Jon's Second Grow, First Grow Journal, Soil Grow Autos & Photoperiod

[Bill284]

Cinderella Jack #3
Harvest Special
Results of Experiment
Day 74

Cinderella Jack #3 is harvested and hanging to dry. And the results of our 36 hours of darkness experiment are in.

First, a word on the strain, genetics, and this particular plant. This is the best pot plant I have grown yet in my life. It is DENSE. WAY dense. It STINKS. It is GLISTENING with trichomes and they are thick as hell on this girl. She is SO sticky. Her wet trimmed to dry weight is 6.53 ounces or 183 grams. That should be around 2.5 dry the way the first two of this strain dried relative to their weight loss. Not bad for one plant in 74 days of what is going to be FAR better weed than my first photo grow or any of the autos I've harvested yet. And those are GOOD. This plant is GREAT. Show buds. If there's such a thing as being proud of a plant, I am proud of this girl. And I'm not trying to be an egomaniac dick either, it just really, objectively, from someone who has been smoking weed 42 years - this is top shelf by any of our standards.
The genetics come from Dutch Passion. Enough said, it doesn't get better than that. I will be trying other of the company's strains. And I will no doubt be growing this plant again. Absolutely gorgeous plant, growing her is a breeze, training her is a breeze, and she produces pretty well, especially for her size. I don't know how big or how she would produce if you just let her go. Certainly she'd be taller. Not sure it would yield better than LST-ing as I did. The buds on this plant are all big, dense, softballish buds and every one of them was heavy and legit. There were about 8 branches left on her that budded. I also wonder if I can train her to produce more. A low scrog maybe. Anyway, Cinderella Jack, the world's strongest autoflower, in the books. And she's all that.

Ok so about the 36 hours of darkness experiment. This plant just got harvested upon the end of the 36 hours. I didn't even peek for that time. So, the question is, how, if at all, was she different AFTER the 36 hours than she was BEFORE? Well, to my inexperienced eyes, I see this:

- Definite increase in the size, and the amount, of trichomes
- Definite increase in the density with which the trichomes are packed
- Minimal increase in the number of amber trichomes - they are pretty much as they went into the dark
- Definite increase in the odor of the plant. This was the most obvious change. It stinks so much worse it's way noticeable. I sort of hoped for this but it exceeded my hopes with the odor thing,
- Definite increase in the stickiness of the plant
- I *think* the buds feel a bit wetter to the light hold now than they did when they went in. Not sure. But if true, I wonder why that would be? Might just have been feeling them under the cover leaf as I trimmed them through a thin rubber glove. Maybe not relevant, not sure.
- No wilting, or anything that I would perceive as a negative to the plant. She almost seems to wanna go back outside. Of course I wouldn't do that, but lol.

So my conclusion is that the 36 hours of darkness DEFINITELY works and is definitely a big time positive. I will now do this for all my grows. This was MORE than enough proof for me, even only trying it once on one plant. The difference is too noticeable for me to be inventing it for myself.

It is not lost on me that this was far from a proper, controlled experiment, so take all this for what it's worth guys. I just wanted to get an idea, and I got one. Be curious to hear of anyone else's experience with this.

You guys who are interested in this little experiment can judge for yourself. I have included three trichome pictures from AFTER the 36 hours. If you like you can flip back two days and compare the last trichome shots I posted of this plant to the trichome shots from tonight. That's what I did, and I see a significant difference. I checked all the buds with the microscope, and all of them look just like these pictures. The difference was the whole plant, not just a couple buds. You guys tell me if it looks like the increase in trichs and such that I believe I'm seeing or not. You will be more objective than me. I'd love to know if my eyes work or if they exaggerate things for me, if you get my drift.

So there you go. Enjoy the pics.

Photographs:

- Trichome shot 1
- Trichome shot 2
- Trichome shot 3
- Wet weight trimmed to hang and dry - 183 grams, ie, 6.53 ounces wet
- Bud example flash picture trimmed to dry
- Bud example flash picture trimmed to dry
- Bud example no flash picture trimmed to dry

HAPPY FRIDAY NIGHT. Time for a beer.

