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This will be my third grow, first auto. Won some seeds here...hoping for a fast big sativa forward harvest from these “XL tall autos”. Thanks Sweet Seeds.
Sweet Seeds genetics
- Cream Mandarine XL Auto
- Indica: 35% / Sativa: 63,4% / Ruderalis: 1,6%
- THC: 18-23% · CBD: 0,6%
- Indoor Yield: 450-650 g/m2
- Indoor Harvest: 9 weeks from germination...(what?...we will see)
- Height: 110-150 cm
Plants 4
Indoor - Custom built cabinet (3’ x 3’ x6.5’ ft. H); 4” filter/exhaust, HEPA filtered passive intake, no light leaks
Soil grow - Roots Organics 707 amended with perlite, worm casings, silica
3 gallon plastic pots
Light Sunsystem 315w CMH (1)
- Phillips internal ballast
- Bulb veg Phillips 4k (4200)
- Bulb flower Phillips 3k (3100)
Light cycle 18/6 from seed
Water adjusted to PH 6.5 - well (tap) average PH 7.5, PPM 142, EC 302 @70F
Nutrients seedlings - Superthrive
Nutrients veg - Biocanna Bio Vega
Nutrients flower - Biocanna Bio Flores, Budswel, TPS CalMag OAC
Third indoor grow, first auto grow. Dropped 4 seeds into distilled water July 11.
I pre-watered the four pots, 1.5 gallons total adjusted to 6.5 PH with 1 ml/gallon Superthrive. Full pots upfront should increase RH for the seedlings. July 13 100% germination, all fat white shoots about 1/8”. Planted them and covered all with small humidity domes.
Update July 19 - All four up 4 days ago. Pots are still heavy down low, just giving them a small drink each day. Temp ranges 82-66F. Nothing much to report...a good thing.
Day 7 since all four up...end of Week 1. Looking good so far, not much to report yet. They will get their next deep watering with first organic veg nutes in the next couple days. No sign of F-gnats. I add about an inch of super chunky perlite to the bottom of my pots, which I raise up with my fancy pot lifters for better airflow. I will add a third fan to the cabinet floor once the canopy starts to build.
Day 14...end of week 2. No signs of any issues...no f-gnats. Main stalk is almost pencil size at this point. Steady temps 66/82F and RH 33/53. Pots still light, so no water for probably a couple more days. Im raising the light about 1/2” per day. Will start LST this weekend.
Day 21...end of week 3. LST taking well so far, will adjust further next week. See a little wind burn on two plants, moved the fan up several inches and redirected. No f-gnats or nute burn. Plant height 8”, raised the light another inch today. Will need water tomorrow, so definitely using more than my first 2 grows. Breeder says 6 more weeks...I need to decide when stretch is over and when to shift to flower nutes. Looking to maximize yield, but have no control over veg time with an auto. The plants went from preflower to throwing up pistils in the last week. Temps ranging 64 to 84 F daily. I plan to swap in the 3k redder bulb when I switch nutes to finish flowering. I just need to decide timing, maybe another 3 weeks. Pics from this past week, the last four from today.
Day 28...end of week 4 from sprout. I did not top this grow, you can see the S-shaped main in one of pics. LST finished up between week 2-3. Plants height 12”, grew 4” since last week. Saw a little nute burn on the tips earlier this week; went with 1/2 strength nutes when I watered three days ago (PH 6.5). No visible burn today on the new tips. Hoping for considerable stretch the next two weeks. Some good secondary bud sites developing. No f-gnats or sign of other pests. No other issues to report. Smell is ramping way up since last week. Breeder states 9 weeks total from seed; assume they will go somewhat longer to ripen.
