Hey Buddy's BlackJack Auto Soil Grow Journal 2012

[Hey Buddy]

The Trichromes are the sugar frosting on leaves & buds... they are active part of the plant and determine the THC level, and are ready when they go turn from clear to milky.. THC degrades into CBD with time and they turn brownish..

As I understand it, depending on whether you are looking for High (THC) or Stoned (more CBD) determines when you harvest... BlackJack is a "Party Plant" & you'll need to catch it before too much converts to CBD..

The pistils turning brown means its not far off... You need to get your magnifying glass out..

Ah ha...now I get ya. Just had a lok at the frosty bits and sure golly Im gonna have to buy a proper magnifying glass....

What does CBD stand for? Couch Brain Dead Stoned lol

Party plant eh? I dont mind the couch lock stoned myself....Ill get a better mag glass first and take it from there!

 

[RedLeb]

Ah ha...now I get ya. Just had a lok at the frosty bits and sure golly Im gonna have to buy a proper magnifying glass....

What does CBD stand for? Couch Brain Dead Stoned lol

Party plant eh? I dont mind the couch lock stoned myself....Ill get a better mag glass first and take it from there!

"Cannabidiol —CBD— is a compound in Cannabis that has medical effects but does not make people feel “stoned” and actually counters some of the effects of THC. After decades in which only high-THC Cannabis was available, CBD-rich strains are now being grown by and for medical users.
The reduced psychoactivity of CBD-rich Cannabis may make it an appealing treatment option for patients seeking anti-inflammatory, anti-pain, anti-anxiety and/or anti-spasm effects without disconcerting euphoria or lethargy. "

 

[Hey Buddy]

This is interesting too...

When to harvest autos? Your leaves will tell you.
One of the most frequently asked questions is how do I know when my autos are ready to pick? The convention wisdom from growing photo period plants was to watch for color change in the trichomes, or crystals. For an uplifting high, harvest when the trichomes are all cloudy, for more of a stone, wait till a percentage have turned amber. Sound advice, for photos. But autos are a little different. While some strains have shown amber trics, many do not.

So how do I know when they are ready? I watch the the fan leaves. Over the past several years of growing autos I started taking samples at various stages of growth to evaluate the high. I tend to prefer my smoke with a little stone so began to leave them longer than the 8-9 weeks that are advertised. I find that around 11-12 weeks the plants are ripe for me. I also began to see a correlation between the color of the fan leaves, the color of the trics and the high/stone quality of the smoke at the various sample intervals. It seemed that the greener the fan leaves, the more clear trics the buds had. As the fan leaves started to yellow and die off, the trics became less clear and more milky. By the time that all the fan leaves had died off and the bud leaves were starting to yellow, I got the quality of smoke I wanted. At that time most of the trics were now milky with no, or only a few, clear ones.

I've found this to be a very reliable method. It takes about 3 weeks for the fan leaves to die off. During that time the buds will continue to fatten up as the plant uses the energy stored in the fan leaves. So when I see my leaves start to yellow, I wait a week, then begin flushing them. Two weeks later they will be well flushed and read to harvest.

Of course there will be other factors such as genetics, lighting, nutrients, pot size, etc. that will effect how long a plant takes. But as a general guide for when to pick, just watch your leaves.

Also!!

Partial harvest
On autoflowers, can I harvest just the top cola and buds and leave the lower buds to mature and/or grow larger? I did it once with an outdoor photo-period grow and those lower buds ended up being the best out of the entire grow. My blue himalayas are close to harvest - the top cola and upper buds are large & hard but the lower buds are wee & fluffy. Since these little ladies are only 15" tall, i would like to harvest as much bud as possible (obviously). Not sure if the smaller size and grow periods prohibit that in autos.

Answer: Yes, that works fine with autos.

 

[RedLeb]

Woah!.. another complication... it's a good idea to keep them growing as long as possible though.... Non-Autos take 13 weeks(ish), more chance to feed & get bigger buds..

 

[Hey Buddy]

Woah!.. another complication... it's a good idea to keep them growing as long as possible though.... Non-Autos take 13 weeks(ish), more chance to feed & get bigger buds..

