Mephisto AvT

Starting from seed 02.11.2018 – 02.17.2018 Week 1 Day 1-7 7 feminized seeds 1 gal distilled water, 1/8tsp Superthrive, 1/4tsp Liquid Karma Scarified and put them in a plastic cup of the liquid on the router for warmth Seeds have all started to show root but still floating. A gentle tap to break surface tension and down they went to the bottom of the cup. Put all 7 into starter pots (50/50 coco/perlite with a sprinkle of Mycorrhiza in the depression for the seed) and watered lightly with the starter mixture. They're under the 270w 5000K Quantum boards. End of Week 1 and all 7 have sprouted but 1 doesn't look like it'll make it Continued watering with the starter mix

02.18.2018 – 02.24.2018 Week 2 Day 8-14 Switch the nutrients to 1/3 strength Jacks with a little Rhizo Blast and Liquid Karma. Sprouts are looking healthy.

02.25.2018 – 03.03.2018 Week 3 Day 15-21 The 6 sprouts that made it are 3” tall and growing nicely with good color. Nutrients are 50% Jacks 3-2-1 with a little Rhizo Blast

03.04.2018 – 03.10.2018 Week 4 Day 22-28 Switched to full Jack's 3-2-1, re-potted to the 4 gal hempys and moved to the veg tent with the 4200K CMH. Growth is accelerating nicely … the plants have doubled this week. Should be time to start LST soon Using this grow for a side by side comparison of the Botanicare Readygro Moisture product and my regulat 50/50 coco /perlite mix. I'm perfectly happy with the 50/50 mix, but washing perlite in the New England winter is way down on my list of things to do. So 3 of the AvTs are in each medium. It should be interesting.

Week 5 Day 29-35 At 8-10” starting the week, there's enough height to start LST. Pipe cleaners and safety pins rock !! With a 10 week growth cycle I hadn't expected to see flower formation this early. Looks like I'll have to move to the flower tent sooner than planned. Finally got the irrigation redone in the autoflower tent and moved the AvT to their new home. As part of the move I re-did the LST … there was too much stress on the main stem and the plants were leaning so I added some support to keep the base of the plant upright while continuing the LST on the opposite side. Looks like a couple of different phenos but they're all looking lush an healthy and responding well to the LST and the COB fixture.

Week 6 Day 36-42 I can now identify 3 specific phenos. There are 2 that a very indica leaning … short and very dense vegetation. There are 3 sativa leaning phenos that are taller with more delicate, airier leaves, and 1 that looks like it's 50/50. I've very curious how the cured material will compare. The tips of the sativa phenos are quite delicate. Tried moving the LST ties closer to the tops and 2 snapped … 1 was “tapeable” the other was a loss. Flower and trichome production is ramping up and I think all of the plants are going to be great producers,

Week 7 Day 43-49 The height is a bit misleading since the plants have been LST'd and supercropped ! As the plants mature, it's become pretty clear that somewhere in the supply chain, 2 non AvT seeds got into the mix. The 2 “indica leaning phenos” I referenced last week are so different from the other 4 plants that I've come to the conclusion that they're not AvT at all. Sent a note to the seed bank and I'm going to poke Mephisto as well. Not big deal, but I'd like to get what I order. Continued a bit of supercropping and thinning the fan leaves for light penetration … aside from the mystery strain issue all 6 plants seem to be developing well.

Week 8 Day 50-56 Starting to see some serious bud development. Defoliating is becoming an almost daily event … these girls like to show their fan leaves. I did a major trim of the mystery plants … if anyone can figure out what they are I'd love to know. The mystery plants are super dense. Most of the upper leaves aren't the traditional 5 leaf phyllotaxy. They're very dark green and have only 1 to 3 leaves. There are some pictures at the end of the photos for the week. Looks like the grow will go 9 – 10 weeks based on bud development. Even the fan leaves are getting sticky. Overall, genetic mysteries not withstanding … I think this strain is going to be a winner.

Week 9 Day 57-63 Starting to look like a real jungle here in the auto tent. All 4 of the AvTs are budding up nicely. I've continued defoliating to get air and light to the interior of the plants and it seems to be paying off. Heard from Mephisto … they agree the 2 mystery plants aren't AvT but no one has any idea how they got mixed in. I've gone through the 2017 catalog and it looks like they might be 24 carat. Last day of the week and all 4 have been heavily defoliated to allow for light and air penetration. Once I got enough fan leaves out of the way I could see the impressive bud structure. Nice strain.

Week 10 Day 64-70 Nothing much to do at this point but watch the ripening process and wait for the right time to start the flush … I'm thinking the end of this week will be about right but the trichomes will govern that. The pheno with the most sativa like characteristics looks to be about a week behind her sisters :) Day 68 and it's time to start flushing the 24 Carats and 1 of the AvTs. There's a similar AvT that looks like it should be ready for flush early next week. The Sativa looking plants will be a bit longer.

I suppose that this week is really more of a pre-harvest than a flower week. Finishing up the flush. Spread out the AvTs as much as possible to get light into the dense center of the plant. These are going to be a bitch to trim … even with my “salad spinner”.

—