NYC Diesel Auto

I harvested more Black Cream auto flowers than I can handle from my last grow, so I wanted to mix it up and grow something more Sativa dominant in structure this time around. I have some NYC Diesel Auto seeds from Quebec Cannabis Seeds (QCS) laying around as freebies, so I popped one into a coconut coir mix and I will see how it goes! I am growing it in a shared 2x2x4 tent which will house 2 plants, with a 100w HLG QB light for each plant. This will be my first grow using coconut coir, which I am excited to try out! I mixed the coire with about 20 percent earthworm castings and enough pearlite to keep it light. I am using a 5 gallon fabric grow bag for the entire grow, which I center water carefully to prevent it from getting waterlogged early on. My main challenge for this grow will be keeping the taller more Sativa dominant strain under 12 inches in height, with a mixture of FIMing and LST. It is going to push my tiny grow space to it's absolute limit! 🌲🤘🔥

Heading into week 2, growth has been healthy and on track for FIMing. I continue to center water with a small amount of nutrients and extra cal/mag. I had an issue with the germination of the second plant I had planned for the tent, so at this point I am going to train the NYC Diesel to be as wide as possible and grow her under both QBs and see what kind of yield I can get with all that light. I think she should be able to take up all of the 2x2 space if I grow her well. I'm just going to hope for some giant growth! Day 13: FIMed at 4th node, I am still getting used to this technique so hopefully it ends up producing the branching I am hoping for 🌳

The NYC Diesel is growing well! A slight skunky smell is already developing around the plant, so I expect she is going to get quite pungent as she develops. Recovery after the FIM seems fine to my inexperienced eyes, and I will be starting LST with lawn staples/plant stakes later in the week. She has been growing low and bushy which is good for my space, and I expect her to explode with growth over the next few weeks. Now that she is growing quickly, I am going to slowly increase the megacrop and cal/mag accordingly. I don't want to overdo it, but I want the feeding well dialed in for when flowering begins.

At day 21, the plant is growing extremely bushy with lots of branching. I like a healthy, compact plant, but it is definitely making the LST tricky as there is so much foliage in such a dense space. I am planning on defoliating in the future, but with my LED set up the bottom fan leafs are getting plenty of light so I am going to start slow. Over week 4 my plan is to really flatten the plant out, and get more room for all the branches coming in. If this kind of growth continues for another week or so, there will be a ton of bud sites when it switches to flowering. Day 27: upgraded to new tent.

As of day 28, the NYC Diesel is growing vigorously and seems healthy. The post LST branching I was hoping for a week ago has occured so I am happy with the width and evenness of the canopy as well. I am regularly removing and tucking foliage which is helping with how dense this plant is (lots of branching with minimal internodal spacing). I feel like it is on the cusp of flowering, so I am preparing to change up the nutrients over the next week. I will continue with the LST if there continues to be quite a bit of stretch. Day 29: Switched to GH Flora for nutrients. Starting low and will dial it up. Thanks for reading!

As of day 36, the NYC Diesel continues to have nice healthy growth and decent flowering. It started more indica in structure early in the grow, but has been showing more sativa growth traits as it has progressed in flowering. The buds have not started to bulk much, but there is still a good amount of stretch and blooming. I am trying to decide how much more defoliating I want to do, as it seems to fill in with more growth as soon as I finish a round. With the good light penetration I get I worry about over doing it and having a weakened plant later in flowering, so I am going to take my time with the next rounds of leaf removal. Thanks for reading!

As of day 43 (November 13), the NYC Diesel has stopped stretching and is putting on weight throughout the buds. It is an important time for the plant, as the flowering is going to be critical for quality and yield, but it is also a little boring not having anything to do besides watch, water, and wait. It's doing well with the nutrients so I am upping the phosphorus/potassium it is getting, and I am going to try to slightly lower the cal/mag to help reduce the nitrogen. I am continuing with the Armor Si as an extra potassium boost as well. I try my best not to overfeed, as I find the auto flowers with my lighting setup are sensitive to more agressive feeding schedules. Day 46: did a small defoliation, will probably be the last. Thanks for reading!

As of day 50 buds continue to fatten up. There has been a lightening of foliage across the plant that has left it more of a lime green. I have had some higher temperatures (29c) that are borderline concerning but I am hoping it's not causing heat stress. My thought is that the lightening is just the normal progression for an auto well into it's flowering cycle, but if anyone has any thoughts on this or the general health of the plant please let me know! Thanks for reading.

As of day 57 the grow is going well! I am more confident that the leaf yellowing is regular end of life changes at this point. The buds are putting on decent weight and the trichomes have mostly clouded over. It is entering the harvest window in my opinion, but I am going to wait another week or so before harvest and give it some time to ripen more. I have switched my feeding to a mild does of GO biothrive bloom which will finish the grow with primarily organic nutes through the last couple weeks. i will continue to fade down the nutrients as the plant is hitting the end of its life. Thanks for reading!

The buds are still bulking a little more as of day 64. The trichomes are pretty milky/frosty so the harvest is getting close, but I am not going to rush it if the plant is healthy and the buds are not suffering. My best estimate right now would be between day 68 and 78 for harvest. Day 67: areas of amber colored trichomes are appearing on the calyxes, under 10 percent of total. this is what I have been watching for to indicate harvest time so I will be giving water from here out and begin cutting down the plant in a few days. Thanks for reading!

Overall the NYC Diesel from Quebec Cannabis Seeds grew well and yielded 125g of dry bud as a single plant. After 5 days of drying I over dried the buds, but I have been humidifying slightly now that they are curing. I am very happy with the effects of the strain and the quantity of the bud so the grow was a success! However, I could have managed my environmental conditions a little better and I should have fertigated more frequently for even better results. I should have my next grow up and running soon, and will be trying out new growing strategies!