Waist Deep RDWC Auto grow

This is a diary I am running alongside my Chemdogging report. I got a free Waist Deep Auto (Heavyweight Seeds) so have assigned it one of my DWC pots. It popped fine and is very healthy and at this stage there is nothing to distinguish it from her Chemdogging sisters.

Has settled into the DWC system nicely. Excellent root growth. Being able to lift the lid and get a sense of the root health is one of the reasons I am enjoying growing in DWC. The leaves have a slight curl and she doesn't seem quite as happy as her 8 Chemdogging neighbours, but she is doing great. DAY 13 : Looking way better! DAY 14: Topped to leave 4 nodes.

DAY 15: Looking great after yesterday's topping. Also dropped EC from 0.9 to 0.7 DAY 18: Going great - very healthy roots and with no root additives, just well oxygenated nutrient solution kept around 21.5C EC dropped down to 0.6. DAY 20: Applied LST - almost too late as branches were thicker and tougher than I anticipated. Showing signs of flowering. Snapped a branch where it joins main stem by pushing down too hard for LST - cracked rather than broken right through so hopefully it will repair! See pic for which branch it was.

DAY 22 This strain is clearly not very happy with the nutrient strength - see clawed leaves in pic. This is one of the drawbacks of R-DWC - you can't adjust the nutrient strength differently for each plant. Definitely best to use a single strain for all pots or, best of all, clones. DAY 25 Added 2 more Telos 0008 lights and removed the CDM and HPS units - tent is now 100% LED @ 4 x 240W. This Waist Deep plant is looking very nice - it is as big as my largest Chemdogging and the branch I cracked last week seems not to be in any trouble. She seems to be happier with the nutrient strength too. Amazing root growth!!

DAY 29 Flowering is underway and she is ahead of her Chemdogging sisters in the tent. This is to be expected as Waist Deep claims to be harvest ready in 8 weeks compared to 10 weeks for Chemdogging. Gave her a very light defoliation - 3 or four big shade leaves removed. Tried to zoom in to show flowers but my camera is not the best and I'm definitely a mediocre photographer! Moving the light/dark cycle from 18/6 to 20/4 from today. DAY 30 Pruned off the last few low-yielding shoots and some defoliation.

DAY 37 Minor defoliation and pruning. Looking much more vital since new airstones - at the end of last week it was a bit droopy but now all the leaves are standing up strong. DAY 39 Heavy defoliation & pruning - see pics. Root development is off the charts.

DAY 43 This plant is suffering from some kind of nutrient problem (see pic). I suspect it is being overloaded but unfortunately I have to keep EC levels focused on the other 8 plants in this RDWC system. With RDWC it's a case of one nutrient to rule them all, or not. DAY 45 Even though I have increased nutrient strength from EC 0.5 to 0.8 - this plant is suddenly starting to fill out and is developing some nice colas. DAY 48 Impressed with how the colas have filled out - according to the breeder she should have around 7 days to run. Next week I will start paying close attention to the trichomes, which are currently mostly transparent. Pretty amazing how it has gone from germination to this in 7 weeks - if she produces a decent amount of bud, this could be a very commercial strain. I quick dried and smoked a few stray buds tonight and it's a lovely high. Another week flowering and a good cure and I am really excited to see what happens.

DAY 50 Really happy with this Waist Deep auto (a freebie seed). My photos don't do it justice at all - there's about 4/5 really chunky colas and I'm only on day 50. It is quite low key odour-wise but the few bits I have test smoked have given a really nice high. Also I keep forgetting that I am feeding only base nutrients - no boosters whatsoever. For my next grow I am going to run the same genetics but throw in some extras (Mammoth P, Shogun Sumo Active etc.). DAY 51 Probably the last week for her. So impressed with the growth spurt in the final few weeks.

DAY 57 Although the plant has really bulked up and the breeders say 8 week until harvest, the trichomes are telling me to give her more time. So happy with this plant - the colas are massive (much bigger then the Chemdogging plants, although I am hoping they are going to catch up). DAY 60 Harvested her today. The colas were huge but not very dense so it will be interesting to see dry yield. No mould issues at all. Really easy to trim. Very happy at this point. I will add a harvest report page once the weed is dry and has been weighed. Nice.

To be honest, I won't be growing this strain again. There's nothing really wrong with it, it is just a bit bland and doesn't stand out enough in a market stuffed with elite autoflower genetics.