Dark Devil Auto: A Community Grow Record

[dick23rk]

Hello, hello, how's it going everyone? Seems like it's been so long since I've been here, holiday weekend here and had lots of things going on to keep me busy. But I managed to get that little experiment going that some of you may have read in the posts between Sue an I a few pages back. Just was so darn busy I couldn't get time to get it here to you all. This is also posted to my journal so to make it easy this time around I am going to copy and paste from my journal since I have everything explained there.

Here it is...
Ok, so now I will let you all in on what I have going on with these 2.. As I said above, these 2 plants will be grown side by side in 5 gallon buckets, 1 perlite hempy and 1 promix hp, that's it, I did not add anything to the perlite or the promix hp. They will be under the same light with the same nutrient feeds and training techniques, they will both be topped once they are ready.. Will the topping be on the same day? I'm not really sure, we will see when the time comes.

They were both put in a cup of RO water for about 14 hours then place between moist paper towels until the next evening when both had taproot poking out. They were then put into peat pellets which is the easier for auto's, no transplanting. This is my first time actually using them.. The seeds started emerging from the pellets the very next night, once they were above the ground the next morning is when they were placed in their buckets and this was day 1.

As of right now the 2 girls are sitting under 4 x 54W T5 tubes ( my germinating area ) and I will likely try to make some room for them under the led panel (1200W) in a couple days and try to give them the same amount of light. It will take some moving around of the other plants and likely moving the panel up some so I don't fry the babies but I will get it all figured out so it's a fair comparison.

I gave each bucket 1/2 gallon of water with 2ml of Rapid Start mixed in for the roots. I plan to push these 2 plants to maximize them so a good root system from the start is what I'm looking for. The res is mostly full on the hempy bucket and I have been trickling some water around the outside of the peat pellet, not directly on it, to get these roots moving around searching for water. Obviously this bucket is going to need to be watered a lot more frequently til we get things going and I will always water around the outer edges, even in both, to get them roots searching for water.

Now they are both sitting under the lights, I have a small dome over top of them to help keep the humidity up a little around the plants until they are a bit bigger. Humidity being the key factor in good veg growth.



So that's pretty much everything about what I have going on in this side by side experiment. I will post regular updates every 2 or 3 days when I can on what's been happening with these 2, along with my other DDA that is on day 35 now. Lets have a look at the pictures now shall we


Day - 1

Day - 3 (today)

And here is my other DDA that is on day 35 now! She is starting to show some signs of purple on the calyxes so that is good to see She doesn't seem to mind only having 1 top either, I will try not to break any branches on the side by side experiment lol. Now that the buds are forming her next feed will be a full bloom feed now that she is done the transition feed and then had straight water on the one after that. Bring on the buds!!

 

[SweetSue]

Oh Dick, I'm impressed and excited. Look at that - new baby DDAs.

Welcome little ones

They take their time getting started, but oh my goodness do they make the wait worth it. The older girl looks lovely. They grow such sturdy stalks, don't they? These are hearty plants, every one.

I love gardening experiments. I hope yours are both the same pheno.

 

[SweetSue]

I use it as an excuse to give the tent a good clean down when it's emptied.
Got a question for ya, have you ever up-potted the dda using fabric pots? My plan is to go from 1-2 gallon and then into its final home of a 5 gallon. I'm running low on space and this would work out perfectly.

I start the seeds for autos right in the finish pots, to maximize their potential. However, if you have to transplant, do it. These are hearty plants, and nothing I've ever done to them has slowed them down enough to make me seriously regret it. For one thing, the buzz is so magnificent that it's worth any yield. I swear, every one gets more beautiful than the last, but every one is a stunner. Even Scorpio's green pheno stuns you with her ........ I'll be honest, they have an attitude about them that draws you in. They're so addictive to grow that my garden hasn't been without one yet, in two and a half years.

If you have to transplant make it quick and efficient and watch them pick up the pace once they spit at you for disturbing them.

With autos it appears to be the tap root that controls flower development, and this is why I plant in the final pot. Once the tap root hits the bottom bloom is triggered. As long as you're comfortable with that, go for it. If this is true, then in my grow the tap roots hit the bottom of the 5-gal fabric pots somewhere around 25 days???? I don't really pay that much attention to when they start to bloom really. I plant, admire, harvest, enjoy.

Next plant I'll keep better notes so we can compare.

Sue your ladies are absolutely beautiful ��

Thank you. They have this beautiful dance going on with the lights. It's stunning watching them grow under these COBs.

 

[Aotearoa]

Excellent response, thank you. I didn't know that about autos tap roots. I have a couple of options I'm weighing up. I could try toasts method with the zip lock baggy, at least this way I can monitor root development. Or I can try a fertilpot and cut the bottom out when I transplant. Looks something like this

The pots are biodegradable and the roots will go through the side walls, might be worth experimenting with.
About Fertilpots

 

[SweetSue]

Excellent response, thank you. I didn't know that about autos tap roots. I have a couple of options I'm weighing up. I could try toasts method with the zip lock baggy, at least this way I can monitor root development. Or I can try a fertilpot and cut the bottom out when I transplant. Looks something like this

The pots are biodegradable and the roots will go through the side walls, might be worth experimenting with.
About Fertilpots

If it were me, I'd go with TOAST's ziploc technique. It doesn't get much easier than that, and the ability to watch the roots is invaluable, particularly in this case.

