Amnesia Haze Autoflower ~consolidated notes

About Marijuana Strains
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I’d first like to get a firm answer regarding two basic points:

  1. How long is the VEGETATIVE stage, in weeks
  2. How long is the FLOWERING stage in weeks

For a total grow time of (?)

Reason I ask that is because the descriptions I see here and there are kind of ambiguous on those two points. I wish both were listed definitely, and the total expected grow time as well - in one place. Which is what I hope to accomplish right off the bat here.

This is my 3rd grow, the last four plants of my second grow I guess many of you read the result, Without “DARK TIME” the plants eventually overstress no matter how good everything else may be. And then they just quit…

Things are different in the winter months, it has been a challenge to keep the temperature in the grow room within limits, it gets up to 90 at times during the day.

On the plus side the humidity almost never drops below 50%

The plant does spread out nicely, and I have had absolutely no dried fan or other leaves on it even though it now has eleven nodes (leaf/branch points on the main stem). This may be in part because I water it with a one litre pump sprayer that I pump up whenever I look in on the plant and mist all parts of the plant with until the spray pressure drops off. In this way I deliver a litre of water to the plant every day.

I am lo-impact training the plant by using bamboo skewers as stakes to tie down the branches as close to horizontal as they will go. That has opened up the plant better than trimming, in my opinion because no green is lost that way and I want it to have as many happy leaves as possible.

I have two lights on it on a timer. One array (1200W equivalent LED) I hung ALONGSIDE the plant. The other is a 1500W equivalent LED Array - and that one is hung directly overhead.

Unless I am trying to get more growth on one side of it for some reason I normally rotate the plant 180 degrees at noon every day. In theory that should also happen at “Lights Out”

I also leave the top light off until local noon. From noon to 6PM the full setup is on. From 6AM to midnight the side light is the source.

~What I am trying to replicate (or approximate) is the light coming from the side early in the day, and as the sun rises it passes overhead, right? So high intensity light is from 12 to 6PM and there are two 6 hour periods of ‘morning’ and ‘evening’ light.

And of course I will never overdrive the plants again by running the lights 24/7

To fully automate it would call for 3 lighting arrays and timers, but it’s cheaper to just turn the planter and switch the top array on or off when necessary. The one on the side is on the same timer as the top, it’s a dual outlet progammable one.

This is autoflower and also feminized I hope. This 18 hour cycle is a fairly normal timing schedule, and giving the plant a more natural shift in light direction and intensity I hope will make it a little easier on the plant.

AHAF1
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AHAF2
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I just noticed a problem with my thread - I never noted down the actual day I sprouted this plant, but I think it was three weeks prior to these pic’s

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Since these are autoflowers the vegetative stage is extremely short, and it seems that they spend the majority of their life spent flowering. Veg stage is any time you see the plant with out preflowers/pistils. That’s not a direct answer because every plant is different, along with every phenotype. Every flowering stage is also different, and the plant will finish when it’s decided it is. In short, I can’t answer that specifically, all are suggestive times used strictly as a guideline.

There are several posts on here about mimicking the natural sun cycle, in short, the plants don’t care, and just want light. You can grow them how you want, they’ll still grow, I am only suggesting that it makes no difference in the plant world. You may have better results having maximum light for the entire light cycle.
@FrikkinFrank

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In that case I’ll let the timer do it’s job, and just rotate the planter when one side seems to be lagging.

Another question occurs to me though - can buds be harvested on an ongoing basis? Will the plant become “SHRUB-LIKE” and continue growing and producing even if flowers are being picked from it every so often?

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That sounds good, here’s a good read, if you’re interested in something similar to the light cycle for plants. Sufficient lighting is first and foremost, then you can add additional deep reds during the end of the light cycle.

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Yes @FrikkinFrank you can harvest just the top, and let the rest finish. Just like picking a ripe fruit from the tree, you can let the others ripen. Lots of growers do this.
I personally chop the whole thing though.

