Jon's First Outdoor Grow: Sugar Breath Photoperiod & Strawberry Banana Autoflower

[Jon]

Coco Photos on Day 39 of Veg
Actual Real Pictures, NO Lost in a Sea of Green
@Bill284, @kikikopa

Bill, I'm thinking flip pretty soon here. I topped the Blueberry on her main cola and the 6 uppermost branches, the others remain untouched.

I know you want me to leave them for 70 days but that ain't happening, sorry. Lol. In 3s, they'd be beyond root bound by then. They're almost there now for god's sake. Note to self: NEVER grow in coco in 3s, what are you, dumb?

Here's each girl where you can actually see the damn plant and what's going on. They just got watered five minutes before this picture so they're in the 10 minutes or so they'll droop for. That's about all it takes before they begin to come back up. Watching plants grow in coco is amazing and it's actually an active activity, not like watching paint dry.

Things move fast around here now. My next task is to create hanging infrastructure in the guest room closet. Mine is gonna be full shortly and I won't be close. Lol. What a problem to have.

Here you go boys....

- Dos Si Dos Fast Flowering
- Blueberry (now topped)
- Strawberry Lemonade

 

[InTheShed]

Looking great! Can't you upcan them and wait a bit to flip?

 

[Jon]

Looking great! Can't you upcan them and wait a bit to flip?

I considered that, but I'd have to buy more coco. I have FF Happy Frog and could up pot into that. Considered it. But it would slow down the growth rate, that's for sure. And then I have the "well, is it 5.8 or 6.3 or do I split the difference or will that even work" issue. I decided without even asking Bill it was a bad idea. Nope, at this point I'm just gonna let them go, flip shortly, and grow six footers in 3s. The buds won't get as big, but I betcha all three beat the RP and PUC in soil in 7s when it comes to yield. Well, any plant I have is gonna beat the RP. LOL.

 

[kikikopa]

Yes it is. That's coco for you. See the stem on her? All three coco plants look like this. I'm about to post REAL pictures of them. Check it out. They're incredible. Thanks to @Bill284.

All I can say is WoW and that I need to really step up my game. Is everything that you've used for this grow (soils, lights, nutes, etc.) in this journal? Congrats on what you've done there Jon. Very impressive.

 

[Jon]

All I can say is WoW and that I need to really step up my game. Is everything that you've used for this grow (soils, lights, nutes, etc.) in this journal? Congrats on what you've done there Jon. Very impressive.

Yup. But I'll make it easier for you on the coco plants:

- They're in 3 gallon pots.
- They're in Mother Earth 70/30 Coco/Perlite blend right from the bag, with a 2" topping of FF Happy Frog just to get the seed started in regular soil before it hit the coco. I felt more comfortable with that.
- They were started directly in the pot as sprouted seeds, no up potting. I did that cuz it's only a 3. Easy.
- They get the full Fox Farms nutrient line, every ingredient. These are stuck on week 4 until I flip and go to week 5 of the feed chart. I follow it religiously and up the percentages on the chart only when @Bill284 tells me to.
- They ALWAYS get CalMag added to every feeding and put into the water first every time, and they always, every feeding, get ph'ed to 5.8. I also do that religiously, often taking more than 5 minutes a gallon just to nail it right on.
- They get 10 hours of sun and 10 hours of LED per day. LED supplied by @Mars Hydro, it's the FC-E6500.
- The only training done is the recent topping of the Blueberry I mentioned.

That's it. See? No rocket science, no magic. Just doing the work. You can grow plants exactly like this. Just be prepared to spend half your life watering. And imagine if I had gone with 7s.

 

[Jon]

Yield Report
Strawberry Banana #2
2 ounces

Well, I did the same thing with this plant. I had already harvested and smoked one of the colas and the small buds. A bunch. What can I say? I've had nothing to smoke but the damn Chunkadelic that others seem to get a hell of a lot more out of than I do. So yeah, I've torn into it early like a rookie. I'd still rather smoke my uncured weed than dispensary weed. So it is what it is.

In light of that I'm forced to once again rip my own numbers off in the spirit of fair play. So what's pictured here is the 41 grams of final trimmed perfect buds that are left, like the one pictured. What's missing is a cola and a half. More than fair to say I smoked 15 grams of not all the way dried even bud, likely more. So we're gonna call this one 2 ounces as well even though it was more.

That's going to make our tally for this grow so far an even QP, all of Strawberry Banana, and of which there's about 3 ounces left. But at least that's enough now that I will be able to present "actual" numbers on the rest of the plants. Even I couldn't smoke what I have before the next up drying plant is ready to weigh. Lmao. And it's not a contest and I'm not too concerned with yield...I do like to present accurate grow info, however. So I hate the estimating thing. Sorry.

