Strain Report_ Gold Mine

[ZigZag]

Gold Mine is an awesome strain. Nice frosty buds, large colas, very smooth smoke and very tasty. Doesn't hit hard at the start but kinda sneaks up on you and continues to build. Nice dense buds. Very nice smoke to enjoy with friends. These are nicely proportioned plants and should take well to more aggressive training than I had time to do. This is one I'm going to manifold the next time around.
Big stretch when switched to 12/12. Some pics attached.

[berrypilot]

🌱 Beautiful buds! 🌱

[alltatup]

Yeah, those are perfect buds.

[ZigZag]

They did turn out pretty nice. Good thing is I know I did something right but not sure exactly what that was since I changed my medium a little, got new lights and tried different nutrients. Have the feeling it was a combination of those environmental conditions and not just one. So I'm going to stay with the same medium, lights and nutrients and plant two autos and push them hard to see what happens. I haven't tried autos at 24/7 lighting so am going to this time. Also going to push the nutrients to nearly full strength starting on the third week with light flushing every 3-4 days.. Going to get more aggressive with the lighting and training too_planing to top them once after the fourth node if they look strong then LST, keep watch on everything and back off if I notice signs of excess.
The seedlings are now 7 days "above ground" and are growing more every day. Both of the first single leaves on both of the NYC Sour Diesel Haze seedlings are weird twisted. Which I was concerned about but am now thinking might be a genetic thing since the new leave sets are looking normal and the Blue Cheese has been good from the start. Time will tell.

Medium_coco, perlite, grow stones & worm castings.
Lights_ two VYPRx (total 720 watt power draw, >700 umol/s with a nearly perfect PPFD over the 3x5 grow area.
Nutrients_Advanced Nutrients for coco_veg and bloom.
Strains_NYC Sour Diesel Haze Auto and A blue Cheese Auto.

[alltatup]

I just keep reading over and over, "Less is more" as far as nutrients go.

[ZigZag]

Yeah me too, and thats what I've been doing since my first grow and things have been good. What I'm after this time is to see if I can give them full strength nutrients without toasting them. The grow after this will be the full scale for me_ six adult plants (or legal situation is 6 adults and 6 immature per household) so I want to try this before I start that one. These two auto strains are suppose to be pretty hardy so I'm hoping the single toping won't mess with them too much. I've always just used LST on the autos I've grown so far, as many folks recommended. It will also be a test of whether or not Advanced Nutrients is good with their claim that you can't burn your plants if you give them full strength and follow the program. We'll see. I'll keep posting results as things progress. Thanks!

[berrypilot]

🌱 Just one piece of advice, when I grew autos I feel like they were more sensitive to nutrient burn than photoperiod plants! So that's something to keep in mind. I also noticed that the higher the light levels, the more nutrients the plant would use. So under CFLs I had to give them 1/4-1/2 strength and more would give nutrient burn, but under a 600W HPS most plants do best at 1/2-full strength nutrients. 🌱

[alltatup]

Plus I notice that some of the seed producers actually tell you if the strain is a glut for nutes or if you should go easy. ZigZag, I'll be interested to watch this grow!

[ZigZag]

Thanks_ thats interesting....How many different strains of autos have you done? I've always done autos and photoperiod plants together. Usually two autos and four photoperiod. I did have some issues with a auto blueberry that I grew with other strains and it was more sensitive to light burn and wind burn than the other plants. I've been using different nutrients with every grow so I don't really have any basis for comparison.
The S.A.D. autos I grew recently were less sensitive to light burn but didn't need as strong nutrients as the others. I have also had the same experience with lights levels and nutrients_ more light- they need more nutrients and more water. And they grow faster and larger!
That's why I like quick flushing growing media so I can clean them out a bit with some plain PH water every other watering. Give them as many nutrients as I can_ so I know they are getting all they can use_ and if I overdue it, its easy to correct with the media I'm using since it flushes well with just 3 gallons through a 5 gallon pot.

***Cool_ you gave me an idea_Since I'm just experimenting with this grow and have two plants of the same strain I could put one under more intense light and give it stronger nutrients than the other and see what happens? I'm gonna do that and then we'll have......something more to explore..... kind of a "phase one trial"

Thanks. Once I transplant these girls- probably middle of next week- I'll start the experiment. I think I'll start by giving one plant 3/4 strength and build that to full strength a week or two later if its doing well. I'll also keep lowering the light a little at a time until I start getting signs of excessive light. I'll give the second plant 1/2 strength nutrients and use the same more conservative light heights that I did last time.
This will be fun if nothing else!

[berrypilot]

🌱 I've only grown autos once, and I grew 8 different strains at the same time in a 4x4 tent under a 600W light. Unfortunately I have never grown autos and photos together, so I'm only sort of going by how I 'feel' based on what it seemed like for last grow. I am finally starting to document my grows this time because I feel like there has been so much lost information over the years! I wish I could look at the actual nutrient levels I fed, instead of trying to rely on what I remember....

I LOVE your experiment! I know I am very interested in how it turns out! 🌱

[ZigZag]

Yeah , me too. I just transplanted them today. I'm never going to use those "paper" germinating cups again_ going to stay with plastic from now on. These seedlings were't very large but roots had grown into the bottoms of the cups_ actually into the paper and I had to cut them off to get the cups off. Hoping to see them doing ok in the morning. Since they can't grow into the plastic thats why I'm going to use them next time. I prepped the two pots _ one with full strength nutrients and the other with 1/2 strength. The seedlings were looking like they could use some more nutrients so that should be fine_ we'll see. They just had some worm casting tea since sprouts were planted. I haven't measured my nutrient levels yet either, just check the PH going in and then going out. I try to keep it in the 5.8-6.2 range for the coco, perlite, grow stone and worm castings I'm using. The two I'm giving different nutrient levels to are "New York City Sour Diesel Haze Auto Feminized_ thats some name yes? Anyway, one of them isn't as healthy as the other so we'll see how this goes. I hope they both recover well so I can complete the experiment. The Blue Cheese auto needed more trimming of the roots than the others and I'm kinda worried about it but its been about 4 hrs since and it doesn't look too "shocked" from the transplant.
Keeping my fingers crossed for when I visit with them in the morning!
I used a little extra Hydro Guard and VooDoo Juice and am hoping that will help them develop good roots soon.

[berrypilot]

🌱 I think they will do well! Keep us posted! 🌱

[ZigZag]

Will do_ Thanks for the encouraging words!