1st grow Gelato Auto

smoker77 Soaked the seeds in a glass of water for 18 hours then put in damp paper towels in a ziplock bag in the dark for another 2 days. Tap roots had grown over an inch and then planted in damp soil filled solo cups and sprayed with water. Put the lights and fans on. Gelato sprouted 2 days later after pushing up a big clod of soil. Every couple of days watered around the edges of the cups. On day 4 got info that autoflowers should be planted in their final pots so freaked out and transplanted them into 3 gallon fabric pots. Lost half the soil from the Gelato cup but luckily managed not to damage the roots. Some hardy girl :)

smoker77 Played around with lights a bit before ending up raising them Think the soil is a bit hot for the Gelato as noticed slight deformity in a leaf but still growing well. Added silicon to support stem growth. Also bottom-watered to ensure roots grow down.

smoker77 Had a pH disaster this week, had been using Britax filtered water but used 2L tap water for the first time and didn't pH it until the next day when I noticed some issues in my leaves. Turns out the tap water was pH 8.5 so quickly added some pH'd 5 water to counteract (about 0.5L) Started LST but she's quite short and bushy so also took a leaf to expose budsites.

smoker77 Now she's started growing faster i've started adding more nutes. She started to show pistils late in the week. Had a complete disaster this week, whilst LST'ing my Gelato I snapped off the main top :( she was hanging by a thread and I've attempted repair with gorilla tape and pipe-cleaners to hold her together and I'm keeping everything crossed it survives. After a couple of days during which I sprayed the broken tip with water, I had given up and was preparing to remove it. But after removing the pipe-cleaner I realised it was standing up on it's own and there were signs of new growth. I snipped the remaining dead fan leaves and put the pipe-cleaner back in place. I should rename her Lazarus :)

smoker77 After the trauma of the near-topping last week the Gelato has recovered well and is turning into a beast. She makes the Zkittlez look like a scrawny wretch in comparison. Upped the grow nutrients this week and added flowering nutes towards the end of the week. Got my Epsom salts delivery so used in a foliar spray just before lights out. Took a couple of leaves to help light access the lower budsites. Lots of leaf-tucking and LST as usual. By the end of the week the Gelato looks like its going to completely overtake the tent. Hopefully Zkittlez will finish first so the Gelato can have all the light at the end.

smoker77 The Gelato is filling out nicley, continued with the grow as she continued to stretch. Defoliated to open up the lower budsites, hoping a couple more will pop up to fill in the gaps in the canopy, but it's looking nice and even. She's upped her water intake so now feeding every 3 days instead of 4. Switched back to using Britax filtered water due to my superhard water causing magnesium lockout, so added calmag to compensate. Flowers have formed nicely, just waiting for her to start bulking up :)

smoker77 Disaster after I found out my other plant had hermied and slightly pollinated this plant :( Went on a fit of picking of seeds until I calmed down so probably stunted her for a couple of days. Luckily she's a hardy girl and I'm hoping she's not too badly pollinated, only a few brown pistils on whole plant. Just the slow wait for her to bulk up now.

smoker77 She is starting to fatten up, has a new home in a larger tent, with an upgraded light coming soon. Starting to ice up nicely by the end of the week, and starting to get stinky. She smells divine, can't wait to finally smoke her. Probably 3-4 weeks to go yet.

smoker77 Got my new light this week, so been playing around with the height as I think it was too close to start with. She's slowly starting to fatten up, but still a long way to go.

smoker77 She's slowly fattening up, calyxses have started to grow. Waiting for her to puff up before regularly checking trichs. Had a check at the end of the week and there's still mostly clear trichs.

smoker77 The flowers are swelling up nicely, but slowly. She's still drinking and feeding as normal. Mostly cloudy trichs, but waiting for some amber to appear before I harvest.

smoker77 Well she has been getting fatter and stinkier all week, my tent smells like ice cream, so yummy. Gave her molasses with her last watering a couple of days before the 48 hours of darkness. Will update on harvest when dried and cured. Hoping for a couple of ounces, the buds are nice and dense.

smoker77 The Gelato was a pleasure to grow, I've def caught the bug. Have started another auto and a photo in coco. Yield was better than I expected for a first grow and she tastes great even before the cure. I'll never pay for crap again!!!