Black Jack Auto by Sweet Seeds

For this season we are growing Black Jack Auto by Sweet Seeds again. We are using the same set-up and equipment as last time. This time though, we are armed with more knowledge and skill. The goal, have much better results, than before. We are looking to have a better overall structure that will hopefully double the total weight, at least. One of the biggest changes will be the feeding schedule this time around. During the last grow we were following the instructions on the bottles directly and saw that we had issues with nutrient uptake and burn. We should be able to avoid that this time by using reduced volumes of the FF Feeding Schedule. Set-up: Vivosun 27"x27"x60" Tent AC Infinity 4-inch in-line 205 cfm fan (exhaust) Growneer 4-inch booster 73 cfm fan (intake) Holmes 6" clip fans x2 (circulation) 2.6-gallon pot Foxfarm Ocean Forrest soil 75W Rapid LED (Cree CXB3590) Updates will only be once a week this season with the first day of each week being the day of choice for photos.

Week 2, let's go! For this grow season Wholly Mackerel is being added into the mix. With its 3-1-0 ratio, I'm curious to see how that impacts the overall vegetative growth. Depending on what the nutrients are I'll run different levels of strength. For the silica, Mammoth P and Wholly Mackerel I ran those at full strength. The Cal-Mag and Big Bloom were measured at reduced strengths but will increase as the weeks go on. The Big Bloom will not exceed 10ml per gallon though. Last time we grew this strain I can say that too many nutrients were given. I would rather slow down to a more tame pace and reap those benefits which will still be nice if not better. Day 12 was the first day of super simple LST. Using a pipe cleaner on to close off the node for a ponytail is arguably the easiest form of LST that could be done to a plant. You could use a zip tie, but those can accidentally be cinched too tight and ruin the plant. The pipe cleaner could tear into the plant, but it has a much lower chance of cinching too tight. You may be asking what is this technique or why did you use it. The ponytail technique allows the plant to slow down on its initial vertical growth. By closing off the top node you reduce the amount of photosynthesis that will take place at the top. This will allow any lower exposed nodes time to grow at a rate that is proportionally faster. They will not catch up to the top, but they will have time to grow with more photosynthetic exposure than the tope node. The ponytail will be used for 24 hours, taken off for 24-hours, and then put back on for one more 24-hour run. The plant will still receive some traditional LST in the form of bending, but that will probably start next week. This is where the ponytail technique should show its benefits. The lower nodes will have had more time to develop and then should grow at a similar rate to all new growth sooner than later when traditional LST starts. Day 14 the plant gets its second round of ponytail treatment. One of the biggest visible differences so far is the node spacing. The nodes prior to the ponytail are stacked further apart, which will be good for letting the lower flower sites get more light and try to catch up to the upper nodes.

Week three sees the introduction of the bending technique for LST. I'm happy with how much the lower branches grew from the ponytail. The top was trying to escape its ponytail tie. We'll try to see if I can get the plant to grow in a spiral pattern to distribute the number of tops more evenly. We will have to wait and see how successful we are with that. I think that things will work out well regardless. This season the Black Jack is definitely outpacing the last season of Black Jack. We'll attribute it to a better understanding of how to grow. I think that getting at least .5 more ounces of weight out of the plant this season should be easy to do with these growth rates.

Week 4 will be the last week of Veg for this season. This is the 2nd time growing this strain and it is tracking the same with week 4 ending the Veg cycle. Pistil production is starting around all the branch bases but there has been zero flower development yet. So far this grow is outpacing the last Sweet Seeds Black Jack in terms of overall growth and size. So I would say the lessons of the past are definitely being applied and showing that I have learned. I had placed some gnat sticks out around week 2 and have noticed about maybe 10 gnats between both sticks. Seems like a problem may be brewing. I'll have a watering this week where I will mix some neem oil in that feeding to help combat the gnats.

Week 5, the first week of FLOWER!!! Even though this is the start of Flower, we will give one last dose of Veg nutes. Then we will do a flush and move on to Flower nutes. I was more aggressive on the defoliation this time to try and really focus that energy into the upper sites. There may be a second defoliation later, but we will have to wait and see. The light is as high as it goes so from here on out she is growing and what happens, happens. If it is necessary, she may be pulled down/opened up to help with the height, but I don't know how successful that will be. I may try opening her up now, we will see. The gnat issue that I was worried about hasn't amounted to much of an issue. I've had the gnat sticks down for a while and haven't seen much on there, so 👍 to the sticks. I also watered with neem oil, so that helps quite a bit. Super excited to see how she turns out this season.

