The Auto AK Triple Haze didn't turn out perfectly level, but I'll tie down a couple of branches and make it perfect this weekend. Not a bad size for being exactly one month old. There are two photos her age that are larger, but they're in 7 gallon pots. This one's in a tall 5 gallon. I've grown this strain two other times, starting as a tester here on AFN. During the stretch it sports long internodes that make you wonder if you're going to get anything besides popcorn. But then it fills in completely with nice, smelly buds.
Long philosophical rant...
You can scroll down to the next heading to skip this brilliant commentary.
You'll notice that I'm not doing any lollipopping. I removed all of the lower branches, but left the fan leaves behind because I'm hoping they'll help the plant grow faster, as well as wither away and provide sustenance during flower if I run into a nutrient deficiency.
Fan leaves are a combination battery and solar panel for the plant. They use up fertilizer from the pot while they're being created, but then people just remove them when they go into flower, or when removing the lower branches they feed. But the plant needs the stuff leaves provide to replace the leaves everyone says to remove. And if you leave the lower fans alone, they're going to keep feeding the rest of the plant. At least that's my thought.
For people who are diligent and detail-oriented, who don't mind following a schedule and measuring nutes, lollipopping works wonderfully. I'm not one of those people. I spend a lot of time hanging out with these wonderful plants, training, trimming, etc. But that's fun and the other stuff just isn't. It's a weed, and shouldn't need us to give it stuff constantly.
I have transitioned to living soil, and all I do is re-amend occasionally. Also, every plant in the tent was put in its forever pot as a seedling. I want to be as efficient as possible with the use of nutrients in hopes that I have fewer problems in flower.
Now back to the tent...
Notice how long the branches on the outer colas are. Making the canopy level wasn't a chore because those branches were already pretty close to where they needed to be.
Mango Smile
The other auto in the tent happens to be one of my two favorite autos, Mephisto's Mango Smile. 50SOG has the best smell and I love making RHO out of it for the taste. And it's a great nighttime smoke. But Mango Smile provides a really nice, social, happy daytime high.
She's in a 5 gallon tall pot and has a nice size for her age (one month) but I'm still waiting for her to start stretching. She'll probably triple in size by harvest. Typically I'm not aggressive in training autos, though I have in the past. I usually leave all the lower branches on and just top and tie down branches to level the canopy. Sometimes I top and don't do anything else. But this time I'm trying to get more height. So I removed the lower branches, leaving the fans behind. I bent a couple tops and now she's happily level. I'm done training this auto - she's perfect and will stay that way. Mephisto autos don't usually need training at all, but like I said, this is the fun part.
Planning to flip the middle of May, and it's becoming clear that I won't be able to flip the whole tent. After removing the autos, there will be six, or at the most, seven plants in here come flip time. At least two of them are males, so there's going to at least be some elbow room. I'm notorious for flipping early and won't be doing that this time. I'll probably move the others outside and see how they do.
... a month. I just Frankensteined her with tape to make every single cola on the plant level. One didn't make the cut and was sacrificed for the good of, well, if we're being honest, mostly me.