Congrats Jon.
Great harvest buddy.
Bill

 

[Jon]

Congrats Jon.
Great harvest buddy.
Bill

Thanks Bill. Not terrible at all, and what there is of her is great quality. I think this can be a quarter pound plant. I'm gonna work at her. Super great plant to grow. She just starts flowering a bit quickly for me to be comfortable with scrogging her low like I suppose you'd have to with autos - set the screen way low. That would work great with the Pineapple Express - they take forever and still have a month to go at like day 70, and they get real big and branchy. The Cinderella is less branchy but each bud becomes gigantic. And it's so damn crushingly filled with crystals I can't wait to smoke it. It's so good, I think, that I won't even touch it until it's cured for two weeks. I only am able to have that discipline with my really good head stash buds. Lmao.

 

[Jon]

Congrats Jon.
Great harvest buddy.
Bill

Hey @Bill284, do you agree with my assessment of the results of the dark period? I know you do this, do you get similar results? You do this to all your plants, yes?

 

[Bill284]

Hey @Bill284, do you agree with my assessment of the results of the dark period? I know you do this, do you get similar results? You do this to all your plants, yes?

Hey Jon I hope you are well my friend.
I have never done a side by side comparison, dark vs no dark before chop.
I have read and seen others do exactly that with great results.
I do leave them in darkness for 36 hrs now before chop.
My buds are like glass so I don't question the science behind the procedure.
The theory behind it sounds plausible so I do it .
Just another small thing that can only help as far as I see.
Bill

 

[Jon]

Hey Jon I hope you are well my friend.
I have never done a side by side comparison, dark vs no dark before chop.
I have read and seen others do exactly that with great results.
I do leave them in darkness for 36 hrs now before chop.
My buds are like glass so I don't question the science behind the procedure.
The theory behind it sounds plausible so I do it .
Just another small thing that can only help as far as I see.
Bill

Ok, thanks for the response. I agree. Glass is good. Lol. One more question. Why not 48 hours?

 

[Bill284]

Ok, thanks for the response. I agree. Glass is good. Lol. One more question. Why not 48 hours?

10 plants.
Start first at 36 hrs probably 72 by time I get to the final one.
So its just the fact I'm slow hehe.
Not a procedure just timing for my own convenience.
Bill

 

[Michael Hunt]

Another harvest down! Right on @Jon Throwing down some autos for some faster harvests is seriously panning out well for you man. Im kind of jealous lol.

My vote for the seeds goes to the ghost train haze all the way. But, you’ve got one hell of a good selection there

 

[Jon]

10 plants.
Start first at 36 hrs probably 72 by time I get to the final one.
So its just the fact I'm slow hehe.
Not a procedure just timing for my own convenience.
Bill

Ok, so that's what I thought. You can leave them in the dark as long as you want pretty much. As long as they are in the dark any photosynthesis stops, but the trichomes and terpenes get pumped out and pumped up. So I gotta decide how many hours for the scrog, since obviously that'll all have to be the same amount of darkness. I will experiment with longer dark with the rest of the autos, I like what you do and want to see if 48 or 72 beats 36. I have plenty of weed so I can be patient, lol. It's interesting as hell I think. And fun. Thanks, man.