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Since the base strain is a landrace cross-bred with some of the best strains I ever tried (Hawaiian, Jamaican, etc…) it would be interesting to see just how long it CAN live. But if the whole plant is not hung upside down to dry, would that make a difference?

I’m also thinking of adding some hardwood ashes to it for potash in the flower phase

I just realized something else too, I should have the lights OFF from noon to 6PM, and ON from sunset to the following noon. That way I don’t have a strange light in a bathroom that supposedly is not used if someone drops by.

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Those sativa dominant plants do typically have a longer flower time. What is the name of the strain do you know? I have an interest in the landrace strains pure sativa section. I intend to grow some myself and I would love to follow along.
If you chop the parts that are ready, just hang it by the stem, it’s almost the same thing. @FrikkinFrank

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As above, it’s Amnesia Haze from ILGM. The strains they blended are listed in the seed description for it in the seed shop here.

I keep thinking about an image I saw somewhere around here of a huge bush of an old plant on somebodies patio. and I think it was in an article about trimming and training our plants

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Gosh, sorry I missed that in the title @FrikkinFrank haha. More coffee.

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Not my write up but a good general reference @FrikkinFrank

LIFECYCLE OF AN AUTO

A common question I see is when to switch autos from veg to bloom. Many people are under the impression that as soon as they see the first flowers it’s time to switch. Perhaps a little explanation of the life cycle of autos will help to clarify this.

Weeks 1 - 3. Once you’ve started your seeds and they break the surface of the soil, they are in their seedling stage. The first set of leaves to appear will usually single fingered, followed by a second set that may still be single fingered or perhaps 3 fingered. Once that second set appears growth will start to accelerate as the new leaves provide more photosynthesis. This process will continue, more new leaves, faster growth. Depending on the type of soil in use, mild vegetative nutes can be introduced at week 2. By week 3 most plants will start to show their sex. Males will start to produce pollen sacks and females will display pistils.

Weeks 4 - 6. The plants are now entering a pre flowering stage. During this time the plants should exhibit explosive growth, often as much as a new set of nodes and 1" vertical growth a day. This is the time when they will gain most of their vertical height. Many people make the mistake of switching from vegetative to flowering nutrients at this point, assuming that since they see flowers it must be the proper time. This is incorrect. If the switch to flowering nutes is made at this time the vertical growth will stop and the plant will put it’s energy into producing buds. If you need to keep your plants small, or want them to finish earlier, they by all means switch nutes at this point. But if you want to get the most out of your plants continue feeding vegetative nutes until you see the vertical growth slow and stop. Depending on the strain that will usually be sometime during week 5 or 6.

Weeks 7 - 9. By now vertical growth has stopped and the switch to flowering nutrients has been made. The buds will start to fill out and put on weight, becoming hard and tight. Pistols will start to change from white to brown, orange, red, etc. By now the plants will also have developed a strong smell. Toward the end of this phase the large primary and smaller secondary fan leaves will begin to turn yellow. This is an indication that the plant is moving toward the end of it’s life.

Weeks 10 - 11. At this time flowering nutes should be discontinued and only plain pHed water fed to flush the remaining nutrients from the soil and improve the taste. Yellowing of the fan leaves will continue as the plant draws the stored energy from them. Eventually they will die and fall off. By the time that the smaller leaves that come from out of the buds will also start to turn yellow. Then it’s time to harvest.

I know that many of you are thinking that the seed bank said the plants will finish in 8-9 weeks, so why are you saying they take 10-11? The claims made by the seed banks are somewhat deceptive. If you switch to flowering nutes at week 3 or 4 the plants can finish in the times the seed banks say but they will remain small and not reach their full potential yield. Years of growing by myself and others has shown that autos do best if you follow this time line.

Of course, there will always be variations depending on the strain, the environment, nutrients, etc. This information is meant to only serve as a general guideline.