 

[SweetSue]

Harvest: Dark Devil Auto 6 - Day 93

All washed and dripping for a few. I hang them for four hours before I turn them into fresh harvest oil. By 2 PM she'll be in the pot, with a small amount in the fridge for a low and slow dry. I'll post the wet weights later today.

One more to go. DDA7 looks like she's about another week out, at least. She's gonna break the 100 day mark.

*contented sigh* It's always a good thing to have Dark Devil hanging to dry. I am sooooo looking forward to trying this oil out. It may be that the potency of the CBD Critical Cure oil has as much to do with cannabinoid ratios, but I won't know that without some serious trial and error.

 

[Aotearoa]

Amazing I never tire of seeing those colours.

 

[SweetSue]

DDA6 - The Haul

She didn't have all that much to her. In the end the buds only came in at 90 grams wet. I always figure I'll get 20% of the wet weight if left to dry, putting this darling at a mere 18 grams for all her size.

Hard to be disappointed with such beauty and power just because the yeild was small. SweetSue has a few tricks to potentiate. In the end she gave me 100 ml of fresh harvest oil

and 10 grams to dry in the refrigerator. I'll have to save some of this for a friend visiting this summer. This will be a very special treat if it turns out to be what I anticipate. It'll be a special treat regardless.

Took me all day to get her harvest to fridge, and cleanup to boot, but it's all finished and no sign of her is lying around excepting the empty pot. Tomorrow I'll take care of that.

Now I'll enjoy a bit I snipped off yesterday by mistake and dried overnight on the heat sinks.

Then it's off to my soft and comfy bed.

Goodnight moon.

 

[Simon de Montefort]

Excellent response, thank you. I didn't know that about autos tap roots. I have a couple of options I'm weighing up. I could try toasts method with the zip lock baggy, at least this way I can monitor root development. Or I can try a fertilpot and cut the bottom out when I transplant. Looks something like this

The pots are biodegradable and the roots will go through the side walls, might be worth experimenting with.
About Fertilpots

I recommend this kinda pots here:

Very good for root buildup, you will never have any issues with rootbounding in these Pots. These are called Superroot Air-Pots.

 

[Canyon]

This is my contribution. She is at 24 days here. It is my first auto. I am having trouble believing she could be finished two months from now.

 

[SweetSue]

This is my contribution. She is at 24 days here. It is my first auto. I am having trouble believing she could be finished two months from now.

She'll surprise you Canyon. They surprised every one of us when we grew our first one.

 

[Aotearoa]

Very good for root buildup, you will never have any issues with rootbounding in these Pots. These are called Superroot Air-Pots.

Thanks Croc, I would love to try the air pots but getting them in nz is difficult, heck I can't even get a small oscillating fan for less than $90!

 

[SweetSue]

Day 95, and DDA7 is showing off leaf colors.

I'm bound and determined to get her another five days so she'll pass the 100 day mark. Thankfully, she looks like she'll cooperate with me.

 

[dick23rk]

Very beautiful Sue! I am in hopes to see my buds turn out dark like that, I like the purple, but them black looking ones have some nice bag appeal I will have to get downstairs and snap some new photos of the DDA experiment, the promix gal so far is faster off the hop as we all expected. Can't wait to see that hempy one explode though, I'm sure the roots are getting close to the res now. Also, since it has established a root system by now, I will stop watering around the edges until I see signs of needing a drink in hopes of getting the roots down to the res. Will be back with an update later

 

[WestCose]

https://www.420magazine.com/mobile-gallery/420-magazine-mobile895552058.jpg[/
IMG]
[IMG]https://www.420magazine.com/mobile-gallery/420-magazine-mobile154200076.jpg

Caterpillar damage fml

 

[WestCose]

Day 71 still pretty fluffy hopin the dense up in 20 days

 

[WestCose]

This my fav still

 

[Chris Scorpio]

Very nice..looks like my 2 DDAs are Gunna stay green

 

[SweetSue]

Day 71 still pretty fluffy hopin the dense up in 20 days

Don't be afraid of fluffy DDA buds. The potency will make up for it. You still have a bit of time though. They may get dense, but then again......

The remnants of my DDA5, harvested on the 27th of January. It's good enough that I've held on to this small bunch of fluffy buds for special occasions.

 

[SweetSue]

Very nice..looks like my 2 DDAs are Gunna stay green

Scorpio, here are shots of my first DDA grow.

Day 63

Day 78

Harvested buds showing dirty purple coloration. She didn't change until the very last.

They were pretty dense little balls of wonder, as I recall. Wicked high that sent me down this particular path in excitement. You're in for a treat.