Zkittlez auto 320WQB grow

Hello everyone! Glad to be back with another grow. Hopefully we all learn something new and have lots of good weed to smoke right? So my last grow ended up 3rd place and I got a ton of auto seeds, never grown an auto so let’s see what the fuss is all about. I started with FastBuds “auto zkittlez” I germinate in a paper towel between to plates and I always place it on my cable box and it keeps it nice and warm. After that I planted the cracked seeds into 5 gallon pots filled with “hp promix” soilless medium and water just enough to keep moist. I’m using my hlg320w Samsung quantum board setup for this grow 20/4. I will be using “advanced nutrients” line of grow and flower products for food. Never grown an auto but I’d imagine I will not be implementing any advanced techniques this time probably just LST. I had an idea to make 2 exactly symmetrical plants so it’s like looking in a mirror but I don’t even know if that’s plausible the genetics would have to be super consistent but I’ll try for a bit at least. Think that’s it, happy to be back this community is awesome hope everyone gets some enjoyment out of this one.

Starting day 8 both germinated well, both are healthy. Starting to water a little more now, may start some weak nutrients during this week. Still 20/4 light schedule and temps and humidity are steady. Still too early to be anything interesting, just keeping everything in check.

Starting week three, keeping nutrients low, waiting to lst and will probably tie her down by the end of this week. Light schedule is still 20/4, I’ve never grown an auto before so not really sure when she should be flowering but i guess when she’s does, she does right? Update: day 20 started some LST.

These plants are so short and bushy, no stretch at all. Maybe this is how auto’s grow? Maybe my light is too strong or is on for too long during the day? The light is already over a metre away from the plants so I dunno why there is zero stretch but whatever we’re gonna just roll with it. I keep pinning them down to get some light to the middle of her. I actually want to defoliate already but pretty sure I shouldn’t yet. If anyone has any insight into this and has grown autos before let me know in the comments! Ummm went up to 1/2 strength nutes and watering almost everyday when the soil goes dry.

No experience with autos but it looks like these ladies are starting their flowering period. I started bloom nutrients at day 28. One plant is growing a little faster than the other and I did some defoliation and more lst on the bigger one at the start of this week, the second plants defoliation and lst will follow as soon as it catches up. Still watering when soil goes dry, full strength bloom nutrients and lights still 20/4.

Starting to smell, really defoliated a lot last week and lots of lst. This week I’m going to let them recover. They are very thirsty girls, lots of nutrients and water and they keep asking for more. Zero stretch but maybe that’s normal for autos. Temperatures are steady, humidity has gone up a little but that’s to be expected, lights still at 20/4.

So, some interesting things last week..... during this grow I have been feeding these two plants the same, they have the same size pot, the same lights, same temps and humidity obviously they are in the same tent. Only the one to your left while looking at the pics grew a little faster, that’s not really that interesting but I also defoliated it A LOT compared to the one you see on your right. Now as you can see last week it got pretty stressed out and I thought it was because of the defoliation but now I actually think the defoliation caused it to drink a whole lot more water than the one that didn’t get stressed, I can tell because of the weights of the pots they are in. In my head the stressed one would drink less as it was trying to recover but turns out I was wrong. The stressing of it also caused it to stretch a little more and that’s actually really beneficial for my setup here as the plants are so short and bushy. It will be interesting to see the yield of these two identical plants and the density of their buds at the end. Anyways other than that they are getting more stinky and drinking on average 72oz a day. Temps and humidity are stable and lights are still 20/4.

Last week I did some aggressive defoliation, they are way too short which made them wayyyyy too bushy. They are better now but recovering. I’m stopping nutrients now and watering to run off everyday. I’ll start taking pics with the lights off now so you all can start to see the trichome buildup. Still 20/4 lights, humidity is at 50% and temps remain the same.

Starting week 9 havent fed any nutrients for a week, I am watering to runoff everyday and these plants are very thirsty! The buds are getting very thick but the pistils are still all white. Haven’t looked at the trichomes with my loupe yet. I really thought they would be closer to done by now but I have never grown an auto before. Lights still 20/4 and temps and humidity have been constant.

Ok so I’m guessing this is the last week for one of these plants, the one on your guys left. These plants were same seeds same light, water, pot, soil, etc. They were lst’d the exact same but the only difference was the left plant got a major defoliation about halfway through. Now I don’t know if that made it possibly finish earlier or it’s just a different pheno than the other, either way kinda interesting. Took a couple pics through my loupe and the trichomes are not where I like them, they are mostly cloudy and in this household we like a heavy Stoney smoke so we always like to have like 75% amber or more. I do think the one plant (on your left) will be finished this week and the other will be shortly after. Who knows they might finish the same day. Temps/humidity and feedings have remained constant and no nutes for the last 2 weeks.

Day 71 and these ladies are going to enter a 48 hr sleep, going dark for two days before I cut them down. The trichomes are about 50% amber, the leaves have turned an autumn yellow and sugar leaves taking on a nice purple hue. They have been flushing for almost 3 weeks now so the smoke should be pretty smooth. They smell sweet like fruity candy and the buds are dense. I am a wet trim guy so in two days I will cut down, trim and then dry. The temps in the grow room without the lights will be from 15c at night to about 20c during the day. Humidity with no watering should be right around 20%. I will update week 11 for the whole trimming and curing process then will add the harvest week with all weights and stuff. Stay tuned and say hi 👋 if you stop by! Update : MOLD!! Ughhh what a disappointment, I caused the mold it’s my fault with my 48 hrs of darkness. So the plants were suuuuuuper dense and compact from the start, checked them before the 48 hrs of darkness and they were fine, during the darkness with no light on there was nothing to take down the humidity and it went to like 70%+ humidity......... I ended up throwing away 3/4 of the bud, I only kept the tips of all the colas. Now I’m not mad or anything and I’m using this as a learning opportunity for myself and hopefully others, this is the first auto plant I have ever grown and I should have had the light either higher or dimmed or not lst’d and let it grow up and out. It was too short and bushy from the start. So if anyone takes anything from this I would say it was the 48hrs darkness which raised the humidity to crazy levels which caused the mold 😩. We have lots of other bud here so we’re not gonna starve but it still feels bad. I’m off to start the solo cup challenge now. Happy growing everyone!

Well as I explained in week 11 I got hit with mold and it was my fault, if you didn’t read it go back one week and you’ll understand. 65 grams in the end at 62% humidity really good bud, mistakes were made with my first auto grow but I’m pretty sure I understand them a little better now. My next grow will be the solo cup challenge and I will be starting diaries for them right away here. Sorry for the poor results here guys I’ll do better next time I swear! This community is what makes growdiaries so awesome, everyone keep it up and have fun!