4x C4 Auto by Fast Buds Comparison Grow

I know right?! That's exactly what I thought. It started doing that about a week ago, and the dark purple stuff is spreading everywhere lol

It loves being out in the sun, despite the 90-95f temperatures. I can see why outdoor growers get higher yields. My autos that are outside (because I ran out of room inside) are growing so freaking fast....definitely faster than when they were inside.

 

I am really pleased with the growth on the C4 autos since I decided to put them outside and finish them outdoors. What a beautiful plant! This one should be a decent yielder. I'd be happy with 2-3 zips from this one plant.



I'm glad I decided to LST this one after all. Look at the difference between the one below and the one pictured after that (which I did not train at all). I don't understand why some growers just let their autos grow without any LST. It takes the same amount of time, and you end up with more smokable bud.

I traced the direction of the main stem so you can see how it has been trained. It is a little hard to tell.

 

As soon as you can bend the top down without breaking anything. It just depends. 4th node sounds good.

 

Thanks man. I really appreciate that. I do enjoy it very much! I am growing outside very carefully. I can’t allow myself to get greedy and overdo it. I’m not sure how my neighbors feel about it yet. I need to build a privacy fence lol


“Tyranny anywhere is a threat to freedom everywhere.” — someone awesome

 

Quick update on my C4 autos. The big one looks really good and smells amazing. All of my C4 autos are going to finish outside. I needed all of my indoor grow space for my Jack Herer clone grow and my Gorilla Glue autos.

 

I'm really glad that I kept the C4 autos going despite their very rough beginning. I just don't know how they are going to finish because I basically lost 3 weeks on the front end of the grow by getting the pH wrong in the rockwall cubes. Oh well. At least I'll get something off of them — I just won't be able to harvest based on the number of days they have been growing. I'll have to keep an eye on them and chop them based on what she's telling me. They are really beautiful plants! They are getting very sticky and resinous also.

 

Well, my C4 autos are ready for chop! There aren't many hairs, but I do see some red / purplish hairs that have already run their course and have pulled back in towards the bud. I was hoping the buds would be much larger, but it is what it is. This is really a beautiful plant — I have enjoyed admiring the flowers but it's time to take her down.

This has been an interesting experience (growing them outside). Pests were somewhat of a problem, but nothing that some Azosol couldn't handle. I have decided to put all 3 plants inside my small 24" x 24" tent and she will sit in darkness for at least 36 hours.

If you guys will remember, I messed up when I planted the seeds for these 3 plants. I wanted to try using rockwool, and I screwed up the pH and they basically were an inch tall for 3 weeks. Instead of tossing them, I pulled them out of the rockwool and planted them in soil to see what would become of them. I'm glad that I did! I wasn't sure if they would ever mature, but after checking the trichomes, I have determined they are ready. All cloudy with no amber trikes.

Here are some nice bud shots!

 

I feel like the buds aren't fully developed, but the trichomes show they are ready for chop. I think it definitely has something to do with the 3 weeks that they did absolutely nothing as seedlings. There just isn't much room for error with autos.

It may be a little early, but I'd rather chop them and get them off my back porch before my neighbor sees them and figures out what they are. So, the yield will be small, but it's certainly better than nothing.

 

They smell amazing! They put off a very floral sweet aroma.

 

My C4 Autos have been in the dark for 45 hours now, and I'm going to keep them in the dark for probably another 48 hours. I figure 96 hours should be good. I just don't feel like they are going to bulk up any more than they already have. If I wouldn't have screwed up the first 3 weeks of their grow cycle, they would definitely be more dense and much larger. But, when I decided to let these plants continue growing, I knew I would have to settle for whatever I ended up with. So, I really can't complain...there's not much I can do about it now.

I'm including some pictures of the trichomes. What would you guys do? Harvest? Let her go another week or two?

 

They have been in total darkness for 112 hours now.


“Tyranny anywhere is a threat to freedom everywhere.” — someone awesome

 

I thought I had posted these but I guess not. I washed all of the C4 buds in a 5-gallon bucket with filtered water, 1 cup of lemon juice, 1 cup of baking soda, and 1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide. After they were washed in that, they went into a bucket with just plain filtered water. Then, I rinsed them off 1 more time and then hung them up. Holy crap they were dirty! I definitely saw some russet mites on some of the fan leaves. They must have just found my plants before I pulled them in and put them in darkness. They were in darkness for a total of 120 hours. After I took them out of the small 24" x 24" tent, I cleaned it thoroughly because it's also my drying tent.

Here are the pictures I took after I finished washing my buds. If you're not washing your buds, maybe this will show you what you are also smoking.





Hanging up over my bathtub with a fan blowing on them to get the excess water off.



From everything I have read online about proper drying and curing, 71 degrees f and 50% humidity is near perfect conditions for drying. It gets up to 75f during the day time which is better. I really hope this drying and curing goes well. I royally screwed up my last dry and cure. I want the drying to take at least 7 days. Last time, it took 72 hours and they were bone dry. However, last time I removed the buds from the branches and laid them out on a drying rack with a fan on them. HUGE mistake. Please don't do that. I was forced to use 5oz of bud to make an assload of canna butter. It was not smokeable...it simply dried too fast. An almost 2-month cure didn't help it 1 damn bit.

 

Well, I'm actually pretty pleased at the moment. I finally got through a crop where I didn't completely screw up the buds by drying them too fast. I don't know what it is....my temps are 72-77 degrees, and RH is 47-51% depending on the time of day, and somehow my buds dry way too fast and are pretty much useless for anything except for turning all of it into canna butter. So, instead of doing a wet trim, I left everything on and dried it that way. It took longer to dry, but I also pulled it early and stuck everything in mason jars to let the buds sweat for a little bit....taking them out every couple hours to sit in a cardboard tray. They probably should have stayed hanging in the drying tent longer, but I didn't want to take the chance of ruining another crop. Anyway, this bud is extra sticky, and the terpenes are amazing. It has a very floral aroma. The taste is very good as well. My only complaint at this point is the potency. I smoked a small bowl as a taste test because I didn't flush and I wanted to see if what I have read online about organics is true (that you don't need to flush). It's true! Super smooth smoke...great taste....but no high.

Will the potency come back....or get better with curing? I know this strain isn't breaking any potency records — I didn't choose to grow this strain because of the potency.

I think it may have something to do with the buds not developing properly because of what happened at the beginning of this grow. With autos having a predetermined life cycle, I jacked up these C4 Autos during the first 3 weeks because I wanted to try growing in rockwool. Huge mistake! Won't make that mistake again. Anyway, I'll quit rambling. I'm happy with it for now. I think a good cure will help, but I think I may get it stabilized at around 60-62% RH in mason jars and just forget about them for a while.

Oh well. One more grow behind me, and I learned a lot on this one. Worth it.