RP Strawberry Banana, Autopots, 2 from Seed

Nutrients:
Heavy 16 Prime, Finish, Fire, Bud/Veg (base) (5/7)
Aptus: Fasilitor, Startboost, Bloomboost, Ecozen (4/7)
AN: Bud Blood, Big Bud, Overdrive, Bud Candy, bits of Calmag
- Because I wanted to
H&G: Roots Excelurator, Drip Clean

Grow space: 2x2.5x6'
Light: 250w LED, 90w from a P150, 160w from CXB 3590's and Vero 18's
Autopots: Google it, mimics a flood and drain. Biggest problem is the extremely small tubing and fickleness of the autopot valves.
Water: 4 parts zerowater to 1 part tap (EC = 600)
EC: 2-2.2; 2.5 and the plant starts fussing
pH: I pH to 5.5 and let it raise to 6.3 over the course of 5-8 days

Issues so far:
- I overfed, but have since gotten the EC under control.
- I think stretch is over at day 30, but the plants are at risk of having to be supercropped if they grow another 6".
- I contacted Heavy 16 about using their product with autopots and was given a personalized response (big thumbs up). One has to keep an eye on Fire & Prime because of their heavy organic components and use Roots or Drip Clean. I cut the recommended Fire & Prime by 50%... whereas I'm running the others at 70%, topping off the EC with the PK boosters. At about days 22-23, my plant dried out as the valve stopped working (my fault, overfed organics). I fixed it and it seemed to not even have been stressed.

Veg:
- I neglected the plant and let it dry out over the course of the first 10 days.
- Hand watered for first 3 weeks, then hooked up autopot.
- Lights were flipped 21-22 days after germination. Planted in their final pot.

I plan on bloom taking 9-10 weeks. The pictures are taken either with lights off or with a mix of 3000K & 5000K white light (hard to get the camera to focus without lights).

Day 0:

Day 8:

Day 20:

Day 30:

I wanted to add that my training strategy involved a heavy LST around light flip to force it to bush out.

I love what I have seen of these autopots and am planning a grow with them.

I'm starting to see some deficiency / nute burn on the left plant. Considering my nute regiment, it's most likely CaMg problems because H16 has a fuckton of K. I'll lower to E=1.8-2, but I don't want to change much while they start to put on weight.

It's starting to appear that the "right" plant (third picture) grows much better than the left plant. Much more even canopy and less leafy. That said, you never really know until you smoke it.

HemiSync said:

I love what I have seen of these autopots and am planning a grow with them.

Click to expand...

You won't be disappointed. So damn easy. I used to do soil where, during peak bloom, I had to water and feed every two days. Daily stirring (no o2 stone) and weekly nute mixing is it with these girls. Fewer problems than with soil. I highly recommend it. I get an ever so slight pH raise in my reservoir, but I think this just helps make sure that I don't have any major problems.

I've had some wonderful purple hues show up in the leaves of one of the two plants (the left one, the underperformer), the other seems to have a little bit of purple bud. Their stock photo and a fellow grower have confirmed that it is in the genetics. I've lowered my EC to 1.6, but the left plant is still extremely fussy. I'm having to come to the conclusion that it probably won't eclipse two ounces. It's put on almost no weight and there doesn't seem to be a dense bud structure of any kind. That said, I'm holding onto hope of the old adage that the worst producers can be fire.

These pictures are at day 44. Almost every source has verified that the plants take 9 full weeks from flip, but my plants might have taken an extra few days because they weren't mature. I should harvest in three weeks, still got a lot of time.

All:

Left:


Right:

staygreener said:

Nutrients:
Heavy 16 Prime, Finish, Fire, Bud/Veg (base) (5/7)
Aptus: Fasilitor, Startboost, Bloomboost, Ecozen (4/7)
AN: Bud Blood, Big Bud, Overdrive, Bud Candy, bits of Calmag
- Because I wanted to
H&G: Roots Excelurator, Drip Clean

Grow space: 2x2.5x6'
Light: 250w LED, 90w from a P150, 160w from CXB 3590's and Vero 18's
Autopots: Google it, mimics a flood and drain. Biggest problem is the extremely small tubing and fickleness of the autopot valves.
Water: 4 parts zerowater to 1 part tap (EC = 600)
EC: 2-2.2; 2.5 and the plant starts fussing
pH: I pH to 5.5 and let it raise to 6.3 over the course of 5-8 days

Issues so far:
- I overfed, but have since gotten the EC under control.
- I think stretch is over at day 30, but the plants are at risk of having to be supercropped if they grow another 6".
- I contacted Heavy 16 about using their product with autopots and was given a personalized response (big thumbs up). One has to keep an eye on Fire & Prime because of their heavy organic components and use Roots or Drip Clean. I cut the recommended Fire & Prime by 50%... whereas I'm running the others at 70%, topping off the EC with the PK boosters. At about days 22-23, my plant dried out as the valve stopped working (my fault, overfed organics). I fixed it and it seemed to not even have been stressed.

