Mango Smile (2025)

renbuds 2/12-First week is off to a slow start. This is my first time using the Autopot system. In the past, I've used airpots which drain very quickly. This time I planted the seeds on Feb 1 directly in the coco/perlite mix in the new Autopots and they sprouted in 4 days. Once they popped through I added water around the edges of the pot and I think it was too much. So I've got some yellow tips on #2. I've not added any additional water since. I have been micro misting the plants RO water and Cal Mag and things seem to have stabilized.

renbuds 2/14-Watered today with lite nute mix of just Grow A & B and Cal-Mag plus. After a shaky start it looks like the CalMag foliar sprays over the last few days stabilized them. I soaked both pots to runoff. 2/15-Both plants are showing no ill effects from increased nute load. The pots are also getting drier a little faster as well which will allow me to water again w nutes more frequently. #2 still has a deformed leaf on the first node but it seems to be trying to repair itself. 2/16-Watered the plants to runoff outside the autopots late today with light nutes to see if the pots dry out a bit faster. I'm going to wait until at least Day 14 before I start the autopots up. Right now the plants are looking healthy and are a beautiful shade of green. Runoff on #1 was 6.04 ph /1.35 EC. Runoff on #2 was 6.3 ph/1.1 EC. 2/18-Both plants are looking good. I'm going to let the plants go another day and then start up the autopot system on Day 15 2/19-A the 2 week mark the plants are looking good. Mango #2 started with a mutated leaf on the 1st node but even that leaf has recovered to full shape and 70% size of its sister plant. Plants want to grow no matter how bad you treat em!

renbuds 2/21-Started the autopots on Day 14 and this morning everything is looking good. Its's going to take a minute for me to get comfortable that the system is working properly. I'm measuring the water level in the tank to confirm that its going down over time. At this point I don't see much movement but the plants look healthy with no wilting. 2/21-Autopot appears to be working. 2/24-Been doing a Cal Mag foliar spray with very light mist a couple of times a day and I think its helping keep everything nice and green. The PPfd is around 500 and I've started to add some Red light spectrum (25%) into the mix. I've been very impressed with how the autopot system is working so far. All I've had to do is monitor the Ph which has had a tendency to drift up a bit. I replaced my old air pump with a stronger one to get lots of air into the water. I also added a recirculating pump to stir things up for 15 mins every 2 hours. So far everything seems to be playing nice with each other. 2/25-Very happy with the first 3 weeks of growth. So far I've resisted the temptation to do anything other that some leaf tucking. No fimming or topping this time around. I'll wait til Day 28 to defoliate prior to preflower.

renbuds 2/27-Mango #1 is up to nearly 6 inches, slightly taller than #2. The autopot system is working great. Plants are looking healthy and all I'm doing is checking the Ph each day. Love it!! 3/1-Both plants are looking good. #1 is a bit taller than #2. I did some minor defoliation on both plants cutting the two lowest (first nodes). I'm keeping the Ph in the 5.5 to 5.7 zone which seems to be working. I also am doing a light CalMag foliar mist a couple times a day to help keep the leaves nice and green. 3/3-Did a small defoliation of big leaves that were blocking lower branches. #1 is up 7 inches tall and #2 is 5.5 inches. Started LST on #1 to separate the branches a bit and get her going wide rather than vertical. #2 is smaller and the branches are much more tightly spaced at this point so I'm going to hold off on LST for a couple of more days. 3/4-Since I don't have to do much but check the ph level in the autopot reservoir I've been checking the water level every other today. It started with a little over 16 inches of depth. It's now a tick under 14 inches. It's definitely dropped a bit more quickly in the last few days as the plants get bigger and suck up more water. Been amazing to see how the autopot works. 3/5-Great first 4 weeks with the autopots. Plants are looking very healthy. Mango #1 is definitely taller and wider at this point. I bent #2 over a bit to get more light under the very tight canopy. Seemed to open it up a bit. I'll look for signs of preflower (none yet) before I switch to bloom nutes. No topping or fimming this time which I have done in the past with good success. Interested to see what difference if any I get in terms of yield or quality.

renbuds 3/7-I had some issues with my Ph/EC probe getting wild readings which resulted in Ph imbalance to low. The impact is that the plants started looking a bit lifeless. So I emptied the reservoir and the autopots to get rid of the tainted water. Switched to a 'light' mix of bloom nutes. Bought a new probe and got the Ph in the reservoir back around 5.6. Fortunately this happened early in the transition to bloom and I'm hoping things get back on track in the next couple of days. 3/10-The false Ph readings ultimately had an effect on the plants. Some of the bad water got sucked into the plants and the leaves were affected. Mango #2 which was already growing at half the pace of #1 was affected the most so I decided to pull that one and focus on saving #2. I actually did a mini-flush on #1 followed by a feed from the top to make sure what was in the reservoir was what was going into the plant. Things SEEM to be stabilizing. Hopefully I got to it early enough to salvage the plant and ensure a decent yield and quality. 3/12-Mango #1 has stabilized although I think the ph issue may have stunted her a bit. Hopefully she'll get back on track this week. First signs of preflower appearing. Gonna keep the nutes light for the next couple of days.

