Late Summer Autos --- Ahhh the heat

[laf6502 (Robert)]

@Chasworks … Hey! Oh man it was quite the summer… The heat on the last run was ridiculous pushing into the high 90s. It did affect the stacking quite a bit but the flowers were still amazing smoke on the SODK and the Ghost train.

I pulled some of the ones I just started during that time and waited to chop so I could change the light cycle to off during the hot period b4 planting again… I only left one (and it did not stretch well).

Once I got the lights off from noon-6pm the three new ones I started later look much better and just now hitting their stride as temps have cooled.

I have two intakes running in addition to the fan exhausting the heat from the lights and that seems to have mitigated the issues without the need for co2. I also have 4 earth boxes amended and prepped from a couple weeks ago… Dumped some 12 seed clover crop on them and have been keeping them quite moist to compensate for RH with two intakes sucking in cool air.

SO… With that said… Not the best run going but they are definitely coming along considering conditions. I have the older auto at 55 days from seed and the other three are now 42 days from the day the beans touched the dirt. Going pretty heavy indica this round.

Pinot Noir Auto (CDLCxDouble Grape) - 42 days from seed. Genetics - Mephisto

• I would say they all should finish stretching over the next 7-10 days as they transition into stacking. Legs are poking out nicely even though this is not the biggest strain out there. Very happy they’re stretching away from the main stem with a little daily encouragement. Very indica Dominant strain I ran two cycles ago… Some of the dankest I’ve ever grow. Her foliage is smelling like black powder already and will change to that skunky fine grape wine as she gets into flower.

Toof Decay Auto (Blueberry x Grapefruit) 42 days from seed). Starting to stretch and fatten the legs a little… Still a bit fragile as I broke one at the main stem. Not much to say…a late bloomer but Looks like she wants to keep stretching till she is the dominant in the tent. Very very excited for this stanky dank… If you’ve ever grown her, you know why.

Forgotton Cookies Auto (Walter White x GSC - Forum Cut) 42 days from seed… I was worried as she was stunted as a seedling… But… She held off the flower and started raging like a champ the last 10 days or so. Very nice separation starting to happen on pretty much every satellite and she has a lot of stretch and fattening to do the next 10 days also. Very happy to see she is going more the way of indica with so much sativa in her genetics. The last one I grew is still my main smoke and I only have about 1/4 oz left. Im thinking about running a full 8x8 with just this strain. It is a superb balanced high that checks the box for both sativa and indica lovers…And tasty af with wet greasy nugs that will coat the pallet. The Walter White just puts it in out a bounds status. It a legit everyday go to smoke.

Pineapple Runtz Auto (Pina Auto x Runtz) 55 days from seed. This is a strain ive ran at least 1 of for four cycles in a row… That should tell you how dank the flower is… an I mean every time and this cycle is no exception. You are talking wet, wet, greasy weed every single time with some of the loudest odors in a tent you will ever smell. Just delicious. Disappointing that she stopped stretching in the heat but the flowers are super wet even for this strain. So it will be a small jar, but a jar I will want nonetheless.

Pineapple Runtz nug 55 days from seed… Im guessing shell be about a 75 day seed to harvest.

This is what happens when your Sour Stomper stunts in 100 degree heat… Not much you can do about it except drop a Walter White bean right next to her (you have to look closely but she’s popped)

… Talk to you in a week or two. The fall run is right around the corner and this is the farthest ahead ive ever prepared my boxes… And they are absolutely jam packed including a few new additions to my soil mix. The worms are going crazy right now… Super excited to grow some monster autos (like 1 per 4x4 space) coming up. This tent is gonna smell for miles with the girls I got planned.

[Chasworks]

Very interesting, battling heat is crazy here in the Tropics! Trying to reduce my reliance on mechanical device (a/c) the out door seems to deal with the heat she is drinking 2 gal plus a day

[Chasworks]

Your plants are looking very good, 2 of my EB’s sat about 6 weeks with no cover crop: i wasn’t using the tent so the lights were out with the tent doors open: when i transplanted the Clones into those 2 boxes were moist threw out the transplant hole: the new ones were drier which those were slower to reach the size to fill the tank:

[laf6502 (Robert)]

Since I cut back the amount I was growing so I could just use the lights across a 4x8 space rather than lighting up the whole 8x8… So I had 4 extra boxes that been sitting quite some time. I amended them with probably double what I normally do and then planted the cover crop a couple weeks later to see if the soil was too hot to grow anything. About 3 days later the cover crop is pushing through so I gave it a shot. I can tell when the Toof Decay hit the nutrient… She was burnt on top and seemed to slow down for about 2 days and then adjusted and started pushing through it… or going around it.

