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

[Openairbud]

Great start @delagdo  and your plants are flying along, bar the red poison. Hope she turns it around for you. Good luck this year mate! Love the timelapse too 

[jadenugs]

Red Poison looks to be greening up a bit now mate, nice one! Your quick fix for the Gorilla Girl run off has given me an idea for collecting my run off when I periodically give mine a flush through, but on a more permanent basis. 

I already had drying racks as I use them in my veg cab prop base and ordered some more for the tent. I'd originally intended to get a large sheet of mesh, 1.2 x 1.2m propped up on timbers with trays underneath because I won't be able to move my plants around much using blumats, but couldn't find anything decent for the job so ordered the racks in. I can still use timbers though in a similar mannner to your tins  

[mr rhino]

Great job mate, loving the videos 

[delagdo]

@growinggold @Openairbud @jadenugs @mr rhino thank you very much for your kind comments 

[delagdo]

Sidebranching & Budsites Formation

The plants have begun to form budsites, where the calyxes develop in clusters, which will go on to swell and develop into the sticky resinous flowers we love. I took some pictures on Saturday and Sunday. The Dark Devil Auto is the youngest, but good to illustrate the process since (as I hoped) the calyxes are dark red/purple:

Dark Devil Auto, day 25

She also shows how the sidebranches are developing very well, since the supercropping:

Dark Devil Auto, day 26

 

The Dark Devil Auto is taller than the others, and I have pinched the stem a few more times in different places, and bent her over again on day 24, as I was getting a bit concerned. As a result she’s looking a bit crooked but she’s growing great.

The Red Poison Auto has even nicer looking colour, perhaps more striking because of the contrast with the pale leaves. 

Red Poison Auto, day 27

She also demonstrates nicely how the plants are moving over from symmetrical node development, where leaves form in pairs at the early stage, to alternate node formation that we see at plant maturity. Leaves (then pistils, and sideshoots) form on one side of the plant, then the other alternatively up the stem:

Red Poison Auto, day 27

She’s still pretty sparse but still looking very interesting, and very pretty. I’m happy to keep watching her closely when she looks like this.

Red Poison Auto, day 28

The pick of the crop remains the Ice Cool Auto. It’s really filled out and made a canopy now:

Ice Cool Auto, day 28

 

Ice Cool Auto, day 28

The sidebranches are very vigorous and have really filled it out into a dense bush, a great scaffold to start producing some buds on:

Ice Cool Auto, day 29

[delagdo]

Sidebranching & Budsites Formation contd.

There are sidebranches creeping through the tent like vines since supercropping. This was the Cream Caramel Auto on Saturday:

Cream Caramel Auto, day 28

She’s doing great, a lovely lush green, and I like the way she is staying very short. 

I’ve done the supercropping earlier than before, I’d only really experimented with it later in the grow when the plants were already big. I’m really pleased with how it’s stimulated lateral growth, including right down to the shoots coming from the first true leaves. This was her on Sunday:

 

Cream Caramel Auto, day 29

The Gorilla Girl XL Auto is doing fantastically too. She’s got many sidebranches sneaking up and out as well:

Gorilla Girl XL Auto, day 28

One job in the tent at this stage is tucking – getting those sideshoots up and over the larger fan leaves, so they can get direct light.

Gorilla Girl XL Auto, day 28

I think she might benefit from the extra space at the end of the tent, or perhaps from not being moved about like the others. It’s a close call between her and the Ice Cool Auto as to which has most foliage.

Gorilla Girl XL Auto, day 29

I don’t have a video update this time, but I have a shot set up which I hope will look good if I leave it for a while:

Gorilla Girl XL Auto on timelapse camera, day 28

I set up the huge Mountain Air filter on Friday, before they really start to smell, and I also added another air circulation USB fan:

Top of the tent with added filter

I thought this would add a bit of pressure on the fan so increased it very slightly (it’s only around half power). However I was surprised it seemed to have the opposite effect, airflow seemed easier and the tent seems to run a lot cooler since. I can't really explain it. Between Wednesday and Friday, before I added the filter, the tent was hovering around 25°C and 45% humidity with the lights on (max 27°C). 

