Stonedsalmon's Indoor Soil Grow: Apricot Kush Auto, First Grow, First Journal, 2018

[stonedsalmon]

My apologies it's been a long time since I updated. I had pretty bad luck with the autos only 1/5 turned out to be female I believe the poor drainage from the pots caused them some pretty major stress as some practically stopped growing / died . I took the one female plant and re potted in a smaller container with proper drainage and elevated on rocks. Thanks for the suggestion TurboBucket . As for the bag seeds I opted for fabric containers and tried my hand at topping and LST also keeping them elevated on rocks. I really regret not keeping up with my journal during this stage but work commitments and life got a little too busy. I was also a little demotivated by the less than favorable outcome of my earlier plants. The auto flower though showing white hairs did not seem to be flowering until I switched my lights to 12/12 for the bag seed plants to start flowering . Around four days after flipping 3/3 of my bag seeds showed to be females and the auto started to flower! It's now nearly 2 weeks since flipping and buds are on the horizon.

As my tent sits:

Bag seed buds starting:

Bondage close up:

Auto Flower Bud:

 

[stonedsalmon]

I thought I'd add too that the bag seeds are all the same strain and though I didn't write it down I believe they are Rockstar or an old strain called rHazer from some particularly seedy dispensary bud.

 

[stonedsalmon]

2 days fatter :

 

[Pennywise]

Nice, there on their way.

 

[Blew Hiller]

I def top all my autos and they love it...at the same time I LST their outer branches to allow more light into the center of the plant. Fabric pots def help prevent overwater and increase the mass and vigor of the root ball. Most autos start slow (they devote a lot of their early energy to root development) and then take off in week 2-3. I have not heard of autos that are regular...though I guess you can stress anything hard enough to hermie... As long as the plant is alive and you have the interest/ability, keep growing it...

 

[stonedsalmon]

Interesting the guy at the seed store definitely said they were regular seeds and I got ten seeds for the price of five (had they been fem). I've got a picture of the packaging but not sure if that's against the rules to post.

 

[Blew Hiller]

Interesting the guy at the seed store definitely said they were regular seeds and I got ten seeds for the price of five (had they been fem). I've got a picture of the packaging but not sure if that's against the rules to post.

I was wrong...I just looked and indeed there are auto regular seeds...I recommend auto fems in the future....

 

[stonedsalmon]

Cool. Yeah I'm thinking i'll stick to feminized seeds from here on out it was very disheartening to have so many males though i'm sure mistreatment had something to do with it. I appreciate the advice!

 

[stonedsalmon]

Couldn't help myself but take more pictures today of the mystery plants and their bud progression since Wednesday:

 

[stonedsalmon]

Apricot Kush bud progress:

More Apricot Kush buds:

Mystery Buds Tops:

Close up:

 

[Pennywise]

Nice and healthy!

 

[CanaGrow]

Looking good!!

 

[Dankman_420]

They look great!

 

[Mr. Magoo]

They are looking happy! That’s always good!

 

[stonedsalmon]

Apricot progress (leaves getting dusty):

Apricot Lowers:

Mystery Plant Still Stretching:

Top Canopy View:

Thanks for all the comments, I think the plants hit a real turning point when I got my digital PH pen with regards to their health. I feel bad that only one apricot plant survived my early mistakes. I'm not expecting much yield from that one plant as it is only around 1.5 feet tall, though it looks to be standing pretty strong at the back middle in the above photo.

 

[CanaGrow]

That plant may surprise you! How many days into flower are they again?

 

[Dankman_420]

I agree with Canna. It may really pack on some buddage towards the end

 

[stonedsalmon]

That plant may surprise you! How many days into flower are they again?

I agree with Canna. It may really pack on some buddage towards the end

I sure hope so! It's interesting to see how the bud production differs compared to the topped plants. It's been exactly three weeks today since flipping. The Apricot auto said 'flowering time 100-120 days from germination' but I'm fairly certain it was set back from the problems it experienced early on. It's currently at around 110 days and it only really started flowering when the lights were flipped. I figure it will be at least another month before I harvest that plant. I have a 60x Jewlers loupe arriving today though so I can keep a closer eye on things. I'm sure i'll have a few questions coming soon.

The topped plants buds seem to be getting larger but a little more slow and steady, I guess that's to be expected when each plant has multiple tops vs one main one. The buds are just starting to smell a little and get really sticky . My humidity in the tent sometimes spikes to around 50-55% from the usual 40% overnight I'm wondering if I should be considering some kind of dehumidifier?

 

[Dankman_420]

Maintaining humidity is really important. Bud rot is no good! If you're keeping it that low without one that's impressive. Do you have something like this to monitor it

 

[stonedsalmon]

Maintaining humidity is really important. Bud rot is no good! If you're keeping it that low without one that's impressive. Do you have something like this to monitor it

Yes I do It's sneaking into a couple of the pictures above. I also have an Inkbird humidity controller because when vegging I was also using a humidifier to get it up around 60% (I can use this in conjunction with a dehumidifier to maintain also). I have the Inkbird thermostat also which turns my extractor fan on when I reach a certain temperature. I don't have a heater or dehumidifier though as they weren't necessary previously.