Sweet Kush of Mine Killer, Kush Auto
At Sweet Seeds we always look forward to enrich our genetic collection with the cream of the crop. This time we took our exceptional photoperiod-dependent cut of OG Kush and turned it into one of the sweetest, more resinous, productive and aromatic autoflowering plants of all time. This beauty was released very recently (it reached the market in late June 2015), but there was already enough time for me to have a try and grow it in my 60 x 60 x 120cm tent with a 400w High Pressure Sodium lamp.
After growing autoflowering strains for the last 5 years, it was engaging for me to follow all the upgrades made by the Sweet Seeds’ R&D Department with the continuous genetic evolutions performed on our autoflowering collection. When I first got to try the 2nd and 3rd generations it was already very clear to me that very close to 99% of the genetic traits found on the plants were totally on the photoperiod-dependent parental side and only around 1% was on the autoflowering side: precisely the gene that determines the characteristic that makes them flower regardless of the photoperiod.
But when you jump from these modern 2nd and 3rd generation autoflowering hybrids to a 4th generation based on a painstaking work of breeding and selection, always seeking to find the best selected autoflowering genetic lines from the previous generation to hybridize them with our elite clones, that’s when you know out of any reasonable doubt that you are sprouting the seeds of success. As a 4th generation autoflowering strain, our Killer Kush Auto (Sweet Seeds variety SWS56) couldn’t surprise me more than what I was expecting. Or could it?
This time I decided to go with four plants, each one of them in an 18 litre pot with BioBizz Allmix soil. You know that this kind of soil is more suitable to the flowering stage so what I find myself doing these days is filling the pots with Allmix just until a certain point and from then on, until almost the edge of the pot, I fill it with a 8cm layer of Allmix mixed with 15% perlite and 15% vermiculite. This will lower the amount of nutrients present in the soil from which the plants will get their feeding in the first weeks.
As you might have already noticed this is only valid when you start with them directly in the final pot. Some prefer to start with small ones and then pot up to the final pot at around the 20th day of life of the plant and I recognize that it is probably the best way to do it. But since it increases the chances of mistakes occurring that could lead to problems on the plants, I recently decided to start straight away in the final pot. If you start them in the final pot you basically only need to pay attention to one important source of problems, which is the many possible inadequate ways how you might be watering your plants in the wrong way.
It is important to keep in mind that it is very simple to avoid most of the problems coming from incorrect watering. You only need to make sure that you don’t water them while the soil is still moist or very humid. Especially after the first stage of growth (first 10 or 15 days of life), you can and should let the soil look completely dry before you water your plants. Watering the plants while the soil is still wet is the source for many problems because the soil will take much longer to dry and the “dry-wet-dry” cycles will happen less often, causing the plants to develop slower. And autoflowering plants usually don’t wait. When they reach between 20 and 25 days from germination they start flowering even if their size and structure are not fit to the growers’ desires.
If the plant was born 5 days ago, don’t give it more than 100 ml of water at once. Then 200 ml at day 10, followed by 300 ml at day 15 and from then on you should be able to understand what the plant is asking you. Until you get to a point when you are sure that the plant has developed roots that reach the bottom of the pot and from then on you should always give them water until you see water coming out from the drainage holes. If you control this and give them enough light, air renovation and get to have wind blowing into their leaves most of the time, then you have everything to succeed. And choosing this 4th generation autoflowering strain only raises even more your chances of succeeding.
My four Killer Kush Auto seeds germinated between the 24th and the 48th hour after I dropped them into a wet paper towel, closed inside an hermetically sealed plastic box. Then they were carefully thrown into the soil mix about 1 cm below surface and covered. 24 hours after, they reached surface and dropped their seed shells to show the cotyledons. From then on they showed an amazing hybrid vigour and a dark green colour that at some point seemed to be about to turn into an overfert sign (from a rich soil mix). But they dealt with it like champions and soon they had a size and root structure developed enough to deal with all the nutrients present in the soil without showing any signs of overfertilization.
At around day 20 the plants had reached to their fourth set of branches and had about 25 cm of height. Strong main stem and short internodal distance with very firm side branches. At this point I kept giving them only water and no liquid fertilizers. They still could find all that they need in the soil. At around day 25 all the plants started to show pistils that about 5 days later started to crowd together into what we can call the beginning of flowering formations. At that point, between day 30 and day 35, I started with Topmax also from BioBizz. Even if the soil is still rich in nutrients, using a flowering stimulator is always a good idea because it will never contribute to any eventual overfertilization even though it is wise to keep dosage under the numbers shown on the bottle.
At day 38 from germination I gave them their first blooming fertilizer dosage. It was BioBloom but only half the dosage recommended by BioBizz, because I felt like the soil still had a few nutrients available but also because I knew that harvest was only about 20 days far away. The plants kept stretching until day 42, doubling the initial size they had when they first started flowering. They usually grow a bit taller but I have very limited space in this tent and so I do my best to have the HPS bulb as close as possible to the plants. This leads the plants to focus more on the development of the side branches instead of stretching the main bud in look for more light. When they have all the light they want, they don’t stretch as much looking for it anymore and then energies can be spent on other parts of the plant. Killer Kush Auto develops strong stems that are able to hold the solid flowers produced by this delicious autoflowering strain from the Sweet Seeds genetic collection.
By the 45th day after germination they received their second and last dose of bloom nutrients in liquid form. I don’t want to induce anyone in mistake because every grow has its own particularities and even if you use the same products that I have been talking about, your plants may behave in a different way. So if you see that the leaves start yellowing earlier than I mentioned, then you should give them liquid fertilizers earlier than I did. And maybe you need to feed them more than 2 times during the whole life cycle. But for me, with a rich soil mix, feeding them twice was enough.
At this time the flowers of Killer Kush Auto are totally formed into very compact buds with an amazing calibre and beautiful shape and colours. This indica dominant line produces large and aromatic flowers, all covered by a thick layer of trichomes. The fabulous aromas are already present and you can feel them in all their splendour by rubbing your fingers on the flowers to break some trichomes and release the terpenes. The aroma is sweet, citric and acid with exotic tones reminiscent of aromas from the Chem Dawg – Diesel family.
By day 54 from germination the first amber trichomes started showing up. It was possible to harvest them at that point, but I personally prefer to harvest a bit after the ideal timing to get a more relaxed effect. So I harvested at day 58 with about around 15% of the trichomes showing amber colouration, 75% milky and 10% still clear but with a golden shade. The effect is very strong and therapeutic. It can be experienced at the body level immediately after smoking or vaporizing the resinous flowers. The sensations of mental relaxation arrive a few minutes later and usually last for two or three hours. With Killer Kush Auto you will find an autoflowering plant that will calm your mind while keeping you ahead of the tolerance curve.
When growing in such a small area it is more adequate to evaluate the final production based on grams per square meter. These 4 plants were grown in a 0,36 m2 area and they yielded 214 gr, making it a 594 gr per square meter grow. But in my opinion the most impressive about this strain is the outstanding aromas released by every plant, so pleasantly exquisite and sweet. Possibly the best autoflowering strain in the market, with the Sweet Seeds’ quality standards, in a 4th generation autoflowering version. A killer treat for the sweet kush lovers and their friends.
Originally published in Weed World Magazine 121