Cool yeah so Im gonna let em go as long as they need. Think one might be ready next week as the leaves are Yellow for the last week but that could be from a def...she looks kinda ready tho.Gonna leave the partial harvest for another time- Im gonna start a new grow next week with 4 WSS Skunk Fem Autos so Im thinking of just using the 6 x 20W CFLS & 6 x 23W CFLs to finish off this batch while I setup the new grow and use the MH bulb for the first 3 weeks. I should have the LED by then to take over for flowering. What do you think? Can the CFL's alone carry these girls to the end?

 

[RedLeb]

Cant see why not... I would have thought that the seedlings might cope better under CFLs, but you've got enough wattage there to light up O'Connell Street on a Saturday night...!

I've bought a couple of THC Bomb seeds for the next grow and going to give the Coco another try... If I get it right should be fun!...

Any reason you're sticking to Autos?

 

[Hey Buddy]

Cant see why not... I would have thought that the seedlings might cope better under CFLs, but you've got enough wattage there to light up O'Connell Street on a Saturday night...!

I've bought a couple of THC Bomb seeds for the next grow and going to give the Coco another try... If I get it right should be fun!...

Any reason you're sticking to Autos?

lol ..lighting up O'Connell St...Im stickin to Autos cause I doubt Im ready for regulars just yet. Im gonna plant these 4 next week then plant another 4 seeds of a different kind 3 weeks from then too ....I like the idea of a conveyor belt of green for a while. Once Im confident with the set up, Ill move to regular seeds and start cloning etc....was thinking that too about the CFL's for the new batch BUT they are 2700k so wont that be of no use to the seedlings?? THC Bomb sounds interesting. Come to think of it, this whole growing thing sounds interesting !!

 

[RedLeb]

lol ..lighting up O'Connell St...Im stickin to Autos cause I doubt Im ready for regulars just yet. Im gonna plant these 4 next week then plant another 4 seeds of a different kind 3 weeks from then too ....I like the idea of a conveyor belt of green for a while. Once Im confident with the set up, Ill move to regular seeds and start cloning etc....was thinking that too about the CFL's for the new batch BUT they are 2700k so wont that be of no use to the seedlings?? THC Bomb sounds interesting. Come to think of it, this whole growing thing sounds interesting !!

Yeh... Autos are very flexible, and probably do well outside... (you ought to try one!).. The trouble with 12hr flowering is you can't see them when you want to... clones are free though, and you only pay for electricity for half the time!

Lots of people seem to use flowering lights from the start.. not sure why.. I've got 2 plants flowering under veg LED and 2 under flower LED at the moment to see what the difference is... can't see anything yet (30 days in..)

You staring another journal?

 

[Hey Buddy]

Yeh... Autos are very flexible, and probably do well outside... (you ought to try one!).. The trouble with 12hr flowering is you can't see them when you want to... clones are free though, and you only pay for electricity for half the time!

Lots of people seem to use flowering lights from the start.. not sure why.. I've got 2 plants flowering under veg LED and 2 under flower LED at the moment to see what the difference is... can't see anything yet (30 days in..)

You staring another journal?

Hmmm now thats interesting....might just try the cfl's to finish this batch as I got these blackjacks off to a great start using the MH bulb. Besides if they think its autumn then a slightly darker retirement may help...a long sunset.Im reading its good to leave em in total darkness for a day when complete so they give a final push-All in all Im happy with the way its gone- Ive learned a whole pile and I guess its kinda cool to experiment a bit-then again, I tend to make a decision and change my mind soon after. Wish there wasnt so many variables!!

Will be starting a new journal yes. Cant wait- Gonna use Canna Terra Professional plus soil but cant decide if Im gonna ad bat guano again. Ive read its not good to use bat guano at the start but my flowers loved it...so much so I think I didnt need biobloom at all. Might have been enough Phosphorous in the soil all along so adding BioBloom was just too much!

 

[RedLeb]

It all seems a bit better when you've got a crop, I took an ounce of one of the older plants last week & suddenly things were going well...

I think the guano probably did a lot for the growth, I always thought it was good for nitrogen but apparently there are two types - one for growth and one for flower... wonder if the bats know...