I put the filter in on Friday, turned up the fan only a little bit (there’s no scale, but perhaps from 50% to 55%) and left it to settle. Hours later, with the lights on, the tent remained only a degree warmer than the room (21°C in the tent). I turned the fan down again now, below where it was before, maybe to 45%. The temperature is 2-3°C above the surrounding room now, so it’s more like 22-23°C. The minimum has been 20°C, with the lights off. Humidity is staying in the low 30s with the lights on typically. Since my last update the maximum has been 54% and minimum 29%. It's a bit dry still but the plants seem very happy so it's not a problem.

The plants have all been on a 48 hour watering cycle, with nutrients at EC 1.2. The older ones are on day 30 today, so will be watered again tomorrow on day 31 as planned. They are definitely ready for it – I considered moving to daily watering for them yesterday on day 29, but I thought they’d be alright for one last time after having a good check.

Here’s a look at the tent earlier today – the canopy is starting to fill up now:

Left: Gorilla Girl XL Auto (day 30)
Back, middle: Ice Cool Auto (day 30), right: Cream Caramel Auto (day 30)
Front, middle: Dark Devil Auto (day 27), right: Red Poison Auto (day 29)

Thanks for looking at my diary! 

Edited February 8, 2021 by delagdo

[Openairbud]

They're coming on fast hey dude! And the RP is looking better too. Your supercropping technique has defo done the trick bringing more tops up. Nice one I will give that a go I think 

[delagdo]

Thanks @Openairbud - you have to go for it if you do it, it's not for the fainthearted. Give the stem a good squeeze first - if you don't you will be more likely to snap the stem. I'm finding it a lot easier and less crowded doing this than LST, and it makes it easier to water and to inspect. You don't have as much power to shape the plants though, but it's really working for me.

[delagdo]

Beginning to Flower

The gang have been very eager to burst into bloom, so I have a quick update with a few pictures of them from this week I wanted to share.

Here’s a few I took on Tuesday:

Red Poison Auto, day 30

Ice Cool Auto, day 31

No mistaking they are female, but I am looking closely every day to make sure they are completely female. No balls so far!

Cream Caramel Auto, day 31

 

Gorilla Girl XL Auto, day 31

A few more from Wednesday - incredibly quick development and wonderful colour on the Dark Devil Auto:

Dark Devil Auto, day 29

Cream Caramel Auto, day 32

They are just bursting out with new growth. They look bigger every time I open the tent, and the smell is getting more noticeable – a nice green waft of air greets me when I unzip it now.

Ice Cool Auto, day 32

Gorilla Girl XL Auto, day 32

I took a picture to show the headroom earlier today:

Left to right (front row only): Gorilla Girl XL Auto, Ice Cool Auto (both day 33), Dark Devil Auto (day 30)

I measured them today too. In height order:

• Dark Devil Auto – 60cm (day 30)
• Ice Cool Auto – 50cm (day 33)
• Red Poison Auto – 46cm (day 32)
• Cream Caramel Auto – 45cm (day 32)
• Gorilla Girl XL Auto – 40cm (day 33)

There is still some room to grow, but the size already of the Dark Devil Auto is a bit concerning. She’s getting tall, and also throwing her branches out wide. I squeezed and bent her over near the top again today, giving a good look at the colour on the underneath of the leaves:

Dark Devil Auto, day 30

The environment has been stable, if a little dry. It’s been very cold outside but I’ve made sure the room stays nice by adjusting the oil filled radiator, especially cranking it up for lights off. I have read that a big temperature drop with lights off will encourage stretch, whereas keeping the temperature as close as possible during the night to daytime will keep plants short and squat. Since my last update on Monday, the temperature has remained between 20°C and 24°C always, and usually 22°C, lights on or off. Humidity has been between 26% and 36% – normally I find the hygrometer reading 30% but it gets a bit higher when it’s cooler, and lower when warmer, as expected.

The older plants have been on a 24 hour watering cycle since day 30 as planned. The Dark Devil Auto seemed to be a bit more thirsty. On Tuesday it was day 29 and I had to water it rather than leave it for the final planned no-watering day, meaning that it really moved to a daily cycle from day 28. They’re all now on EC 1.2, and still on the 3:2:1 Grow:Micro:Bloom ratio, since they are still growing a lot of leaf and stem tissue.

I’ve been spraying every four days with Epsom salts solution, they were due this yesterday but I decided to stop this since the buds have started to develop. I do not want to damage them or cause them to go mouldy, so foliar feeding was only for the veg stage.

