New Grower My First Autoflower Grow MSNL Carmelicious-*

[OldTimerGrowing]

I have been growing since 1983....yep...hence OldTimerGrowing. All of my previous grows have been regular seeds and outdoors. I normally grow Dutch Passion, Brothers Grimm, Barneys Farm, and a few other old-time breeder genetics, but a fellow grower got two free Carmelicious from MSNL with a recent order and gave them me.

I placed the seeds in distilled water and left them in for 36 hours. They cracked and planted them 1/4" deep in 4x4 pots with Fox Farm Ocean Forest. I know some will say the soil is too "hot," but I have never had this problem, so I will not worry about it. Above are the seeds a week after I placed them in the soil. It looks like I watered too fast, and the seed on the right found its way to the side. No worries. This has happened before and won't be the last time.

When they get four sets of leaves, I will transplant them into seven-gallon fabric pots with Ocean Forest and place them outside in a secure area. As for nutrients, I will wait until after transplanting and use Recharge every third watering for the first 30-45 days. I will feed with Fox Farm nutrients from that point on until two weeks before harvest and then use only water to flush.

Strain Information from MSNL-----

As a three-way cross of Maple Leaf Indica, Blue Black, and Afghan Kush, Caramelicious produces fat, sticky, resinous buds. It’s an Indica dominant strain and can reach THC levels of 20%. But, on average the strain produces 15 to 18% THC. Even though it’s Indica in its growing characteristics and appearance, the effects are more cerebral.

THC CONTENT	15%-18%
	FLOWERING TIME	8-10 WEEKS
	TYPE / OUTDOOR	INDOOR/OUTDOOR
	OUTDOOR HARVEST	LATE SEPTEMBER
	PLANT HEIGHT	MEDIUM 100cm-180cm
	YIELD	400-500 g/m2

Let's call this Day 1. Any hints or tricks to Autoflower growing would be helpful.

The Old Guy

 

[OldTimerGrowing]

Day 2

Moved the plants from the LED on my desktop to the window sill for natural light.

I also tested the water coming from the tap and historically the well water has come in at 6.0-6.5 PH. The reading came in at 6.04-6.09 PH which I find acceptable.

I gave the seedlings a good watering and measured both the PH and PPM/TDS in the runoff. The PH of the runoff came in at a steady 6.25....still acceptable.

The PPM/TDS came in at 517. I think this is a bit high for seedlings. I like to see it around 350-450 ppm for seedlings but this is not unusual for Ocean Forest.

This may be the last update for a while unless something devastating happens. Otherwise, I will let them get their roots established then transplant in a week or so.

Please feel free to comment or suggest. I am treating these plants just as I would any other Cannabis plant I have grown so if there is anything I am missing about Autoflowers, please let me know.

Old Guy

 

[OldTimerGrowing]

Day 5

Not much to report OTHER THAN.....my dog knocked over one of the seedlings while trying to look out of the window. I was in my office and heard something that wasn't right. Came out and saw her with a "sorry pal" look on her face and then saw the plant. It was completely removed from the pot and soil was everywhere. No, I did not run and get the camera and take a picture. I replanted the seedling back into the pot and soaked with water.

I now know I probably made a mistake by not planting the seed directly into the 7 gallon pot. Transplanting a photoperiod plant is no big deal. stunting of growth is expected so it is not really a big deal. With Autos, time is of the essence and stopping the clock can be detrimental to plant growth, (from what I understand).

This brings up my question. When you folks transplant seedlings, do you bury them right up to the water leaves (Cotyledons)? I have always done this with photoperiods but this being my first auto grow, even the smallest things make me wonder.