 

[Jon]

Solo Jelly Rancher Update
Day 87 Grow
Day 8 Flower
High Light/Par Experiment

This plant is doing really well. You will see some faded leaves underneath, that was the need for some Cal Mag and a flush, and she got those with the last watering. You can see from the new growth that she is now starting to hit on all cylinders. She really seems to be loving having unlimited space. A note for me for future grows - maybe less plants, more space is good. She's happy, healthy, and has optimum weather conditions. She is in the auto tent, which is a Topolite - my first tent. It has a few patches. The floor is trashed. Lol. But most relevant is that the walls and the way this tent is insulated from the outside environment is FAR less effective than the Gorilla Tent. Note to self and everyone else: don't compromise if you don't have to on the tent. The Gorilla is king. By far. I will never buy another brand. Anyway, as such, the Topolite tent is very subject to the environment around it and it's temperature inside, especially since it's the tent closer to the garage door that gets HOT, goes up and down as the day goes. This is why I put the second AC unit on this tent. I had to. It's 8000 btu. It will cool down half a house. It solved the issues. Heh. So with my control capabilities this plant has maintained at about a low of 66 at night to a high of 83 in the day at the hottest part. And I can lower that 83 to around 80 if I kick the other AC unit up to high during the hot part of the day, but since my target STOP temp for leaf temperature at the highest heighth is 85 degrees, I let them get warm during the day on purpose. I believe they photosynthesize more effectively in warmer temps. 83 has not bothered her, and when she was outside it was 90 during the day. Temps outside must be different than in a tent as you would never let your tent get to 90 degrees.

So to address our little light/par experiment: This lady is being budded at 1320 across her "canopy" very evenly. As of this moment, the highest, tallest bud on the plant is at 1340. The lowest, shortest bud is at 1290. So call it 1320 average on the plant. This harkens back to a discussion from a few days ago. The assertion is that 1300 or 1400 is too high par to bud with and is counterproductive. I disagree. So I am intentionally budding this plant at those higher par numbers to do the experiment. Obviously I won't sacrifice her, if she starts to show any signs of not liking the light level I'll drop it. Duh. BUT.......go ahead and show me one single sign that this plant is anything but LOVING the amount of light she's getting. Her leaves are either horizontal to the ground or reaching slightly up. Her leaves are all the exact green you want. Her buds are developing quickly - it's only Day 8 of flower today, and she already has what you see. Pretty crazy for day eight. The scrog and even the same Jelly Rancher IN the scrog are on day 10 or 11 and they are JUST starting to show buds. So I assert that this is due to them getting 1300+ par instead of a pedestrian 1000 or 1100, which is pretty much my argument from the beginning. Short of burning the plants, more light = bigger buds. But for those who are following the light experiment, tell me, what do you think? See any signs of discomfort on this plant? Does she appear to have any issues with 1320 par?

Here she is fifteen minutes ago on Day 8 of flower.

 

[Jon]

Another harvest down! Right on @Jon Throwing down some autos for some faster harvests is seriously panning out well for you man. Im kind of jealous lol.

My vote for the seeds goes to the ghost train haze all the way. But, you’ve got one hell of a good selection there

Thanks Michael I figured you were on the Ghost Train. It's so funny, everyone else always thinks your selection of seeds is good and you look at your own selections and feel like it could be a lot better. Ha.

 

[StoneOtter]

Ghost Train haze for the win Jon!

 

[Jon]

Ghost Train haze for the win Jon!

Great minds think alike? Or you guys wanna grow it too and you want to watch me be the guinea pig first? Lmao!

 

[Jon]

Solo Jelly Rancher
Day 88 Grow
Day 9 Flower
Cold Experiment Results

Last night I decided to try an experiment in low temperatures with this girl. I wanted to see if I pushed it, in a tent with all that extra space, how damn cold I could get it. I'm going to try later on in budding to bring out her colors with the cold at night. I have seen this strain grown really well in various video grow journals on Youtube, and I know she has purples galore to come out if I can coax her properly. I knew I didn't have the capability to make it cold enough to kill her overnight, so I maxed the two AC units, and closed the garage door completely, and let it rip cold overnight.

Just now (she wakes up at 9 am) I checked her out and the temperature was 59.3 degrees. Jesus Christ. I didn't expect it to get THAT low. This was the most pleasant shock this tent setup has given me yet. If I can get it that low at night and her colors don't come out, she ain't giving me any. It's low to be sure, but not near close enough to be a problem. At least not for this beast.