Im using Biobloom at the moment, (and watching the buds) but not sure whether to go for the full Canna Coco system.. supposed to give as good results as hydro...!

 

[Hey Buddy]

Day 54

Decided to do a partial harvest and took the top colas off 2 of the plants. This one looked like she used up all the stored goodness from the fan leaves connected to the cola.... trichomes were mostly cloudy so Im going for that kinda high.

Will take another bud in a few more days.They might just be on day 60 as I started counting from when I planted them and not from seed!

Here is a DIY dry box. The extractor fan is pumping warm air into the buds while they hang like bats upside down. Ive a gadget that absorbs humidity on the base and a RH/Temp gauge letting me know if everything is cool.

The other 2 plants look like they have a lot left to give

 

[Hey Buddy]

Day 56 or 60 I'm not sure which...

I decided to open the tent door and put 2 plants inside and 2 outside as they were cramped-

Trichomes are nearly all cloudy so I'm gonna start choppin more in a day or two-

 

[RedLeb]

Hey Buddy, what yield do you think you will get?

My Autos have really surprised me - At 6 weeks the biggest is only 15" tall under CFLs, but they are the healthiest plants I've grown, and are budding up nicely ... if a bit small..

They are only supposed to have an 8 week grow cycle, but I slipped up with the feed for a couple of weeks earlier & not sure what effect that has had... I'm now really impressed with the coco they are growing in.

You started your new grow yet?

 

[Hey Buddy]

Hey Buddy, what yield do you think you will get?

My Autos have really surprised me - At 6 weeks the biggest is only 15" tall under CFLs, but they are the healthiest plants I've grown, and are budding up nicely ... if a bit small..

They are only supposed to have an 8 week grow cycle, but I slipped up with the feed for a couple of weeks earlier & not sure what effect that has had... I'm now really impressed with the coco they are growing in.

You started your new grow yet?

I wouldn't worry about the height man. My smallest plant is 18 inches tall and she is producing an ounce at least...they can grow up to 2 or 3 inches in a day so who knows- One of my plants is a monster but she doesnt have as much bud as one might think-

I really dont know how much Im gonna yield. 3 colas are drying in the box and the 4th is gonna go today-I noticed one or 2 amber trics so thats a sign to me. Im gonna weigh each nug when they dry and do a total- I ordered 5 Skunk fems last week but realised they aint autos so I guess Ill be learning about cloning,topping and LST'in sooner than I thought- Im ordering some autos online now for the fun of it but cant find a bank that'll do em for €25 total..Im on a strict budget-

 

[RedLeb]

Have you checked out Herbies...
Don't think they are that good on Autos, but they have a big choice..

 

[Hey Buddy]

Have you checked out Herbies...

Don't think they are that good on Autos, but they have a big choice..

You've done it again Red Leb - ! You've done it again!

 

[Hey Buddy]

I've bought a couple of THC Bomb seeds for the next grow and going to give the Coco another try... If I get it right should be fun!...

Is there anything I should know about Coco mix? Its the cheapest Medium I can find. Is it straight forward or what? Biobizz put Cal/Mag tabs into the bag to help ....

 

[RedLeb]

That's not good... Buddy ..

Must be mail costs... were only a couple of £s in England..

Royal Mail have just hiked their prices..

 

[Hey Buddy]

Yeah I dont mind too much.The free seeds sweetens up the deal tho. EVERYTHING is more expensive to get here!

so is there anything I should know about Coco mix? Its the cheapest Medium I can find. Is it straight forward or what? Biobizz put Cal/Mag tabs into the bag to help ....

 

[RedLeb]

Is there anything I should know about Coco mix? Its the cheapest Medium I can find. Is it straight forward or what? Biobizz put Cal/Mag tabs into the bag to help ....

Been reading about Coco.. its different but has some great comments... Drains/ flushes really well.. light and airy - builds fantastic root system.

Has no inbuilt nutrient so need to feed straight away.. needs high levels of Cal-Mag but Canna do a range of high tech. feeds and a nutrient feeding guide

Your Personal - Canna Grow Guide - Feed Schedule - Feeding Chart

bit expensive... but that's normal.. It's big business..

If the next full grow goes as well as my autos... I'm converted..