4th grow - AK x Critical Mass (Auto) - HARVESTED

vegetato · December 7, 2019, 5:11am

This will be the 2nd attempt at growing this strain in grobo, applying lessons learned from last grow plus a bit of experimentation.

Before tuck (2 days ago):

After Tuck (yesterday):

She was topped but something appears to be growing anyway (bonus!):

DAY 35: Transition (Day 11 /14) (today):

My prior grow of this strain around day 35 for comparison:
20190928_1919164032×2268 1.75 MB
- That one 2 months later:
  20191206_1748022016×1512 2.46 MB

I’m thinking if all goes well this one is going to be a beast. Haven’t had to look at the roots/res at all, no discoloration of leaves etc…

SilverGrobo · December 9, 2019, 3:01pm

@vegetato,

Huge difference in comparison:

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Hazy_Hoose · December 11, 2019, 10:41pm

This is exactly what I was looking for, thanks @vegetato

vegetato · December 17, 2019, 5:29am

DAY 45: Flowering (Day 4 /32)

Gave her an extra few days in transition after the lollipop and am not certain if she’s actually started flowering yet or should be shifted back for a bit longer. To be honest it’d be nice if the growth stopped before there’s no room left for a bit of flower stretch!

Bplatinum9 · December 17, 2019, 2:00pm

I see you’ve reached the second fan, now would be a good time to flip to the next stage or you may run out of room to finish your grow!

vegetato · December 17, 2019, 6:54pm

@Bplatinum9 she’s an autoflower

Bplatinum9 · December 17, 2019, 8:02pm

Everybody loves autos!!! I have to try one next grow.

vegetato · December 17, 2019, 8:37pm

@Bplatinum9 the main appeal I find in autos is the potential frequency of harvest.

On one hand, two photoperiod grows per year could yield some amount of bud but will be limited to the size of the grobo - I wouldn’t expect to get a whole pound by any means and based on the averages seen here (around 2oz upper limit). So the expectation would be somewhere around 4oz per year running photo strains if all goes well, potentially a bit more if everything goes exceptionally well. I really doubt it’d be possible to finish 3 photo grows in 1 year in the same unit unless flipping early and stunting.

On the other hand, three autoflower grows per year does seem achievable. If the expectation is that each of those will yield about an ounce, that would be a potential of about 3oz per year. Now, if everything goes exceptionally well it won’t take 4 months per plant, and there is a potential to get 3-4 grows within a year.

My logic in this case is - do I want to roll the dice twice per year or 3-4x? My current goal is to learn and understand the autoflower variety and ideally try to get 2oz out of each of these to maximize my total overall yield for the year.

Bplatinum9 · December 17, 2019, 9:10pm

Growing fem photo doesn’t stop you from harvesting every 3 to 3 1/2 months, so that’s 3-4 grows a year. 3 - 41/2 oz a year.
If you can get 2oz from an auto than that would be the plant to grow!

James · December 17, 2019, 9:25pm

Autos mature faster

You can still flip a photo to flower pretty quickly and pretty close to the same time period. Imo it’s simply personal preference. All types of stuff you can do to trick your plant to produce faster indoors like start with 12/12 and then a few weeks in flip to 11/13 on/off tricking the plant to think winters upon it and end early. On the flip side of this coin imo you’ll always get a larger harvest from photos. I don’t see a lot of huge auto trees, so I see Vegs point. Limited in space, limit the time.

To each their own

vegetato · December 17, 2019, 9:31pm

We used to flip them early outdoors (cover with contractor-style garbage bag) and the yield always suffered.

I do think the autos have a better chance at a higher yield in this case due to the extended period of light they’re permitted (18 hrs during veg & flower).

Will have to experiment after the next few grows to know for certain.

James · December 17, 2019, 10:19pm

I don’t have much experience with autos, but If it’s a race to knock as many out in a year as possible in the grobo; upon researching some strains can be 6-8 week harvests post germination. You might be able to knock 5-6 out a year would be pretty awesome.

@vegetato this may interest you;

Probably picking similar stuff up already

Germ outside of the grobo could further speed this process up. Maybe even in a solo cup in the grobo nearing the end of one cycle:wink: & transplant. Less hassle, no extra work as far as training, a mostly predetermined yield, makes sense. Dry outside of the unit as well* “Speed growing with vegetato” I’d watch it

vegetato · January 4, 2020, 6:49pm

DAY 54: Flowering (Day 13/32)
Got a few pictures on Christmas day, have been slowly lollipopping the bottom foliage away while tucking the top to expose the bud sites to light.

DAY 59: Flowering (Day 18/32)

Went away for the weekend and returned to this mess of growth. Some buds and some leaves hit the light causing them to dry out and had to be cut off entirely.

DAY 64: Flowering (Day 23/32)

Lowered the canopy a bit and pushed the cocopod down by a centimeter or so. Will be bending those last ones down after she’s recovered from the ones that were bent already. Also reduced temps by about 10°F which seems to be preventing any more of the tops from drying out.

Always try to tuck leaves upward or from being pinched when closing the door:

vegetato · January 22, 2020, 11:54pm

DAY 82: Flowering (Day 41/53)

Most of the fan leaves have been trimmed. She’s starting to bulk up quite nicely. Still may need to add more time to flower at this rate.

Russel_Richardson · January 23, 2020, 5:24pm

Wow she’s dense eh? And real tall, lookin good!

vegetato · January 31, 2020, 12:10pm

DAY 90: Flowering (Day 49/53)

Bent one of the colas down underneath because it was still getting too close to the light and was also blocking some of the light from reaching neighboring buds. It’s hard to tell from the pic but the bud is fairly large as well.