Indoor First Journal: Barney's Pineapple Express (Auto Pineapple Chunk)

[VitaMan]

What soil are they in? Looks like neut burn to me. Maybe your soil had enough base neuts for first few weeks of growth since they dont need much initially and extra sensitive at such a young age? Just my 2 cents. I introduced bio bizz alg-a-mic to mine and it really seems to help plant health

Thanks Haggis.
I just found your journal. Your plants are developing much much faster than mine, at the same ages, even before nutes were introduced.

I hope it isn't nute burn, I fed them before seeing your message....

"Dutch Treat" soil is not very rich, it will support plants the first 1-2 weeks. The grow shop advises feeding after that.
(I am actually considering regular potting soil with coco added for my next grow)

Each feeding has been about 100-150ml of solution @ <1/4 strength. I added 1/2 strength CalMag starting today.
pH 6.5 has been consistent all along with everything- soil, water, and nute solution.

First food was on day 14, then day 18, and now 23.

 

[HaggisHaze]

I grew in canna soil with about 20% added perlite, so the roots could easy push through soil etc.. Fed them after day 17 i think. As for watering and feeding, i have tried my best to let pots dry out before watering. My thinking here was that as the pots dried out roots would be forced to hunt for water thus improving root structure and growth. Didn't want girls sat in stagnant water either.

Shops want you on neuts asap so your spending money, thats my theory anyway... I think maybe you were a wee bit too soon with the neuts but they will bounce back in no time.

Good luck buddy

 

[VitaMan]

thats my theory anyway...

LOL I take that theory as fact.

Thanks for your input, Hagis.

Yes, I may have been too early on nutes.
I too have around 20% perlite in my soil, even though it is already a bit coarse and mulch-ey.

Here are some shots of day 24.
Their colour is not that bad, only the two leaves on BPE1 are affected.
That is the one that germinated first and stretched before I got her under proper light. That angle looks more chaotic than it is, so I included the blurry side shot.

They are starting to look like real plants, but so slowly. Usually my plants would be 18" tall at the end of week 4. I am hoping for a big growth spurt.

 

[VitaMan]

This is sad. BPE2 is showing pistils right on time and smells really sweet, but she is but 3" tall.

I don't have watering autos down yet. The soil feels dry a good 3" down, so I wonder if water is accumulating lower down, or if my sense of touch is going...

I'm not expecting much at all from these plants, so from this point I am just curious to see what happens to them.


Too bad I don't have more of the same seeds, I wanna get this right.

These are not going to take much space so I might as well start one of my other strains in a couple of weeks. Eenie meenie miney moe...

 

[VitaMan]

I don't have pictures at the moment, but many lower leaves have died and fallen off.

Embarrassing as it is, I think I will get a single little bud from each plant.

 

[VitaMan]

Well, they were permanently stunted, At 7 weeks, they about 4" tall. I will likely get less than an eighth. They do smell yummy, though!

 

[cornell584]

Well, they were permanently stunted, At 7 weeks, they about 4" tall. I will likely get less than an eighth. They do smell yummy, though!

They might surprise you yet mine also showed pistils around the same time but i ended up with 41g's from her

Tip for watering is to feel how heavy the pots are after watering and again when dry, this way you can tell if the pot is light she will need water

Boo'sBuds[emoji271] https://www.autoflower.org/index.php?threads/60630/

 

[VitaMan]

Harvest
I have been very busy, back to work plus medical stuff so I haven't been around.

OK- the final result <blush>

They stayed short and grew into mini-colas, and my dry yield was less than 3 grams. No point curing, I am just using it as is.

It tastes very pineapple to the end, I wish the flavor lingered. Even at higher temps (dark ABV) it was smooth.

The effects are relaxed euphoria- chill and cheerful, body buzz is not tired or heavy. Kind of a Sunday afternoon picnic in the park, social kind of high. Not bad for stunted plants. I might try it again for the flavor and daytime buzz, but I have other seeds to use first.

I think the harm done was early feeding. I suspect the use of RapidStart as well. Another factor may be the often re-used smart-pots, it's impossible to remove all the fine roots from the material, so I should just chuck them.

As for water, both plants together got only 6l of liquid over 2 months. LED doesn't dry the soil very quickly but in 3-4 days I could put my hand way down and the mixture was dry.

Post-harvest autopsy revealed small roots about the size of a baseball. This bag of dirt is rough, with chunks of barely composted wood, plus added perlite. The wood chunks felt like they held a bit of water.

Lessons learned:

• Wait longer before ferts.
  
• Switch to a more thoroughly composted potting soil with 30% coir as per prescribed by some breeders
  
• Replace fabric pots with new ones (switch to air-pots? Plastic is easy to clean)
• ... more, I am sure.

The rapid rooter plugs, old pots, that bag of soil, and rapid-start are 3 common factors from the last 3 grows. Previously, fresh(er) pots and the same brand of dirt (different bags) got good results with photos.

Questions to ask:

• Should they be in a warmer and more humid environment to compensate for the cool LED's?
• If I switch from felt to air-pots, how can I keep the soil from leaking out the bottom?
• Can root stimulators like RapidStart cause growth problems?

I will probably grow the last AutoMazar seeds I have before the FB LSD-25's. Gotta save some money after all that electricity for a few expensive grams and want to solve this problem before planting a favorite strain.