Auto Bubblegum

This is my second grow of this strain, and a follow up to my previous review. Round # 1 was under a 250W HID cooltube in a 2X2X5'3" Secret Jardin tent, and I correctly ranted about this strain's quality and yield （7.3 oz）. This round #2 was with my new MARS Hydro 2'3" X 2'3" （5sq.ft.） tent and 700W MARS Hydro LED （approx. 350W / 50% actual wattage consumed） coupled to a 270CFM centrifugal fan & Phresh carbon filter. 4 gallon Ebb n' Gro straight hydro flood system.

As I posted results of my first grow of this strain, I had already started round # 2 and expressed concerns of reduced yield due to lack of stretch. This pheno showed full bloom 19 days after transplant to the tent / LED, but stretched almost none. This caused concern for yield, WHICH WAS TOTALLY UNFOUNDED. Turns out this was a short, squat, no-stretch pheno, but with otherwise sativa dominant traits. This plant set my all-time yield record for a single-plant autoflower tent grow. Final yield cured was 329g / 11/.76oz., something just short of amazing!!! With LST-only training, the plant never grew over 10" / 25cm, and produced 30 large, rock hard colas with heavy frost.

Everyone who has seen it / smoked it has had nothing but top shelf kudos to say about it. The buds are heavily frosted and rock hard, and smoke quality is medical quality weed by anyones' standards.

Training was LST-only, no topping. Nutrients were the full complement of GenHydro's Expert Recirculating formula with RO water, Armor-Si & cal-mag at 900 - 1100 ppm on a 500 scale, or 1.8 to 2.2 eC if you prefer that measure.

If I can figure out how to upload pictures, those will follow.

I would whole heartedly recommend this strain to anyone. Even if you get the first pheno, it's great weed. If you get the second, expect to be totally floored by the yield!!!

This strain convinced me that auto’s have arrived; you HAVE to grow this strain. It is a top shelf smoke compared to anything, photoperiod or autoflower.

Quality of High – 8.5 maybe 9 （Is there really a 10????? Anywhere????）

Type of high - can’t remember （must have been good!!!） except it fucked you up. Great for pain.

Aroma / Taste tropical, sweet.

Bag appeal-8.5 / 9 – excellent frost, good bud density.

Will you grow this strain again? Absolutely, second plant is in the tent now.

Grow environment - one plant, 2' X 2' tent 250W HID, Cooltube reflector w/ 4” 170-CFM centrifugal cooling fan. Phresh carbon filter w/ separate 4” 170-CFM centrifugal fan 15 min on / 15 min off during lights-on and once during 4-hour lights-off & it kept up. Lights-on interval 20X4.

GROW MEDIUM:4 gallon Flo-n-Gro bucket, flood every 2 hours while lights-on.

TRAINING: This strain showed bloom at 13 days and started to stretch like crazy shortly after. It was 16" tall at 15 days after transplant to HID light. Training was LST-only, started begun at day 15. It kept me busy until around day 40, when I flipped my HID to the opposite diagonal orientation it had started. The work paid off, this was a beautiful strain.

NUTRIENTS: General Hydroponics FLORA 3-part series with Diamond Nectar, ArmorSi & KoolBloom additives

Was traveling a lot during this grow & formula ran “hot” （EC 2.6 to 3.4 / 1300 - 1700 ppm） through the last month of bloom. EC climbed as reservoir level dropped but there were no adverse effects / plant tolerated it very well. EC was stable at 1.9 at end of veg, so I suspect this would be all that’s needed during bloom for a great yield.

LESSONS LEARNED: Tolerates a wide range of nute strength.

LOTS of side branching and if you are diligent LST-training the main leader to a 90 degree bend, all the side branches will catch up and grow into a beautiful even canopy. 16 or better top buds, all close to equal. The buds are dense and covered in frost.

End of 2016 Update: My second grow of this strain is underway in a new tent - 27" X 27" （5 sq. ft.） with a new 700W MARS Hydro LED. This plant has not stretched at all, compared to all of my previous autoflower grows （eight total, varied strains, all stretched） under a 250W HID cooltube light. This new plant is healthy, and again has about 16 main colas with LST keeping the canopy even. But height is only 10" above the Flo n' Gro bucket. Limited headroom growers would be thrilled with this, but I am not sure if yield will be anywhere near the original pheno （204 grams） that stretched like crazy.

Is this a phenotype difference, or is it a result of the increased light strength? A 700W LED actually only uses about 350Watts （50% of rated）, but is the light quality different, resulting in a more compact plant growth? So far I believe 250W - HID beats 350/700 LED. Keeping an open mind with my first LED grow. We will see over the coming year.