NFT Auto Bubble - Autoflower by Female Seeds

kingofshiba

Member
Decided to restart this journal as I made a mess of the other one. I'm currently about 8 weeks in. So here goes :mrgreen:

Seeds:
The seeds are Auto Bubble by Female Seeds. An autoflowering version of bubblegum.. it's my first time doing an autoflower and I'm looking forward to the results.

Equipment:
2 x 600w Lights
4 x NFT424 Tanks
Ionic 1 Part Nutrients (Hydro H/W Grow & Bloom)

Ballasts:
The 600w lights were a bargin at £59 each brand new, with reflectors and bulbs from a respected Hydroponics supplier.. it is the compact ballast potted resin sort. Made by Eurolux. I'm glad I had the sense to check the ballast out for a while before leaving it unattended.. never seen a ballast get so HOT in my life!! Left it propped up on some wood.. came back to the smell of wood drying out and no doubt about to burn. ALWAYS LEAVE YOU BALLAST ON BRICKS OR SOMETHING NON-FLAMMABLE! This can't be stressed enough.. this ballast would easily start a fire if it was on something that can burn.. included wood! I will definitely be upgrading the ballasts for next time.

Germination:
Seeds were left in a glass of water until they had sunk or for 24 hours whichever was sooner. They were then placed into 1 inch rockwool cubes and left under 1 125w Envirolite in a propagator. Once the roots began to come out the bottom of the 1 inch cubes they were transported into 4 inch cubes. Once the roots showed out the bottom of the 4 inch cubes they were ready for the NFT trays.

Out of 10 seeds planted, 10 healthy plants in 4 inch cubes remain :)

Into the kits:
With 4 NFT trays and 10 plants I decided to put 2 in each of the outer tanks and 3 in each of the inner tanks.

Here they are after being put into the trays.

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kingofshiba

Member
After this there were problems with the top left plant.. which was always the biggest and fastest growing by far.. here's some of the leaves..

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Couldn't figure out what it was at the time.. and the other plants were fine. I just carried on the same as trying something drastic would no doubt affect the other plant in the tray.
 

kingofshiba

Member
More photos, they had been in the trays for 14/15 days.. quite an explosion of growth.:blsmoke:

However it also show's the disadvantage to not using clones as what an odd bunch they are!! I was already having concerns about the canopy at this point.. no way would it be even!

They had already started flowing too but I'm not sure when.. :-|

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kingofshiba

Member
And now the current state of affairs :mrgreen:

23/24 days after they were placed into the trays.. it's a jungle!

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Buds are coming along nicely.. from the second photo can anyone guess how much longer there is to go??
 

kingofshiba

Member
which one smells the most bubble?
The shortest one is the furthest developed.. (pic 2) swear I got a whiff of bubblegum off her when I was tying them up earlier :) very distinct nice smell.. I would struggle to describe it but bubblegum is pretty close.

A couple more unfocused photos.. even with only 2 plants in some of the trays it's become overgrown! I would normally trim but being the first time with autos I don't want to stress them so I'm just going to let them do there thing. Left it too late to be hacking them apart now I think..

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Bonequicha

Well-Known Member
keep me updated I need to know which one to look out for you've done a good job documenting them as small plants so it will be easy to distinguish, good job
 

kingofshiba

Member
keep me updated I need to know which one to look out for you've done a good job documenting them as small plants so it will be easy to distinguish, good job
Ok in all the photos it's the one at the bottom of the 2nd tank from the left. I think I got 3 phenotypes from the batch.. this one being much shorter and flowering quicker.. and also smelling the most of bubblegum :)

I'll do another update in a few days..
 

kingofshiba

Member
Quick little update.. been in the nft trays for 34 days and how they've come along is mental!! Really wasn't expecting this from autoflowers and I'm rather impressed, they've grown so fast and are flowering nicely insanely fast! Only a month after the very first picture they look like this :bigjoint:


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kingofshiba

Member
Ok the tallest of the bunch is now just over 4 and a half feet tall and only 8 weeks old.. I'd listened to the nay sayers and never believed they would get any way near this big! I was thinking maybe 3 foot maximum! Depending on the final yield I might just switch to autoflowers for good. I add pk boost when changing the res today.. probs should of used it sooner but only just got some and thought I'd add it now see what happens. Hoping the buds will fill out over the next couple of weeks. :bigjoint:



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kingofshiba

Member
Ok.. went to check on them the other day and 2 had collapsed under their own weight!! They were only supported by the spreader mat.. I thought by using larger cubes I might avoid this but nope! I had also placed pea netting loose among the plants hoping they would hold each other up but it didn't work.. strung them back up with string to the ceiling and all is well again :bigjoint:

They've started getting frosty and a couple have started filling out.. haven't got a scope to look at the trics but I'm guessing a couple of weeks left to go...

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bioWheel

Well-Known Member
Wow - great journal - pics - glad you posted the link from other thread. Will be watching... bio
 

kingofshiba

Member
you are doing great which one this the most bg smelling ones?
To be fair it's impossible to tell.. I can't even tell which branches are from what plant sometimes.. it's well and truly overgrown! However the overall aroma is very very nice! Will have to wait until its dried and cured but if it smokes like it smells now then I'm in for a treat :bigjoint:
 

kingofshiba

Member
Wow - great journal - pics - glad you posted the link from other thread. Will be watching... bio
Thanks! I can't wait until harvest.. some of the buds look like they're going to come out very nice indeed! Not sure if I'm more excited about smoking it or shooting some bud porn once its cut :lol:

I think my early estimate of a couple of weeks left was very optimistic.. nagging feeling tells me its going to be nearer a month which would take me from seed to harvest in 12 weeks
 

kingofshiba

Member
More photos.. some of these are starting to get frosty!

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Looking nice if I don't say so myself :bigjoint:

I said the ballasts run hot and apparently they run hot enough to turn bricks white.. however hot that is?? could easily cook a fried breakfast on one of these things. And also due to me thinking these things wouldn't get to even half the size they are the room layout is wrong. The flap to access each of the NFT reservoirs is hidden beneath the foliage somewhere in the 2nd picture.. changing the water would be impossible if I wasn't as agile as I am.. still pisses me off when I have to do it though.
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kingofshiba

Member
Pretty damn hot I'd say. Wonder if one of those bricks will crack?
Would be just my luck if it did! Some quick googleling tells me that bricks turn white when the moisture in them evaporates leaving behind mineral deposits.. so should be nothing to worry to about. The bricks seem to dissipate the heat well and are only warm to the touch near the bottom. :)

I really want to get my hands on one of these infra-red thermometers so I can check how hot these are actually running.. I'll see if I can borrow one from somewhere
 

kingofshiba

Member
I haven't been able to check on the ladies as much as I'd like.. life can take you by surprise sometimes and the ladies have taken a back seat.. and I'm not even sure if I'm growing them or playing cats cradle with them anymore! haha. (Check the photos)

I should of been more prepared for the NFT system to not take their weight but I didn't think it would get this bad.. oh well.. next time I'm going to scrog them so this won't be a problem. Pictures are rubbish but I can't be arsed atm.. last update before I harvest I think..

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