Veg:
- I neglected the plant and let it dry out over the course of the first 10 days.
- Hand watered for first 3 weeks, then hooked up autopot.
- Lights were flipped 21-22 days after germination. Planted in their final pot.

I plan on bloom taking 9-10 weeks. The pictures are taken either with lights off or with a mix of 3000K & 5000K white light (hard to get the camera to focus without lights).

Day 0:
View attachment 3823506
Day 8:
View attachment 3823507
Day 20:
View attachment 3823508
Day 30:
View attachment 3823511 View attachment 3823509 View attachment 3823510

Click to expand...

Is your profile picture the frog guy from chrono trigger?

Yodaweed said:

Is your profile picture the frog guy from chrono trigger?

Click to expand...

Yes. There are some templates online with every pose and I just cut it out and made it bigger.

Final weeks. I'm on day 56 (8 weeks) and every reference has said 9 weeks. However, I tend to flip a little early with a delayed maturation, so I expect a few more days after 63. My hairs are predominantly white and "searching" and 30-40% of the trichs are still clear. Amber trichs are less than 5% but noticeable. Considering my haul is going to be on the lower end, I'm going to err on the side of "too ripe" to get the most of the plant. Introduced Overdrive a few days ago at 25% and pumped it up to 50% today with a new res.



I've got about 5 gallons in the res at a pH of 5.6 and E=1.9. Every few days I'll add a gallon or two of water with Finish & Overdrive and gradually decrease my EC. I have this down to a science, Aptus Ecozen is the only thing that really causes "gunk" other than their boosts. As long as you keep Fire & Prime at less than 2mL per gallon (it calls for up to 4mL), you should be fine. I end out cleaning the tray and my autopots every 2-3 weeks when I'm pumping these two at this max (2mL/Gal).

The main bud on my left plant is fucking beautiful and rather dense. That said, it's still pretty pathetic in terms of production.



The right plant has solid top growth with quite a few nugs below. Again, we have to wait for the end of cure, but I think it's pretty obvious which pheno you want.

I'd like to add that I don't have a temp gauge in the tent, but the ambient environment outside of the tent is 64-72.

staygreener said:

Final weeks. I'm on day 56 (8 weeks) and every reference has said 9 weeks. However, I tend to flip a little early with a delayed maturation, so I expect a few more days after 63. My hairs are predominantly white and "searching" and 30-40% of the trichs are still clear. Amber trichs are less than 5% but noticeable. Considering my haul is going to be on the lower end, I'm going to err on the side of "too ripe" to get the most of the plant. Introduced Overdrive a few days ago at 25% and pumped it up to 50% today with a new res.

View attachment 3843481

I've got about 5 gallons in the res at a pH of 5.6 and E=1.9. Every few days I'll add a gallon or two of water with Finish & Overdrive and gradually decrease my EC. I have this down to a science, Aptus Ecozen is the only thing that really causes "gunk" other than their boosts. As long as you keep Fire & Prime at less than 2mL per gallon (it calls for up to 4mL), you should be fine. I end out cleaning the tray and my autopots every 2-3 weeks when I'm pumping these two at this max (2mL/Gal).

The main bud on my left plant is fucking beautiful and rather dense. That said, it's still pretty pathetic in terms of production.

View attachment 3843484

The right plant has solid top growth with quite a few nugs below. Again, we have to wait for the end of cure, but I think it's pretty obvious which pheno you want.

View attachment 3843483 View attachment 3843482

Click to expand...

Beautiful ladies you have there. You and others have convinced me and I started my first autopot grow 3 weeks ago.

Day 66. Trichs are mostly cloudy with some amber, we've reached the peak harvest date. I have them on straight water and will harvest after 24-48 hours of darkness. You never know until you finish, but I would be surprised if I have more than 6 ounces dry ; had 9-10 ounces with my ruderalis "fast" crap in the past. It's entirely genetics, so no need to blame the autopots yet. The plant on the right would be a wonderful sog plant for short grow spaces. The following pictures are taken with lights on (left picture) and lights off (right picture).


Left plant: Developed a decent amount over the past two weeks. You can actually make out the bud structure now. That said, still an underproducer. Let's just hope it's fire. Smells like green (raw) banana with a dash of mint.



Right plant: Beautiful sativa-esque bud structure. Smells like a more ripe banana (perhaps a hint of strawberry).

HemiSync said:

Beautiful ladies you have there. You and others have convinced me and I started my first autopot grow 3 weeks ago. View attachment 3843519

Click to expand...