I added some black lava in addition to the Gaia Glacier rock dust Ive been using to remineralize the boxes and also hep with drainage… Also, scooped some soil out and added some pumice as the castings started to get thick down low. Loving the texture of the new soil as I dig through and definitely not worried about overwatering and can really just soak em when its hot now.

[Chasworks]

I started adding pumice to my casting in the mixing bucket along with anything else i am adding: my urban worm bin is doing its thing! Diversifying the feed to include minerals for a jump start in the castings. Adding the calcium including crushed egg shells to the bin

[laf6502 (Robert)]

Looks like you have a nice compost system. We pretty much use everything in the veggie garden and we have a bunch of chickens so utilize the egg shells.

Toof decay a few more days in stretch. Created a small bit of light to see if I can keep the lowers coming up. I can tell she has quite a bit of stretch left in her…Like maybe even a full foot more. This one can be a little finicky through this period but if she starts raging she’ll be the biggest in the tent.

Pinot Noir is almost done extending but is still very pliable so still stretching the ends out a little. Very happy with the size of her (on of the biggest PN’s ive grown) and every single satellite had good vertical and horizontal stretch. The perfect spacing of the nodes and branching is spot on for this strain. She’s loving her box and the lights are definitely encouraging the stretch right now.

A little closer up on the PN… You can see the satellite stems a little clearer.

And my favorite of all the cookies… the forgotten one. Was hoping to get a little more vertical stretch but the satellites did well enough horizontally to create some space from the main…and she is just a beautiful girl… Just not gonna be a big girl.

By this time next week should be fully transitioned to stacking but im hesitant to even top dress again with the amount of initial ammendment… So may 2-10-5 vegan water soluble through mid stacking every third water. I seriously doubt I will see any nutrient based deficiency through harvest either way though

[laf6502 (Robert)]

A week later and we’re fully into stacking (except for the toof decay which is taking her time and still stretching as she’s moving into full flower)

Although they had the biggest initial amendment drop ive ever given an earth box, I decided to go ahead and top dress when I defoliated and pruned the nodes Im not keeping. As I kept quite a bit of branching and leaving some lowers if they will keep stacking. There is a lot of Nugget on the PN.

For the Top Dress… I was just going to keep it simple and throw some craft blend and top dress cover over it, but I decided to blend my own. So… I went with Crustacean meal, Gnarley Barley (ground fine), a local black lava blend for remineralization and aeration, Kashi blend, and a little worm casting. I plowed most the cover crop and watered it in with clean aerated well water, yah-whey, coconut powder, aloe.

Pinot Noir Auto at about 53 days from seed

Toof Decay Auto 53 days

Forgotton Cookies - 53 days. Not as big but got enough lateral stretch I will net the nugs go most the way down.

All are getting 900-1200 Par for about half their day but is about 1400-1600 for their 6 hour afternoon peak. Dumping at least 1.5-2 gallons a day in the bigger girls…

The Pineapple runtz was moved under a different light in the tent and finishing out about 7-800 par and im letting that box get pretty dry.

Pineapple Runtz - Closing in on 75 days from seed. Not letting her go much longer as the smell is exactly what I was hoping for and she is so super greasy I don’t want her drying out at all.

Both the PN and the FC will start frosting heavy as soon as they start popping pistils and theylll just keep stacking frost…I do think the heat and the variable spectrum of the 550s brings the most out of the flowers… More so than anyother lights ive ran with… Some super frosty strains that will even cover up the fan leaves early on.

Since were well into flower ive dropped three more beans… Pinot Noir, Wedding Cake, and Grape Walker Kush (in addition to the Pineapple Runtz I already popped a few days ago). Just threw the cups in an EB I amended about a month ago and just growing cover crop… The big dome and the cover crop keep it a perfect 100% humid… And after about 34 hours I see 2/3 coming through the dirt. I think I will leave them under for a few days… The PR that’s planted in that EB is doing well under the dome for now.

[Chasworks]

Looking Good! Nice Line up you have going and more to come. I was surprised how thirsty they get in Flower I don’t think i ever gave as much water before the EB! Learning another side of their requirements

[laf6502 (Robert)]

Ok @Chasworks , All three are now fully into stacking. The Toof Decay took about an extra week and is definitely behind the Pinot Noir and Forgotton Cookies.

The three in flower will be 60 days from planting and about 57 out of the ground.

