Sweet Seeds Femme Fatales: Red Poison, Dark Devil, Ice Cool, Cream Caramel, and Gorilla Girl XL Autos

[delagdo]

Thank you @Punta Roja - yes they are all fat chunky auto leaves. Thanks for your kind words about my photos. They've all been a mixture of shots from the tent, shots with flash, shots under the bedroom electric light, some with daylight in the room. Some have been on tripod (there's one which is a 25 second exposure under the bedroom electric light above), many have just been handheld. I've been struggling to process them because of this mish mash - the white balance is always really hard to get right and never looks consistent, and this is supposed to be a diary after all. Also, the attached bedroom is being used a lot by my wife who is learning to play the drums. When the kids are settled she likes to nip up there for a quick drum session. She has an electronic kit, and she doesn't appreciate it when I unplug everything and pull it out of the way to set up a photo shoot. Plus I have the added complication of the timelapse when it comes to opening the tent and moving the plants around. So going forward, I am going to take most of my pictures in the tent. I think it will be better for consistency, and also for my relationship!

[delagdo]

Seedling to Vegetative Growth

The gang are growing up and moving on, now they’ve established some roots. Once an auto is about two weeks from sprout, they begin a phase of vegetative growth, with rapid leaf expansion and quick node production. Sidebranches will begin to sprout soon.

I planned to raise the EC to 1.0 on day 14, which I did for the older three according to schedule on Saturday. This is the point I begin regularly watering through with runoff, rather than just keeping the big pots moist, so I have raised those plants on cake racks above the Tupperware. I am going to water on a 48 hour cycle to begin with, so I did it for those three again today.

 

I took some pictures yesterday. Here’s a look in the tent:

Back: Gorilla Girl XL Auto, Ice Cool Auto, Cream Caramel Auto (day 15)
Front: Dark Devil Auto (day 12), Red Poison (day 14)

The three older ones are doing great, as is the Dark Devil Auto. The Red Poison Auto continues to struggle. She’s not always by the humidifier vent – besides the Gorilla Girl XL Auto, I have been switching their positions in the tent. 

The environment has been very steady in there, humidity is nearly always between 50-60%. Across the past four days since my last update the maximum was 67% and minimum 39%. Temperatures have been between a low of 20°C and high 27°C, usually more like 25°C with the lights on.

I didn’t raise the EC on day 14 for the Red Poison Auto, I kept her on 0.9 EC. To keep things simple, I will raise it a couple of days late, so her feedings are the same as the Dark Devil Auto. I’m not sure what is wrong, I suspect I have kept the coco a bit too damp which will not have helped. I’ve not watered at all the past couple of days. Here’s a closer look, you can see the damage has got worse and spread to other leaves:

Red Poison Auto, day 14

 

She has an interesting superpower: webbing! Or at least one webbed leaf, like a duck’s foot:

Red Poison Auto leaf, day 14

The Dark Devil Auto may have sprouted two days later but it’s a much bigger plant now, much more healthy and green:

All of the plants are showing their Auto heritage proudly now, with very broad fat leaves. The indica dominant Cream Caramel Auto is surprisingly possibly the narrowest of them at this stage:

Cream Caramel Auto, day 15

Cream Caramel Auto, day 15

The Ice Cool Auto is a bit taller than the other two, and she loves to pray to the light – I caught her during her Sunday session:

Ice Cool Auto, day 15

Some double-serration saw edges starting to appear:

Ice Cool Auto, day 15

My Gorilla Girl XL Auto likes to reach up too:

Gorilla Girl XL Auto, day 15

I’ve been working on the video again. Serendipity came my way this week, as I have just been given a nice surprise bonus for work I did in April, when the pandemic lockdown first hit the UK. I also have a bit of money left over from my diary prize last year – there’s not been much opportunity to spend it, and I had not quite managed to send it all to messrs Vapefiend, Vapewellness, Vaposhop, Namaste et al just yet. It made perfect sense to spend it on a laptop actually capable of editing video, and so I ordered an Asus Zenbook. It arrived on Friday, and I’ve spent the evenings over the weekend trying to learn how to use it, and being in awe of how nice it is. 

I tried a few open source video editing packages, mostly without any kind of success, before I settled on Shotcut. I managed to pull together the pictures from the first two weeks, stabilise the footage, and add a bit of text. I’ve put it on Youtube again, and this time I’ve tried to do everything I can to avoid it being tagged as possibly inappropriate on upload. Hopefully embedding it will actually work, and you won’t need to log in this time:

 

In case that doesn’t work for you, here’s the link to try: https://youtu.be/s-B3XSWgzZM

I am very pleased with how this has come out. I can be critical about it, and notice how the camera wonders around a little bit off centre as I struggled to keep it still. I would have liked to have moved the shot a bit less in the second week, with fewer steps out. I missed the focus around day 8 which is a bit of a shame. It is difficult to get it where I had positioned the camera to see the screen and make adjustments, something I am definitely considering more as I think about recomposing the tent and the camera for veg. The text is mostly just there as a test, as I try to learn about keyframes and filters and the other video editing basics. But overall, yes I am very happy, and looking forward to seeing her really move this next week. I will have to try and work out a soundtrack for her to strut her stuff to 

Edited January 25, 2021 by delagdo

[superfruit]

Great pics, and I love those timelapse videos. Good luck with the rest of the grow.