Looks good, I basically forgot I was growing the last few weeks because it was so easy. Enjoy.

I didn't weigh because it would be depressing. My guess is 4 ounces, but the left (bad) plant includes a lot of shake. I wasn't willing to prune those things entirely, it'll be easier when dry. Bag appeal sucks, not even the purple color looks cool. Gooey though.

On dry/cure: It's been 2.5 weeks since dry and I jarred them immediately after a three day dry. One rested at 60% after a couple of days and the other ~70%; these numbers probably mean that curing stopped in some of my nugs (I dry stalks via hanging). I messed up here, I should have jarred them after 48 hours and brought them down from 80-90%. Three days of drying was too much at 30% ambient humidity, ~68 degrees considering my . For the first few days of cure, I aired daily. When I open the jars these days I can smell fresh grass, I know that some curing is still going on, so this grow isn't a complete failure. I use Boveda 62.

On taste: Curing isn't anywhere near done and I pushed these plants hard until a couple days before harvest. Harsh as fuck. Hints of a sweet, sooth smoke, so I'll probably put them away for a couple of weeks and see how they change.

On effect: Psychedelic, couch-lock. Definitely a hint of sativa happiness (enough, I would ideally like more). Considering I ate a huge mexican meal by myself an hour ago and I feel like I could eat something, I'd say it is sufficient with regards to hunger. That said, eating or cooking would be tiresome in this condition.

Overall: This is my first grow I could honestly say I would be willing to buy at a rec shop. I'm convinced this strain has absolute gold in it, but it ranges from a mild producer to downright shit. This time around, I went the "more is more" approach and pushed nutes as hard as the plant could take them. My root growth wasn't as good as I had hoped, a couple more weeks in veg should fix that. Nonetheless, I'll try the "less is more" approach and shoot for a max of E=2 rather than E=2.5

I'm running my autopots at an ec of 1.2. Using the full line of Cutting Edge Solutions. Reservoir only has Micro, Bloom, and Uncle Johns Blend. I come over the top every three days with Plant amp, Mag-Amp, and Sweet. I found that at least the Plant and Mag amp will gum up the lines in a hurry. For substrate I'm using two liters of hygroten at the bottom and the rest is tupur. The flavor is out of this world. I started with my secondary room on autopots then took out my rdwc system. I was getting great production with rdwc but the flavor and aroma was little to be desired. So I was forced to make the switch. 4 plants are drinking on the average of 10 gallons weekly and I still get a valve that will stick even with a super clean base. I drain the half inch line every week by running about a half gallon through. Just started adding cannazyme to see if that increases reliability up a little.

pinner420 said:

I'm running my autopots at an ec of 1.2. Using the full line of Cutting Edge Solutions. Reservoir only has Micro, Bloom, and Uncle Johns Blend. I come over the top every three days with Plant amp, Mag-Amp, and Sweet. I found that at least the Plant and Mag amp will gum up the lines in a hurry. For substrate I'm using two liters of hygroten at the bottom and the rest is tupur. The flavor is out of this world. I started with my secondary room on autopots then took out my rdwc system. I was getting great production with rdwc but the flavor and aroma was little to be desired. So I was forced to make the switch. 4 plants are drinking on the average of 10 gallons weekly and I still get a valve that will stick even with a super clean base. I drain the half inch line every week by running about a half gallon through. Just started adding cannazyme to see if that increases reliability up a little.

Click to expand...

I use H&G's Drip Clean in my reservoirs. Seems to help somewhat. My next grow I will be using BioTabs in my coco and nothing but pure water in the reservoirs. Then the only thing to clog the lines would be roots.

Yodaweed said:

Is your profile picture the frog guy from chrono trigger?

Click to expand...

Holy crap! Nice call, I knew it looked familiar but it has been over 20 years since I played chrono trigger. I tried playing on emulator but it just wasn't the same.

Cheers on the avatar, OP.

HemiSync said:

I use H&G's Drip Clean in my reservoirs. Seems to help somewhat. My next grow I will be using BioTabs in my coco and nothing but pure water in the reservoirs. Then the only thing to clog the lines would be roots.

Click to expand...

pinner420 said:

Click to expand...

No air dome is the first problem I see, which is probably causing the bad smell.

I'm watching a journal now in coco with BioTabs and the person is getting nice results so far and they aren't growing tomatoes. Luckily they will be finished before I start mine so will be watching the results.

HemiSync said:

No air dome is the first problem I see, which is probably causing the bad smell.

I'm watching a journal now in coco with BioTabs and the person is getting nice results so far and they aren't growing tomatoes. Luckily they will be finished before I start mine so will be watching the results.

Click to expand...

Link me im interested.

pinner420 said:

Link me im interested.

Click to expand...

PM sent