Week 6, she was flushed at the end of week 5 to prep her for the introduction of the flowering nutrients. She has responded well to all of the training that she has received up to this point. The LST, defoliation, and accidental topping have seemed to have no ill effect on this. She will probably get one more defoliation around week 7, it is just a question of if that will be at the beginning or end of week 7, which I think will be determined by growth in week 6. If the new fan leaves become a problem early on and can't be tucked, then she will get a second defoliation early. The goal is the end of week 7, which it probably will be. There is a little flower site that has developed on the base of the stalk. It has been left behind as an experiment to see if it can yield even a decent gram sized flower. Because of its location, nothing amazing is expected, making this more for fun. Some more tricks and adjustments have been made recently as well. During week 5, some bud collars were added to some of the flower sites. This is a trick I saw out on the internet and have been wanting to try but never implemented. Now it has been done. The purpose of the collar, for those who don't know, is to provide a larger light-absorbing footprint by separating the flowers that could stack on top of each other. The more sugar or fan leaves that can photosynthesize the better, and if your flowers are smashed on each other those leaves aren't being used enough. It will also allow for more airflow between the flowers and cut down on any issues from tight spaces that air can't flow through. The results so far speak for themselves on how effective it has been. The adjustment is in the PH level of the water. The PH on the runoff was coming in at around a 6, when the water going in was around 6.5. So this time the water was changed to around 7 and is coming out around 6.5. This should help promote some better root growth to let her big large and healthy.

Week 7, is here and I can say that defoliation is going to happen this week. Enough of the fan leaves are blocking the flowering sites that it will need to be addressed. There are starting to be enough sugar leaves developing that there shouldn't be too much photosynthetic reduction overall. Some of the individual leaves will just be clipped if the whole leaf structure is not a problem. Some of the pistils are finally starting to turn orange. Still several weeks away from harvest and the end of nutrients. If this is similar to the last grow, I may end nutrients around week 10 and harvest at week 13 again. I could also push it one week sooner, depending on how things develop. I may push for week 12 to get as many seasons as possible for the year. There is a tiny amount of burn on all the tips of the fan leaves, and I think that came from the flush since I haven't seen it anywhere else and it isn't spreading.

Week 8 shows that we are still going strong and not close to being done. We don't think we will make the "9 weeks from germination." There is zero sign of amber so we will keep pushing. Based on experience, this will be the second to last week of nutrients. She will be done by week 12 unless she surprises us. Still pleased with the grow so far. She has not grown any taller, which is good, she is just fattening up on all the sites. The smell is starting to pick up as well.

Week 9 will be the last week of nutrients. Week 10 will have a flush and start PH water only to harvest. The tallest stalk has a nice amount of weighted sway. The remained fan leaves are starting to fade out and are becoming a nice light green color. It's also an even color across the fan leaves so there appear to have been no nutrient problems. The fan leaves will stay on until they choose to fall off. The sugar leaves are slowly starting to change as well. The only issues that I've seen in the leaves appear to have been from the first flush. Fingers crossed to the finish line.

Week 10 signals that we are approaching the end. She was flushed and has been getting nothing but PH water. The fade has come in nicely as she has been sucking the nutrients out of the fan leaves. Most of what is in the photos has already come off already. Super excited to be coming to a close.

This is the final week of her life cycle. By next week she will be chopped down and we will be coming to a close. Excited to see what we get, already a big leg up from the last BJ grow. We took what was learned previously and applied it; it seems to have been successful. We already saw some things that could be improved for next time, like starting the LST much sooner and defoliating even more. I hope everyone out there has been doing well.

Very please with the harvest, overall. We definitely improved upon the last season of Black Jack that was from Sweet Seeds. More weight, denser nugs. I feel like I could have probably pushed a little harder on the nutrients, but overall, very satisfied with the grow. Waiting on the flavor and effects as it has justed started curing. We have tried some before curing, but don't want to judge off the initial taste just yet. We also have the trim prepared to make some infused oil with. There will be updates on all of that later.