Again, not a great yield but great quality. It tastes so far exactly like the other one. I can't tell any difference. I suspect the cure will bring out any subtle differences if they exist between these two. But uncured is not a fair assessment.

Here you go:

 

[cjsbabygirl313]

Yield Report
Strawberry Banana #2
2 ounces

Well, I did the same thing with this plant. I had already harvested and smoked one of the colas and the small buds. A bunch. What can I say? I've had nothing to smoke but the damn Chunkadelic that others seem to get a hell of a lot more out of than I do. So yeah, I've torn into it early like a rookie. I'd still rather smoke my uncured weed than dispensary weed. So it is what it is.

In light of that I'm forced to once again rip my own numbers off in the spirit of fair play. So what's pictured here is the 41 grams of final trimmed perfect buds that are left, like the one pictured. What's missing is a cola and a half. More than fair to say I smoked 15 grams of not all the way dried even bud, likely more. So we're gonna call this one 2 ounces as well even though it was more.

That's going to make our tally for this grow so far an even QP, all of Strawberry Banana, and of which there's about 3 ounces left. But at least that's enough now that I will be able to present "actual" numbers on the rest of the plants. Even I couldn't smoke what I have before the next up drying plant is ready to weigh. Lmao. And it's not a contest and I'm not too concerned with yield...I do like to present accurate grow info, however. So I hate the estimating thing. Sorry.

Again, not a great yield but great quality. It tastes so far exactly like the other one. I can't tell any difference. I suspect the cure will bring out any subtle differences if they exist between these two. But uncured is not a fair assessment.

Here you go:

Looks delectable Jon!

 

[Jon]

Looks delectable Jon!

Thanks! I need to learn to train these real low, big bud, tightly nodally spaced plants out better than I do. I do pretty well with anything primarily sativa, but my training on largely indica plants could use some work. I really don't care much, but these plants should have yielded better. And it's largely cuz the way I trained them compromised their space. I should have let them grow up a bit more and get more stem under them, and also should have started earlier. Live and learn. Now I know the strain, and I'll definitely be growing it again. It's the best tasting and strongest auto I've grown. But now that I've been doing it for a bit, I'm finding that training an indica is different than training a sativa to achieve similar results. Each time I've had a plant that grows this way I come in around 2 or 2 1/2 ounces. Not acceptable long term. So to show you I can actually learn (lol) - my first Gorilla Zkittlez grew very much like these plants. From my second grow, first auto try. I only got a little less than 2 z's off her. Well, I took another shot at the same strain now knowing how she grew. Even used the same seedbank. That second shot is the GZ in the outdoor grow, which is going to be one of my highest yielding autos ever. She's a BEAST and looks nothing like these plants or my first try at the GZ. And she's REAL weed, not Chunkadelic level weed. (lol - gentle ribbing there, couldn't resist....)

Anyway, like everything else on this damn learning curve (which seems never ending), it's a work in progress.

 

[cjsbabygirl313]

Thanks! I need to learn to train these real low, big bud, tightly nodally spaced plants out better than I do. I do pretty well with anything primarily sativa, but my training on largely indica plants could use some work. I really don't care much, but these plants should have yielded better. And it's largely cuz the way I trained them compromised their space. I should have let them grow up a bit more and get more stem under them, and also should have started earlier. Live and learn. Now I know the strain, and I'll definitely be growing it again. It's the best tasting and strongest auto I've grown. But now that I've been doing it for a bit, I'm finding that training an indica is different than training a sativa to achieve similar results. Each time I've had a plant that grows this way I come in around 2 or 2 1/2 ounces. Not acceptable long term. So to show you I can actually learn (lol) - my first Gorilla Zkittlez grew very much like these plants. From my second grow, first auto try. I only got a little less than 2 z's off her. Well, I took another shot at the same strain now knowing how she grew. Even used the same seedbank. That second shot is the GZ in the outdoor grow, which is going to be one of my highest yielding autos ever. She's a BEAST and looks nothing like these plants or my first try at the GZ. And she's REAL weed, not Chunkadelic level weed. (lol - gentle ribbing there, couldn't resist....)

Anyway, like everything else on this damn learning curve (which seems never ending), it's a work in progress.

That last statement is the truth for me too - all a learning curve and a work in progress!

