Bubba Kush Auto Cannabis Strain Week-by-Week Guide
- 1. Grow specifications
- 2. Grow set up
- 3. Germination and seedling stage | weeks 1-2
- 4. Early veg | week 3
- 5. Mid veg | weeks 4-5
- 6. Transition (pre-flower) | week 6
- 7. Early flower | weeks 7-9
- 8. Mid flower (bulk phase) | weeks 10-13
- 9. Ripening and harvest | weeks 14-16
- 10. Yield and smoke report
- 11. In conclusion
The original Bubba Kush was a legend, and this autoflower version by Dinafem is a very successful attempt to retain the same winning genetics in automatic form. In our Bubba Kush Auto week-by-week guide, we'll try to show you how to push this strain's potential to the limit. We'll do this by studying a real-world grow journal complete with photos and grow tips.
1. Grow Specifications
Bubba Kush Auto is a versatile cultivar that is equally suitable for indoor setups as well as balconies, terraces, greenhouses, and of course, outdoor gardens. Being a dominant Indica, it boasts a very short stature but a great yield potential nonetheless. Look forward to 400-450 g/m² indoors with equally generous results outdoors. You won't have to wait more than 70-80 days for the buds to completely mature.
The buds are compact and very resinous and have a high THC content with a very low level of CBD at 0.5%. The character of the smoke is very Indica-leaning – potently relaxing and sedating, with gassy and earthy notes.
2. Grow Set Up
In the grow journal that we're going to review here, the grower used a very small grow tent – a 60x60x140cm (2'X2'X4.5') Mars Hydro. If you're only thinking of buying a tent, we'd suggest choosing something bigger because, in bigger setups, it's easier to control such environment variables as temperature and humidity. In fact, you'll see in this grow report how the gardener struggled with maintaining optimal RH.
He installed two Mars TS 600 LED lights that draw 100W each and 200W collectively. This is more than enough for such a small space. Another important part of any indoor grow is a ventilation system – to extract excess heat and provide plants with CO2 for photosynthesis. In most cases, you'd want to couple your exhaust fan with a carbon filter for odor control.
| Grow Space: | 0.37 m2 (4 ft2) | Pot Size: | 24 L (6.34 gal) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed to Harvest: | 16 weeks | Medium: | Soil + Perlite |
| Flowering: | 11 weeks | Nutrients: | Organic |
| Light Cycle: | 18/6 | Day Temperature: | 22-26°C (72-79°F) |
| Light Type: | LED | Night Temperature: | 14-18°C (57-64°F) |
| Watts Used: | 200 | Humidity: | 35-50% |
3. Germination And Seedling Stage | Weeks 1-2
Germination is probably the most baffling subject for newbies as seeds are expensive and people are afraid to kill them by mishandling. However, don't be afraid: cannabis seeds are surprisingly hardy living creatures, and all they need is warmth, moisture, and darkness. So, choose some of the most basic germination methods and you'll be fine.
| Plant Height: | 2.5-5 cm | Day Temp: | 26°C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Distance to Light: | 65 cm | Night Temp: | 16°C |
| Smell: | None | Humidity: | 50% |
This grower used the paper-towel method. He took two cotton disks, moistened them with drinking-quality tap water, and placed the seed between them. You also need to cover the whole thing with something so that the moisture doesn't evaporate and put it in a dark warm place, like a kitchen cabinet. The seeds usually sprout within 3 days. Don't be in a hurry to plant them as soon as you see the taproot. Better wait till it's half an inch long.
If you grow cannabis in soil (or a soilless potting mix to be exact), you can use tap water for the first couple of weeks because potting soil comes pre-amended with some nutrients, and cannabis seedlings don't need much. Too many nutes can even hurt the yet tender roots – keep that in mind when choosing a mix and pick one with lower NPK figures. Better yet, shop for a soil mix that was specifically designed for cannabis growing. Of course, in inert mediums, such as coco coir, rockwool, or clay peppble, you'll need to feed your weed right from the start.
Another important consideration is the size of the pot. On the one hand, it's best to avoid repotting autoflowering cannabis because if you do it carelessly and shock your auto, it may stop developing for several days and be quite small at harvest. On the other, keeping the seedling in a starter pot for the first couple of weeks makes watering so much easier. This gardener chose to start his Bubba Kush Auto in a small container with the intent to transplant it later. Worked fine in his case.
