It is probably a good time to bring this up since Purple Rose has these bad boys on a 4/20 sale price
I had previously mentioned that I would try to explain why any given cultivar is in the grow and this cannagar mold is the reason Strawberry Cough is in the line-up. It is pretty simple - Strawberry Cough is low THC - at 15% it isn’t especially powerful. These cannagars can burn for 45-75 minutes and I might last for a solid 10 minutes with a weaker strain.
Aside from that, I’ve always read good things about the strain. I had the seeds before I had the mold, but the mold really sealed the deal.
Hey TD… Looks like your babies are off and running… are you planting to shallow maybe? the stemming over is weird, usually a sign of over watering.
easy to do is smaller pots. But I just don’t like up potting babies. just me.
Do you have fans on them from day 1 making them slightly flutter… ? probably do as we all do but it’s key to building that stem strength early on… Pa-Nature taught me a big lesson with that… changed my veg game doubling my fans.
I used to use twisted bread ties with a loop on one end to support the plant until it can build up more strength…
OH… silica. helps build up the cell walls… go get em man
Are you running the clone? Mine was tested at 19% and I have it on good authority that it’s possible to get 25% from that clone. Either way, I find it as good as the top 20% of other stuff I’ve grown.
That would be spot on. They were standing in 1/4" of water. The roots were floating in it. I haven’t grown them like this before, but it seems ok thus far.
They get the fan action after the transplant. I am burying about 2" of the stem when I transplant them, so the initial stretch is negated. In the past, I would invariably have a seedling develop wind burn problems even with an oscillating fan, so I am trying to get them to the tent where less direct agitation can be done.
Funky - I didn’t know you could use silica as an nutritional aide. I will give that a look. Thanks for the tip!
This plant is in the tent as a nod to trying one of the top cultivars of a notable breeder. I selected Fastbuds over other upper-end vendors because they provided a lot of information about their plants.
This plant specifically is here because it won the Autoflower World Cup in 2023. I removed a cultivar from my cart that I may have preferred and decided to get something that I would have otherwise not tried - Tropicana Cookies. I believe that a little bit of chaos or randomness in life is a good thing, so this is also in keeping with a willingness to try new things and experiment.
In the past, I’ve studiously avoided both cookie and skittles strains and have not tried any of the many varieties. This is my cookie representative. In the past, I avoided these sorts of strains because they sounded gimmicky and perhaps they are, but hopefully in a good way.
Of the plants in the tent, I have the highest expectations for the Fastbuds gear. They have the most hype and they are the most expense seeds of this grow. If they don’t perform at or near the top of the curve, it will be a bit of a disappointment. I don’t know if this is fair or not, but I expect these seedlings to do well and to deliver as much as anything else in the tent.
I haven’t grown that particular strain, but I’ve grown a few other Fastbuds autos. Comparing them with Mephisto, the other autos I grow a lot of - Fastbuds have been more vigorous and less prone to stunting.
I have Jammy Dodgers in the mix, but it is an F2 created by a 3rd party. It hasn’t stretched and has put up the thickest looking stem of the grow.
Update-wise, all of the seedlings have now been transplanted to the half-gallon pots. I expect them to stay in those pots for the next 2 weeks or so at which time they’ll be moved to their final containers. Tomorrow is the one week mark and I’ll get some photos posted to mark their growth. Nothing exciting, but it is nice to see them starting to pick-up some speed.
Both Beast Mode and Gabagoo are regs (I started 4 of each) and I’d really like to avoid potting them up until I had a gender reveal. I’ve heard that happens around 21 to 28 days, so that will be right around the time I hope to move them.
Oh yeah, we’re on to a 19/5 lighting schedule. I am running it by hand at the moment - I plan on moving the tent over the next week or two and I’ll get the timers set once I’ve unplugged and replugged all the electrical bits.
I ALWAYS start my Autos in 1gal Orchid pots and they remain there for about 3wks until sexed, then I up pot them one time into 3gal felt pots… the worse thing you can do with an auto is start it in a small container like a solo cup or anything smaller then 1gal.
It has something to do with restricting the tap root early on an auto… they do not like it can usually results in stunting your plant… been at Autos since 2005 and have tested everything to find what works…
As mentioned, Beast Mode and Gabagoo are regular seeds, so I’ve planted 4 of each hoping to assure at least 1 fem plant per group of 4.
There are not any plants that I am unhappy with. I have the lighting at 75%, but it is up pretty high - I will drop it another 8" for tomorrow or so and see how they handle it. I am trying really hard not to burn any of them.
