Autoflower first grow day 43, any tips?

[eugeeen123]

Day87, in just few days most of the leaves became yellow. I guess she is near the end, hopefully i can harvest in 7 days from today.
There are still a lot of white pistils so i think there's still room for some bud development, also it still quite difficult to me to tell how many amber trichomes she has compared to the white one.

One of my biggest cola on the left collapsed (it can still stand on his own but it can't stay straight) a few days ago after moving a little bit the plant to clean up the runoff after watering, i had to put in a trellis net to relieve a little bit the weight of this single branch and keep it straight. The branch is not broken so i hope i didn't cause any damage.

I decided to harvest all at once and do a little wet trim, then put everything in my dry tent. Once dried do another round of trimming and before put everything in the jars for curing i will also split the biggest nugs into smaller pieces to minimize risks of mold, took the advice from builasoil on youtube. Very knowledgeable channel.

Thanks for all your feedback and help!!

[SoOrbudgal]

What the other fella means by " Wheres me pipe " is a postive view and a high good comment. He'd like to smoke it LOL. Well done eugeeen123 excellent looking full term plant. Yes let her go till end of week. You will see little white hairs but the most importaint is letting those red curly ones tighten up not be so whispy but sometimes they don't all turn red cause she's still putting weight on an plumping up. If you have to harvest do so if not OK too just check those white trichomes out with a scope not the hairs but the plumpy buds OK. She's in the zone lovely colors yes she's sucking out everything from the plant. Great job sounds like you got this down at harvest.

[eugeeen123]

ok i'll focus on red hairs more than the white ones. Also i try to check every 2-3 days the trichomes but is more time consuming and is still confusing for me to tell the difference between white or amber ones. Also having hard time stabilizing the little microscope i have and get a clear shot, i have to work on it and find the best way to check them.

[Smallgrow]

I Use a tripod from a camera and a cheap mobile phone holder clipped or attached somehow to stabilize my microscope for pictures. Then you can get in closer zoom. Don’t forget to turn off all the fans to take pics so the plants are still

[dirtymike]

Dry time. Wheres me pipe

[eugeeen123]

what does it mean, sorry but english is not my main language

[dirtymike]

it means its harvest time and i want to smoke your GROW. Excellent

[eugeeen123]

got it !i guess i'm only halfway through, dry and curing hopefully will be easy. It is my first grow (not only canna, first grow at all) and still lot to learn. Thanks for passing by!

[eugeeen123]

day 93 - at last, i decided to harvest. Was unsure to do today or wait another week. I've decided to experiment a little bit without bothering too much about min-maxing everything. As suggested by Bluey i decided to cut only the upper fat buds and leave the lower one on the plant. In fact there are still plenty of green leaves on the lower side so i decided to see what happens. Also just by cutting down the upper side i completely filled my dry tent. I'll wait two weeks until the main harvest has dried up to harvest the remaining part of the plants. Done a quick wet trim, hopefully i dont get any mould since the dry tent is quite overcrowded. At the same time i have air extractor and a box fan running 24/7 from now on, combined with dehumidifer and AC. Let's hope for the best!

[Bluey]

Any more pics @Eugeeen?

[eugeeen123]

Didn't get a pic just before cut but i have 2 pics from 2 days ago, as you can imagine didn't change much from day 91 to 93. to compare I took 2 pics of the plant as it is right now after chop, i let her go for 2 weeks while the harvest dries up.

[eugeeen123]

dirtymike do you think i harvested too soon? from pic n.2 and 3 you can see the buds i harvested (big ones)

[dirtymike]

Oh no, those are very smoke-able. All of them. I'm envious. Nice Grow.

[eugeeen123]

those upper buds were massive, i completely filled my dry tent which is a small 60x60x90cm from secret jardin.I'll make sure to weight the dry product. My last time using weed was 4 years ago, can't wait to try this strain auto bruce lemon diesel which is pretty strong..i have to be careful but i hope this will help a little with my stress and anxiety management but of course i don't want to jinx it, i still have at least 3-4 weeks ahead between drying, final trim and curing. Hopefully no mould or bud rot!