4. Early Veg | Week 3
While in the first two weeks most of the progress is happening unseen, in the ground, the change will be quite noticeable for the remainder of the vegetative phase. This is when plants create above-ground 'real estate' for future bud sites. In autoflowers, veg is very short, and that makes this stage extremely important. You need to do all you can to create the perfect environment for active growth. The day temperature should be on the warm side (26-27°C), the 'nights' mild (around 20°C would be just right), and the relative humidity closer to 60%.
This doesn't mean that cannabis won't grow if these variables are off. Look at the table below. Though the conditions were definitely subpar, Bubba Kush Auto kept chugging along.
| Plant Height: | 6 cm | Day Temp: | 22°C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Distance to Light: | 65 cm | Night Temp: | 14°C |
| Smell: | None | Humidity: | 35% |
The vegetative stage is also the time when gardeners start to apply their favorite training methods. Training is especially important indoors as it allows you to get a flat canopy in flowering, and that means that not just the central cola but all of them will be at an optimal distance from the light. In fact, there will be no central cola – all of them will be the same size and the same texture: big and dense. This grower used the simple tie-down method which works fine and is recommended for autoflowers.
When you bend and tie down the main stem, the flow of hormones immediately shifts to the side branches and they start to develop faster than before. Some people also remove the largest fan leaves to expose the side branches to more light, others tuck the leaves out of the way, yet others leave them be.
5. Mid Veg | Weeks 4-5
In many autoflowering strains, veg only lasts for 3-4 weeks, and then you see the first pistils (female hairs) at the nodes. This Bubba Kush Auto was a little slower than that, so the grower could continue to LST her all through weeks 4-5. He also improved the environment a bit – by raising the day and night temps and the relative humidity.
| Plant Height: | 6 cm | Day Temp: | 24°C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Distance to Light: | 65 cm | Night Temp: | 16°C |
| Smell: | None | Humidity: | 40-50% |
In the table above, you can see that the height of Bubba Kush Auto didn't change at all during this period. It's because of all the training that kept her close to the ground. Now, not only the main stem needed to be secured with braces but every side branch too. Don't mind the flowers in the photo below – it's Bubba Kush Auto's older neighbor.
The main reason Bubba Kush remained so low-profile was of course the training. But there was another reason – this young plant was growing next to the more mature one but at practically the same distance from the light. When cannabis gets so much light, it tends to stay short and compact. Sometimes, to an unhealthy degree.
6. Transition (Pre-Flower) | Week 6
Around the end of the first month from seed, autoflowers go into budding mode. This means that you'll see white hairs not only at the nodes along the main stem but also bunches of them on every top. The new leaves growing on tops will also change their shape and color. They'll become wisplike and a lighter shade of green. When you see this, you can know that the flowering stage has begun.
| Plant Height: | 6 cm | Day Temp: | 24°C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Distance to Light: | 65 cm | Night Temp: | 16°C |
| Smell: | None | Humidity: | 50% |
When cannabis begins to flower, its root system slows down its growth considerably. Hopefully, you made the final transplant at least two weeks before. This grower gave the roots of his Bubba Kush Auto three weeks to colonize their final home – a 24-liter container – so the root ball had enough time to fill the whole volume, laying the foundation for a generous harvest.
The plant was still a meager 6 cm tall, but the flowering stretch was about to begin. The stretching requires some nitrogen, that's why many gardeners (including this one) still give their ladies nitrogen-rich food at this point. Others immediately switch to a formula that has more phosphorus and potassium than nitrogen – to stimulate the growth of buds right away. We suggest you do the same.
7. Early Flower | Weeks 7-9
Once an autoflower has switched to flowering, it can't revert back to veg no matter what the light schedule. The buds will start to form on tops and at lower nodes, and if you do everything right, they will gradually fill in all the gaps and form continuous colas. The other conspicuous change that happens at this point in the timeline is the flowering stretch. Check out the table below to see how much an auto can stretch in just a couple of weeks.
| Plant Height: | 6-25 cm | Day Temp: | 24°C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Distance to Light: | 65 cm ↘ 60 cm | Night Temp: | 16°C |
| Smell: | Weak ↗ Normal | Humidity: | 50% |
The grower used the 7th week from seed to wean off his Bubba Kush Auto from Plagron Alga Grow (which is heavy on nitrogen) and introduce Alga Bloom with its higher concentrations of phosphorus and potassium. That is exactly what a blooming plant needs. And blooming she did as there was a bunch of white pistils on every top now.