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I’ve been gradually (3 hours at a time) sliding the timer backwards, so that the plant has 15 hours of light instead of 18 for the time being. But it will help the temperature situation a lot to sort of “NIGHT GROW” the plants. This should also help reduce the chance of anyone noticing anything if they drop by.

Not even my closest friends know anything about my little hobby. :alien:

I wonder how much wood ash is safe to add to the planter without overdoing it?

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I’m not sure either. Don’t use the charcoal bits I know that. Ash is also I think alkaline. Use with caution.

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PH is likely to be the main thing to make the decision. Add a bit, check PH, add if I can…

Not sure how many weeks it has been going. It is definitely speeding up and stands 14 inches as of yesterday so it needs between 8 to 19 (if it gets that tall before blooming I’ll be impressed) inches before it may slow down and be ready to bud. I thought it was at least 6 weeks though and that fits the timeline above, which is super informative BTW - whoever wrote that I owe you a bud!

No sign of pistils quite yet, or I don’t see and recognize them - there are some pointy looking bits here and there.

hornitos
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All of this got me thinking about the best way to deliver light to the entire plant too - so I decided to try “Side Lighting” and set it up so that all the way up and down both sides the meter reads 2000

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The two cross-connected cables are at 22", AH is said to get from 22 to 33 inches tall in the veg stage - and 33 is just below the power cord that goes across.

  • In this view the 1500W is on the left, 1200W is to the right

  • If needed, the cross cables can be extended or each array can be lifted an inch or so at a time to follow the top

  • I’m not going to top it, I attempted “FIMMING” it tonight and we’ll see how that goes

Now HERE’s another oddball question from me:
In all of this, again and again we read -
“You may be able to get a weak buzz from the leaves, but the buds are the focus of the whole effort”

  • that worked on my first grow, and I was surprised at how potent they were.

“Topping and trimming can train a plant to make it more productive”

  • To an extent - though FIMMING and Low-Stress training is what I am convinced is best

“Removing dried or yellowing leaves prevents them from slowing the plant down”

But HERE is the part that I recently dialed in on, from the ABOVE:

" Yellowing of the fan leaves will continue as the plant draws the stored energy from them. Eventually they will die and fall off."

and even more interestingly:
“At this time flowering nutes should be discontinued and only plain pHed water fed to flush the remaining nutrients from the soil and improve the taste.”

Which kind of tells me the plants need the contents of the leaves during Bud formation as a source of ‘stored energy and nutrients’ that carries them to the end of the life cycle…

In other words - leave 'em alone until they fall off by themselves

Comments?

PS: I also wonder why “Miracle Grow” is a bad thing to use

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Yep leave them alone.
Miracle grow contains slow release fertilizer that can really mess with cannabis during the flowering cycle of its life. Too much nitrogen and you end up with reduced yields. When you do a flush, it releases MORE nitrogen, then you have nitrogen toxicity and leaf clawing, and this contributes to severe reduced yields. This is just a few of the many issues that occurs when using Miracle NO. @FrikkinFrank

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What’s an easy to come by ‘Fast Release’ nitrogen source that can be easily flushed?

Anyone?

  • No buds starting quite yet, but it was jumping an inch per day before the fimming. She’s nearly at 17" now (43cm)

Uh oh - I’m not sure if the nutes in “STA-GREEN” can be leached/flushed. That’s the basic soil I used right out of the bag…

I also have her in a SIX gallon instead of a five gallon container, because the five gallon “FAB-BAGS” were too small for my first grow :eyes:

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If your soil has slow release fertilizer I would highly suggest to transplant to a different soil. @FrikkinFrank

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The bottom first leaves were yellowing so I picked them and smoked them
~ The very first 2, one on each side after the round seed leaves, the first true ones

It hit me in like 45 seconds, I luv the feel of this, it is amazing!

