Pro Grow LED Run #1, Super Cali Haze, Onyx, Blackbriar, and Blue Diesel

Yeah I've tucked before, and will continue to tuck next time I get the itch to grow a photoperiod plant. Sometimes I start out tucking on autos but everything is so diminutive and the veg stage so short compared to regular plants you have to (in my opinion of course) get all light asap to the colas and maintain a really strong light presence if you want good branching. Otherwise you could wind up with a plant resembling the MI-5 I have on this current grow. It will be close to all one nugget by the time its done and while the quality will be there the weight will be lacking. I should have clarified earlier, the trimming technique I use is only something that I would recommend for an autoflower grower and if you can get away with it tuck, but that gets out of hand rather quickly with autos.

They're definitely different animals than photoperiods. I'll take some pics or a short video of what I'm driving at on my next run. The bulk of the trimming typically happens around weeks 2-3. After the trimming is done it almost looks like I've massacred the plant. Then, almost like magic a week later the colas are busting out everywhere.

Not trying to discredit you at all - I totally get your point and realize colas derive a substantial amount of nutrients from the fan leaves. This technique does not make much sense from a scientific standpoint, but neither does a plant that flowers under 23/1 light schedule.

It actually tastes like caramel! I've grown many strains that were "blueberry" this that or the other that really didn't taste up to their name but this one really does - big props to the breeders at Sweet Seeds for an auto that maintains the integrity of the original Caramel strain.

On other fronts, the top nugs on the Smurfberry are pretty well done so I have removed all top lighting and now have the PG 250 and a PG 180 on flowering only working the sides to finish things out properly.

Will post some pics of the Caramel nuggets (netted 49g mostly dry, probably around 44 or so when fully cured), which are curing right now. As we are drawing close to week 9 I will chop the Smurf soon. The MI-5, which has been slow and small since the get go will probably live to see week 10. Gonna have to start germin some more for the next run ...

good stuff!

Caramel? Hmmm. Intriguing. By accident I ordered an auto that I thought was not an auto and imagine my surprise when after a couple weeks in veg "Russian Rocket Fuel" decided it was time to flower. "Well I'll be damned", I said. So that is my first experience with an auto. Hoss I'm still liking my LED grow. They are about a month in. Sugaring up nicely. And I added side lighting as a hunch.
You can check out my journal if you like. I hate posting my pix on other people's journals. I def like what you've done and I'll check back...

View attachment 1800558View attachment 1800559View attachment 1800560View attachment 1800561View attachment 1800563View attachment 1800564View attachment 1800565will be sure to check Dan. All have now been chopped. Nugs in the mason jar lid are curing sweet caramel. The tiny MI-5 is pictured in the pot and the hangers without much bud on them. Chopped the Smurfberry today and it is pictured hanging with the MI-5. Should be a good yield. My wife said the scissor hash from the smurfberry which was put on top of some caramel about 20 min ago, tasted like a donut.

BTW enjoy the R Rocket Fuel, I found it to be one of the better strains from Short Stuff.

heading back to the woods for the weekend. When I was at my state forest of choice last weekend I bumped into an old friend of mine from college who has recently purchased a cabin, rents it on weekdays, and would prefer kind trade, lucky me. Heading down with the fam for a nice weekend with my buddy and his wife then a couple days of R & R by ourselves. Wanted to give some thoughts on this round, mainly what I could have done better.

1.) light distance from plants - this will be moved back on my next run.
2.) Nutriet quit - I basically did a stop on nutes with a sledgehammer flush about a week before I killed the first (Santa) plant. I made the mistake of assuming all four were on equal schedules and not wantingt to add more nutes super late in the flowering period the smurfberry def got a bit of a N deficiency during the last two weeks which may have detracted from overall effect (still pretty solid smoke though). Next run I will treat each plant according to its individual growth cycle when it comes to feeding.
3.) Think things got a bit crowded in the root area with 3 gallon smart pots, 5 gallon will be used next time.
4.) Anything else you as readers can contribute that will impact the results of my next grow is much appreciated. Please feel free to post (constructive non led hate plz) your opinions - they help everyone get better at this hobby.

Will post some MI-5 and Smurf pics when I get back from the woods but more or less that's all for this run, thanks again to all who shared this little journey. Got some new seeds germing - more sweet caramel, smurf, MI-5, and Snow-Ryder. Keep it real till the next episode ... hey hey hey hey ...

smoke weed everyday? Where are my old school Dr. Dre fans at? Pics of the curing MI-5 and Smurfberry. Smurf - 61g, MI-5 - 16g. Its still curing so I'm sure I'll lose a little bit of that but still exactly what I set out to do, on average I got around 1.5 oz per autoflowering plant seed to harvest led only, even with the midget MI-5 in the mix throwing off the avg.

visited the local hydro shop yesterday, picked up some 5 gallon smart pots as I think things were pretty crowded in the root area on the last run toward the end with the 3 gallon smart pots. Got smore Ocean Forest too. Have my last three fem seeds in the germination station (peat pots in an irrigation tray above a heating mat). One has popped, hoping the other 3 will show themselves soon otherwise I'm going to have to run the gambit with seeds that could possibly be male. Its a pain in the ass, but not as big a pain as growing photos as male autoflowers usually show themselves by day 20 at the latest. I have a shit ton of blackbriar, onyx, snowryder, and mi-5 regular seeds but am looking at http://www.worldwide-marijuana-seeds.com/ as I have read many positive reviews on this and other boards. Anyone used them? Would really like to pick up some more fem seeds. Please chime in with suggestions or reviews of the single seed centre if you've used them personally.

hoss12781 said:

View attachment 1804866View attachment 1804865smoke weed everyday? Where are my old school Dr. Dre fans at? Pics of the curing MI-5 and Smurfberry. Smurf - 61g, MI-5 - 16g. Its still curing so I'm sure I'll lose a little bit of that but still exactly what I set out to do, on average I got around 1.5 oz per autoflowering plant seed to harvest led only, even with the midget MI-5 in the mix throwing off the avg.