renbuds 3/15-Mango #1 seems like she's back on track. Ph and EC are back in line and she is starting to stretch and enter preflowering stage. It remains to be seen what impact the bad Ph readings will have on quantity and quality. 3/17-Starting to stretch a bit now. Up to 14 inches. 3/19-Up to 16" now. Bud sites are starting to emerge. She's a little toward the yellow side of green which concerns me. I added a couple of gallons of RO water to the res to dilute the feed a bit and see if that helps. I'm also letting the PH go up to 6.75.

renbuds 3/22-Stretching...up to 19 inches now. Preflower is fully happening and bud sites are forming. Starting to shape up nicely for flowering phase. 3/24-Grew 4 inches in the last 2 days. Flower sites are really starting to pop now. Doing a little experiment with under canopy lighting to see if I can enhance the lower to mid level buds. 3/26-Big stretch this week.

renbuds 3/29-Seems to have stopped stretch at 28 inches. Lots of space between nodes. I'm using the AC Infinity Ionbeam supplemental lights under the canopy and on the sides. The bud sites are developing very nicely. The autopot system seems to be working fine although I still have trouble getting used to the idea that I'm basically doing nothing but checking the ph in the the reservoir. I'm also now using the new Infinity AI+ controller which on first impression seems to be doing an amazing job of controlling all my devices to deliver consistent environment in the tent in terms of managing temps, humidity, airflow, and VPD. Just getting started with it but so far very impressed. 3/30-Spread out the canopy with supports to encourage more light into the lower parts of the plant. I also had to do some defoliation in the bottom half of the plant which was getting lots of growth which I think was happening as a result of the under canopy lighting. 4/2-Buds are developing nicely. The plant has kind of a strange shape. Very tall and thin at the top with a fat bottom. The first couple of times I grew the Mango Smile I topped the plants and got a much more even wide canopy...and also got some nice yields. This time I did not top so maybe this is what the Mango Smile is supposed to look like. This one does not feel like a big yielder.

renbuds 4/5-I started using the AC Infinity AI+ controller last week and I can't say how impressed I am with the results so far. This Mango Smile run has been a tricky one from the start. She started with another MS which seemed stunted from the get go and I took it out of the mix. Since then she shared a tent with the Double Grape which was 3 weeks further along. So getting the tent environment right for the DG made it uncomfortable for the MS. Now that the DG is in the cure phase I've now got the tent VPD dialed in and I can tell the difference now. The plant is starting to get its 'green' back, the buds are getting bigger and juicier. 4/7-Switched over to a smaller (4 x 2 x 6) AC infinity tent where I can place heater and humidifier outside the tent. I can also place my Infinity AI+ controller and Optic LED controller on the front of the tent for easy access. Finally, I love the huge viewing window which let's you feel like you are in the tent.

renbuds 4/13-Getting closer. Added Overdrive into the mix. 4/16-Buds are getting more frosty and dense but still have a ways to go. Trichomes are mostly cloudy but little if any real amber at the moment. I'm thinking we've got another couple weeks at least before harvest. It's looking like a small yield however so I'm inclined to let them go longer rather than shorter and see if we can get the quality of the buds as good as possible. I'm also experimenting a bit with the supplemental lights by leaving them on 24/7 for the last couple of weeks to see if I can fatten up the lower and interior buds.

renbuds 4/17-Unlike my previous Mango Smile grows I did not top or Fim this one and the result is that I've got a towering top cola and lots of action well below. She looks like the Eiffel Tower. So to get some light into the lower and middle buds I've been experimenting with supplemental lighting. For the last couple of weeks I decided to try and surround the middle/bottom buds with light by hanging 4 Ionbeam full spectrum lights on the sides by adding support bars and attaching them with their magnets. My goal is to fatten up those middle and lower buds. I'm leaving them on 24/7 even when the main light is off. Let's see if it has any impact over the next 2 weeks. 4/19-I'm slowly dialing back the nutrients in the reservoir and adding a bit more Overdrive. The Ph is around 5.75 and the EC in around 1.6 . It could be wishful thinking but the buds in the lower third of the plant are getting very dense, albeit still on the small side. So perhaps the side lighting is helping to turn some "C" buds into "B" buds. We shall see when I harvest in a couple of weeks. 4/22-Buds continue to fatten up as we get near the end. I've continued to dial back the nutes. The Ph in the reservoir now is 5.75 and the EC is 1.2 kpa. There has been a noticeable increase in amber trichomes across the whole of the plant. I think we are within 7-10 days of harvest now. I continue to be impressed with how both the autopots and the AC AI+ controller have worked. The autopots have worked flawlessly and its decreased my workload tremendously. The AC controller in the new tent has kept my Vpd dialed in between 1.3-1.5 pretty much since I installed it. I'm looking forward to using it from the start on my next grows.

renbuds 2/26-Based on the level of amber in the trichomes this girl is just about ready to come down. I'm trying to hold off until day 84 but I'm worried if I let it go much longer its going to turn the high a little to heavy. Started flushing today.

renbuds 4/26-After seeing where the plant was at with the amber trichomes really coming alive I decided to cut her down at Day 80 rather than wait to day 84 and risk that this sativa turns into a sleeping aid instead of a great head weed.