Pinot Noir Auto (Double Grape x CDLC). … Obviously one of my favorite strains. This is the one im always out of because that’s what my friends like to smoke too. It is some skunk fine grape wine with a little rank from the cdlc, It is dankers if you get a chance to grow it.

Pinot Noir Top. - A little irritated from the lights until I moved them up. She is still full stacking and most the pistil recession is from the lights cranking on her. She’s a greasy, smelly, girl. Nugs are stacking tight and hopefully we will see the pretty little golf balls filling up the stems.

The Toof Decay auto (Blueberry x Grapefruit) just getting into her stack after a pretty heavy defoliation as she was really bushy.

Forgotton Cookies (GSC Forum cut x Walter White). Definitely has moved into my all time top 5 and I seem to find her in my tent a lot lately along with the PN and Pineapple Runtz… That’s a trifecta of primo Ganga right there :). Definitely my favorite of all the cookies as she tends to carry that wet grease that coats the pallet.

FC nugs just starting to stack and cram into any space she can fine on the stem. Greasy, stinky, smelly weed.

Seedlings looking good for about 5 days out of the dirt.

Gonna leave them domed for another week because they do so much better… Literally twice the size and half the age vs. the ones not domed. I don’t think its so much a RH problem as much as a circulation problem trying to keep the tent cool. So, ill leave em domed until they start veg… The coffee plant you see is a plant I transplanted and fed (not sure what my wife was doing with it… lol) but it is loving the tent as well and looks about double in size in a couple weeks.

You can see in the perspective view how much bigger the PN and Toof Decay are… Both about 40 inches. You can also see the stunted Sour Stomper in the back round from the summer run that decided to flower finally. Just a big main stem but ill keep her cause she’s stinky and wet. The other nice thing about the 550s is how easy they are to stagger for uneven canopies.

There’s that stunted SS…

[Chasworks]

Yes Sir! Your tent is popping! Everything you grow sounds interesting to me! Still smoking the 2 different auto genetics from the staggered harvest from april & may! Running the lights 18 hrs and a/c 90% of their life proved to be expensive! i ran these fem clones up too 2 weeks in flower before hitting the a/c! Should see a nice difference in cost: possible enough to hold off another Auto Grow. I do still have 5 Auto beans! Found a seed from that auto grow! steady as she go’s

[laf6502 (Robert)]

I have gone down to just one tent plus the 4x8 I grow vegetables I .

When I can in the 8x8 I only run the 550s across the back and they are some of the most power efficient lights you can grow with. At 400w still drawing well under 4amps and I never get ‘em to 100%… it helps but power costs here have been steady rising the past couple years.

We don’t have AC as we live in the mountains so when I manage it the lights alone don’t cost me much.

I thought I missed photos but after the mandarin cookies in the spring I got it out of my system. I’ve gone from photo only to pretty much auto only now.

When you can go seed to harvest in 75 in days and keep the sizes manageable for an indoor grow….creates a lot of opportunities for diversity in flavors… and the 7gal EB (u can stuff 10 in)is perfect for autos.

I had to see and smoke the flower for myself to believe it. When you match the genetics with the right environment the flower is every bit as primo and more in many cases. At first in small pots you have to deal with small yields but I’m easily taking 3-5 oz off all my autos now.

[Chasworks]

I pretty much ran the a/c from day 1 at 18-6! Harvest the final auto in about 92 days! I was pleasantly surprised at the size and yield from the auto’s in the EB’s the quality also was better than expected: variety is ok & i am all for the Crazy Flavors! Sticking with the Fem & about to try some Reg Seeds too

[Wepop (Will)]

That is some nice looking autos.
I am going to try mephisto on my fall run. I tried fast buds but none are
Consistent.
I am going with 3 Bears and Form Stomper

[laf6502 (Robert)]

Three Bears OG is great… Its been a while since I ran it but it is primo smoke. Ive ran most of their menu including tons of freebies. I just ordered three more packs of seeds myself… Pinot Noir, Forgotton Cookies, and Sour Stomper. For autos, they are very consistent… Especially when referring to terpene profiles and plant structure.

[laf6502 (Robert)]

No AC for me but next week we’re not suppose to get out of the 50’s… Perfect timing as they’ll be wanting to finish.

Not much to report…Just a few shots from day 65 from seed.

Start out with the Forgotton Cookies… She’s coming along nicely. Frosting up and stacking down to the lowers. This plant does typically get nice lateral stretch to let the light in and makes for an easy defoliation.

