Strawberry Pie Auto Grow Diary and Strain Review

Hi, everybody! I’d like to share with you the details of my Strawberry Pie Auto grow diary, as this was one of the best grows I’ve ever had. 

My Strawberry Pie Auto strain took a record-breaking 8 weeks from seed and brought me 208 grams (7.34 oz) of dry bud from two plants – not a bad result for such a lightning-fast cycle and under just 300W! The finished product was top shelf, with tight, resinous nuggets and strong effects.

Strong Growth Right Out of the Gate

I’ve never had issues with germinating Fast Buds seeds. The success rate has been 100% so far, so for Strawberry Pie Auto, you can use any germination technique. Personally, I recommend the paper-towel method where you keep the seed between wet paper towels until it cracks and grows a half-inch-long taproot. You can pre-soak your seed in a glass of water for up to 12 hours or skip this step. The beauty of the method is that you can always look at the seed and monitor its progress.

When my two Strawberry Pie Auto seeds germinated, I planted them (plus several other strains) into 4.5-inch pots, intending to re-pot them later. I know it’s recommended to avoid transplanting autos, but I think that for such strong genetics, this advice is outdated – modern autoflowers can handle re-potting just fine. Besides, starting them in a small container makes watering so much easier!

I fill containers with a soil/perlite potting mix. It usually comes pre-amended with nutrients, so I only give my plants plain water for the first week and then start adding some liquid fertilizer.

Both Strawberry Pie Autos looked strong and sturdy in the seedling stage. They weren’t quite as big as others but would stretch to a comfortable height later in the life cycle. By the time I transferred them into 5-gallon pots (18.93 L) in the second week, they had big, perfectly healthy fan leaves with no deficiency spots and well-developed side branches. They took the re-potting procedure in stride.

The Only Form of Training Was LST

I had 8 different autoflowers in my 3x4 tent, so you might say it was a form of SOG. I didn’t need any hardcore training methods as well, such as topping or ScrOG netting. Simple low-stress training did the job of controlling the overall height of the plants. Besides, I had enough vertical space.

I simply tied down the main stem and the longest of the side branches and fixed them in place with copper wire. I’m not a fan of defoliation, so I mostly tucked in the biggest fan leaves that were shading the bud sites.

I continued with LST ‘til week 6 (the second week of flowering) and then stopped because it got kind of crowded in the tent while there was still enough headroom. So, I let main colas stretch and tower above the rest, but frankly, my Strawberry Pie Autos weren’t that tall compared with the others.

Not the First to Start Flowering but the First to Finish

I kept my garden on an 18/6 light schedule from start to finish, and like true autos, my Strawberry Pie girls started budding on their own in week 5 from seed. For some other strains in this grow, this happened a week earlier, but incredible as it was, the Pies finished earlier than the rest – after only 4 weeks of flowering.

In week 2 of the flowering stage, they already had well-formed buds on top. In week 3, they began to fill in all the gaps between the nodes and were sugared all over. In week 4, the pistils were rapidly changing color from white to orange, signaling that the harvest was near.

Of course, I didn’t rely on that as the single sign of maturity, but you probably know how to watch the state of trichomes through a hand microscope and pick the perfect moment to harvest.

Some Tips About Nutrients

Strawberry Pie Auto wasn’t picky at all when it came to feeding. I don’t want to overwhelm you with the details of my nutrient schedule (I used the General Hydroponics line of products), but I’ll just mention that this autoflower responded well to high doses.

I can’t say the same about the other strains in the garden, which seemed overfed at some points. Besides, I skipped a couple of CalMag feedings, which immediately resulted in deficiencies in a few plants but not the Strawberry Pie Autos. Those two looked healthy and vibrant from day one and all the way to harvest.

The Most Resinous Auto in My Experience

The Strawberry Pie Auto strain was hands-down the most resinous in my career as a grower. In the tent, the difference from the others was striking. I’ve never seen trichomes form so early and in such great numbers. They totally obscured the color of the flowers and leaves, making them sticky and producing a strong, pungent sweet-and-sour smell of citrus fruit and berries.

When almost all of the trichomes looked milky under a jeweler’s loupe, I started the final flush. I could only do it for one week before the buds reached their peak. I harvested them after 8 weeks from seed.

Dense Chunks of ‘Sugar’

The buds really packed on weight in the final few days leading up to the harvest. They weren’t easy to trim because of the insane amount of resin that kept gluing my scissors together. However, I persevered, as these buds deserved a close trim – it made them look absolutely irresistible. They were different in size, from long ‘spears’ to tight round ‘golf balls’, but all of them were dense and frosted all over.

The smell of fruit and berries was still there after three weeks in the jars. If anything, it even got stronger. The smoke smells and tastes the same, making Strawberry Pie Auto my tastiest autoflower to date. As for the high, it was strong and versatile, equally good for daytime and nighttime use. It made me happy and relaxed, creating a smooth glow of euphoria in both the head and body.

Strawberry Pie Auto from Fast Buds

VIEW STRAIN

Strawberry Pie Auto Review: Final Thoughts

I can’t promise that your experience will be exactly the same as in my Strawberry Pie Auto grow diary, but if you get the same pheno as me, expect a plant that’s more compact and branchier than most. In my case, she performed well in an SOG setup, but you can probably achieve even better results if you place fewer plants per square area and train them more radically than I did.

Don’t be afraid to give your Strawberry Pie Auto plenty of food, but shift from N-rich nutrients to those rich in P and K as soon as she starts flowering since this period is extra short. Also, start watching the color of trichomes early on so that you don’t miss the perfect window for the final flush and harvest. And of course, give your buds a nice long cure – it’s exactly what this dessert strain deserves. Happy growing!

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