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Welcome to my Fast Buds sponsored shootout and living organic soil v coco side by side. I also plan to use this grow to my full advantage regarding a few age old nagging questions about methods.
I have had a keen interest in L.O.S ( supersoil) since reading a few threads a while back on how amazing and productive it can be. After too much research and procrastinating I had to give it a go. I have been a decades coco/nft grower and recently threw my hat in the rdwc ring too. I have avoided soil due to the overwatering worry ( heavy handed chimp brain !) and the best potting soil/feeds. Catching up on the advances in indoor soil gardening and organics led me too subcools supersoil recipes to name a few but being a town dweller with farms everywhere around me still drew blanks on a lot of the ingredients needed and where the hell I could even begin to get them from. Thankfully , commercial savvy has now made buying it in ready to use and with a full range of beneficial bacteria ect available in amendments from a grow shop here in the uk. ecothrive have realised the potential for us to dive into this medium with all the mixing , measuring and resourcing. I bit the bullet and £150 later I now have 4 x37Litre pots that will be used for as long as I want to feed the soil for without EVER needing nutrients again potentially. The coco has also had charge mixed in to encourage the bennies to colonize there too. I will be using the shogun nutes that I know do the business with coco to compare with for yield , growth and taste.
I have 3 seeds each of 4 Fast Buds Strains to use as a control for the grow and am journaling each strain in their own diaries. This statement will be used to start each one as the information is identical at this point but following this I will do them individually.
I am now starting their second week since opening the seed packets , straight into soaked and shook root riot cubes and into the heated propagator. They had all showed their heads by end of day 3 and a couple needed helmet surgery to open up without being hindered . I have has them in the prop for a few days but they needed to get settled as they were popping roots out all over the cubes. They have now been in their final pots for 2 days complete and starting their 3rd today at day 8 since planting in cubes. I am impressed with the speed and success of these girls already (12 of 13 germinated) . Well done fast buds.
So here we go folks , any comments , ideas ,questions , advice are always welcome and I hope we can have some fun experimenting with defol v non defol , topping v fimming v bending and any other curiosities along the way. I plan on using a quadline for them all to keep a control for the comparisons too.
Be green folks
Welcome aboard and a huge thank you to Fast Buds for the opportunity to try autos.
Day 9 above the soil: Nothing exciting to really report on during this quiet phase. The triplets are happy enough in their new homes and have been hopefully scouting the area without of roots ready for gorging.I have only given them boosts teas , a little silicon and calmag , and the coco girls had their 1st mini feed today with the shogun. I am hoping to keep just below too much runnoff and managing to avoid build up of the salts. I will do a flush on this run of the coco but am mindful of the ecothrive charge being built so dont want to shake of that frass. Growth wise fir a week odd old I cannot complain at all. I can see the difference between these and photoperiods seedlings clearly. Rhe development is quick to proper looking leaves and nodes wanting to fly out too. The yellowing on a few of the girls is not a worry yet. No different growth between the LOS and coco so far but let's see what a feeding schedule does soon.
Day 16 Veg: This week has dragged by watching these girls set up for their race. They are smaller than the other strains in general and the quickest to the end of flower so I will be very gentle with their training and height control. The LOS girl took her time to settle down but has now began to catch up and looks a lot better than she did. They have been put on their coco feeds at the lowest rate now so should be ready for their burst for flowering. I top dressed the LOS girl#1 with life-cycle to get her bennies moving quicker and have given the pots a decent watering too. They will get a fimming I think as I don't want to stunt their height at all as they are going to be shorter than the other strains. now begins the long wait till the next update.!. lol
Day 27 from seed: An exciting week this week with a change to Mega crop. This nute has it all and even my Los girls are responding well to it. At 1g/L it is keeping them very happy at the moment. Seeing how quickly they have grown this week is a comfort tbh. The last thing I want is 1oz plants. Inwont be working the #1and #2 too much as they are fairly squat. # 3 is getting well over her pot edges so will be a good trainee I hope.
Day 33 from seed : It is evident that this strain is a smaller phenon than the others in the grow room this round. 2 of the. are a decent size but dont show the growth rate of the others at all.
#1 is the biggest of these wimmin , She was happy to be spread out more and will benefit from the amount of light getting in to her original squat structure.. Her paling is getting way better now and the Mc is not being fed to her now.
#2 is the little lady of this group and will be left to grow up with only a little help along the way.
#3 is a similar size to #1 but very very pale still. she has been getting calmag and mc so has improved more and doesnt seem to have been stunted by it.
Day 40 from seed ( 3 in flower).
To sat they had a slow start these BlackBerry are surging ahead now. Only # 2 seems to be smaller now. The pale # 3 is still gaining size with no signs of stopping at all, she has a lot of sites around her that need a pin down now they are long enough to reach pot edge.