Here is a little table that I use…
The probability of at least 1 female plant:
1 seed: 50%
2 seeds: 75%
3 seeds: 87.5%
4 seeds: 93.75%
If I wasn’t going to make this post, I probably would have stuck with just 3 seeds.
Today I moved 3 of the gals from 1/2 gallon pots and into 3 gallon fabric pots. Strawberry Cough, Tropicana Cookies, and Amnesia Zkittlez got moved.
I measured soil out with a 1 gallon pot, 3 scoops of my blend. It left me about 2"-2.5" from the top of the cloth pot, so I have room for top dressing later - or I can do an emergency fill if the stem needs lasting support. Regardless, these 3 gallon fabric pots are probably closer to 4 gallon in capacity, because they took the 3 scoops PLUS the half gallon container and still have ample room.
As I hoped, the plants and medium slid easily out of the 1/2 gallon pots and transferred gingerly into the cloth pots. The roots were all the way to the bottom and visible all around the sides, so I think that I am moving at the right time.
Alright, here are the 2 week photos and the seedlings have beefed up quite a bit. I suspect that the week 3 photos will be photos of young plants - a bit too developed to call seedlings.
One of the Gabagoo’s is probably the largest plants right of the seedlings from this grow. It amuses me because this cultivar will probably be the smallest in the tent - it’s quick to get small. These are reg seeds, and I moved them up into 1 gallon pots yesterday. There is a fair chance that I may not ever move them out of the smaller pot.
GG#4 is looking good in a 3 gallon fabric bag. The goal for the bags is to get them onto a wick feeding device, but I can’t do that until their roots grow for another 2 weeks - they will need to reach the moist soil at the bottom of the bag.
Here is a group shot of most of the seedlings. Pure Michigan is outdoors in a 1 gallon container. Beast Mode will likely go out over the coming week since they are destined to grow under the sky and stars.
Of these, Beast Mode seems to be the most mild mannered and up to this point it would be my recommendation for an auto to someone new to growing. That may change as time passes, but the 4 of them are fairly uniform, they’ve not needed support, and they are laying down a really nice root system.
The only negative to report is that there is a lot of stretching going on and a few strains have had wire supports added in order to keep their tender leaves off of the soil. The tent has plenty of light and a good breeze to strengthen stems, but they are stacking leaves and fighting to stay up.
EDIT: There is a slight chance that the next week will have some of genders identified for the regs, but I think that will happen between weeks 3 and 4 (21 to 28 days). I am looking forward to thinning down to a single female for both Gabagoo and Beast Mode. A couple of my neighbors will benefit from the spares.
I can’t really tell the gender - it just isn’t developed far enough yet, though maybe some of you have more confidence in calling it male/female right now.
One variety has gone outdoors - Pure Michigan automatic. She really slowed down growth by comparison, but it is no surprise as she is dealing with less light, stronger winds, and a colder environment.
One of the Beast Mode plants, when closely examined, appears as though it has a deficiency of one sort or another. It also was far and away the poorest transplant - it is the only one where the root ball basically fell apart. I find it really interesting that it would appear as though it had a nutrient problem - maybe it is having trouble picking up what it needs because I flubbed the transplant.
I also fed them for the first time 2 days ago. It mixed a gallon of 1-34-32 sold as ‘Flower Fuel.’ I then added an extra gallon of water and fed the plants a 0-17-16 mix. No sign of a nute burn, so I guess that will be what I feed moving forward.
I anticipate knowing the gender of most of the reg plants by next week, but I could be wrong. I also think that the next 3 weeks will be very productive for the autos, with a lot of changes happening very quickly. Something like 8-10" of growth a week for the next 3 weeks.
I love it when I think of a neat trick like that and someone else somewhere that I’ve never met came up with the same hack!
Pvc cutters are perfect! Super sharp always and open to any size for massive gnarly stalk chopping.
I’ve got 4 others growing both the Beast Mode and Gabagoo and Gabagoo Purps reporting and showing off good things so don’t give up on them bro… I think you up pot to soon vs waiting for them to show sex first. Stressing young babies with an early transplant should always be avoided. Photos have a much longer veg period and can recover from this stress where Autos just sometimes don’t do well… why I tend to start mine in 1gal pots until sexing, then into 3…
Keep pushing them and be sure to give them calmag weekly as they do much better… good luck brother
I think that they are doing fine, Carty. The Gabagoo’s and Beast Modes are in 1 gallon pots and the (now) larger plants are in 3 gallon bags. As far as transplant shocks goes, one of the Beast Modes had a rougher time than any of the other plants, but seems to have recovered and is as tall as her sisters.