Now, that the branches started to stretch in earnest, the grower stopped holding them down with braces so that the plant stretched more than 4 times. However, it was extremely short before, and after the stretch was over, the final height was just 25 cm (10 inches) – perfect for a micro grow. There were also a lot of trichomes on trim leaves, and the plant began to smell.
As you can see in the photo above, there were only very few fan leaves left and the lower part of the branches was stripped naked (the procedure known as lollipopping). However, the branches were so many and so close together that the canopy still looked dense.
8. Mid Flower (Bulk Phase) | Weeks 10-13
When the buds of a cannabis plant begin to bulk up, you don't have much to do. You just continue with fertigation and make sure that the environmental variables are at desired levels. When the flowering really kicks in, you may lower day temps by a couple of degrees – to something like 23-25°C – and let the night temps drop by no more than 5-10 degrees. As for relative humidity, the normal levels are between 40 and 60 percent, and when the flowers fill up and become prone to mold, it's best to keep RH at the low side of this range. Something between 35-45% would be just right.
| Plant Height: | 25 cm | Day Temp: | 25°C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Distance to Light: | 60 cm | Night Temp: | 18°C |
| Smell: | Normal ↗ Strong | Humidity: | 50% |
As buds mature, they not only grow in size but change their color. The pistils that have started as white start to turn brown, and the leaves may begin to fade, especially if you make your cannabis a little N-deficient. It's believed that when cannabis gets too much nitrogen (N), this interferes with normal budding. The slight deficiency of this nutrient, on the other hand, contributes to better buds.
When buds are appearing more and more mature and leaves are fading, it's important to start watching the color of trichomes under a microscope so as not to miss the perfect window to harvest your weed.
9. Ripening And Harvest | Weeks 14-16
In the last few weeks leading to the harvest, you may think that not much is happening: the buds stay the same size and the branches have long stopped stretching. However, very important things are imperceptibly unfolding, and the most important of them is the production and storage of more and more cannabinoids and terpenes inside trichomes. Naturally, the flowers start to smell insanely strong.
| Plant Height: | 25 cm | Day Temp: | 25°C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Distance to Light: | 60 cm | Night Temp: | 18°C |
| Smell: | Strong | Humidity: | 50% |
When the flowers demonstrate almost no day-to-day changes, you need a reliable sign that will tell you that your autoflower is ready to be chopped, and it's the color of trichomes. With a 60x hand microscope, look at the trichomes on calyces (not on trim leaves!). When they're still mostly clear, the buds aren't ready. When the trichs start to turn cloudy, it means the THC content in them is approaching its peak, and this is the perfect moment to stop feeding your plants with nutrients and give them only pH'd water till the day of the harvest.
In this Bubba Kush Auto grow, the gardener was flushing for the last two weeks – perfect for a soil grow. The purpose of the final flush is to get rid of all mineral salts that have accumulated in the medium and in the tissues of the plant itself. It's best to always flush – even if you cultivate in organics. While doing this, keep watching the trichomes, and when some of them have turned amber, it's time to give the axe to your autoflower.
You may have noticed in the photos how Bubba Kush Auto changed her color right before the harvest, turning from vivid green to purplish. Many cannabis strains are prone to turn purple, and you can facilitate the process by lowering the day and night temperatures, mimicking autumn weather. Just don't overdo this or else you risk mold and bud rot.
10. Yield and Smoke Report
After 16 weeks from seed, the grower harvested his Bubba Kush Auto and got 666 grams wet. You can easily estimate your final haul by dividing this number by 5 or 6. In this case, the dry yield was 100 grams (3.88 ounces) meaning that the buds were very solid and dense even if they looked a bit disheveled.
The buds were as stinky in the jars as they were in the grow tent. The main note in the smell was pine, but the smoke, although quite pungent, tasted more like earth. The type of effects was almost pure Indica – very couch-locking and sedating, with a sleepy turn toward the end. However, it wasn't a purely physical experience. On the contrary, this smoke can be a terrific mood booster, making the user happy and mentally relaxed.
11. In Conclusion
This particular phenotype of Bubba Kush Auto wasn't the fastest as autoflowers go because 16 weeks indoors is quite a long time – on par with photoperiod genetics. However, the yield was quite generous to make up for the extra time. The owners of small grow tents will appreciate the plant's compact size. Bubba Kush will also appeal to those who love purple varieties. The effects are also characteristic of a typical purple strain – very Indica-like, giving physical bliss and a good mood. In short, this weed is definitely worthy of your attention. Happy growing!
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