[eugeeen123]

Day 98 - plant after chop is doing insanely good, remaining buds are growing good and plant overcome the stress caused by chop on day 93.
Looking at thrichomes (below picture) i can see a bit of amber ones, unfortunately i still don't have space in my dry tent for this to harvest, my plan is to chop the remaining part of the plant in 7-9days.

I'm a little bit worried about my drying tent - i'm now at day 5 of 14, so far i'm checking daily for mould and also if the buds are already dry (i'm trying to snap the stem of some buds and see if they snap with the typical crack sound). I'm checking daily because i have pretty bad values in this environment (the tent is directly under my AC unit at max speed set to 18Celsius, also using 2 dehumidifier around the tent always on).
In the tent i have a small box fan (not pointed directly at buds), and also an air extractor with carbon filter both always on. The buds are resting on a drying mesh net on 2 different levels.
Unfortunately i'm averaging 25C, 67RH with 18.7Dew point which i know is pretty bad. Hopefully i will not lose all my terpenes and potency, but maybe it is already too late. What do you guys think?

[Bluey]

I think your drying climate is far from ideal.

I assume your continuing grow that you are regularly watering is sharing the dry space in the same room? If so humidity will stay high along with temps until you stop growing. Harvest the rest and let the temps come down to 21 and humidity to 60....no fan on them they'll dry too fast.

Once the buds break off you're already too dry but it's workable and curable just takes longer.

Dry slow for best results is my experience...I think 14 to 20 days is the sweet spot but many here do it in 6 or 7 days. My last only took 4 to 6...way too fast

I used to dry in my garage, whole plant upside down...temps 10 to 20⁰C humidity 65 to 75..sometimes higher and 2 to 3 weeks was the norm. Mould was a problem if the buds couldn't get a very light breeze so if they touched something that would be an issue.

[eugeeen123]

Day 107 took all my drying buds a put them in curing jar, on the scale i measured 117grams
cut the rest of the plant and put it to dry after a fast trim. I think i'll end up with around 200+ grams total harvest.
Now i have to decide if i want to continue and plant another seed, i think i'll wait a bit before deciding, it is too hot right now.
Now i'm focused fully on drying and curing.

[dirtymike]

Here at this point i like to sit on my arse and smoke me stupid.

[eugeeen123]

Update at 1 month after starting curing, so i smoked a little sample of my harvest just after drying it. The experience was pretty bad and the smoke very harsh, my last time smoking was 4 years ago so i expected to be destroyed by this strain (should be 27% thc - auto bruce lemon diesel) but instead i was left with a mid-low high.

Throughout the curing process i smoked a little bit of other samples but i noticed that the smoke is still very harsh (i always cough) and also a decrease in potency. The last i smoke last week was basically no potency at all.

I'm disappointed with the result, i have no potency at all compared to what i expected.
I'm trying to understand what went wrong, because from planting the seed to harvest i had basically no issues at all.

For the harsh smoke issue i think maybe trimming was not performed correctly (i have done a little wet trim and another round of trimming once dried).

For the decreased potency i was thinking that maybe my 100W mars hydro light is not enough for one plant...but i always measured ppfd and it seems enough (using phone app, not very accurate).

Another issue i encountered was during dry process: 24Celsius x 65RH and i put my dry tent directly under my wall AC unit (running 24/7). These 2 weeks i guess destroyed all the potency.


At this point i'm a little bit discouraged, i was thinking on trying again but in the colder months of the year especially during harvest and dry phases.
Would you suggests anything else to check?

[SoOrbudgal]

By the looks of your grow it wasn't anything you did wrong. I agree it most likely was a weak strain for you. Don't loose heart you first harvest and a fine looking plant you grew, give it another try. If you been use to smoking with those filter types of wraps just a different type paper maybe? Do you have a vaporizor ?