[jadenugs]

That timelapse is magic mate, nice one  

[growinggold]

Really nice time lapse @delagdo  so simple and effective. I love watching them rock to and fourth like a life a rough ocean.

[delagdo]

Thank you @superfruit I'm glad you enjoyed it!

 

Thanks @jadenugs! It's great being able to see it all happen in seconds, like a new perspective.

 

@growinggold Ta, yes I love that first bit where it's a bit dizzy and struggling to stand up  There's a name for that movement in early growth but I can't remember it now

[delagdo]

Vegetative Growth & Updated Feeding Schedule

Earlier this week I looked at my plants, and again over my old diaries, and I realised my plan to water every 48 hours from day 14 was too much to young. The bottom of the pots were still saturated after two days so I knew I needed to leave it longer. The old diaries have been really useful for planning, but one thing I didn’t properly account for in my thinking was the larger fabric pots I’m using this time. Previously I have tended to use airpots with less coco, which would dry out quicker.

I’ve made an updated feeding schedule and included the planned watering frequency:

Four of the five plants are following this exactly so far, the older plants are up to day 21 today. A 72 hour cycle seemed much better for this past week, I need to make sure I do not drown the roots at the bottom of the pot. From tomorrow they should be ready to move to every two days. The  youngest, Dark Devil Auto, is also bang on schedule, just three days behind.

The Red Poison Auto schedule is slightly delayed/relaxed by a couple of days – the move up from 1.0 to 1.1 EC was on day 16, and she’ll go up to 1.2 EC on day 22. 

I also sprayed all five plants with Epsom salts twice this week, on Monday and again on Friday, keeping up a four day cycle. I managed to take a photo including the spray last time, but not mention it in the text. I’ll keep up the spraying whilst they are young, but once flowers develop I will stop.

I rearranged the tent on Wednesday, and I took out the humidifier. I spread the plants out and moved the camera, and I hung a t-shirt up to be a background for the next shot in the video:

Back: Gorilla Girl XL Auto, Ice Cool Auto, Cream Caramel Auto (all day 18)
Front: Dark Devil Auto (day 15), Red Poison Auto (day 17)

Without the humidifier, the tent tends to level out around 26°C and 40% humidity with the lights on. Since Wednesday the maximums were 27°C and 50% humidity, and minimums have been 20°C and 37% humidity. I’ve been looking at leaf temperatures too with an laser thermometer and typically finding these between 21-23°C. Looking at the VPD charts/calculators in a few places shows this to be a bit drier than would be ideal, but so far the plants seem to be enjoying it. The problem might be that I end up overfeeding the plants due to the increased transpiration. I know I am pushing the food hard, hopefully I am as close to the limit as possible, whilst still being inside it.

I took some pictures yesterday and the day before. The Ice Cool Auto is the leader of the gang so far. She’s very vigorously producing lush green leaves, and already developing a thick trunk and decent side shoots:

Ice Cool Auto, day 19

Ice Cool Auto, day 20

The Cream Caramel Auto looks just as nice and healthy too, but not quite as tall and chunky:

Cream Caramel Auto, day 19

Cream Caramel Auto, day 20

[Punta Roja]

Excellente Del, love the time lapse.

 

Got some lovely side branching coming on as well... 

 

Have you thought about covering the soil with say half inch of gravel? It would help retain moisture and eliminate algae on the soil surface.

 

ATVB mate

 

PR

[delagdo]

Vegetative Growth & First Pistils

Here’s a few more pictures from yesterday and the day before to continue the previous update.

The Gorilla Girl XL Auto is doing fabulously too, all three older ones are still almost synchronised in development:

Gorilla Girl XL Auto, day 19

Gorilla Girl XL Auto, day 20

The Red Poison Auto is one day behind those three, but much smaller, and still very yellow. I’m not worried, I read over my diary from last year where I had a Sweet Gelato Auto which struggled to get started a bit like this one (not pale, but it was virtually as small)… but she gave a great result – great taste and effect, and it was the biggest out of three Sweet Seeds plants that time. Hopefully Red Poison Auto will prove you don't need to be a hulk to be a superhero.

 

Red Poison Auto, day 18

She is continuing to grow and develop. I noticed she is the first plant to get pistils:

Red Poison Auto, day 19

I had a good look over the others yesterday and I couldn’t see any at all on any of them, but today I had another peek and it looked like all the older ones were just beginning to show female parts too! 

The Dark Devil Auto is younger than the others, but the main stem elongation means it’s already the tallest. I’m not sure if it is the sativa heritage causing it to start to stretch up already:

Dark Devil Auto, day 16

Dark Devil Auto, day 17

I want to supercrop them very soon, they are producing their fifth nodes now and will soon be adding them quickly, as well as putting more space between nodes whilst the plants begin to flower. If I do it at the right time I hope to limit the height and cause the sidebranches to develop more, without the hassle of tying them down which is tricky in fabric pots.

