The Great Auto Showdown

[SirSmksAlot]

So I've been contemplating doing a big defol on my fruit punch auto that I'm guessing has about 3 weeks till harvest. I'd like to see if I can get the buds to continue fattening up. Would this cause too much stress for an auto or have any of you had any luck with aomething like this?

[Spidermite]

Depends on how many leaves are left and if you have already exposed all bud sites. You didnt post a current pic so I cant say honestly.

[Canuck147]

Yeah - I second that.

[SirSmksAlot]

Here's a, current pic

[SirSmksAlot]

I honestly don't know when she'll be ready. It's a 95 day strain and it's day 90 give or take a few. I topped it so I'm assuming that will add approximately two weeks. I'm still feeding her as per my nutrient schedule. The trichomes are mostly cloudy. I think I'm going to take your advise and do a light defol and see what I can open up.

[Juicyj89]

Oh okay. Well you’re probably right then. But yeah if you do just go slow and work inside out

[Spidermite]

If you can expose lower buds remove just those leaves.

[MmmHmmml3]

Yes, seeds!! Unknown Auto + Northern Lights Special male.

*edit*

Smells so good drying right now. Hoping to keep at least 25-30% weight. I think it looks like a lot for only weighing 50g and then keeping only 15% seems low. Plant was outdoors 93f and not watered the last 2 days. Some of these buds are just so fat and swollen like peas.

I imagine most of you have a precise system you have followed a while now, but did you notice a decent variance in the amount of weight lost drying depending on when exactly you harvest and if the plant was not watered the last couple days?

[oldjarhead100]

I lose 75 percent of weight in the drying rack , I dont know if drying plant while still growing , I found these net things (for putting over food when outside) and they hold 100 grams just fine ,when the 100 gets to 25/30 percent they are ready for jars

[9fingerleafs]

those seeds look inmature

[MmmHmmml3]

I had to rush em so they might not be fully developed, but others that sat a few extra days were darker.

[Spidermite]

I misspoke on the plant I harvested the other day. The one a few posts back was Fast Buds GSC. This is the Fast Buds Six Shooter. About twice the yield as the GSC but it is no where near as sticky as the GSC.

[Spidermite]

I dry them in a hanging rack. When the outside of the buds start to feel overdry they are usually around 70 to 72% humidity. I then slow the process down by starting the cure in bins with buds about an inch or 2 deep. I turn them a few times a day. I like to try to keep them in the bins and rack a total of 10 days or more. The reason is to prevent loss of the terpenes. I try to keep the room temp about 68 degrees with humidity between 50 and 60. Makes a huge difference in the smell, taste, and the high you get.

As long as I've done this I still have not completely figured out the perfect drying and curing. Each batch I adjust and am still getting better. But I do not aim for fast drying. I want them to dry as slow as possible without encountering mold.

[MmmHmmml3]

What is the curing in bins, can you elaborate? Is it the same to just use an open container for a week between cure and drying? My bud drying now has a very strong fruit punch smell. I purposely left more to air cure vs water because I want to keep the terpenes of this one. Cut into smaller pieces and put on mesh rack 18 inches from a 6 inch fan on low last night.

I put my buds in brown paper bags with one fold on top and a clothespin to keep it shut. If the room is 50%rh then it usually takes about 5days ,60% = 6days and so on.
Then I jar them with hygros and burp daily to 62%-64% ... Then if you can let em go for another 8weeks in jars , they will be the dankiest buds ever.

[Spidermite]

Ok to bin cure, which is the way all major growers start the cure, you put them in plastic bins, cardboard boxes with tops, etc etc. You do this when they are getting close to the 70% moisture rating. Just take your buds and put them in you bin, they make them for just this purpose. I use cardboard boxes at home. You put a humidity meter in the bin and keep up with the humidity. You turn them at least twice a day if you are 2 inches deep, at one inch maybe once a day. You keep them in an environment that is cool, I like 68 degrees and about 60% humidity. I open and close the tops if they dry to fast or open of they dry to slow.

When the humidity is around a constant 62% I then Jar and burp as normal. I am still experimenting so maybe ask someone else like Obi-Wanwho I think does it close to the same way.

[Spidermite]

Thank you for explaining it much better than I could Obi-Wan. When I started doing it the way you explain the aroma(terpenes) were just so much stronger and better. You end up with a much much better end product.

[Obi-Wan]

Spidermite I couldn’t agree with you more. It’s really the best thing I’ve changed since I started growing and it’s the one thing that I feel like makes my buds better than what I could get at the dispensaries. I always felt like their buds were dry and tasteless, and in the beginning so were mine. This is the process that changed all of that for me.

[ocgreen]

Great info as always. Thanks Spidermite and Obi-Wan

[Retodd]

Little early, but chopped 2 grapefruit and dug out a ton of rot. Family is in this weekend, so took 1-1/2 hrs for three of us to go through and trim it all. Wish I owned a autotrimmer for the rest...lol. Longest bud was about 12”.
🙏🏼✌🏻

[SoOrbudgal]

A good coating of Cheeto fingers helps to keep the "sticky" off the fingers when trimming

[oldjarhead100]

bud rot sucks ,I know the electric auto trimmers are expensive but my bud spinner does a great job for 200 ,if I have trimmed off all of the fan leafs during the last few weeks ,I dont cut any thing but the bud off of the stem so all of the sugar leafs go in the bowl

[ocgreen]

Hey oldjarhead100 are you saying your electric bud trimmer only cost 200? If so would you mind sharing the make/model?