 

[Bill284]

Yup. But I'll make it easier for you on the coco plants:

- They're in 3 gallon pots.
- They're in Mother Earth 70/30 Coco/Perlite blend right from the bag, with a 2" topping of FF Happy Frog just to get the seed started in regular soil before it hit the coco. I felt more comfortable with that.
- They were started directly in the pot as sprouted seeds, no up potting. I did that cuz it's only a 3. Easy.
- They get the full Fox Farms nutrient line, every ingredient. These are stuck on week 4 until I flip and go to week 5 of the feed chart. I follow it religiously and up the percentages on the chart only when @Bill284 tells me to.
- They ALWAYS get CalMag added to every feeding and put into the water first every time, and they always, every feeding, get ph'ed to 5.8. I also do that religiously, often taking more than 5 minutes a gallon just to nail it right on.
- They get 10 hours of sun and 10 hours of LED per day. LED supplied by @Mars Hydro, it's the FC-E6500.
- The only training done is the recent topping of the Blueberry I mentioned.

That's it. See? No rocket science, no magic. Just doing the work. You can grow plants exactly like this. Just be prepared to spend half your life watering. And imagine if I had gone with 7s.

I've grown some pretty big girls in 3 gal coco, by mistake.
It's a lot of work in coco.
Watering 2-3 times a day in flower.
Live and learn Amigo.
7's and 10's are the way to go.
Keep up the good work though.
Edit oh yes you can flip any time you want now they are ready.

Stay safe
Bill

 

[cjsbabygirl313]

I've grown some pretty big girls in 3 gal coco, by mistake.
It's a lot of work in coco.
Watering 2-3 times a day in flower.
Live and learn Amigo.
7's and 10's are the way to go.
Keep up the good work though.

Stay safe
Bill

I dont think I’d want to have to water a plant that often! Sounds too much like a job instead of fun!

 

[Nine Toed Hippie]

I dont think I’d want to have to water a plant that often! Sounds too much like a job instead of fun!

It just means more time spent with loved ones!

NTH

 

[cjsbabygirl313]

It just means more time spent with loved ones!

NTH

I telework so its possible … but still … oy vey

 

[Jon]

I dont think I’d want to have to water a plant that often! Sounds too much like a job instead of fun!

That may be true.....it is rather job-like....BUT....the difference in growth rate and size on every level - fan leaves, overall growth, etc.....compared to soil....

IS IMMENSE. I'm talking beyond my wildest imagination.

That = a corresponding and directly proportional increase in yield.

And that, my dear, is part of the point. Lol. So yeah, I'll do the work and check it out. I may never do it again, we'll see. Even Bill had to take some time off from coco after his gigantic Jack Herer was done. He had to rig up an entire tank watering system just for that plant!!!!

They all three drink a full gallon of water EVERY SINGLE DAY. Lmao. 1/2 gallon at wake up, 1/2 gallon at around 4 pm. Every gallon has to be nuted and ph'ed to 5.8. I can't have my nute station outdoors, so that means every gallon I go all the way to the garage to mix, then all the way to the back of the house to feed. Repeat ad infinitum.

Yeah, it's a bit of work. But I ask myself - how committed am I for real?

 

[Jon]

I telework so its possible … but still … oy vey

I work from home on the computer. Only reason I can do it. If you have a day job away from your house, I'm not sure coco would be the way to go. I have yet to see them go an 8 hour day without becoming WAY dry. They simply don't go 8 hours without a feeding. Again....lmao.

 

[kikikopa]

Yup. But I'll make it easier for you on the coco plants:

- They're in 3 gallon pots.
- They're in Mother Earth 70/30 Coco/Perlite blend right from the bag, with a 2" topping of FF Happy Frog just to get the seed started in regular soil before it hit the coco. I felt more comfortable with that.
- They were started directly in the pot as sprouted seeds, no up potting. I did that cuz it's only a 3. Easy.
- They get the full Fox Farms nutrient line, every ingredient. These are stuck on week 4 until I flip and go to week 5 of the feed chart. I follow it religiously and up the percentages on the chart only when @Bill284 tells me to.
- They ALWAYS get CalMag added to every feeding and put into the water first every time, and they always, every feeding, get ph'ed to 5.8. I also do that religiously, often taking more than 5 minutes a gallon just to nail it right on.
- They get 10 hours of sun and 10 hours of LED per day. LED supplied by @Mars Hydro, it's the FC-E6500.
- The only training done is the recent topping of the Blueberry I mentioned.

That's it. See? No rocket science, no magic. Just doing the work. You can grow plants exactly like this. Just be prepared to spend half your life watering. And imagine if I had gone with 7s.

