SDMN2 Blueberry Auto (1st FIM)

So I watched my first Blueberry Auto from Seedsman shoot up and get a foot tall in a couple of weeks so I decided to use this strain to give the ol' FIM technique a try. Familiar with topping from my OGK manifold that I am about to chop. I have no HST experience at all with autos and I always want to experiment so I'm gonna kill two birds with this one and pop my FIM and auto HST cherries at once. This one seems to be having a slower start which would be my luck but we shall see....

Just as I suspected something was holding this little one back from growing like her sister. She had another slow week and that really concerns me as the other Blueberry has already shown pistils barely into week 4. I've kept temps up and the others are still vegging but no not this stain. This is a disappointing turn for both grows potentially since the veg on this strain is non existent it can't possibly compete with the yield of the other autos or really have time to boost yield with FIM. Idk and idc anymore. They were free... have fun...we shall see...

I have been having a little streak of bad luck in the last week. My cat did some HST on my Critical Thunder which actually didn't die. Then just as she FIMmed this one my wife discovered an infestation of gnats in her soil so I ended up making her a new pot and using coco instead of soil. I swear I'm done with soil because it always has pests no matter the brand. Went ahead and hit everybody with the need oil since I am not transplanting all my autos. Went ahead and got my DNA OG#18 in its 9 gallon pot and prepared the empty half of my tent for a new auto run. Anyways I gotta say this is a vigorous strain as its doing better now after a FIM and transplant in the same day. It was literally back on track in 6 hours and growing much faster than before. After a slow start it may have a big finish but we shall see...

So after the FIM turned transplant and neem oil bath last week she's been recovering mostly. Some slight bushing but straight back to vertical growth. Not sure if I did the technique wrong or if its just that vigorous of a strain. All I can say is that she is much much shorter than her sister was at this point regardless of the FIM. This one just wasn't as good a performer as the last one. Oh well, I'll smoke her all the same. Gonna start a new Fastbuds run so I'm gonna just let this girl sit in the middle of the tent and grow toward whatever light it likes best. This was just an experiment so I'm not really bummed by the prospect of a tiny yield but we shall see...

Okay guys, so this plant was soooo small after a month compared to her sister and with the FIM she took 2 weeks longer to show pistils which she just did this morning. This strain is adaptive as it just grows however it wants for the environment. The 5 gal got huge but flowered after only 3 weeks while the FIMmed one in the 2 gal never got big but waited over a month to flower most likely due to recovery from the HST and impromptu transplant the same day. Luckily this is a hardy strain or it wouldn't still be alive. I've pretty much put her on the back burner with no designated light just in the middle of the tent catching stray rays from 4 different lights all 3 feet away. Gonna be small but its cute almost like a toy plant. No LST or anything just gonna let it do the natural thing to try and get closer to light. I mainly wanted to observe HST on autos firsthand and watch its recovery for future reference with better suited strains. Not concentrated on a big yield here. Just started a new FastBuds grow 2 seeds each of 3 strains. May do Top vs FIM side by sides or maybe one of each under different lights. Definitely gonna be some sort of competition or experiment as usual but we shall see. New dairies are coming tomorrow. No more soil and liquid nutes. Straight up amended coco from now on. May even do a Dr. Earth vs Happy Frog fertilizer comparison. So many possibilities...

Sooo, I just dont have my heart in this update today. I lost a monster plant this week 😫 and it wasn't anything that was done wrong. My cat killed it to be vindictive. She got tired of me kicking her out of her sunny spot in the room so she hid in there overnight and literally climbed in the plant and tried to poop. Like wtf?!? Its like she killed the magic of growing altogether with that Wedding Cheesecake plant and I can barely find the will to even water the others. My heart just isn't in it right now. I used to be ridiculously excited about my plants and now I'm just like meh.... its like a death in the family that'll take awhile to get over... As for this girl she's still like a toy but I boosted her up and she's liking being close to the lights. Not gonna be a yielder which I already knew but at least she has the chance to make it to harvest. Topdressed this week also with a 50/50 mix of 2 tbsp each AP and F&F. Other than that nothing much to report. Wish I could trade this for my WCC back....

She continues to grow steadily with no sign of deficiencies anywhere like I had with her much larger sister who was a closet potassium fiend. I feel like this smaller structure may end up with denser nugs which is always a plus. As always we shall see...

I finally see how the FIM affects growth. She didn't get very tall but every square inch of this plant is budsites as well as having a pretty even canopy. So all in all I suppose this was a success. I learned this strains feeding habits with the first round and was able to stay ahead of any deficiencies so far. I can actually say that this strain has been a pleasure to grow. Just adding water as necessary so basically one more amendment late next week and then cruise control from there. We shall see...

Wow so this plant is gonna be a solid bud before its over with. While the other pheno stretched out even under heavy LST this FIMmed one bushed out with no additional effort after the pinch. Literally set it and forget it. Well maybe not as I still had to amend once more with a bloom heavy ratio as we are flowering in earnest. Still super happy and healthy without a deficiency in sight. Love this little gal! Hope to use this coco/peat mix from now on with my autos as the results of my fist organic coco grow have been less than stellar. Honestly I am a bit embarrassed by how drastic of a difference there is so I'm going back to using soilless peat mix in a 50/50 ratio with coco/perl like in this baby since it has worked splendidly with all dry amendments I've added. Gonna eventually find my perfect medium. Getting super close but we shall see...

She exploded this week. Holy shit the colas on this thing are gonna be from trunk to tip solid. FIM was definitely the way to go since this one may have a comparable yield to the 3 footer that was LST'd in a 4 gallon pot while this is a 2 gallon pot. I can't believe the production that I've gotten from these freebies. I would've never given this strain a second look when I have so many Cookies and Glues and exotic strains to choose from yet this classic has had time to become very stable thus allowing peak performance from every bean. Kudos Seedsman for these genetics...

Basically on cruise control now. This life cycle doesn't warrant another top dressing so I'm just watering here and there and watching her do her thing. Packing on weight nicely and really filling out. Starting to show a tiny bit of fade so it shouldn't be too long now. We shall see...

Did a serious round of pretty heavy defoliation. Overnight she just started dropping leaves left and right so I went ahead and got rid of all the older large fan leaves and she responded by densing up so it was the right move.

I know my updates are late and off date but its been hectic with my real world business I run and the staggered harvest i have going on. Every three days another plant goes in the dark pre chop so by Christmas I should have the entire first run finished. This baby is on autopilot and is smelling and fading nicely. She'll probably get another week and it'll be a wrap. We shall see...

I definitely see how FIMming affects yield now and when forced to use small pots in a small space it is worth using. I see potential in combination with LST. This was a valuable grow experience that ended with a very respectable yield. Back soon with some new organic testers...