Day 35...end of week 5 from sprout. LST’d mains are stretching a bit more than the other bud sites on 2 plants. Tallest tops now 19”...+ 7” since last week. Back to full veg nutes after backing off last water. Watered yesterday PH 6.5, 2 gallons across four plants, now watering every fourth day. Plan to change to flower nutes when stretch is done. Also plan to then swap in my 3K bulb for flower...is that a stress/hermie risk for autos? My limited experience is the redder bulb really produces amazing flowers. I added a 3rd fan low for airflow. Trimmed off first true leaves. Seeing some fan leaf consumption low...good. Buds are surprisingly swelling...week 5...what! Its getting cooler here at night, my night lows will be 62-64 F...hoping to get some good fall colors off these autos. Pics from the last week.
Day 42...end of week 6 from sprout. Several days ago I replaced the 4k bulb with the 3k flowering bulb. Last watering I went one day too long and had wilt on the tallest...they all recovered well several hours later. I also switched to flowering nutes. New feeding routine 2 total gallons PH 6.5 water across all four plants until run off. Biocanna BioFlores 2.7 tsp./gallon, Budswel 1 Tbsp/gallon and 2ml TPS organic CalMag. The tip nute burn is from my last veg feeding. This week the leaves went from green to light green almost overnight. This is my first auto, so assuming just normal fade with 3-4 more weeks until harvest. I will water and feed again tomorrow and will keep an eye on them. Im good with the plants consuming the fans, but hope at least some make it to the end. The flowers are stacking and swelling nicely, the calyxes looking like they will be large. The smell is skunky fuel now and I know that will evolve. Will pull out the trichome scope after flowers build more and pistils start to turn. Temps are ranging 64 night and 82-84F day...may get some fall colors if I have any leaves left at that point. The taller buds are the LST mains on two that outperformed the others...so far. This grow will decide whether next is another auto or back to fem photos. Thanks for checking out my grow.
Day 49, end of week 7 from sprout. Buds are continuing to swell, seeing some purple coloration starting due to 64F cabinet nights. Flowers are getting very frosty. Fan consumption on the two squat plants has slowed down. The two taller show more sativa forward leaf structure and less fan consumption, also showing some pistils changing up top. Smell is loud and unique. Should be another two weeks or so...will start scoping tops next week.
Day 56, end of week 8 from sprout; breeder says 9 weeks...getting close. Watering and feeding every 4th day now. I will scope later this week...buds are getting very frosty and even the stems are covered in trichomes. Pistils are changing color across more buds sites now. These are not the prettiest plants, they are using up the nitrogen in the fans...looks like some fan leaves will make it to the end. Seeing some more purpling on the two taller plants. The smell is skunky soy sauce at this point, that will change through cure. I’m loving the speed of these autos, I would just be getting fuzzy first flowers if these were fem photos like my first 2 grows.
Day 63, end of week 9 from sprout. They went exactly 9 weeks, the breeders estimation. Im impressed, with my two fem photo grows I would have 7 weeks to go. The plants increased water needs the last 2 weeks, then stopped uptake recently. Last water with nutes was 5 days ago. There were some new pistils up top, but the scope showed mostly cloudy trichomes on upper calyxes, which was the goal this grow. Turned off the light yesterday. After 24 hours of darkness clipped all easily accessible fans, chopped and hung all four whole back in the grow cabinet. The odor is much more pronounced than my first 2 grows...basement reeks right now. Looks like 2 phenos, light green covered in frost on two and purple/green covered in frost on two. The buds are fat, dense, long and covered in sugar with big calyxes. All fans will be washed with ice bags for a preview of the sugar trim hash. I’m thinking I could beat my last grow yield, which was 8.5 ozs plus 2 ozs of great sugar trim for hash. Pics from this last week plus some after the fans were trimmed. I will update dry, trim, cure, weigh in and smoke report over the next few weeks. My new 5 gallon grow buckets just showed up today, upgrading from 3 gallon for yield. It will take more water each time, but should take longer between watering. Next grow will be another xl yield auto, green crack, seeds are due here next weeks. I ordered a few fems also and got a bunch of freebies coming as well. The plan is to let these grow without topping for hopefully some monster primary buds.