Here she is upon waking up after several hours at 59.3 degrees on Day 9 of flower:

 

[Jon]

This is a post that is a particular shout out and sincere thank you for @Emilya and @Bill284

You guys are the two most responsible for my drastic change in watering habits from my first grow to this one. If I had to single out one factor that has improved my results more so than any other, it would definitely be the watering process. I feel that and that alone is responsible for my root ball development. And so what I did was I worked the root ball out of the Cinderella Jack autoflower pot I just harvested, while the stem hasn't died yet and the fibrous roots in the ball are still intact, as I've found if you wait til it's COMPLETELY dried out to check out the ball, those little fibrous roots basically dry up and dissolve and you don't get an accurate idea.

So for anyone who has read these guys on watering and wonders if it actually works, I'm here to tell you with the proof that YES, it does indeedy!!!!!!

THANK YOU EMILYA AND BILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Emilya Green]

This is a post that is a particular shout out and sincere thank you for @Emilya and @Bill284

You guys are the two most responsible for my drastic change in watering habits from my first grow to this one. If I had to single out one factor that has improved my results more so than any other, it would definitely be the watering process. I feel that and that alone is responsible for my root ball development. And so what I did was I worked the root ball out of the Cinderella Jack autoflower pot I just harvested, while the stem hasn't died yet and the fibrous roots in the ball are still intact, as I've found if you wait til it's COMPLETELY dried out to check out the ball, those little fibrous roots basically dry up and dissolve and you don't get an accurate idea.

So for anyone who has read these guys on watering and wonders if it actually works, I'm here to tell you with the proof that YES, it does indeedy!!!!!!

THANK YOU EMILYA AND BILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now That is a root ball! Very good Jon, but this one is on you... it is you who did all the work and made all the decisions!

 

[Virgin Ground]

I'm growing a @Weed Seeds Express Ghost Train Haze right now. She's just budding up.
Seems to be a relatively easy to grow plant so far. She is pretty heavy on the sativa genetics so you do want to make sure you aren't overfeeding her.
I'm using GeoFlora so overfeeding hasn't been an issue for me.


Congrats on the harvest!!!

 

[Bill284]

This is a post that is a particular shout out and sincere thank you for @Emilya and @Bill284

You guys are the two most responsible for my drastic change in watering habits from my first grow to this one. If I had to single out one factor that has improved my results more so than any other, it would definitely be the watering process. I feel that and that alone is responsible for my root ball development. And so what I did was I worked the root ball out of the Cinderella Jack autoflower pot I just harvested, while the stem hasn't died yet and the fibrous roots in the ball are still intact, as I've found if you wait til it's COMPLETELY dried out to check out the ball, those little fibrous roots basically dry up and dissolve and you don't get an accurate idea.

So for anyone who has read these guys on watering and wonders if it actually works, I'm here to tell you with the proof that YES, it does indeedy!!!!!!

THANK YOU EMILYA AND BILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great work my friend. You rock.
Bill

 

[Jon]

SCROG UPDATE
Grow Day 88
Flower/Stretch Day 14

No issues and nothing new to discuss. These guys are rocking. All plants now showing buds. All indeed did or are (not sure if stretch is over but it's close) stretch about the same. The canopy is more even than I had hoped for at this point. Now we'll find out if my light is as good as I think it is.

Photographs:

- The scrog
- Overhead left
- Overhead middle
- Overhead right
- Canopy level view
- Underside left
- Underside right

Enjoy the pics guys. Happy Sunday.