Day 47 ( day 10 flowering) Holy moly these ladies are a fast strain. They are well ahead in terms of flowering development with all three of them showing their black and white buds off so well. They are very aesthetically worthy of growing out so fat and I cannot wait to see the finished girls.
#1 is by far the biggest overall as it the case with all the LOS pots. The soil is 100% and I dont see me changing this medium for the forseeable future. Her growth has been steady to this point and is clearly focused on her buds now. she is nicely spread out in her pot with lots of space below for air movement.
#2 is still looking slightly pale and my decision to not top or train her could have paid off as she is keeping good pace with her LOS sister for canopy height at least. the paling is getting less now and she has some great looking branching and budding happening.
#3 Is the little girl of this family and is building buds all over her frame now. she has been trained a little but it has kept her very low and stout. Overall they are blowing me away bit the ecothrive is a clear leader for me here.
Day 56 ( 16 Flowering): I am in love with their appearance in this grow. They look surreal with their black smeared leaves and the contrast against the white pistils adds a dimension I have never seen in my grows before . They have been getting on with it quite happily and as the quickest to flowering and harvest according to their info , they should finish this week !!!. l I am glad that this is not the case and they have at least 2 weeks for sure. They smell so berry now , I cannot wait to smoke the finished article.
#1 The LOS girl is short and building her stacked buds now. She doesnt lookalike she will be a huge yield but her buds are beauties. I think I could have let her go without lst for a taller girl.
#2 is trained a little but not tied up the same as other in the grow. she has a good size to her and her buds look amazing too.
#3 Was the pale rubbery girl until the Mega Crop got busy making her green again. She is now quite a big lady and has had to move moved under the TSL-2000 to keep her happy without super cropping her. She is absolutely covered in small budlets
Day 55 from seedling!. After working out my times ect , it seems I have miscalculated by a little which explains a lot of the development and where I thought I was at with these ladies.
The Los girl has just got on with it and didnt need any changes to anything at all during the grow so is right on time and development. Not having to hit the right time to change feeds has been an easy grow for the Los plants. The size of them is in general, slightly smaller with less thick branches. They have developed nicely but not as many actual budsites as their coco/mc counterparts in smaller pots. It will all be down to taste and potency it seems as so far MC is out front on this race.
I have now switched them to the shogun for a week to encourage oils and final burst of growth if I can . In photoperiods, I have had a little success this way but withbautos it's all a new experience. Rhis strainnis a beauty to behold and grows amazingly well . Perfect for a first growers confidence as they are also very forgiving. The colours as they grow are so unique too. they look artificial compared to the strains I have grown before. She smells amazing too. so fruit sweet it makes me dribble. Frosting is everywhere too, so this next week should have them oozing some oils. well done on this super fast strain Fast Buds.
UPDATED ENTRY DAY 64-THE CULL:They have finally finished. After waiting very patiently and thinking this would go on forever, these fruity little beauties are done. I have now put them into the dark for 36 hours before I chop them and hang them for a low and slow dry ( approx 10 days at below 19°c and rh 50%) . I haven't used the Harvest option as I want to be able to complete the information correctly without going back and using edits. They have been a brilliant strain to try for my 1st ever auto run and I will definitely be on my list again if I do another. Their small stature and finish time are better suited to a more natural grow and mild lst for lights penetration i.m.o . I am looking forward to seeing their final yield as they feel rock solid on the big stemmed girls.
Will do a full report once I have a final harvest to add. peace and live folks , see you on here in about 2 weeks total.
63: I thought these would be finished at this point but from close up inspection with my loupe , we still have mostly clear trichs in the house. Their overall look is amazing. opening the ten teach day and seeing them standing proud with their beautiful colours is a blessing. I love this strain for appearance and if it smoke like it looks , I will be a happy life long fan.
#1 Is feeling nice and tacky when i touch her but also has a greasy feel too. she smells amazing of sweetness and definitely berry. Her size wont break any records but if I grew them again I would leave them to grow their normal height as #3 is.
#2 is the nicest looking for size of them all and has me just staring at it when I get the chance. They are so close to the end now and it is killing me waiting.!!!
#3 Is the girl left to grow after her very pale start and veg period sonos the tallest structure wise .She doesnt have weighty buds like her sisters but certainly looks good now.
I think it is their last week now for sure.
Day 70 from seedling and we are all done and dusted with these girls. I have taken them out of the dark place to semi trim them up for a slow dry. Hopefully , I will complete the harvest report as soon as they are done. about 10 days if I can keep them cool enough for a slow and low dry to get the best from them and use up all their chlorophyll stores. catch you at harvest Growmies.
Overall these girls have been very easy to grow. I feel I would have been better to just let them grow without the tying down at all. maybe lst but not too low. They grew a lot shorter than the other strains so would be good for a small space grow. The smell is amazing from them a d I cannot wait till they have cured for a week now. The Los lady is miles ahead on flavour at present so let's see how a cure levels the playing field. Well done fast buds. great strain