Thank you for looking at my diary 

Edited February 11, 2021 by delagdo

[delagdo]

Early Flowering & Stretch

 

The plants are fully in bloom and the canopy is almost filling the tent now. Things have been a bit hectic lately but I managed to get a few photos over the weekend. Here’s a look at gang yesterday:

Top: Gorilla Girl XL Auto (day 36), Cream Caramel Auto (day 36), Dark Devil Auto (day 33)
Bottom: Ice Cool Auto (day 36), Red Poison Auto (day 35)

I took a closer picture of each to show the flower development on Saturday, and a whole plant portrait on Sunday to show their general size and structure. I will start with the youngest, the Dark Devil Auto, which is still looking the most developed of the five, and is absolutely gorgeous :

Dark Devil Auto, day 32

Dark Devil Auto, day 33

Despite being the youngest she is also the tallest. I felt I had to do something more about it, so on Friday (day 31 for Dark Devil Auto) I squeezed the stem and bent her over again. This time she gave up the fight and has kept a zig-zag shape to her stem, which should help:

Dark Devil Auto, day 33

 

The Red Poison Auto is just as pretty and colourful but not as tall:

Red Poison Auto, day 34

She’s not producing long sidebranches like the others, perhaps because I haven’t supercropped her, and have only given a couple of gentle squeezes to the stem.

 

Red Poison Auto, day 35

The Ice Cool Auto is just thriving:

Ice Cool Auto, day 35

She’s starting to get quite big too, the internode spacing is increasing rapidly as she stretches up. I think the density of foliage is contributing to it now the canopy is full, and maybe the plants are starting to show shade avoidance as they compete for space and light.

Ice Cool Auto, day 36

[delagdo]

Early Flowering & Stretch contd.

Gorilla Girl XL Auto has maybe slightly slower switch to flower development than the others, but is not far behind:

Gorilla Girl XL Auto, day 35

She has lots of side branches, but the main stem remains a bit shorter. No shortage of leaves, though!:

Gorilla Girl XL Auto, day 36

Gorilla Girl XL Auto leaves in a sweaty fight for space, day 36

The Cream Caramel Auto is doing very well too. I’m not sure why but she doesn’t like to pray to the light as much as the others, more often her leaves are flat or dangling down, but otherwise she seems as happy and healthy as the others, and is developing nicely:

Cream Caramel Auto, day 35

 

Her sidebranches really want to reach out wide:

Cream Caramel Auto, day 36

The plants are really rocketing upwards at the moment. Cream Caramel Auto and Ice Cool Auto are both well over 60cm now, and several of the Dark Devil Auto sideshoots reach even higher. To keep on top of it I am squeezing the stems of the plants every day, just gently where they are getting tall. Here’s another look in the tent this evening to check the headroom:

Left to right (front row only): Gorilla Girl XL Auto (day 37), Ice Cool Auto (day 37), Dark Devil Auto (day 34)

Environmentally I have made some adjustments. My last update was on Thursday, and for the 48 hours between then and Saturday the temperature stayed constantly between 20°C and 22°C, and humidity 26-36%. It was very cold outside, so it was a struggle to keep it warm. Thankfully the weather has turned today and the snow has melted.

I noticed that the fabric pots were getting very cold when I checked them with the laser thermometer - 18°C at the top, and more like 15°C at the bottom – one plant even read 13°C in one spot!  I’m not sure exactly how it gets so cold when the air in there isn’t that cold, I suppose it must be to do with the physics of water evaporation having a cooling effect like in leaf transpiration, and sweating, and the fact the fabric pots give a large surface area for evaporation… I’m not sure, but I knew something must be done to change it because that is too cold for the roots to work properly.

I turned down the extractor fan even lower, it’s possibly at about 40% power now (but there’s no proper markings). I also bumped up the underfloor heating, and the oil-filled radiator to keep it warmer throughout the day. In the 48 hours from Saturday evening to now, Temperature has been up to a maximum of 27°C, and is more like 24°C with the lights on, down to a minimum of 22°C. Humidity has gone up a little in this time too, ranging between 27% and 46%.