[Retodd]

My niece Haley was down this weekend and chopped the grapefruit and had to pose for a pic with one of my glues. Y’all see why I grow outdoors. She’s starting school for CBD extraction soon. She’s joining us on here. She will be @Haley once she gets approved.
🙏🏼✌🏻

[Colombo]

I hope mine reach that height LOL. Retodd Those are some mighty looking plants !! 7' at least hey. What strain if you don't mind me asking ? Outdoor grows are so cool. Real Nice ! Good Growing !!

[Retodd]

Colombo Spidermite and I are growing original glue #4 and iced grapefruit for our personal competition. He’s growing indoor w nutes and I’m growing outdoors w nature alone. The glue in the pic is 6’6” or so. They’re filling out nicely.

[ocgreen]

Love to see you're making it a true family business. I'm trying to encourage some of our younger generation to go to school for something similar

[MmmHmmml3]

Thanks for those curing post, very helpful. Basically if I air dry on mesh rack a few days and it's not dry enough or maybe too dry then bovida 62% in a jar curing will fix this right? The worst scenario I guess would be mold, but buds cut smaller first seems like it will help avoid that from happening.

[oldjarhead100]

if you weigh out 100 grams and set it by its self then when it gets down to 25 grams it will be about 65% when put in jars, I dont use the Boveda pack to help curing, I just use them in storage

[Retodd]

My only problem w the boveda packs is they suck the smell right out your weed too. I stopped using them. I go by feel alone while curing. I burp 2-3x a day for the first 2 weeks then once a day for 2 weeks, then seal them. If I feel it’s too dry I’ll use a very small piece of apple or orange peel.

[Juicyj89]

[Canuck147]

Looks like a big red caterpillar lurking........

[LurkingInTheGrass]

What's wrong with Lurking? 😁

[Guest]

Ah like-ah so.......... (In my best Italian voice)

[Canuck147]

I'll take bag number 3.

[oldjarhead100]

first pic last week 2nd last night ,I see a change in them , I just wish it was Oct and I was harvesting them, then I wouldn't have to worry about them so much lol

[Spidermite]

You wish they were ready to harvest because they look like they are going to pick your green house up and throw it. Those are some mighty fine plants and they are getting huge. Looking good my friend.

[Canuck147]

Looking real nice OJH - looks like a nice bright change in the weather.

[ocgreen]

Blackberry and Grapefruit continuing to do well post defoliation:



Grapefruit getting noticeably fatter basically every day.

My Blue Dream'matic aren't getting any taller last few days so I think I screwed it up when topping and/or training:



Less than a foot tall and starting to bud. Seems like it will be impossible for them to grow very big without touching each other/developing rot.

Honestly I think this will be last round of autos for a long time. After a successful first grow using photos, my next two (using autos) were a real disappointment. More like The Great Auto Letdown for me 😅

[Spidermite]

Dont worry some plants are short but they bud all the way to the dirt. And when fast buds start flowering they still have alot of growth left. If it turns out like my typical fast buds smaller plants it will be about 4 to 5 ounces when done, maybe more.

[ocgreen]

I hope you're right. The other FastBuds (Grapefruit and BlackBerry) are really tall and Blue Dream'matic is supposed to be taller so I was shocked to see their stalled progress over past few days.

[oldjarhead100]

I feel you OC Autos can be a lot of fun to grow but they can be frustrating as well ,I am going to try them one more time beginning in September ,I think they do better in fall and spring ,but any little slip up and boom there stunted ,but they look amazing from here .

[Spidermite]

Here is one that didnt get to tall but made a bit over 200 grams. It was maybe 12 to 14 inches tall at 3 weeks when the first bloom showed up.


This one is even smaller but will probably net over 4 ounces. Its fast Bud GSC.

[oldjarhead100]

Spidermite what light do you use , that is very good looking plant for being a runt, damn its bigger than any autos ive done I was using 300w leds and couldn't get over 2 ounces per

[s62]

Those autos look amazing, almost manifolded? How’s you get them to be so stout? What kind of training?

[Spidermite]

Uggg I just typed a long comment and then lost it. Uggg lol

oldjarhead100 those were started under 1000 watt MH and then at 3 weeks switched to hps. The only training I did was to top once and then spread out the main growth tips. After 3 weeks all I did was remove any leaves blocking light and that was at about 6 weeks old or about 2 weeks prior to harvesting.

The shape and thickness of the plants is just from genetics. Fast buds has several strains that grow in that shape. Girl scout cookies, star dawg, rhino Ryder, blue dream, and their berry strains. You can fit 6 to 8 of those strains in a 4x4 area and get on average 4 plus ounces per plant. So with 6 about a pound and a half easy per 4x4 area. Better growers can expect even higher yields.

As far as the thickness of the stems and trunk I do add silica and use fix farms trio when needed but they do not require much.

[Canuck147]

Candy Kush - day 72 - trichomes are all cloudy - waiting on some amber.

[MmmHmmml3]

Thought the amber jar made for a cool photo. The bud looks kind of grey.

[Spidermite]

What strain is that again. Those buds look amazing. Absolutely covered in snow. And either the color of the buds or the color of the jar really sets them off. Forget bag appeal that right there is some awesome amber jar appeal. Right on

[MmmHmmml3]

Unknown Auto and really want to figure out the strain because even non cured it's a good energetic smoke. Heading home soon to try the water cured batch that should be dry today.

I think it's just the photo.. I'll upload a couple shots later and also some of the water cured bud. It can only be either auto Tangerine Dream, Auto GSC, auto dwarf or auto king in the north.

Fruity and no mint odor so not GSC?

King and Dwarf are mostly indica and this feels like a sativa for sure. Unless harvesting without much amber can make a indica feel like this. Never smoked tang dream; only thing is the fruit punch odor instead of citrus or tangerine.