Auto Orange Bud - Organic Outdoor

Hey fellow growers. I'm getting my last 2 outdoor autos out for the season, and will take a break until spring. I've had some really bad luck with my last few seedlings. I lost 3x Auto Ultimates and 1x Auto Orange Bud. 1 to sudden, unexpected heavy rain, 1 to a gecko dropping in on it, and 2 to damping off. So this time I'm trying to do the first week under some CFL lights. I have a 2xPL26 downlight that is used for store lighting, that I will try to veg under a little before heading outside. The setup isn't fancy and it's my first time growing anything under lights, but I'm going to do some hot peppers in there too. This run is 1x Auto Orange Bud and 1x Auto Cinderella Jack. I have a 12V pc fan connected up to give some airflow The seeds germinated no problem, soaked for 24 hours in RO water, transferred to paper towel for 24 hours, popped into a coco-perlite/peat moss mix and in 24 hours they popped up. Day 1 was 12 Feb 2020. I obviously didn't have the lights close enough - I was worried about them burning? So they stretched a LOT very quickly and I've had to support them with some wire and a very gentle string tie. As soon as the stems are thick enough, I'll start thinking about moving them outside. I'm not sure exactly what my next moves are, most people will tell you to re-pot and just bury the stems , so that they don't have long stems out the ground, right? Well that's what I would think too, but then you risk getting damping off and I really don't want that to happen (again), so I may just let them be leggy and support them with something. But dam, long legged seedlings are prone to wind and rain damage, so lets see... If there are any chilli heads out there - I'm simultaneously sprouting some carolina reapers, trinidad moruga scorpions, bahamian goats, mini rocoto yellows, scarlett lantern perus, hungarian hot wax and jalapenos. They may pop up now and then in my latest 2 diaries :) Thanks for following along with the next chapter... Peace out ✌️🌱

This week, the main stem started to thicken up a bit and moved to her final pot outdoors. Keeping them under a hoop house for now until they can handle the elements. Next week, I will innoculate the soil with some trichoderma fungi, to protect against diseases. So far, so good. No nutes until next week.

This seems like a happy girl. Taken to the new pot just fine and starting to veg nicely. I reckon this one will be a great sized auto. I innoculated the soil with trichoderma, first time trying this - I was concerned about damping off after transplanting - and this is not the first grow in this medium so I'm taking some precautions. Peace, fellow growers ✌️🌱

So far so good, she seems happy. Flowering is right on schedule with pistils appearing on day 28. I actually wish she'd taken a bit longer to start, I don't think she'll be too big - but let's see. Growing autos outdoors this time of year is new to me, we're entering autumn and getting 12 hours daylight - so this will be interesting, but probably explains the small size. Peace, fellow growers.

She's going well but the short daylight hours during veg have caused a shorter plant than if the daylight hours were a bit more. It's all good though, keen to try out this strain!

This week, pistils started to go crazy as full flowering kicked in. I used the last of my blooming nutrients (Freedom Farms Fire Juice) this week and won't be able to get more until after lockdown...

Lockdown started in South Africa this week. (27/03/2020) It's interesting times, that's for sure. I'm filling this diary in retrospect, and can't recall too much going on in this week other than me running out of organic flowering nutes. I have some EHG (not GHE) flowering hydro nutrients that are high in phosphorous that I'm trying out. The stuff is said to be fine for soil grows, but not sure how if it's okay for organic grows. I decided to use it in conjunction with my organic nutes since it's all I have and all the gardening and hardware stores have been closed.

Bud production stepped up a notch this week. Pistils are going crazy and trichome development is doing well. Lovely citrus smells starting to come from this plant. Excited about the flavour! Stay safe out there, folks!

So far, so good. This plant is smelling fantastic and buds are developing nicely. But. Powdery bloody mildew. Again I seem to battle with this almost every grow. That or bud rot, in this case I think it's going to be both. I gave a solid spray with an organic fungicide based on ascorbic acid. In previous grows, I tried to avoid spraying the buds themselves, as I've harmed pistils before with home made remedies like h202, baking soda, soap, milk etc. This time I'm feeling a bit braver and I sprayed the entire plant inside and out, including all the buds. No harm seems to have come from that, and the mildew seems to have been parked for now. I know this product doesn't remove the existing mildew, but it does prevent it on new growth. Let's how how she goes.. Cheers for now :)

Last week was the last feed. I felt I may have to harvest early. When it comes to deciding when to harvest, there are ideals like trichome colour among other things, but when I start seeing too much powdery mildew or bud rot, I start polishing my scissors. The mildew returned hard and fast, so I did a major defoliation and sprayed again with an organic fungicide in the beginning of the week. It held back the mildew for a few days, but it's very aggressive this time of year with our warm days and cool nights - and comes back quickly. Chop time it is! I havested the majority of the upper part of the plant, leaving just the 2 bottom branches that had under-developed buds. Keen to see what becomes of those. So that's it for now - I'll have more info for you guys in my harvest week. The citrus is insanely strong with this. Every time I handle the plant I smell like an orange. 🍊😜 I washed the buds for this grow because of the presence of powdery mildew. I dipped the buds in 4 stages - h202, lemon juice/bicarb, water, water. They still smell great and look bright and clean. I don't often wash buds, but I had a nice reminder of how fresh they come out and might do it more often. See you in harvest week!

So that wraps up another great experience with Dutch Passion's genetics. Pity this one didn't seem to like the climate/time of year/weather for this particular grow, resulting in a smaller than expected plant with a lot of powdery mildew and bud rot towards the end. It is autumn here, so the daylight hours are below 12 and the warm days contrasted with cold nights didn't help her finish in peace. I will be attempting this strain again for sure, since the smoke is just so damn good and I believe that. in a warmer time of year with longer daylight hours, she will be a winner in the African outdoors.