 

[Jon]

Pineapple Express #1 Autoflower Update
Day 72

This will be the first of the three Pineapple Express to harvest in about a month. The other two are on Day 68. I haven't talked much in the journal about the Pineapple Express for one reason - they take forever. I knew that going in. Like over 100 days easy. And today for this girl is day 72. So she has a month to go yet. This plant is as close to a pure sativa as any of the four strains I grew. She grows long, tall, sativa buds. Thin sativa leaves. Tons of side branching. Supposedly a big producer and depending on how fat the buds get on this plant, maybe she will be. Right now she is thin, dense, and just beginning to show some frost. She smells faintly sweet and fruity but her odor is really just starting to come in too. I can tell how she smells more in the morning when I take them from the garage back outdoors as after a night in the closed in garage the odors build up pretty well. If these buds get fat like they are in the pictures of the strain, this plant will be a quarter pound plant. If not, it won't and it could end up a dud. We'll see. But she is WAY healthy, that's for sure. She throws pistils daily. The white hairs on this strain come out small and short but consistently.

Here's the plant and a bud closeup. Enjoy.

 

[Jon]

Some Final Yield and Assessment Data
Gorilla Zkittlez
Cinderella Jack #1 and #2

Final yield to me is based on the final weight, once they are final trimmed and jarred and after you've burped them for a while, in case they lose a little more weight. I only weigh what I consider to be the primo buds of each plant, and the final weights as posted do NOT include what I have smoked, and they don't include the leftover flarfy buds or buds that were too small for me to bother trimming. That stuff I'll do whatever with, but the point is the actual final weight was a little bit higher. I'm just posting what is as perfect as I have for each plant that's currently weighed, curing, and done.

Gorilla Zkittlez as already posted final weight of primo was 1 ounce and 1 eighth....31.5 grams
Cinderella Jack 1 and 2 combined final weight of primo is exactly 2 ounces.....56 grams

I would guess i've smoked about an eighth of each and have about a quarter of flarf of each plant. That said, and even though I trim my buds to JUST the buds, I have to be honest - I am very disappointed with the yields from these three plants so far. All three should have been significantly higher. And as usual, that is not the plant's fault, that is entirely MY fault. The simple truth is that I took all three plants too soon by almost two weeks. I know because I let the third Cinderella Jack plant go till she showed as much amber as I could tolerate and she is significantly heavier than either CJ 1 or CJ2. I won't make that GODDAMN ROOKIE BULLSHIT mistake again, I can tell you that. Yes, I'm honestly a little pissed off at myself about it. Lmao. I know better. I knew better when I chopped them and I did it anyway like an asshole.

Ok, that's enough beating my own ass. Cuz the upside is that the weed is very good in both cases. The Gorilla smells and tastes fabulous. The buds are not as dense as they should be, again from too early taking, but they aren't terrible. Mid level density as you can kind of see in the picture. The thc production is, by my standards, low. I estimate the Gorilla to be around 20% thc. Doesn't put a dent in me. But someone like my 17 year old nephew who just started smoking weed would think this was amazing weed. It's not amazing weed. My fault. Not sure it CAN be what I'd consider amazing. But it can be very good, and this is what I would describe as "pretty" good weed. Better than mids, but not scratching the surface of high quality weed. A bit disappointing to be honest. But that's my honest assessment.

The Cinderella Jack, on the other hand, is VERY good weed. Strong as hell. Definitely mid-20s thc level. Strong enough to close your eyes after a bong hit and ride the wave from the top of your head down past your shoulders, and strong enough to make your eyes start sweating immediately. I can't really give an accurate assessment on smell and taste till it's cured as long as the Gorilla, but it's dank and a bit lemony with that Jack Herer taste and smell. The buds are very dense and the finished buds are very bag worthy. I can't wait to smoke CJ3 based on these two. I really don't have a negative to report about this weed other than I know it could have been a little better had I waited. I will definitely grow this strain again. I can't imagine growing an auto that is stronger. A big bong hit of it kicks my ass. I hit all the right notes with these plants other than when I took the first two. But not quite what I would consider "show buds." Those are Cinderella Jack #3 who is drying. But these aren't terribly far off. I will post a smell and taste quickie later on after it cures in the Infinity jar for a while.

So there's my take on the first three autos, as honest as I can be.

Here's finished bud pics of the plants. First the Gorilla then Cinderella Jack 1 and 2.