Happy day Jon. Thank you for posting this detailed information. So for this grow you did not start in a solo cup and straight into a 3 gallon pot.

I have a few questions for you if you would be so kind.

Did you use Emilya's method of watering to induce a fat root ball?

How many dry ounces do you expect to harvest from this plant in a 3 gallon pot?

What is the environment like when it is in the 4 hour dark period? Total darkness or semi?

 

[Jon]

VERY Busy Morning Today
WOW Things Are Moving Fast Now!

Everything is coming down on me at once! Lol!! So I had a very interesting morning that changed up my morning routine by necessity. The best way to share this is chronologically I think, so we'll go with that.

So here are the pictures to explain my morning today, in as chronological order as possible and with explanations....

1: We began the day with one of my favorite things to do. After I wake up the tent and check those girls, I walk and feed Molly, and then I go out back. At this point it's about 5:45 am. The tent is taken care of, the dog is taken care of. Next step is to wait until the sun comes up enough to open up the @Mars Hydro and @NextLight rigs and move the plants into the sun. So I sit out back for maybe half an hour and watch the starry early morning sky become the sunrise, over the water. I drink my coffee, smoke some weed, and just sit there watching the mist come off the water and the surface fish feeding on their morning insects and such. It's the essence of peaceful. It's the quietest part of the day, and I sit there in silence and just watch and listen. Starts my day in the right frame of mind. The picture shows about when that's over and I have to get to work, as well as what I sit and watch.

2 - 5: I then opened up the rigs and moved the plants into the dawning sun. This is an operation in and of itself, and takes about half an hour. So I did that. Then it was time to harvest Strawberry Banana #3 and #4. And because I found bud rot in one of those really dense buds on SB #2, and because these two plants were both significantly bigger than the first two with bigger, denser buds, I did what I sometimes do with buds like this - I wet trimmed them. It's by far not my preference, but it beats the crap out of bud rot. None of these buds had any rot, and both are going to significantly outyield the first two SB's. So there's a picture of each plant wet trimmed in total, and then two closeups of buds from those. I managed to eek some colors into the buds in these two plants that were not prevalent at all in the first two. I got a little bit of purple and blues, check the bud closeups. Pretty buds. Big buds. Stinky buds. Dense buds. No downside buds. Lol.

6 - 9: Then it was time to pull the flowering photos around from their dark overnight spot to their morning direct sunlight spot. So I did that. And of course I checked the plants very closely. The Raspberry in particular, since she's so close. And man, is she close. Like, I'm chopping her tomorrow or the next day. She's done. And she literally smells EXACTLY like you're sitting in the middle of a raspberry patch. It's uncanny, I have never grown a strain that so closely actually smelled like it's name, except maybe Blueberry. VERY distinctive, and you can smell it from 40 feet away. Extremely pungent terpenes. But there was one rub. I found the very beginning of bud rot on only ONE bud, and only on the very top of the bud. (see pictures) I checked every single bud on the plant. This was the only one that had this going on. So I immediately had to remove it, and did so. Only had to take the upper part of the branch, the buds below this one were fine. Interesting that only part of one bud on the whole plant got like this. Anyway, since it was off, I trimmed it up and will use it as a tester when it dries naturally, no toaster oven. Makes the buds too crispy to enjoy. Lol. Last picture is the trimmed up RP bud after removing the bud rot.

And of course the autos needed watering, as well as the coco photos and the seedlings, so I did that too. The Gelato now stands alone in the NextLight rig. She's today or tomorrow maybe.

I'm about to run out of hanging locations. Spent some time in the closet considering options this morning too.

Phew. Not sure if it sounds like it or not, but please trust me - that was a shi--oad of work. I'm ready for a nap already, but instead I'm going to edit an Amazon advertising piece some schwub wrote for my company that they want me to fix. Fricking actual work messing with my work. Ha.

Anyway, here's the pictures as described above. It's Friday! Yay!

 

[Nine Toed Hippie]

Always enjoy your posts. Beautiful way to start the day.

NTH

 

[Jon]

Happy day Jon. Thank you for posting this detailed information. So for this grow you did not start in a solo cup and straight into a 3 gallon pot.

I have a few questions for you if you would be so kind.

Did you use Emilya's method of watering to induce a fat root ball?

Did you use Emilya's method of watering to induce a fat root ball?

What is the environment like when it is in the 4 hour dark period? Total darkness or semi?

Hi @kikikopa, sure no problem.

So for this grow you did not start in a solo cup and straight into a 3 gallon pot.
That is correct. Only because they were in threes. I knew I'd be able to grow the rootball no problem.