[eugeeen123]

I'm feeling a bit disappointed, but all the support I'm getting tells me I shouldn't give up. Yes, I smoke using king-size ultra-thin papers and a paper filter. It's also worth mentioning that four years ago, I used to be a smoker, often mixing tobacco with weed that I bought from the street, so I was a lot less sensitive back then. Now I'm smoking pure or mixing with a nicotine-free smoking blend, and there's no way I'm going back to cigarettes. Also, I forgot that I bought an expensive vaporizer 6-7 years ago, which I never used; it's called the Mighty by Storz & Bickel. Maybe I should give it a try. 😄

[Bluey]

I think the potency issue is probably more to do with the strain you grew than your setup or your grow.

You had a really good grow, great looking plants and buds. You did a great job.

Drying wasn't ideal but I wouldn't expect potency to be knocked around much by that. I have dried in some terrible conditions that has taken months all the way down to just a few days and potency has always been similar and effects more strain and age of cure related.

If I were you I'd grow a different strain from a different source. That will determine potency more than anything and the dry and cure will impact mostly on its smokability (quality) and perceived effects.

Planning your grow so conditions are ideal at late flower and harvest I think is your best approach as you indicated.

[eugeeen123]

totally agree with the approach and i'll definitively start in 1 month or 2 so i will harvest Jan/Feb window which should be the coldest. About the strain i'm really struggling, i choose this strain (auto bruce lemon diesel) as it was one of the most expensive and also with highest thc amount. My though process was: higher price, higher quality. Moreover with such high THC percentage, worst case scenario I'll be smoking mid thc percentage which is still a lot better compared to the low quality product i was used to buy 4-5 years ago from the road. Do you have any trusted source to buy a new (auto) strain?

[No3odiesShad0w]

Sorry to hear the smoke isn't up to par. It does seem like you did everything right. The Mars hydro light in guessing you have the TS600 100w light or something similar? For one plant it's sufficient so that wouldn't be the issue. The 24°C is running on the higher end. I try not going past 22-23°C max. After that temp, some terpenes will start to volatize above 25°C you can start to see THC degradation. The other issue could be all the cold dry air blowing from your unit getting into the tent in some fashion. That could give you harsh, hay like smoke. Aside from that I can't see anything else that could have went wrong. Your plant honestly looked a lot better than half of my plants. I was thinking you had this in the bad. The only other thing could be genetics.... That's always the curveball in any grow. Or a bad seed.
Don't get discouraged. It happens even when we try our best. I've had that happen to me plenty of times in the past. I still have a few ounces of failure weed waiting to become edibles.
If you like edibles, turn it all into edibles. Even the most terrible unsmokeable weed can turn into decent to good edibles. I've turned all my failures into success brownies that got me super high.

[eugeeen123]

Yes the light is TS600 from Mars Hydro. I had 24C average during drying which of course means i also had spike to 25-26.
The tent used for drying was directly under the cold air but i mounted a plastic mesh for air intake to prevent air blowing get directly inside the tent. To exhaust air i mounted on the other side an extractor and a filter. Additional air flow inside the tent is ensured by an additional box fan clipped inside and set up in a way to not blow directly on the drying buds (also on the lowest speed setting). Maybe an additional box fan inside was too much for a 60x60x90 mini tent. Do you think i should avoid next time to have a box fan running 24/7 inside this small tent? Last but not least i'm trying to accept the idea it was the strain....I know my mindset is somewhat foolish, but I thought that by purchasing the most expensive strain, I would be free from worries.

[No3odiesShad0w]

Yeah I still use my TS600 and it does just fine for 1 plant in a 2x2 trellis. I think it was your temp and humidity that got away from you. For sure the temp. You were in and above the danger zone for temp. The other maybe too much moving air. I know they say not to let the air get stagnant but you don't want constant moving air either. That was too the harshness for sure because it's happened to me in the past. Too much air movement and it all tasted like hay.
As far as price to quality ratio......I don't think it really exists. You can buy seeds for a $1 and get some amazing buds or you can get one of those designer seeds for $1000 a seed or more and get complete garbage. This is Nature, baby. They can't all be winners. If it's a good breeder, distributor, maybe your can email them and tell them the seed was a dud and maybe they'll send you some courtesy seeds or give you a discount on the next purchase.

