Outdoor Stepwell Super Soil Blueberry

This will be my first ever outdoor grow! It's late in the season so I decided to also try growing autoflowers for the first time since these should finish before the rainy cold season here in Canada. This grow will no doubt be a bit of a challenge for me as I've never grown outdoors or with autoflowers. I am excited to see what these babies are capable of as I've read they grow quite fast. In order to prevent any stunting of growth I have decided to plant the seedlings directly in there final pots approximately 1 week after germination. I will grow the seedlings inside my veg tent until they are ready to be planted outside and then harden them off for a day or so before exposing them to full sun. The Soil: This is premixed Super Soil sold ready to use. The idea is that I basically only really need to water these plants when necessary but the kit also comes with a veg and bloom top dressing and a bottle of microbes that you add to the soil once and awhile. I am excited to try organic growing for the first time and also test what this soil is capable of. I planned on mixing my own soil but that will have to wait until next season! Official Blurb from the Stepwell Website: Our Super Soil is not simply any average blend of soil, but it is a carefully measured formula of ingredients that is mixed together, and then delicately aged to ensure maximum growth of microbes, bacteria, and Fungi. The cultures in the soil help break down and provide nutrients for the plant. StepWell Soil's SS-W is designed specifically for cannabis cultivation. This blend is made by growers, and with the input the community we have developed a great organic base to grow premium and chemical free cannabis. With the Proper sized pots and good atmosphere control, Gardeners are able to grow with ease using little to no nutrients. There are many different types of strains available on the market and not every strain will respond the same. Every strain will have their own unique characteristics which causes them to feed more or less on different nutrients. StepWell Soil has a nutrient kit available to help feed plants that may need a little more attention or just to cater to specific needs to bring out the best natural expressions of your cultivar. - 2 out of 3 seeds germinated from the pack so I had to start one seedling a bit late - growth looking typical in the first week - jiffy pot kept moist throughout

- This week was a learning curve for me in that I'm realizing outdoor growing comes with many challenges - Finding myself paying a lot more attention to the weather report these days - Plants were transferred outside at the beginning of this week - I hardened off the plants by placing them out into full shade for a day then partial shade and finally full sun a day after that - I decided to move the plants onto my roof as it's the only place on my property that gets full sun all day - Plants mainly living off rain water but were fed a small amount of water near the end of the week with some EM1 Essential Microbes - As I was moving the pot I dropped one of the plants and damaged the stem! So I had to create a little holder for him to stay up - I believe I have stunted the one I dropped unfortunately, really disappointing! - One of the plants seems to be growing more near the end of the week but seems stunted at the beginning of the week - I'm not expecting a high yield from this crop - Both plants were hit with a GIANT storm at the end of the week that dumped an enormous amount of water on the plants - I tried to create little plant protectors from water bottles but the wind just blew them away! - Plants seem to be growing very slowly than what I'm used to in the tent but will keep an eye on things - it's also SUPER hot and humid out where I live at the moment so I'm guessing that is also slowing the growth - Really counting on these plants taking off in week 3

- plants are finally beginning to show some vigor! - plants were watered a bit more frequently this week due to heat and humidity levels but at small amounts each time - really trying to learn this watering technique as it's a lot different than indoor growing with coco - smaller (younger plant) bounced back nicely from being dropped last week and I was able to remove the bracing as she can now stand on her own leg - microbes were fed again only once this week - really hoping for some explosive growth in the next week to set up for the auto flowering cycle coming up ** next time I grow an auto outdoors I will definitely attempt a germination directly in the final pot without a jiffy pellet to avoid any and all stresses Again, I'm not expecting much yield out of these plants but I'm hoping for quality and a solid learning experience.

- both plants finally showing some vigorous growth after a slow start - will definitely start my seeds directly in the final pot next time or at least experiment with different method - fed with some Veg top dressing at the start of this week along with some microbes and plants responded positively - started daily waterings in small amounts as humidity and heat levels are so high! - plants responded very well to new watering schedule so I learned my lesson with that (higher heat/humidity means plants are thirstier, obviously!... you live and learn) - LST being used to expose lower growth tips to more sunlight, seems to be working nicely

- Finally! Some vigor! - plants seem to be gaining in traction this week, the slightly older plant is showing pre-flowers - switched to bloom top dressing at the start of the week - used an insecticidal soap as a deterrent for any potential pests, not sure if it will work and haven't really had any issues but I want to be prepared just in case - ummm does my plant have balls?! Is that a hermaphrodite? I looked at many many pics online and I believe I am ok but there is a lot of mixed information out there