It may have been a fluke - or because they had already converted all chlorophyl in themselves. Greener leaves I tested are not as potent (barely started to yellow). I trimmed two or three to see if it was anything like constant

UPDATE: Basic rule (for me) on picking leaves is this -

If a yellowed leaf FALLS OFF with a mere touch, the plant no longer needs it, so go ahead.

If there is any resistance at all to pulling it off, leave it alone no matter what it looks like.

The reason being that it (your plant) needs to finish scavenging whatever it has to before dropping it naturally

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A recent pic:

tiedowns1
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This illustrates the tie-down method I am using as a non-invasive training technique.

I meant to post it in this thread, but I have also been looking into how to make my own “Potash Fertilizer” the old fashioned way using common hardwood ashes left over from disposing of a pile of downed maple wood that is just laying around here. For EXACT details on that, it would be best for you to look up “How to Make Potash Fertilizer” online, there are many respected sources of information on that out there, and for me to re-write what experts have already documented about it would be wasteful and most likely inaccurate.

Potash (potassium Chloride) it turns out is very water soluable and can both be easily separated from wood ashes using a simple process - it can also be flushed out if it has to be because it IS water soluable

The plant is just over 20 inches tall now, accellerating now that it is past being “FIMM’d”, and I noticed recently that it is beginning to develop the strong smell that will be pretty intense once it does BUD…

There are more pics of it in the thread “Re-Trim a FIMM?”

  • NOTE that the stems are a reddish purple that I am hoping is genetic
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Well peoples - I have tested the “Potash Trick” using an empty plastic bottle of about 3 liters.

STEPS I followed:

  1. I took some wood ash, and ran it through a wire mesh strainer to get rid of anything over a fine ash powder
  2. I filled the bottle a bit over a third with the ash powder, and topped it up with hot water from the sink
  3. I left the bottle in full sun like I would to make Sun Tea, shaking it up a few times during the afternoon
  4. Once I left it alone for a few hours it did turn very light but not completely clear with all the ash settled to the bottom
  5. I tested it WITH A PH METER to see what the specific Ph was, and it turned out to be slightly ALKALINE (!)

~ That totally surprised me, as I was expecting ACIDITY - but lo and behold the meter deflected very slightly in the opposite direction. So this is telling me I need have no fear of raising the acid level in the soil at all!

The actual PH reads 8 - where 8 is alkaline, and less than 7 is acidic. Average house plants (pot varies, depending on hydro or soil culture) require around 6.5

The acid content must be in the ash that settled out into the bottom, so at this point I plan to add some of it (the clear fluid) to tomorrows liter and a half of water that the plant seems to need every day (which seemed to be a bit much, but I also confirmed with the meter) once I have carefully poured off the clear fluid into another container.

  • I also read something about ash and something else causing carbon dioxide gas to be released, in other words wood ash just might be useful to create a CO2 generator in addition. I’m off online to find where and what I read about that, and how much Potash Fluid I should add to each plant so I don’t overdo it.

For now I splashed in about a cup or two of the stuff and THAT’S IT for at least 3 weeks or until I see what happens

And this is coming RIGHT ON TIME! I positively identified the beginnings of pistils at the tips of some of the branches.

On Phosphorus, I need to remember to grab some bone meal (not to mention lime, which is for a different reason) but for now Potato water from boiling potatoes, and egg shells run through a blender together is an adequate home remedy sort of a deal.

Another note on the light cycle:
Again and again I keep reading that the QUALITY of DARKNESS must be absolute during the lights out period, regardless if it is six hours or twelve, so that is another small point of attention that i am taking very seriously

I hope this posts, I just spotted this chart in a different topic here:

My soil right now is reading about 6.5 to 7

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Great analysis @FrikkinFrank

That note about darkness quality is why I prefer to grow auto’s indoors. My tent is on the side of the basement with laundry facilities and I can’t ask my better half to stay out of there during normal awake hours and tents are far from “light proof.” Photo plants def should not have exposure to normal room light in any fashion during lights out and that’s a tough standard if you grow in a common area like me.

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