Auto Banana Blaze stunning harvest in cold conditions

This week’s Auto Banana Blaze grow review from ‘The Artist’ featured an unusual, but beautifully red-coloured display at harvest. Some cold weather made the grow room (In an outdoor garden building) very cold. No doubt this cold weather reduced the final yield slightly, but Auto Banana Blaze battled through producing a heavy harvest and some truly special colours. Auto Banana Blaze is a particularly beautiful, tough and durable Afghani Kush indica with a unique sweet banana taste. She is also one of the most affordable autoflower seeds in the Dutch Passion collection and has numerous repeat growers.

Read on to see some stunning pictures and a professional THC and terpene analysis on the final harvest!

Auto Banana Blaze seeds planted in late summer

The Auto Banana Blaze was grown outdoors at the end of summer, however the last weeks of flowering became cold after some unexpected chilly autumn/fall weather. The grow tent was placed in an outside garden building without any heating. This gave a real test of the durability of the famously tough Afghani Kush indica genetics. The only heat came from the LED light used, a solar System 275 with a 200W actual power draw.

Good quality modern LEDs simply don’t emit a great deal of heat due to their high efficiency. This meant that the Auto Banana Blaze had to tolerate temperatures which were far lower than optimum, dropping down to around 10ºC on some nights. However the Afghani Kush heritage meant that these genetics are able to cope better than many lesser strains. However, The Artist did wonder if the cold reduced yield and potency even if it did help produce some great colours in the buds.

As harvest approached, towards the end of November, the cold indoor temperatures caused the plant to show a beautiful dark red colouration and a high level of resin on the buds. ‘The Artist’ wondered whether this might also have caused an extra boost in resin production, as if the plant was protecting itself from the cold.

Type of cannabis seeds	Auto Banana Blaze, autoflowering cannabis seeds
Grow room	Grow tent (90 x 120cm) placed in an unheated garden out-building with extraction and carbon filter
Container	30 litre air pot
Grow style	The Auto Banana Blaze was allowed to grow naturally except for removing some lower branches and leaves around week 4-6.
Grow medium	Light mix soil combined with coco fibre in a 50/50 blend
Lighting	California Lightworks 200W ‘Solar System 275’ with blue, red and white LEDs
Typical temperatures (unheated out building)	16ºC – 22ºC generally. During lights off periods at the end temperatures unfortunately dropped to 10-15 ºC.
Humidity	No humidity (‘RH’) control. Generally from 40% – 80% RH  between watering periods. But absolutely no mold issues, which was great.
Nutrients	BioTabs Starterskit (Mycotrex, Startrex, Silicium Flash, Bactrex and biotabs). Use of slow release organic nutrients meant that only water was given during growth, greatly simplifying the grow process.
Distance from LED light to plant	Around 40cm in bloom. Moving up light during each week according with plant growth.

Auto Banana Blaze, unusual terpene profile with a sweet fruity banana taste

The terpenes in Auto Banana Blaze were absolutely amazing. Think of traditional Afghani Kush pungency but with a unique fruity banana twist. I wanted to know how this was possible so we arranged a professional lab analysis. Every time a lab result shows the presence of the rare ‘Terpinolene’ you know it’s a special result. Only around 1 in 10 strains show Terpinolene, but Auto Banana Blaze had it as the dominant terpene! To me, this confirms that Auto Banana Blaze really is a bit of a special autoflower strain. Great aroma, stunning colours and jar-appeal to the max. The effects are supremely relaxing and exceptionally pleasurable. Auto Banana Blaze is a stress-busting indica that acts quickly. A hugely satisfying and long lasting high – I have rarely been happier with a harvest! My friends loved the unique red buds, the powerful anti-anxiety Kush effects. They were queuing up to enjoy the taste and aroma as soon as they opened the jar

Feedback from the The Artist on the lab test results of Auto Banana Blaze.

The Artist was surprised and impressed in equal measure with the Auto Banana Blaze grow. It was unlike any previous grow in terms of appearance, scent and simplicity. Use of slow-release organic nutrients by BioTabs meant that The Artist only needed to add water during this grow – growing doesn’t get much simpler than this! Auto Banana Blaze is part of the Afghani Kush cannabis seed collection, home to some of the most sought-after strains by home growers. They deliver proven potency, easy growing and some truly special flavours.

The unusual aroma of Terpinolene is more captivating than the more typical cannabis terpenes. Pinene smells like pine trees, Linalool smells like flowers. Limonene reminds you of  citrus. However Terpinolene, carries an array of multi-layered scents that really do enhance the appeal of your buds and give a captivating depth of flavour and aroma. It’s hard to describe but think of piney, floral, herbaceous with hints of citrus fruit.

Auto Banana Blaze lab analysis, THC levels and terpene profile

THC levels above 15% were seen in the Auto Banana Blaze buds. For comparison, a recent Dutch Government survey showed that average coffee shop weed THC levels were 16%. The THC levels in Auto Banana Blaze were more-or-less at the same level, showing that even with sub-optimised grow temperatures Auto Banana Blaze is able to deliver a powerful smoke/vape.

Note also the very unusual levels of CBG, 1.48%. This is also much higher than usual, typically if CBG is present at all it is often at levels below 0.1%

Looking at the sparkling dried buds I might have expected the THC levels to be a little higher. But I’ve also learned that the appearance of your buds isn’t always reflected in the THC levels found by the labs. Buds can look frosty as hell, but still have ‘average’ THC levels of around 15-16%. The thick trichome coating also indicates great terpene profiles and the presence of other cannabinoids such as CBG. Overall the aroma, smell taste and effect of the Auto Banana Blaze makes for a great smoke experience. My friends absolutely loved rolling joints from these buds, the high is happy, social and joyful. One of my best ever grows on a few different levels …even though I am sure grow room conditions were a long way from being optimised.

Feedback from The Artist on the harvest of Auto Banana Blaze.

Related:
Dutch Government quality survey of Dutch coffee shop cannabis, what’s a high amount of THC in weed?

Auto Banana Blaze harvest and summary

Watch our Auto Banana Blaze® time lapse video on Youtube.

Harvesting this beauty was quite easy, since many leaves were removed during the last few weeks. The internode distance between buds, leaves and stems made for a quick trim and harvest. The very frosty red buds were a treat for The Artist to cure and put in his jars. As one of his most satisfying grows, The Artist wants to grow Auto Banana Blaze again and is curious to see what she would be like with optimised grow conditions and how this would affect/improve the THC levels.

Indoors Auto Banana Blaze typically takes 10-11 weeks from autoflower seed to harvest. Outdoors, or in sub-optimised conditions, she may need an extra week or two. Connoisseurs will love the taste and aroma, beginner growers will appreciate the simple grow style and tough genetics that will produce a heavy harvest even if grow conditions are not that great.

Congratulations to The Artist on some of the best looking buds and plant pictures ever seen on this solid Afghani Kush autoflower!

Read more grow diaries from “The Artist”