New Grower My First AFN Journal ~~Original OG Kush auto in 15 gallon pot~~ Stop in and Say hello!

[DCLXVI]

That is crazy looking!

 

[henry50]

Hey Everybody! I joined this site a bit ago just to check things out. It took me a while to figure out somewhat how to navigate the site a bit. I have grown some autos in the past but not too awful many and always in my Coots soil. The quality was top shelf but the plant size was pretty lacking. When I started looking around on here I saw some amazing plants and knew I needed to do some research if I was going to up my game so to speak. I decided to do a grow journal to share my ups and downs and fingers crossed some of the experienced auto growers will pop in and offer some advice which I welcome whole heartedly. I'm also finding it hard to "meet" anyone on AFN and hope my journal can change that. So before I bore ya'll to tears or drive you away let's get things started.

Strain: Original OG Kush Auto
Breeder: FastBuds
Pot Size: 15 gallons
Medium: Homemade version of Promix
Lighting: HLG 280w QB (older model)
Tent: 2' x 4' x 4' tall
Nutrients: MC
Supplements: Cal-Mag if needed, Protekt Silica, and Kelp Meal
Grow Time: 63 days from sprout

I have read in a number of places that an auto flower plant does not need a pot over 5 gallons in size. That they don't take advantage of the amount of medium or maybe better said they don't fill the pot with roots. And of course I have also read "bigger pots = bigger roots=bigger plants". I have experimented (experiments are good) and for me I feel like the two autos I grew in a 15 gallon pot way outperformed the five or six I grew in 3 gallon fabric pots. All in the same tent with the same light and same nutrients and same medium. So 15 gallon it is for this grow. Here is the 15 gallon pot filled with a fresh batch of homemade medium. It has already been wetted and is waiting for the seed which has already been placed into it's hempy solo cup to germinate.
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Left to right we have the Original OG Kush auto, in the center Sour Orange Livers auto, and Devil's Crack auto. I expect to see the OG Kush break the surface in a day or day and a half. The Sour Orange Livers and Devil's Crack about a day later. The OG Kush and Sour Orange Livers (Mephisto) will both be in 15 gallon pots, the Devil's Crack (Sweet seeds Dark Devil X Mephisto Sour Crack) in a 3 gallon pot. If things work as I hope I will be trying to reverse the Sour Orange Livers to create some S1 seeds for my collection. I will also do a small run of crosses with the SOL and DC plants. I love pollen chucking quite a lot.

I sure do hope for some member participation. Feel free to share photos of your plants. I'm here to learn so I could really use help and guidance. Not too proud to ask.

Am watching bro - those pots ate massive!

 

[henry50]

Thanks for stopping in DCLXVI

The method to extract the seedling is called Floating. I will put a piece of tape over the drain hole on the bottom and slowly add water till the perlite starts to rise/float on the water. I will already have the hole made in the medium. I will then very gently hold the seedling by the "neck" and while lightly squeezing the sides of the cup I lightly pull up on the seedling. It's amazing how easy 99.4% of them come out of the perlite. I then place the tap root down into the hole I created and gently backfill around it. If I thought it stressed the seedling at all I wouldn't do it. I'll see what I can do to get some one handed pictures tomorrow during transplant. I like to give the plant one extra day after sprouting before transplanting it.

That sounds excellent! I will certainly give it a go.

 

[henry50]

On to the next step and a very important one. As with many things regarding the growing of a cannabis plant there are points of debate about many things. One very important one is whether or not to transplant an auto or to germinate it in it's final pot. I can see the benefits both ways and yes, it can stunt the growth of an auto if you're not precise and ultra careful/gentle transplanting a delicate seedling. If it's a photoperiodic plant it has a long time to recover and bounce back, an auto does not. I started germinating in hempy solo cups for two reasons but they sort of come together. First, my success rate is extremely high. I truly believe that if a seed is going to germinate and sprout it will do it every time in perlite. Will you have a dud seed from time to time, you betcha. But if you handed me just one single seed, the last cannabis seed on the planet and tasked me with reversing the plant to produce seeds that last little seed is going in a hempy solo cup.

So without further ado here is how I transplant a seedling from a hempy solo cup into it's forever home. I'll do my best to provide a thorough description but if at any point you have questions please do ask. From what I've seen so far on this site everyone does their best to help everyone else.