Previously I had been applying nutrient solution at 19-20°C, but now I have changed routine so I put the bucket in the airing cupboard with the hot water tank all day to warm up before watering, so it is given at 23-24°C instead. Additionally, the past couple of days I gave extra when watering to try and bring the pot temperatures up, 3 litres instead of the usual 1.5-2 litres they have been getting every day recently.

I switched the food ratio over for the older plants to a 1:1:1 Grow:Micro:Bloom yesterday, as planned on their 36th day. The Red Poison Auto (being a day younger) was due to switch to this intermediate ratio today, and the Dark Devil Auto would have been due to switch another two days after this. I decided to switch Dark Devil Auto along with Red Poison Auto both today to the 1:1:1 ratio, since the Dark Devil Auto is already very advanced, and I want to limit her height so could do with reducing the nitrogen content in her nutrients, and also for the sake of simplicity so all plants are on the same ratio again.

I also have replaced the old USB fans in the tent with new 120mm fans:

I have two of these hung in the top of the tent. One blows across the tent over the light, and the other blows towards the wall and ceiling. They are much quieter than the old fans and seem to move more air. I’d had the old ones a long time (I think the older plastic one around 10 years) and they won't last much longer. These new ones were very cheap from a well-known online auction site. 

I also bought a new pH pen which was under £5. My old Bluelab one (again, around 10 years old) seems to take a very long time to reach a stable reading and I was becoming suspicious how reliable it is these days. It has a strange brown stain on the glass bulb but it calibrates reliably, if slowly. I thought the new pen was perhaps a gamble and too good to be true for the price, but it’s fantastic, very quick, and so far seems accurate. I cannot believe how little it cost.

Thank you for looking at my diary! 

 

[Punta Roja]

Just goes to show what Autos can look like in capable hands... 

 

As always mate, excelente!

 

ATVB

 

P

 

E2A: Wish I could fit a tripod in my space... 

[Shumroom]

Lovely work 

 

atb with the rest of the grow and the competition.

 

 

[delagdo]

Thanks a lot @Punta Roja - got to be careful opening the tent now, not to knock it over!

 

Thank you @Shumroom for looking and very kindly commenting

[delagdo]

Video Update & Trimming Lower Branches

I have a video update showing the Gorilla Girl XL Auto, from 1 to 14 February (days 23 to 36):

I hope you enjoy watching the plant twirling and reaching up and outwards, whilst I try to tuck the biggest fan leaves back down! Hopefully you can see it. I've just uploaded it for the third time, I am not sure what I am doing which has been causing it to be flagged and restricted to 18+. It may happen again to this one, so I am keeping it very simple with the video name and description and not adding much info on Youtube.

I really wanted to include this with my update yesterday, but I just didn’t get a chance to put it together until now. It’s half the speed of the last video with music, to make it last longer, since this only covers a couple of weeks  - this one is 25 frames a second. I will probably go back up to 50 fps for the final video when I put it all together, so it’s not too long.

I will take this opportunity to say that today I trimmed the lowest two sidebranches from the first node from the Gorilla Girl XL Auto, Cream Caramel Auto, and Ice Cool Auto, which are all on day 38, plus a few extra tiny bits from low down. These plants are all very thick with leaves now at the top, and I know from experience these lower branches won’t produce much. They can’t make it to the top and get light, there is just no space for them, but they are trying anyway. The individual plants, and the tent as a whole will be better without them, so I snipped them off:

Trimmed branches from Gorilla Girl XL Auto, Cream Caramel Auto, and Ice Cool Auto (all day 38) with 60cm rule for scale.

I’ve left the Dark Devil Auto and the Red Poison Auto alone.

Here’s a look in the tent again this evening, after the trim:

Back row: Gorilla Girl XL Auto (day 38), Cream Caramel Auto (day 38), Dark Devil Auto (day 35)
Front row: Red Poison Auto (day 37), Ice Cool Auto (day 38)

I am tempted to go a step further and take the Red Poison Auto out completely. It’s stunted and pale, and the leaves have developed a mottled unhealthy appearance:

Red Poison Auto, day 37

I think the tent works very well with four plants in a row. It’s a bit of a squeeze with all five in there. I really think the gang might be best dumping their weakest member, and carrying on without her. She’s an interesting plant that might do well with some special care, but perhaps the others will be better off and more productive with the extra space? I don’t think she’ll be yielding much. I’ll sleep on it tonight and make the decision tomorrow.