Fastbuds Smoothie Auto

First time trying autoflowers. Recieved these seeds from a monthly contest, and since the regular seeds I was growing had at least a couple males, decided to add these. Going to be growing in a 3 gallon and 5 gallon fabric pots for comparison, using Detroit Nutrient Company's Great Lakes water only living soil, likely with teas, and hopefully no nutrients. The seeds were put into paper towel Aug 7, into dirt Aug 8, and broke soil a couple days later. 8/12 - Forgot to mention that the 3g pot one seems to be growing with 3 cotlyedons, and the start of what looks like 3 leaves. 8/17 - The plants are starting to make a little growth progress. Always seems like the first week is root development, then they start to take off. 8/18 - Watered both plants today, just before lights out.

8/19 - We start the 2nd week (couple days over, but I like to keep my journal weeks starting on the same day when I have multiples). The plants are starting to grow a bit now. Watered yesterday, and now we just keep going. I will unfortunately be flipping the photos to flower next week in the same tent, so they will end up going from 18 hours of light to 12/12 next week. I guess we will see what kind of effect it will have on the overall plants. 8/22 - Watered about 2 hours before lights out today. Just continuing to plod. Since these were a late addition to my tent (replacing a couple photo males), they will be going to a 12/12 cycle Monday. Not ideal for autoflowers, but not a deal breaker either I'd imagine.

8/26 - Plants are now on a 12/12 cycle, since they are in a tent with my other photoperiod plants that were ready to switch to flower. I am sure that it can lead to slightly stretchy plants, or just overall less developed plants, but as autos, I'm not too worried long term about it. 8/28 - Watered today (after photos), with the 3g pot getting about 1.5L and the 5g pot getting 2L of water. My biggest/only complaint about the medium used (Detroit Nutrient Company Living Soil) is that it dries out quickly, and appears to be extremely hydrophobic, making watering a bit tougher. 8/31 - Appears both plants are showing preflowers. Since this is my first time growing an auto, as well as going with 12/12, I don't know what to expect. Both plants are right around the 6" tall mark, so as I said, I don't know what to expect, but I guess time will tell!

9/4 - Watered today, with the 3g pot getting 1.7L and the 5g pot getting 2L. Both plants appear to be in full flower now, starting to throw some pistils rather than having just preflowers. I don't know how much of it is already being in a tent that is 12/12, or if they would have diverted to flower this quickly anyways. They are relatively small still, so I hope there is some growth or it will be a disappointing result. 9/5 - They seem to hit a growth spurt after the drink yesterday. They are both sitting around 9" tall now.

9/10 - Watered today, with the 3g pot getting 1.75L and the 5g pot getting 2L of water. 9/11 - The plant in the 3g pot is currently about 13" tall, and the 5g pot is 15" tall.

9/16 - Another week starts. They appear to be progressing well. 9/18 - Both plants watered today. The 5g pot got 2L and the 3g pot got 1.75L, 9/21 - I plan to water with a 'tea' tomorrow, that I have started to brew. My local store didn't carry Roots Organic Terp Tea, but the lady recommended Down to Earth Bio Fish, which is very similar in ingredients. I bought the box, and am currently brewing what is probably just over a cup of worm castings along with 5 tablespoons of the Bio Fish, in 4 gallons of distilled water. I plan to water tomorrow with the straight tea. 9/22 - The plants could use at least another day before watering. I have the tea continuing to brew. If it doesn't smell fouled by tomorrow, I will water them with it (will be right near the end of 48 hours brewing). They show no signs of any deficiency, thus not necessarily needing a tea, but I don't think it can hurt.

9/23 - Watered today with the tea that I started brewing 48 hours ago. The 5g pot got about 2L and the 3g pot about 1.6L. The 5g is currently ~17" and the 3g is ~15".

10/2 - Watered today, with the 3g pot getting 2L of water, and the 5g pot getting just under 3L of water. Both were showing signs of water getting to the bottom of the fabric pot at that point. I don't know if they just don't drink that much, or if the actual soil purchased does a better job, but it seems like I can easily go about a week between watering with no signs of the plants showing thirst. 10/6 - Another week down. The 3g pot has some leaves showing some funky coloring, and have been 'fading' for a week or so, and I wasn't sure how I was going to attack it, since I am growing in a living soil, and shouldn't need to do anything. The 5g plant seems to be doing well.

10/7 - A new week starts. I am unsure what to think about with this 3g pot and the leaf coloring. Since they are on the 5th/6th week or so of flower, chances are that I will just let it go, and hope to get a decent enough smoke out of it. I am basically using these autoflowers as a test, since I am trying new soil (Detroit Nutrient Companies Living Soil) and have never grown an auto. They are also in a tent with photoperiod flowering plants, so the light cycle wasn't ideal. 10/9 - No pics yesterday as I wasn't around during lights out. I have kind of decided I am going to just let the discoloration go (5g pot showing some now too), as it looks like they might have about 2 weeks left anyways. 10/11 - Watered today. Nine days since I last watered, and the plants still didn't wilt or look overly thirsty. Not sure how much is the strain, and how much the is the medium used, but I like the lack of need of watering. Took most of the yellow leaves off the 3g plant, as they were blocking some of the lower buds, and I want to see if/when the remaining leaves change color. The 5g pot was left as is for now. If I had to guess, looks like the 5g pot could be done in a couple weeks, mostly cloudy trichomes, swelling flowers, receding pistils, etc. It also has a 'funky' smell. Can't quite place it, but it smells of something fouled, maybe fouled fruits, or even baby poop, something, just funky. The 3g plant on the other hand, has a very fruity smell, but also appears to have 3-4 weeks left, definitely longer than the 5g plant. 10/13 - Another week down!

10/14 - Another week of flower begins. I'm guessing 2-3 weeks for the 5g plant left, longer for the 3g plant. 10/20 - A week down. I am undecided on this soil. Either these are heavy feeders and yellowed quickly, or it isn't the longest lasting bagged 'water only living soil' We will see how the smoke turns out, but I am thinking I might end up chopping the 5g plant next week.

10/21 - A new week is upon us, and I am really considering chopping the 5g plant soon. The top bud almost seems to be starting to yellow, aside from just the leaves. From what I can tell, the trichomes look mostly cloudy. 10/22 - Both watered today, with about 1/2 gallon of water. Looks like both are 7-10 days from harvest, so likely to be the last watering.

As a whole, I got to say that I wish I had done better with the plants, but it was more or less a trial run with a 'living soil' that was supposed to be water only. I don't feel that it was enough to do a full cycle on an auto unless there are either multiple teas or some sort of organic feeding going on. I look forward to trying this again in a 'proper' grow, in a veg tent with either a soil mix, or proper nutes. I will have to update on the strain itself later. I chopped both down today, as the cannibalizing of the leaves had been intensifying. The plants were chopped, somewhat trimmed, and then put into a Rubbermaid tote that I made as a drying chamber some time ago (10+years). I will update more in a week or so after they have been dried, and a final trim, before curing. I will likely smoke some of each before the cure begins, then let them sit for 2-4 weeks to cure. Doesn't look like there will be much, but it will be something to smoke.