middle column of 3 plants pretty much alone in this grow, as a kind of yardstick. They were taking up a lot of grow space, being neither pruned nor defoliated and it seemed like a waste so today I heavily pruned and defoliated them. It felt great!
By end of the day all plants were heavily defoliated and pruned
DAY 39
Pruned and defoliated the biggest Chemdogging plant. This is the most extreme I have ever gone on a plant - see pic (39 - biggest)
DAY 40
Pruned and defoliated all the other plants pretty heavily - maybe too much so in the case of the plant back right of the tent (see pic)? They all look pretty bare!!
DAY 42
Coming back after the shock of heavy pruning and defoliation on day 40.
DAY 43
More pruning & defoliation - it's a constant battle to maintain control over these plants in DWC. Never got this strict with it before but it seems to be working with the plants concentrating on fewer colas. I was quite pessimistic last week but I am getting more positive about this grow as it progresses. The middle plant in the rightmost column looks like it could end up a really nice shape (see pic).
DAY 45
Have upped nutrient strength (0.8 EC) and the plants seem to be responding - I think I was too low at 0.5 EC
DAY 46
Ambient temperatures have really dropped so I switched one of the 240W LEDs for a 400W HPS. This has increased the temperature in the tent by about 2 or 3 C. More of an increase than I expected and shows how much cooler LEDs run.
DAY 47
Left the HPS on all night for warmth and it kept the tent at 20C (was 16C without it).
DAY 48
I took some pictures today from a different angle and the amazing vigour of the plants became apparent to me. Somehow a feeling of some very hardcore genetics beginning to be expressed. Really loving this grow.
DAY 50
Looks like a sea of developing colas - my 1.5M x 1.5M tent is pretty much ideally full from 9 plants.
DAY 51
For my next grow, I am going to run the same genetics (Mephisto Chemdoging) but use a load of nutrient additives alongside the base Shogun nutrients, These potions will be arriving tomorrow and includes Mammoth P, which I can't wait to try out.
The bottom right plant is more behind in development than it should be (it's a week younger). I think I aggressively pruned and defoliated it too early. (see pic)
DAY 53
Switched back to 4 x 240W LED as the cold snap is over and I don't need the extra heat of the HPS.
DAY 57
Had a bit of a wobble at the end of last week - new leaves were getting brown spots/patches which expanded and killed the leaves. BigDaddyK came up trumps and diagnosed a pH/Cal Mag issue. I have renewed most of my nutrient and added Cal Mag. I also realised I hadn't calibrated my pH pen for too long - turns out it was out of whack so that has also been a factor in my plants' issues.
Hopefully back on track for a hefty Chemdogging harvest.
DAY 60
I'm sure the plants are all fattening up - but I always get the fear at this point in the grow.
DAY 63
Pretty sure I will be harvesting at the end of next week
DAY 70
They're still going! Not quite ready to harvest (based on trichome colour).
Amazing plants. On further inspection, one was ready to come down...
Easy to trim - each branch has formed a single dense cola and a couple of sub branches which are also thick with flowers. Halfway through trimming this first plant and a whole layer of my drying rack is full. All the branches so far are frosty as hell. And the trimmed buds stink - of petrol/gasoline vapour mainly. Very heady/volatile. You definitely have to be in control of the smell for this strain if you want to keep the grow under the radar. It has a very powerful odour.
In general, I will be gradually harvesting throughout this week and then add a "harvest" week to the diary with dry weight, smoke report etc. etc.
DAY 71
Finished trimming the plant I started to harvest yesterday. Huge main bud (see pic) and it has completely filled 2 layers of my drying rack. Lovely.
DAY 72
Continued with harvesting, spurred on by finding a few spots of rot today. So far I have had to chuck 4 or 5 buds (just tips not massive colas) and it's no big deal. My night humidity is around 60% and these are very dense flowers.
DAY 73
My drying rack is full so I have stopped harvesting. There are 4 more Chemdogging plants to process but they will wait (maybe improve?) until I get hold of another drying rack. I am anticipating these 8 Chemdogging plants will fill 2 racks which I'm very happy about. That's a lot of weed.
DAY 74
No more rot found. Thank fuck. Rearranged the remaining plants in the tent and switched off one of the LEDs.
DAY 75
Three plants left - one of them is a week younger so should get another 7 days flowering but I'm not sure I want to hold up the next grow. I've switched off another LED which leaves two 240W lamps still working. I'm really keen to get on with the next cycle because these Mephisto plants are amazing. Next run is going to be 100% Mephisto (6 x Chemdogging, 2 x Sour Livers, 1 x Fantasmo Express). Can't fucking wait.