Here is the seedling I am transplanting today. It is from FastBuds and is their Original OG Kush auto. It sprouted two days ago and has been in my little homemade germination box under a couple of screw in LED light bulbs. The first day after sprout it is under it's dome and the second day out from under the dome.
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Notice at the bottom of the cup there is a small 1/2" drain/reservoir overflow hole. To remove the seedling the cup must be filled with water till the perlite floats to the top. The piece of duct tape covers the hole and allows me to fill the cup with water. Here is a photo showing the duct tape application and a photo of the cup prior to filling with water. Note the level of the perlite in the second pic here.
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Here I stop and wash my fingers thoroughly with alcohol (91% is best) before handling the plant. I never touch the white tap root, only the stem.

At this point I slowly fill the cup with water until the perlite floats almost to the top of the cup. What this does is allow you to squeeze (gently) the cup from opposite side loosening up the perlite. Sort of breaking it apart (gently) to separate the perlite from around the taproot. Again, this is the most crucial part and gentleness and patience is the key. What I do after it's flooded is slowly spin the cup squeezing with my thumb and forefinger as it spins. When you feel it's loose enough and as you continue to squeeze and release the sides of the cup ease the seedling out of the perlite. Do not bend it or twist it or pull too hard. Trust me it will start to lift out of the perlite. And if you're patient and gentle you'll end up with something like this. First picture shows the cup after filling with water and bringing the perlite to the top. Second picture is of the Original OG Kush seconds removed from the hempy solo germination cup.
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Now, prior to the steps above I will prepare the hole in the pot into which I will transplant the seedling. I use a simple artist's paintbrush for this job. I've learned to make the hole deeper then I think I'll need as some strains will really put down a long taproot in just two days. And in the case of this Original OG Kush it was needed. So I make the hole like so in as close to the center of the pot as I can.
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I then mix up a very small mix of beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizae and sprinkle it down into the hole. So now it's ready for the seedling.
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The last step is to plant the seedling. I always take great pains to not damage the delicate taproot. My hole is wide enough for it to slip right in but sometimes it can get caught on the edge of the hole. I never force it, instead I lift it back up a tiny bit and ease it back down again. When I have it all the way in and straight I leave just about 1/4" of stem above the surface. The paintbrush is right there sticking in the medium. I envision a circle about 2" around the seedling. I push the brush down into the soil to the depth of the bottom of the hole and gently push it towards the seedling. You are STILL holding onto the seedling at this point maintaining that 1/4" depth. Keep moving around your circle pushing the medium towards the seedling. You are closing the hole you put her in moving the medium so it's making contact with the taproot. I do this till I'm confident her root is gently encased in the medium. Pat the soil around the seedling and you're done. She looks SO tiny in her 15 gallon pot.
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Now she is in her forever home and ready to grow. I apologize if you feel this was long winded. I try and be as concise and detailed as I can so that someone wishing to try this themselves will have no problems. I hope this proves helpful to at least one person.

Amazing.

 

[Zer0]

And I'm sure you guys have gotten tired of seeing photos of my Jellium Punch plants buds. I'm happy to report I harvested her this week so she is gone forever. I took a test nugget off her last Sunday and snapped a couple pictures of the now dried bud today. Thought I would share one last bud pic from this plant.
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oooweee that looks good! nice job!
Save a nug of hers forever in the freezer

 

[LoveDaAutos]

Diary update for today 4/12/21 for the Original OG Kush auto from FastBuds.

Today the OG Kush auto is 40 days old. She has started flowering and I'm starting to see side branches rise up out of the canopy of leaves. I am finished trying to keep the four main branches moving towards the side of the pot. I've decided to stop where I'm at and let her go vertical from here on out. Hopefully I didn't wait too long and she can still push up some nice colas. I'm not sure how long she will stretch and I guess it depends on that right? I guess some autos stretch a whole lot more then others. To quote my wife (and it irks me every time she says it) IT IS WHAT IT IS! Enjoy your week everybody!

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[LoveDaAutos]

Diary update for today 4/12/21 for my Quarter Pounder auto X Dark Devil auto.

She is chugging along at sprout +31 days today. I really wish I had been able to spread that 4th node apart and take it horizontal but she just wasn't having it.
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[LoveDaAutos]

Diary update for today 4/14/21 for the Original OG Kush auto and the Quarter Pounder auto X Dark Devil Auto

Both plants continue to grow. The OG Kush is putting out some vertical growth. As I mentioned I stopped moving her restraints and am just letting her grow upwards if she wants.

 

[Zer0]

Diary update for today 4/12/21 for my Quarter Pounder auto X Dark Devil auto.

She is chugging along at sprout +31 days today. I really wish I had been able to spread that 4th node apart and take it horizontal but she just wasn't having it.
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Look at the tree trunk on her! I'm big jealous.
Good job

 

[LoveDaAutos]

Look at the tree trunk on her! I'm big jealous.
Good job

@Zeromitch You'll get a couple autos under your belt and be growing beauties in no time.