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Those look mighty dank sir! Nice harvest and product

thanks man, the Smurfberry and Santa were def my 2 favs of this batch in terms of effect. In terms of taste the caramel takes the cake - seriously tastes like a caramel latte. The MI-5 was the obvious loser, but if you're ever shopping auto strains don't discount this one - I've had several MI-5s that have given me well over an oz. Also the MI-5 and Santa were both bred by Stich who generally turns out some pretty killer auto strains.

That is pretty much my one and only complaint with autos, which hasn't deterred me from growing them exclusively, you never know what is going to happen despite all the best intentions. 61 grams on the smurf, 16g on the MI-5 - that wasn't a type-o. 32g on the Santa, and 44g on the caramel, pretty wide ranges for all being under the same lighting. Sometimes that ruderalis trait runs too thick in the pheno and you wind up with a weak ass half oz plant. On average for every six plants I grow one is always a runt. Guess you can't win 'em all, but 153g in 65 days is always a win in my book.

I like your grow man! Too bad about the nute deficiency earlier on in your journal. Next time that happens, flush with a gallon of clean water and resume regular feeding in a week or two once the plant has recovered. Really good looking nugs, too! I hope my perpetual turns out to be this shiny on the regular!

Anyone know a good referral for these lights in the USA?

I'm in the usa brother, check the previous posts on this journal. I don't work for a led company - what I've shared is my honest experience with the Pro Grow Series, GLH, and the shitty 90w ufos I got on ebay. Highly rec the first two, prefer the PG over the GLH but both are solid lights that would serve you well. Don't buy no name shit from ebay, its a waste of your money and helps perpetuate companies that are giving led tech a bad name, which fuels the mad led troll rage issues we have on this and other boards. Real leds are going to cost you real money upfront, the equation corrects itself over the long haul with electricity savings, and the bulbs you would have had to replace on hid or cfl. Just make sure whatever you get is covered by a 3 year warranty (or more).

Also - thanks for stoppin in Delta, I'll have some pictures of the the next episode up within a week. Could have some male plants in the mix this time. Unfortunately I ran out of fem seeds and I think of the three I had left only one is going to pop. Still have a bunch of regular seeds from short stuff and a ziplock bag full of blackbriar seeds.

Good stuff! I'm interested in the Black Briar and that Carmel.... If you check out my sig, you can see we are kinda overloaded with strains right now.... We were supposed to stick with the Armageddon and the 4 freebies from Attitude, but it didn't quite work out that way. Keep up the good work with the LEDs!

Thanks Delta, the Caramel was from Sweet seeds - I highly rec excellent auto strain. The blackbrair was my own creation so until mj is legal it won't be available unless you live in my neck of the woods. So far only one of my fem seeds has sprouted, quite the bummer, had two out of my last three fail. Have some regular autos from Short Stuff (mixed the seeds all together won't know what they are until they get at least 2 wks old) in the germination station right now. I really hate growing male plants. Think I'm gonna put in an order with the Single Seed Centre tomorrow. The prospect of picking through over 60 different feminized auto strains and being able to purchase one of each is far to appealing to pass up. Pictures as soon as the damn seeds sprout!

ChronicCritic said:

THE BEST LED and HPS COMPARE VIDEO. These guys tear apart two LED units, then they use a $15,000 light sensor to compare the 330 watt LED with a 600 watt HPS. THIS IS WAY COOL.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyjVzBNlEKQ

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Looks decent but at $1500 per unit on the 330 that is crazy expensive. Also I checked your posts it is painfully obvious you're directly affiliated with Monster Garden. You have 24 posts and half of them have been pimping these lights. Please don't use my grow journal as a forum to advertise your products.

Adventure time. Only one of the three fem seeds I had left decided to grow for me, quite the bummer. I have a mixed bag of what are all regular seeds and could be either onyx, snow-ryder, MI-5, Auto-Assassin, or Black Briar. I dug into those and have 2 that have shown themselves, another will pop up by the end of the weekend. So I'll have 1 fem for sure and 3 coin flips.

I really hate doing this but its that or wait for the massive order I placed from the single seed centre to arrive. Strains (all autos) include The Syrup, Pineapple Express, Black Jack, Santa Maria, and Big Bang to name a few. The 3 that are currently up pictured. All under veg only PG lighting with the exception of one under my GLH ufo. Also switched to 5 gallon smart pots for this run and decided to make my own mix of soil using 3 levels, Ocean Forest on the bottom 1/3, Pro Mix on the middle 1/3, and Light Warrior on the top 1/3. We'll see how this works for me.

Feel free to post away as long as its civil and you aren't obviously working for an led company lookin to pimp your gear.

Looking forward to this

I think the OP should be able to delete posts in his own thread :/ would help deter spammers. Or at least a way to flag them.

Totally agree on that front, but whatever check dude's posts he's obviously here on a marketing attempt. Mods will usually delete the more absurd posts you would be surprised to know how many led haters have attacked this journal. I've had at least 7 different posts removed from people repping their own brand, wanting to hate on the ones I'm using, or just straight jackasses like Footclan. For some reason people like to hate on leds like its their job.