This was my first autoflower grow and overall I'm impressed. I yielded over 1g/watt at an average of 114g per plant. Time from sprout to completion of drying was 85 days (this does not include curing - which is still to come). The bud smells good but still a little grassy - which is expected prior to curing. I was amazed to net over 900g. On the plants the colas are very heavy and I got about 5 minor spots of rot but only lost about 20g of bud so nothing in the scheme of things and my RH was on the high side during flowering.
I'm giving an overall score of 8/10 as once dried the buds are a little airy but maybe that's an autoflower thing?
*** EDIT ***
I'm changing the score up to 9/10 as I have just realised that Chemdogging is 35% Sativa. I wrongly thought it was 100% Indica and was expecting mega-dense buds. The Sativa genetics perfectly explains the nature of the buds. Great strain.
The plants that were topped did not yield more than the un-topped plants so probably best to just employ LST, defoliation and pruning.
*** UPDATE ***
After curing 2 weeks, the buds are really developing their aroma and taste. Handled gently, the trimmed buds (see pic) have a pine/pineapple smell but even a slight crushing releases a heady gasoline odour that would not be out of place in an oil refinery!
I was staggered by the yield and even though I made mistakes, this is the most ganja I have ever harvested. AwesomeI will come back with a smoke report when the bud has had a chance to cure.000
When I first wrote-up this harvest page, I (mistakenly) thought Chemdogging was a 100% Indica strain and was expecting very dense buds. My bad. Chemdogging is in fact 35% Sativa and this means the bud I have harvested is perfectly in keeping with what you'd expect from this genetic mix. I've changed the overall score to 9/10. Really lovely genetics.
@Hybrid, there is a product from Green Planet called Dense it's insane but you need everything to be perfect before using this product. I'm not confident myself enough with the new nutrients I am using but if everything is dialed in on your end check it out. I know growers who have used it and swear by it but they are advance growers and whatever they grow is hard as a rock. Best of luck 👍
@GreenHouseLab, Useful info re. the temperature. Thanks man. Since I wrote my review, I realised that Chemdogging is 35% Sativa (not 100% Indica as I at first thought), so the bud structure is completely normal.
@Hybrid, for sure. I'm thinking if you can manage to lower your temps in the low to mid 70s they will definitely be denser as the flower will not need to open up to transpire as much. I'm seen the difference for myself growing at 81-82 vs 73-75. For sure your second run will be much easier and more perfected but all in all this one was a great success and like you said that is a lot of herbs lol👍
@Weedeep, Thanks for that man. Very much appreciated from you who grows such beautiful plants.
Unbelievably strong genetics (thanks Mephisto), this grow just keeps amazing me.
@Weedeep, That's really kind of you man - I'm very happy with the grow so far. The genetics seem very strong and there's no very noticeable phenotype differences - except one plant which is bigger and a bit less bushy than her sisters!
Thanks for checking-out the grow :)
Good luck bro!!! will follow for sure!!! i want to try DWC in near future, i am just collecting info about it. when you put your jiffy peat pallet in to the bucket, where is the water level in buckets? 🙏
@Hybrid,you have insane start man, your girls will be i think about 60-70% bigger than mine!!! coz you got very good start. watching and learning man, thank you🙏
@Weedeep, thanks man, I'm just hoping they turn out half as good as your grow!
I have the water level a couple of centimetres below the net pots and try to keep this constant for the entire grow. The root growth is phenomenal in DWC - only 8 days since germination and the roots are already spreading into the nutrient (see latest pictures).
@nzbudman, Thanks mate - most of the credit goes to Mephisto Genetics! I think 100-110g per plant is not too hard with this strain. Also my lighting is very intense - 4 x Telos 8 lamps in a 1.5m x 1.5m tent. I just checked your grow and it's looking very nice. I would recommend constant defoliating of large fan leaves and prune off weak side branches from lower down.
Congrets with the Harvest!!! Think your yield was super mate. and about density of buds, Mephisto Genetics rate it in Strain Specification as 7.5/10. so they wont became as dense as you wish to. wait until they. will cure, and after smoking it, you will understand the magic of this strain 🙏😍i'm guaranty 👌
@Weedeep, Thanks man. I really loved growing the Chemdogging. I will definitely grow her again. The yield really took me by surprise and personally I don't mind how the buds look but I think it might be an issue in terms of "bag appeal". But I don't sell my herb so it's all good. Thanks for following my grow!
Hybrid