Forgotton Cookie nugs. she’s coming… a little behind the PN

Sour Stomper just getting into flower and really gnarly in terms of terps and grease.

Pinot Noir nugs… Definitely the furthest along. Her aromas are definitely prevalent throughout the house.

Pinot Noir - I think I could have gotten a little bigger stack on top by clearing some more lowers but her nugs are densing nicely and immensely frosty all the way to the lowest nugs.

The very bottom inner nugs on the PN… With a couple weeks left they should finish out nicely even if they don’t get the biggest.

Toof Decay - She finally decided to start stacking. Typically not a plant that will wow you until she gets into the middle of stacking. Fat hairy pistils coming in now and she’s starting to produce the grease and terpenes.

Toof Decay - Had to give her a decent defoliation and pruned quite a bit of lower on her just to get her to start stacking.

All seem to be doing great with the big amendment dump as the headed to flower. I have not really seen a deficient leaf all the way through the cycle… The earthbox really is the perfect pot for autos… They are still drinking a good 1.5-2 gallons a day.

[Chasworks]

Looking good, my out door could use a couple more weeks, this is the rainy season and Sept is the worse for daily rain! So trying to get as much Sun and roll under roof if raining! low here 72* hi in 90’s

[SlingShot]

@laf6502

Pinot Noir

You seem to be very knowledgeable of the growing process.
If I may, some of your plants look "light stretched’. When I first got my Mars LED 300w, I set the height based on the guide in the manual. I.e. about 30 inches.
I had four strawberry cheesecakes and they all stretched quite a bit. Another grower noticed and informed me of my problem and had me lower the light to about 10 inches.

Once stretched, there is little you can do except to let them grow. They will be stretched up to harvest.
I actually started treating them like vines. LOL
My LST consisted of spiraling them around the tent.
They harvested OK but the yield was low.

Above is my Fast Banner Foto. I do Auto in the tent in the winter but stick with Fotos during the temperate months. The Banner will be my first seasonal Foto that I am not forcing to flip. It is my sixth plant of this crop where I flipped the other 5 at various time through the summer (I was running out of smoke)
The Banner above went in the ground April 1st. The buds feel like pinecones and have about 4-inch diameter. Though I have seen some amber trikes for the last couple of weeks, I am letting her fully flip with the season or until I see about 30 % amber.
I guesstimate this gal will give up better than 5 ounces.

[laf6502 (Robert)]

I am only growing autos now and only indoors. I definitely want them to stretch out vertically and laterally to allow for for more branching. The SODK I finished in the summer yielded 170g finely trimmed. The super orange haze I grow will also stack more like banner.

I cannot run my lights at 10 inches or they will burn them up with heat… I had to raise mine in early flower as they were too close. They are at about 20” from top but off centering a little to keep the heat off.

With an auto it’s more about how much can you keep down low without impacting the tops. Varies a lot auto to auto. I grow very specific auto strains with specific structure type… and stretch and nodal spacing is something I consider heavily in my planting choices.

I also grow flowers that are never gonna stack like a BB foto…. Although some of the things with the orange kush I grow will stack those monster fat colas…. That’s not what these strains do. I do prefer a more even distribution across the entire plant with manageable size nugs covered 360 degrees with frost.

The Pinot Noir auto is very consistent although i generally get the golf balls a little bigger but have not kept as much lower in the past. I’m questioning how much I kept and making notes for the next run. They are densing fine and continue to stack resin. We’ll see how she finishes the next two weeks. This one did express more of the double grape as well but structure wise she is exactly like every other one I’ve run.

As far as lights… basically three autos each have their own CLW 550 directly over them and every plant is getting trans light from either two or three directions.

In addition to that I have another 1500w lighting in the tent available so I have to manage heat as well.

I really don’t think it’s light strectch… if you’ve flowered with the 550s you know how intense they can be and push down deep. If you’ve seen the previous posts you can see the PAR I’m running at. The plants are getting upper scale dli running in 20 hr days.

The battle has been heat and rh. Now that the weather has cooled and the rh creeping up I hoping for a strong finish.

I wish I could grow some banner outdoors… couldn’t survive here. Cause I love the smoke so may have to look for a viable auto.

[laf6502 (Robert)]

Here’s some more various PN Autos from other runs but same lights… The current one is definitely the most stretched but she’s only about 40" so nothing too crazy compared to the others.

[SlingShot]

Like I said earlier, you sound like you know the ropes and there are plenty of ropes.

When I grow autos, I don’t mess with them too much. I just let them grow.