Did you use Emilya's method of watering to induce a fat root ball?
Yes, I did. It's the only method I use on every plant I grow. Beginning by using the method in the Dixie cup.

How many dry ounces do you expect to harvest from this plant in a 3 gallon pot?
Honestly, I have no earthly idea. If it were soil I might garner a guess, but in coco it's all new. First try in coco. But guaranteed at least 4 ounces, and I would guess closer to 8, if I had to guess. They will be around six feet tall when they're finished.

What is the environment like when it is in the 4 hour dark period? Total darkness or semi?
They are in the Mars Hydro rig under the FC-E6500 from sundown til 1 am, giving them their 20 hours, then spend the four hours of dark in that rig. The environment is 100% dark as the rig is completely wrapped at night and the lights go out in both rigs at the same time by design. The overnight temperature in the four hours of darkness when the light is off is around 58-62 degrees, the humidity for that four hours probably rises to around 65%.

I think I got them all. Lemme know if I was clear enough.

 

[cjsbabygirl313]

VERY Busy Morning Today
WOW Things Are Moving Fast Now!

Everything is coming down on me at once! Lol!! So I had a very interesting morning that changed up my morning routine by necessity. The best way to share this is chronologically I think, so we'll go with that.

So here are the pictures to explain my morning today, in as chronological order as possible and with explanations....

1: We began the day with one of my favorite things to do. After I wake up the tent and check those girls, I walk and feed Molly, and then I go out back. At this point it's about 5:45 am. The tent is taken care of, the dog is taken care of. Next step is to wait until the sun comes up enough to open up the @Mars Hydro and @NextLight rigs and move the plants into the sun. So I sit out back for maybe half an hour and watch the starry early morning sky become the sunrise, over the water. I drink my coffee, smoke some weed, and just sit there watching the mist come off the water and the surface fish feeding on their morning insects and such. It's the essence of peaceful. It's the quietest part of the day, and I sit there in silence and just watch and listen. Starts my day in the right frame of mind. The picture shows about when that's over and I have to get to work, as well as what I sit and watch.

2 - 5: I then opened up the rigs and moved the plants into the dawning sun. This is an operation in and of itself, and takes about half an hour. So I did that. Then it was time to harvest Strawberry Banana #3 and #4. And because I found bud rot in one of those really dense buds on SB #2, and because these two plants were both significantly bigger than the first two with bigger, denser buds, I did what I sometimes do with buds like this - I wet trimmed them. It's by far not my preference, but it beats the crap out of bud rot. None of these buds had any rot, and both are going to significantly outyield the first two SB's. So there's a picture of each plant wet trimmed in total, and then two closeups of buds from those. I managed to eek some colors into the buds in these two plants that were not prevalent at all in the first two. I got a little bit of purple and blues, check the bud closeups. Pretty buds. Big buds. Stinky buds. Dense buds. No downside buds. Lol.

6 - 9: Then it was time to pull the flowering photos around from their dark overnight spot to their morning direct sunlight spot. So I did that. And of course I checked the plants very closely. The Raspberry in particular, since she's so close. And man, is she close. Like, I'm chopping her tomorrow or the next day. She's done. And she literally smells EXACTLY like you're sitting in the middle of a raspberry patch. It's uncanny, I have never grown a strain that so closely actually smelled like it's name, except maybe Blueberry. VERY distinctive, and you can smell it from 40 feet away. Extremely pungent terpenes. But there was one rub. I found the very beginning of bud rot on only ONE bud, and only on the very top of the bud. (see pictures) I checked every single bud on the plant. This was the only one that had this going on. So I immediately had to remove it, and did so. Only had to take the upper part of the branch, the buds below this one were fine. Interesting that only part of one bud on the whole plant got like this. Anyway, since it was off, I trimmed it up and will use it as a tester when it dries naturally, no toaster oven. Makes the buds too crispy to enjoy. Lol. Last picture is the trimmed up RP bud after removing the bud rot.

And of course the autos needed watering, as well as the coco photos and the seedlings, so I did that too. The Gelato now stands alone in the NextLight rig. She's today or tomorrow maybe.

I'm about to run out of hanging locations. Spent some time in the closet considering options this morning too.

Phew. Not sure if it sounds like it or not, but please trust me - that was a shi--oad of work. I'm ready for a nap already, but instead I'm going to edit an Amazon advertising piece some schwub wrote for my company that they want me to fix. Fricking actual work messing with my work. Ha.

Anyway, here's the pictures as described above. It's Friday! Yay!

Oh my goodness! Those look perfect! And your sunrise view is DIVINE!