Thank you for looking. I hope everyone else’s grows are going nicely. I wish I could take more of a look at the other diaries being shared but I am really pushed for time to do this right now, hopefully soon. 

Edited January 30, 2021 by delagdo

[delagdo]

Thanks for your kind words @Punta Roja, great suggestion with the gravel. It's something I will consider for future, either gravel or perhaps hydroton pebbles? The algae is a bit annoying, I'm not sure how bad it might be for the coco and plants. I just tend to ignore it. Covering the coco would probably also help with the springtails which I get sometimes if I grow in summer, not winter, which again are a bit annoying though I don't think they seem to do any real damage.

[jadenugs]

No bother with the Springtails mate. Loving your diary KUTGW.

 

That Red Poison is doing well to say she hasn't much chlorophyll  

[Sweet Seeds Apolo]

Great job doing the timelapse. Love it! 

 

Regarding Red Poison Auto® , you have to use less fertilizer. It is a strain that is very sensitive to fertilizers. 

 

Sweet smokes,
- Apolo
 

[delagdo]

Thank you very much @jadenugs

 

Thanks @Sweet Seeds Apolo! I thought that might be so, thank you for the information. I'll keep a close eye on her and consider dropping it down if it looks like she's struggling.

[delagdo]

Vegetative Growth & Supercropping

The plants have really started growing now, so I decided to start the supercropping on Sunday, day 22 for the older plants. For the Cream Caramel Auto and the Ice Cool Auto I was happy to pinch the stem and bend them over between the third and fourth node:

Cream Caramel Auto, day 22

Ice Cool Auto, day 22

I wasn’t gentle. I learned to pinch them hard, to allow them to bend without snapping. They recover quickly and the healed stems will soon be thick and hard. Within 24 hours they were stood up straight again. I took pictures again yesterday, 48 hours after bending them over:

Cream Caramel Auto, day 24

The Ice Cool Auto responded really well to supercropping, and is producing vigorous side-growth already:

Ice Cool Auto, day 24

 

The Dark Devil Auto is the plant which most needed supercropping, despite being three days younger. On Sunday I gave her a squeeze and bent her over like the other two, between nodes three and four, though she was only 19 day old but taller than the others:

Dark Devil Auto, day 19

I should mention here, all the plants are now showing pistils, I could see them clearly on all plants by Sunday. Although they are all now producing pistils, the growth is still directed towards leaves and roots so I’m still calling this the vegetative growth stage, though it all merges together with autos as it’s so fast. Dark Devil Auto won the pistil race really, being this developed by 19 days from sprout:

Dark Devil Auto, day 19

All straightened up yesterday, I've given her a few pinches lower down to limit height too:

Dark Devil Auto, day 21

For the sake of the video, I did not want to bend the Gorilla Girl XL Auto over, but I did give the stem a good squeeze on Sunday when I supercropped the others. She’s doing great really, but she’s very short and squat, so far any way. I took a picture of her yesterday, too:

Gorilla Girl XL Auto, day 24

I did not bend the Red Poison Auto either, but I did give a gentle squeeze to the stem. She’s doing ok, the new growth looks alright. She’s a bit sparse and pale, and slightly slow, but still not that far off where the Dark Devil Auto is really. A picture from yesterday:

Red Poison Auto, day 23

She’s been following the slightly more relaxed feeding plan, so her nutrient solution was increased to 1.2 EC on day 22, and I’m delaying the move to a 48 hour cycle slightly for her as well, since she has less foliage. The others are all following the new plan in my most recent update to the letter. I also sprayed all the plants with Epsom salts solution again yesterday, sticking to the 4 day spray cycle.

The tent has been fairly stable since my last update, usually around 25°C, up to a maximum of 27°C. When I get a chance I crank up the oil filled radiator shortly before the light goes off, and the minimum only reaches 22°C, so the environment stays within a 4°C range, which is fantastic. But this isn’t always possible, and some days it gets a bit cooler, and the minimum recorded since Saturday has been 19°C from the times I didn't. Humidity has been between 35-51%. I will usually find it reading 40% at 25°C which is a little dry but OK.

I’ve rearranged the tent again slightly. I had to work out how to regularly get the runoff out from under the Gorilla Girl XL Auto without moving it. Normally I move the plants around in the tent, swap positions etc, and take the plants out to remove the runoff, but I want to keep her in position for the video. To solve this, I have raised her rack onto some storage tins, so the Tupperware box can be slid out from underneath. Here’s a picture of all the plants yesterday:

Left: Gorilla Girl XL Auto (day 24)
Back, middle: Dark Devil Auto (day 21), right: Ice Cool Auto (Day 24)
Front, middle: Cream Caramel Auto (day 24), right Red Poison Auto (day 23)

 

I did this rearrangement on Monday, which gave me an opportunity to get the pictures from the timelapse camera up until then. I put it together with the first couple of weeks footage, and I eventually found some music licenced under Creative Commons which I was happy to use. Enjoy!:

 

 

See you again soon! 

[growinggold]

All looking good buddy, that fussy little lady is starting to toe the line. Less is more. 

 

Also the the video is definitely coming together! Looking really polished now with music and logo!