Strain report_S.A.D. auto (sweet afghani delicious)

[ZigZag]

This is the most potent auto I've grown and also the smallest plant ever. neither of the two got taller than 18". But they were very bushy with extremely short internodes. I was concerned that the harvest was going to be much smaller than it was. The plants were almost all dense colas, very little popcorn. Being so short probably helped them to fill out with just light LST. The taste is like being in a pine forest, earthy_ like after a rain shower_ but sweet like pines on a warm summer day. Good overall stone that fades fairly soon to couch lock_ definitely Indica dominant. This would be a great strain for someone looking for those characteristics in a short, fast growing auto flowering strain. Some pics follow.

[Green75]

Looks great...

[berrypilot]

🌱 Nice! I've never grown it but I smoked S.A.D. (what a strange name!) from a dispensary and it was great! Your plant looks like an advertisement for the strain! Not going to lie, it makes me want to grow it next time I grow autos The buds just look pretty. They belong on the top shelf!

If you don't mind me asking, did you do any training, and what was your grow light/setup/nutrients? Was this the only plant in this grow or did you grow it with others? 🌱

[ZigZag]

It did turn out really nice. Taste is very pine scented, a little stronger on one plant than the other. No idea why. I just tried some from a different jar and it is stronger than the first one and the buds are even sticker.

Here's the grow specs:___
Grow medium: coco, perlite, worm castings, grow stones. In a previous grow I just used the grow stones as a bottom layer to assist drainage. That seemed to work well so this time I mixed them into the medium as well (when saturated they "hold" about 40-50% air and water). I'm going to stick with that mix on the grow I just started. For nutrients I used the Advanced Nutrients for coco- they have a veg and flower mix. They were expensive but we're going to get two harvests from them_producing about 12 plants in 3-5 gallon smart pots.

Lights: My space is 3x5'. A friend showed me some lights he had that were 4"x4" square and four feet long_VYPRx. They draw 320 watts, provide the most even PPFD of any LED's I've looked at over a 4'x2' area. They also produce 720 mol/s at 24'. And produce a white light (no pink color_you see real color, but you do need sunglasses cuz they are so bright). I have the two lights hanging so there is a foot between them and the walls on each side. Together the two lights in that space provide a very even and bright footprint. I've heard that 600-1000 umol/s is the best for growing weed. I have no way to measure the umol/s in my space buts its definitely in the 900-1000 range.
The downside is they are expensive, I got mine second hand because the owner was commercial and upgraded to the VYPRx Plus which is way more than I need. He uses a series of these over the grow areas. They also have heat sinks so no built in fans are needed. However in my tight space I have to use fans to cool it as well as replenish air supply. They have a bunch of other lighting setups too.

The last grow I did_ the Ayahuasca Purple and Gold Mine with the S.A.D. produced better than any before.
I didn't do much training because I had a harvest deadline. With the S.A.D. I just used light LST. These plants were so short and bushy that I was afraid to do much so just spread out the branches as much as I dared. With the Ayahuasca and Gold Mine I toped them once and then used LST. These two are photoperiod and I didn't want to slow them down more than a few days. Regardless of the small amount of training all three produced very well- The S.A.D. auto produced almost two ounces of dried, trimed, and cured bud. The Gold Mine and Ayahuasca produced almost 4 oz per plant. These two would take well to more extensive training and have branches that give them a "candelabra" like shape and they stretch pretty well so the training will keep their height down a bit.

We just started an all auto grow (haven't done that before) with a short seed to harvest time and am going to push it real hard to see what they can take. Going to use the same medium above and start with 24/7 light. Use the same nutrients but at 1/2-full strength (instead of the 1/4-1/2 strength used previously). I'm going to top them once if they look healthy they will recover quickly. Plan is to flush lightly with PH water only every second watering and between very change in nutrients or schedule. Strains are NYC Sour Diesel Haze Auto and Blue Cheese Auto. Right now they are 6 days old are are just showing the third set of leaves. The first real single leaves on both of the NYC Sour Diesel Haze are weird and twisted but the first set of 3 look good on each so I'm just gonna keep a watch on them. The Blue Cheese is fine but a bit slower growing. I had a blueberry auto that did the same thing and when asked was told it was a genetic thing and it would get back to normal soon. They were right.

Hope that helps! cuz I think I'm approaching couch lock!

[berrypilot]

🌱 That is an AMAZING write-up! I can't wait to see your next grow! I just checked out your purple plant and it is a beauty! 🌱

[ZigZag]

Yeah, the Ayahuasca Purple is one of my top three out of the dozen strains I've done so far. Thanks for the kind comments! This next grow is an experimental one so I can finalize my plan for the following larger crop. The S.A.D. Auto is the strongest hitting auto I've grown and very sticky_even after 8 weeks in the jars. Cheers!