- I have 2 very different phenotypes on my hands here - Blueberry #1 (BB1) seems to not want to branch much and I see a lot of bud sites forming close to the main stalk in the final 6 inches of the plant at the top with few side branches forming colas near the bottom - Blueberry #2 (BB2) is growing like a bush with a lot of side branching, the LST seems to have worked wonders for this pheno as she is spreading out nicely as the other branches fight for apical dominance to even the canopy - Nice week for weather, lots of sunshine and the plants showed a lot of growth in this week - BB2 exploded!! I can hardly believe she is the same plant when the week started, she's basically doubled in size within a week - Since I am inexperienced with Auto's and feeding outdoor plants I am taking a "less is more" approach with this grow and trying to rely on the super soil for most of the nutrients so I skipped the top dressing for this week - Plants get approximately 0.5 - 1 gal of watering every 2-3 days, depending on rain, so although it says 0.5 per 24 hrs it's a little different than that.. they should really add more options for that detail on this website - Scanning for pests daily and thankfully both plants are clean of pests - I can definitely see and feel the difference in these plants when compared to my indoor plants, they are much more rigid and the leaves feel stronger - Obviously this is due to natural sunlight and dealing with the elements outdoors but it's still neat to see

- BB1 is nearing completion as this was the plant that was 3-4 days ahead of BB2 - BB1 buds are getting fat and starting to stink up really nicely - Really loving the bud structure on BB1, stacking up and looking frosty she moved along quickly this week - I'm starting to think that I used LST on BB1 a little too late due to the fact that when you compare her to BB2 you can see that BB2 has bushed out quite nicely and BB1 just sort of froze in her state of LST with out side branching much - Due to the fact BB2 was started later than the other I feel like next time I will start my LST near the end of week 3 instead of mid week 4 - BB2 has really exceeded my expectations! She was always the runt of the litter and was even dropped and stunted but she's mad bushy and big now - Hoping BB2 will start to stack the buds on in the next week - Bug scouting daily with no major concerns to report thankfully - Plants took on a nice microbe feeding with a little sprinkle of Bloom top dressing at the start of the week - Soil has been kept watered every day or 2.. sometimes once in 3 days if it rains or I feel like the soil isn't dry enough - Weather was cooler at the start of this week but mad humid and hot at the end so I watered more frequently near the end of the week - Smell has really ramped up in this week as well! Smelling skunky and sweet

- Pretty easy week, nice weather and minimal rain - Watered about once every 2-3 days - Fed once with microbes this week as well - Plants are beefing up nicely and the smell is getting a lot stronger - No signs of issues, fingers crossed, just riding this out for the next 3-4 weeks

- Another solid week of weather and the plants are looking super healthy and filling out nicely - I've been super chill with this grow, not doing much to the plants at all except praising them and checking for pests or deficiencies - Plants with microbes and top dressing once this week - Letting it ride for at least another 2 weeks - Nice smell coming from the plants and they seem to be super healthy, hoping for a strong finish - BB1 is much further along than BB2 as she was started a few days later - BB2 responded amazingly to the LST but BB1 hardly reacted to it at all - I have a feeling that I started the LST on BB1 just a little too late into it's life cycle but who knows

- Weather is breaking, colder night temps, sun going down earlier - Plants seem to be doing great and filling out nicely - BB2 buds are maturing nicely but still a bit behind BB1 - Pretty excited about this plant, it smells so sweet and like fresh fruit candy or something - Fingers crossed for a few more solid weeks, going to start checking in on the trichomes next week - When comparing weekly pics I can see that the main colas are still filling out so I will keep an eye on the growth - Plans are to let these babies go out to 9 weeks

- keep scouting for pests or problems but everything is looking good - checking trichomes now since this is week 8 of flower and breeder recommends 7-9 wks - trichomes are still pretty clear so just letting her ride - cooler night temps and less sun but plants are doing great - not going to add any more top dressing from now on, just microbes until these girls finish up

- Getting really close with these beauties, especially BB1 - Nothing too crazy to report with this week, lots of sunshine and am starting to see amber trichomes popping up - Fed with Microbes near the beginning of the week, top dressings are done - Home stretch!

- BB1 got the chop this week on day 59 of flower - Trichomes look super cloudy with a good amount of amber (maybe like 20-30%) - BB2 will get the chop 7 days after this in or to see what will happen if I let this strain go a bit long

Growing in super soil outside was a fun experiment. LST was used with both plants but really only the 2nd plant benefitted from it. The plants were pollenated somehow from being outside and grew out a few seeds each. I can see that the plants did not herm on me so that leads me to believe they caught some pollen during the flowering cycle. Each plant only produced a small handful of seeds each so the buds were still totally smokable. I will grow out these seeds outside next season and see what I get! Might be something good.. who knows. Growing in super soil with a few top dressings and water only was very simple and easy to manage. The buds smell amazing after curing and the smoke is nice and relaxing and will not ruin your day. Kind of chill and a nice way to end your day. Overall I would recommend this strain. The auto flowers didn't yield too much but the ease of growth made it worth it. It was like barely any work and I have just over 3oz to show for it so I would say it was worth it. I would use a smaller pot next time with the auto flowers as they don't grow out too much. The was an easy grow that yielded enough to make it worth it to me.