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Welcome to my DWC autoflower grow journal! I recently had the opportunity to pop a Purple Lemonade seed from FastBuds. I’d never grown Purple Lemonade before – this was actually the first time I’d even heard about it! So before I started, I wasn’t sure what to expect.
I was pretty blown away by the results. I’ve grown Purps before, but these are something else. This Indica-dominant hybrid is a deep, reddish tone of purple. It almost looks like sumac. It has a powerful citrus scent with some sweet undertones, and is super relaxing but not couch-locking. All in all, I love this strain.
What I Used To Grow And Keep A Journal Of Purple Lemonade Auto
I have a pretty unusual setup in my grow. I use a single 0.74m2 (8ft2) tent fitted with two different LED lights. One is 385 watts while the other puts off 200 watts, for a combined total of 585 watts. LEDs are particularly great for autoflower strains. Since they can run for long periods of time without generating too much heat, I can run them for 20 hours a day. This technique super-charged the photosynthesis of my plant. As I only used LEDs, you can use my scheme as a guide and the whole text as a fully LED grow journal.
I grow in a Deepwater Culture (DWC) hydroponic garden. My FastBuds Purple Lemonade Auto seed germinated in a rockwool cube planted in a 3-gallon (11.35 liter) reservoir, which was filled with clay pellets.
FastBuds Purple Lemonade Auto DWC Grow Journal – From Seed To Harvest
FastBuds Purple Lemonade Auto was fully mature 15 weeks after I planted it. That seems pretty long for an autoflower, but as they say, “it takes as long as it takes.” You can’t argue with the end result!
Weeks 1-6 Of My Autoflower Grow Journal: Veg
FastBuds Purple Lemonade had a surprisingly long veg time for an auto strain. It took 6 weeks for it to kick from veg into flower. Plant maintenance was critical during the veg phase. I topped my plant after the appearance of the fourth node. Temperatures reached a high of 24o C (75o F) and a low of 18o C (64o F).
Week 1
To start things off, I put my seed in a wet rooting plug. The plug rested just above where the bubbles end, keeping it nice and moist. The relative humidity peaked at 50%, and I blasted 20 hours of light for week 1 to give my plant all the power it needed.
Nutrient Mix:
- Bio Roots: 1.25ml/l (4.73ml/gal)
- pH: 6.1
- TDS: 165 PPM
Week 2-3
By the end of the first week, my seed had already germinated. I maintained the same temperature, hours of light, and humidity.
Nutrient Mix:
- Bio Roots: 1.25ml/l (4.73ml/gal)
- pH: 6.1
- TDS: 165 PPM
Week 4
My plant developed four nodes by week 4, but I waited to top until week 5. Sometimes I baby my plants, but I like to make sure they’re healthy before I start removing plant matter.
Nutrient Mix:
- Bio Roots: 1ml/l (3.79ml/gal)
- Armor Si: 0.5ml/l (1.32ml/gal)
- CaliMagic: 0.5ml/l (1.89ml/gal)
- FloraBloom: 0.5ml/l (1.89ml/gal)
- FloraGro: 0.75ml/l (2.84ml/gal)
- FloraMicro: 0.75ml/l (2.84ml/gal)
- pH: 6.3
- TDS: 655 PPM
Weeks 5 and 6
Holy crap, this plant exploded between weeks 4 and 5! It’s amazing the difference seven days makes. I topped halfway through week 5. By the end of week 6, the plant was about 50 inches (127cm) tall.
Nutrient Mix:
- Armor Si: 1ml/l
- CaliMagic: 1ml/l
- FloraBloom: 1ml/l
- FloraGro: 1.5ml/l
- FloraMicro: 1.5ml/l
- FloraBlend: 1.25ml/l
- pH: 6.3
- TDS: 990 PPM
Weeks 7-10 Of My Autoflower Grow Journal: Early Flower
Since this FastBuds seed was an auto version of Purple Lemonade, it changed from veg into flower by itself. That allowed me to continue bombarding it with 20 hours of light per day. That’s probably how this strain maintains its explosive growth rate. Relative humidity stayed around 44% while the temperature ranged from a high of 24o C (75o F) to a low of 17o C (63o F). I tried to keep the environment as steady as possible. At this point in keeping my cannabis grow journal, I can say that the further I get into growing the plant, the more I fall in love with it.
