Berry Bomb Auto Grow

Growing a single Berry Bomb Auto seed and really excited about it – harvest reportedly happens about 10 weeks from germination. Was going to buy through Seedsman but with Covid postal mailing complications they got overloaded with orders from my country and weren’t taking any more at the time, so I tried going directly to the guys that make the seeds – in this case, Bomb Seeds. This strain is a sativa/indica hybrid with ruderalis bred in for the autoflower trait, with a moderate THC level (15%-20%) and really tasty berry, fruity notes. Since it’s an auto with a quick turnover to harvest, I want to try to get her as big and luscious as possible before it’s time for harvest. To do that I think I want to build up the roots as much as possible – after some research, it seems like focusing on the root system initially will really help make her bigger as she properly veges. After reading other diaries and accounts on growing Berry Bomb Auto, I’m seeing that she responds well to light stress training and tends to grow fast, but isn’t exactly the largest gall in a grower’s tent. Still, I might try my hand at trellis netting – I’m seeing multiple first time growers of this particular strain mention they’d wished they’d done it for their own grows or think it would work well the next time they grow it. I ended up having to try a second seed when the first never germinated, so despite technically starting this process two weeks ago, this diary will start on week 1 of the second seed. 10/13 Started germination in a paper towel wet with filtered water and popped it in a Ziploc bag, then put it in my bathroom with the lights off and a space heater on. I figured nothing would happen tonight but I checked the seed anyway after a few hours, and no signs yet of any change. Because she’s meant to mature so quickly, Berry Bomb Auto is going to be ready before my first two will. So despite being my third seed, she may be my first ever harvest. 10/15 Checked on it this morning and nothing, but this afternoon I found a definite split in the seam. Dope. That means it’s time for me to move into prep stage for planting hopefully tomorrow, but potentially the day after. I decided to do some more prep-work with this one since I want to make the most out of this auto. I’ll be keeping her in a 5 gallon fabric pot from the get-go so she won’t get root bound and I won’t risk setting back growth time by shocking her with a transfer from a smaller pot. Another benefit should be extra aeration to the roots by using fabric – the only downside being that I may need to water a little more often and double check my humidity levels due to speedier rates of evaporation in the grow tent. Another downside is not being able to move the fabric pots or risk shocking or injuring roots, so I set up a plastic pot plate (water-catcher? Whatever the name is lol). That way if she needs to be moved, I can safely do so by holding the plate the pot is on instead. I’m putting her into Fox Farm soil I mixed with a dose Mykos, a pure mycorrhizal inoculant that contains at least 136,000 microbes per pound. It’s apparently a species of beneficial soil fungi that collects and stores both water and nutrients, increasing Berry Bomb Auto’s uptake of both. Since I’m putting her in a fabric pot she’s more likely to dry out, so it’ll help protect her against my noob-level experience while I give this a shot. Once I’m sure the taproot’s ready for transplant to soil, I’ll put a layer of Mykos around the seed itself. This will create a layer of sponge-like material filled with hydration and nutrients, giving the taproot a gentle roundhouse kick of energy to draw from. I put a light dose of cal mag in water and PH’d it before wetting the soil, mixing and fluffing it up to better distribute the moisture and aerate the dirt. I’m letting it just sit until it’s time to move the seed. I plan on watering with just the water/light cal mag until a few nodes have formed, then I’ll alternate the cal mag water and water I mixed with a light dose of veg stage plant food; making sure to PH balance after. 10/19 It’s interesting; the split seems to have widened some but there’s not a whole lot going on. I know it’s way too early to say this honestly, but this seed doesn’t seem right somehow. I couldn’t really tell you why. With my other seeds, once that crack happened the taproot popped out within a few hours – but to be fair I haven’t been as on it with the heat for this seed as I was with the others (which makes me think it’s time to just bite the bullet and get a seed heating-mat…probably one with the temp control/meter if I’m spending money on what is essentially a heated blanket for seeds anyway). Still though, where I live it’s already chilly and the time, attention, and effort I’m spending on my on-and-off heating the bathroom routine is starting to feel silly. 10/18 It’s a bummer, but the seed never really evolved past the cracking point. I finally called it and decided to give my second and only remaining seed a try by putting it in the fabric pot and misting the site before covering it with a bowl to protect the humidity and darkness. I think my other seed was dead on arrival anyway to be honest, and there wasn’t much I could have done with my current level of knowledge and experience. 10/20 I checked on the seed, and it’s already cracked. Misted and covered it, made sure the temperature is in the 70s (F), and now I plan to leave it alone except for misting until I see a sprout coming out of that dirt. Afternoon Update - I know I said I’d leave the seed alone lol, but I ended up checking on it again this anyway. I’m happy to report that the taproot has come out though, so hopefully I’ll see the first sign of sprouting tomorrow. For now, I’m just continuing to mist the dirt and keep the bowl on it to preserve humidity levels, however I’ll probably take it off tomorrow so that when the sprout finally pops through she’ll have immediate access to light. I’ll do a second misting tonight, but starting tomorrow I’ll up that number to three times a day since I’ll be taking off the bowl and the exposed dirt will dry out quicker. 10/21 I can see the seed pushing up out of the dirt a tiny bit, but not a whole lot of growth so far. Maybe it’s just a strain thing? Maybe a trait particular to autos? The Berry Bomb Auto seeds were free with purchase – it’s possible they’re being offered because they’re part of a batch of seeds a little on the older side? Regardless of why, I just hope it’s not eating into my preciously limited vegetation period. I only have three or four weeks before the plant starts to flower, and if she’s spending one of those weeks struggling just to sprout properly then it’ll be a bit of a bummer. 10/22 Finally sprouted! Cotyledons are looking a bit small and curled right now, but they’re at least green. I’m just guestimating, but I’d say it’s a ½ in tall or so. 10/23 Cotyledons are already curling and stem is getting longer with a very tiny growth in the secondary leaves. Brought my LED light closer to Berry Bomb Auto to see if that helps curb too much stem length right now. Gave her a light misting, with only a second one tonight since the curling in the coytledons is a sign that it has access to a little too much water right now. 10/27 Just been keeping up the misting twice a day with PH balanced water, keeping temp at about 72-73 degrees F (about 22 degrees C), air circulation is good and temp is about 60%. I rotate her and my other grows twice a day. I did water the outer area of dirt as well as put water directly into the runoff plate to let it absorb through the bottom of the fabric pot to keep the Mykos I put in the dirt hydrated. They’ll be a dope source of little vitamin pockets for the roots as Berry Bomb Auto gets older. The cotyledons have stopped curling an the first set of secondary leaves came in yesterday with just a peak of the next set coming up already. The stem’s growth is continuing but much more slowly so she can get a little more thicc in the stem to support herself. This morning it was dope to find that the secondary leaves doubled in size overnight. This rapid veg is so satisfying to watch lol.