Just don't get discouraged. Try in the fall/winter is temps are too hard to maintain in the summer. I'm not going to do a summer grow next year for the same exact reason. It gets too hot sand I use to much electricity to cool it off. If you go back 3 years ago my plants were crimes against nature lololol and now I'm getting great results. It takes time, practice and good environment. It's always a bummer when you spend 4+ months to end up with garbage, but don't give up. You'll get it!

Like I said before you had a nice looking plant so you're def on the right path to success! Happy growing!

[Going2fast]

Yup even with the best genetics you can get a dud. Never grown anything from SSSC so can't comment there. Everything I've grown from Mephisto has been fire except northern cheese haze. 4 oz of meh. Just a bad seed. Keep at it. Your skills are on point.

[eugeeen123]

I've noticed some of your impressive grows; you're a pro! If you've had good luck with Mephisto, maybe I should also give it a try. I've seen that they don't have a European website. Do you happen to know of any reputable sources for getting these seeds in the EU?

[No3odiesShad0w]

Dutch Passion and multiverse beans do international shipping

[Going2fast]

Seedsman carries them but they are about to open an EU store soon. If possible buy from them as you get more beans and freebies.

[eugeeen123]

Had a quick chat also with dutch passion where i bought the seeds:

"Based of the information, you did a very controlled well executed grow. The plant looks good.
The buds could do with slightly more trimming, but they actually look quite frosty.

To be sure I would have to send a sample to the lab, that would give me exact cannabinoid and terpene levels.
It's always hard to say based on looks.

The only last thing I can think of is the soil used. Not sure what your base soil was? Perhaps that affected the end result.

Otherwise, perhaps the Auto Bruce Lemon Diesel is simply not your cup of tea, based on taste and terpenes.
If you are looking for something very strong, combined with a very nice terpene profile, the Auto Cinderella Jack is a variety I always recommend.
If potency is not the biggest goal, a fruity purple variety like Auto Forbidden Cherry or Auto Blackberry Kush would be a good choice."

maybe he's right, my harvest is fine (trimming not really) but simply this strain is not my cup of tea. I looked a little bit on the internet to buy something to test the potency, but there are only expensive solution.

[Bluey]

Your best bet is get others to smoke it and critique it. Don't give them any info on it so their testing is not prejudiced by your views.

It's likely you got a dud it would appear.

At least you managed to grow some wicked looking hemp...lol

Edit. Yep those buds are plenty frosty. Just goes to show that the number of trichomes and their milky color has zero to do with perceived effects in your case and I think it's more often than not the case with most grows, if not all. We really understand very little when it comes to this plant and its effects on us.

[No3odiesShad0w]

Just not what you're looking for. For example my best friend loves Black Demon but when I smoke it, I get terrible highs from it. I love citrusy and gassy terpenes . I always look for stuff that tastes like lemons and oranges because I get the best buzz from those. Meanwhile a lot of haze feels lackluster. So it may just be that you sand that cultivar just don't agree.... But that still wouldn't explain the harshness. Bruce Lemon diesel sounds like it would be right up my alley but that seems like a tribred. Who knows what traits they bred in and out of the cultivar before they called it complete

[Smallgrow]

I would mention that the THC levels most breeders suggest are possible only under the best conditions by the best possible growers. 27% THC is a number that professional growers in commercial set up can struggle to achieve.

Growing takes time and practice and a lot of patience. Looks like you have done very well, don’t get discouraged.
Keep trying and your harvests will get better and better.

I try to grow the best all around weed not the strongest necessarily.

I once heard a Cannabis cup winner comment that he often preferred less strong weed that had the effects/profile he was looking for. His comment was “if I’m not stoned enough I’ll just smoke a second joint”.
There is some wisdom in that comment 😎

[Bluey]

I would mention that....

.... he often preferred less strong weed that had the effects/profile he was looking for. His comment was “if I’m not stoned enough I’ll just smoke a second joint”.
There is some wisdom in that comment 😎

Exactly....and ain't it great when you can build on that.....nice