Week 7
I knew that this plant had started to flower in week 7 because I could smell it. Normally, my plants don’t start to smell until later in the flower cycle, but FastBuds Purple Lemonade Auto isn’t a normal strain.
I could also tell the plant had hit the flower cycle because it grew 10 inches overnight. I was been amazed by how quickly this strain grows. I’m glad I only grew this single plant, because it started to fill out the entire tent.
Nutrient Mix
- Armor Si: 1ml/l (3.79ml/l)
- CaliMagic: 1ml/l (3.79ml/l)
- FloraBloom: 1.5ml/l (5.68ml/l)
- FloraGro: 1.25ml/l (4.73ml/l)
- FloraMicro: 1.25ml/l (4.73ml/l)
- FloraBlend: 1.25ml/l 4.73ml/l)
- pH: 6.2
- TDS: 1000 PPM
Week 8
The first hints of purple started to develop after only two weeks into flower! I knew this plant was going to be deep purple by harvest day.
At this point, I needed to do something. The plant had nearly doubled in size during the first two weeks of the flower cycle and was now pushing 90 inches (230cm) at its highest point. It was a little late in the game, but I ended up using LST to lower the top cola. The plant took it really well!
I also defoliated the plant this week. Since we were two weeks into the flower cycle, I only removed large fan leaves that were blocking out sunlight in the canopy.
Nutrient Mix
- Armor Si: 1ml/l (3.79ml/gal)
- CaliMagic: 1.5ml/l (5.68ml/gal)
- FloraBloom: 1.5ml/l (5.68ml/gal)
- FloraGro: 1.25ml/l (4.73ml/gal)
- FloraMicro: 1.25ml/l (4.73ml/gal)
- FloraBlemd: 1.25ml/l (4.73ml/gal)
- Liquid KoolBloom: 0.75ml/l 2.84ml/gal)
- pH: 6.2
- TDS: 1010
Weeks 9-10
By the beginning of week 9, this strain’s buds were already beginning to stack up. They were thick, heavy, and dense. The buds were already starting to look frosty too, which is usually unheard of this early in flower. In addition, the plant’s vertical stretched stopped. I figured it had likely reached its max height, which was a very good thing because I was now out of room!
Nutrient Mix
- Armor Si: 1ml/l (3.79ml/gal)
- CaliMagic: 1.5ml/l (5.68ml/gal)
- FloraBloom: 1.5ml/l (5.68ml/gal)
- FloraGro: 1ml/l (3.79ml/gal)
- FloraMicro: 1.25ml/l (4.73ml/gal)
- FloraBlemd: 1.25ml/l (4.73ml/gal)
- Liquid KoolBloom: 0.75ml/l 2.84ml/gal)
- pH: 6.2
- TDS: 1010
Weeks 11-15 Of My Autoflower Grow Journal: Late Flower
At this point, my FastBuds Purple Lemonade Auto plant had finished most of its growing and bulking out. Now, all that was left was to ripen it. From here on out, I flushed my plant. Flushing gets rid of residual nutrients in the plant and brings out its true flavor.
Weeks 11-15
By week 11, I stopped feeding my plants and started flushing with pHed water (same pH of 6.2). At this point, Purple Lemonade Auto was some pungent pot. It was bursting with a tangy citrus fragrance that I could smell through the door. Its buds were a deep, angry purple color that I’d never seen before. This strain is really something else!
During week 14, I defoliated my plant again. This is especially important during the last two weeks of the flowering stage. During ripening, it’s crucial for direct light contact to all of your flowers to make them hard and dense.
Post-Harvest Report
This is one of the best strains I’ve grown in my life. It’s also one of the most purple and pretty ones. It nearly hit a gram per watt (0.04oz per watt) using LED lights. Whenever I can hit that number, I’m happy with my yield. Quality is another place where this strain really shines – literally. These royal purple buds scintillate with trichomes, giving FastBuds’ Purple Lemonade Auto a truly unique appearance. I would happily recommend this strain to anyone, and I’ll definitely be growing it again myself.
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