Auto Critical Orange Punch 1.4Kg dry harvest!

27/03/2025

This absolutely insane Auto Critical Orange Punch is one of the biggest & best autoflower harvests ever seen by the Dutch Passion team. She was grown indoors with LED lighting above and below the canopy by an expert USA hydroponics pro known as ‘420autoflower’ who posts his grows on the Autoflower Network (‘AFN’) grow forums.

Check out 420autoflower’s grow review below. Complete with step-by-step instructions & pictures showing how he used the SCROG method to great advantage as well as schwazzing (intense defoliation).

Auto Critical Orange Punch indoor hydroponics grow report by 420autoflower

This grow blog features two Auto Critical Orange Punch plants, plus 5 other varieties from Dutch Passion and the Super Sativa Seed Club, giving a total of 7 plants.

The 2 Auto Critical Orange Punch plants were the biggest & highest yielding of them all. One plant produced 1.48Kg (3.3lb), the other 1.36Kg (3lb). Both were grown in standard rock-wool (fibre glass) blocks with drip feeding.

This was a truly outstanding result and shows what can be achieved when a home grower combines top quality cannabis seeds with an expert setup and a lot of TLC. Big respect to 420autoflower! Be amazed by another grow journal by our friend 420autoflower growing Dutch Passion genetics in the USA.

The original grow review from AFN is here. The comments below come from 420autoflower with some feedback from Antonio, a cannabis cup winning Dutch Passion expert.

Germination rate: About 70-85% and I think it might have been due to the beans being shipped (by stealth) inside ink pens.

Germination details: I mark my zip lock baggies with the names of the cultivars with a sharpie pen and then place the wet paper towel with the seeds inside the bag. After they shoot out a tail, I carefully place them in 1.5” /4cm Grodan starter cubes and drop them into a Grodan 4×4” (10x10cm) rockwool block after they sprout.

Light cycle: Permanent 24-hour LED light from autoflower seed to harvest

Stretch during flowering: Solid stretch and vigorous growth

Type of grow room: A garage with no climate control, plants are grown in tents

Size of grow room: They spent most of their life in a 28’x28’’ (70x70cm) tent and the other in a 32×32” (80x80cm) tent (or 27×27 and 31×31’)

Number of plants: 1 in each tent with 2 different lighting set-ups

Type / size of pots: She grew in a 9×6” (23 x 15cm) chunk of Grodan Hugo block (rockwool) with a 4×4” (10cm x 10cm) cube stacked on top

Grow medium: Hydroponics

Nutrients: General Hydroponics FloraNova Grow/Bloom as my main N-P-K

Grow techniques: My personal 420autoflower scrog method

Average temperature: Average was high 80’s F (around 30ºC).

Average humidity: Low 40’s during late flower (RH 40-45%)

Grow lights: A $109-240 watt FarmLite and with the other a DIY self-contained hydro unit and a $89 240 watt Yehsence light – I gave them more light(s) as they progressed/became older

Light distance from canopy: 12”/30cm in general – added canopy lights during the last part of the grow

Germination stage

No special remarks, besides having a single bean that didn’t pop, germination went as planned/normal.

14-06-2024: New Dutch Passion seedlings: 3 SFV OG, 3 Auto Critical Orange Punch, 1 Auto Candy Bubatz XL and 2 Auto Melonade Runtz. I bent some of the Dutch Passion tops over using the supercropping technique.

Vegetative stage

Hooked up the new Dutch Passion run to automated fertigation a few days ago. Separated the new Dutch Passion crop into 3 tents. Auto Critical Orange Punch on the left and right as well as Auto SFV OG in the middle.

Antonio_DutchPassion:

Looking tiptop again mate, some really big ladies in there already! Damn, this goes so fast… What are you planning to do now? I bet some of them will get their own space again right?

420autoflower:

Thanks Antonio! Here’s what I’m planning on doing with them.

Your two Critical Oranges Punches that were on the left and right of the Auto SFV OG will probably be up next. The one on the left will most likely be grown indoors and the pheno on the right will go outside.

I did get a chance to flatten out my Auto Melonade Runtz and a Critical Orange Punch today, but I was a little heavy handed when I was working the COP down and accidentally snapped the main top on her.

She still has potential but I’m not ready to unveil her yet as she’s mending at the moment and doesn’t want to be shown.

Here’s the Auto Critical Punch #2. I Flattened her out in a 32×32” tent and have a 240-watt FarmLite up above keeping her happy. (Day 39)

Above is the Auto Critical Orange Punch #1 with the broken main top I didn’t want to show the other day while she was mending. She healed up well over the weekend but I’m not going to pull her down again and risk more damage.

She’s set up in a 28×28” tent with another DIY self-contained hydro unit and a $89 240-watt Yehsence light (18/07/24; Day 38).

I blacked out (ignored) the main bloom to continue diverting energy (light) to the lower nodes as if it was tucked under the net and pointing horizontal or pinned down with a bent coat hanger stake

Canopy update after 9 days of growth:

Dutch Passion’s Auto Critical Orange Punch #1.

Dutch Passion’s Auto Critical Orange Punch #2.

Flowering stage: a record-breaking Auto Glueberry OG

Been really busy around here the past week getting these Dutch Passion girls set up and situated to go into beast mode.

They’re all doing well so far and growing like crazy. Moved two of them into bigger tents and need to move two more but waiting for a 3×3’ (90x90cm) tent to be delivered. Kind of underestimated the growth I would get while they were stretching and had no choice but to re-scrog them out in larger tents to maximize their potential.

Now they will each have an extra 2 square feet (30cm x 60cm) to finish up properly and I won’t end up with airy/leafy bud. Lots of extra work but well worth the time.

Auto Critical Orange Punch #1 in a 27×27” tent. Cut her away from the 27×27” (70x70cm) tent and prepped her for the net in a 31×31” tent.

Approximate time to set up, strip and scrog was about 4.5 hours. Pruning and canopy maintenance will be much easier now with being able to access the plant from 3 sides. Pulled her down again and spread her out.

Auto Critical Orange Punch #1 (Day 70).

Dutch Passion Auto Critical Orange Punch #1 (Day 77). This is how she looked before her fourth and last schwazz.

(Auto Critical Orange Punch #1) Here she is after a 5-hour defoliation.

Auto Critical Orange Punch #2 before and after her last schwazz (Day 77).

Question @420: at what point do you schwazz? Is it by day count? As always, the plants look stupendous!

I’m constantly defoliating starting from day 20 but I do my first leaf schwazz when I’m prepping them for the SCROG net. I’ll do 2 to 3 more during flower but it all depends on how much foliage each individual plant grows.

The first Critical Orange Punch I just posted required 4 schwazzings to get her to where she is and the other Critical Orange Punch only needed 3 rounds, so the amount of pruning varies from plant to plant.

Auto Critical Orange Punch (Day 88).

Auto Critical Orange Punch #1 (Day 88 / 97).

Auto Critical Orange Punch #2 (Day 97)

Auto Critical Orange Punch #2 (Day 103)

Auto Critical Orange Punch #1 (Day 103)

Harvest report, a historic haul…

Just harvested one of my DP Auto Critical Orange Punch’s a couple of days ago on 9/28/24 (Day 110).

She was a big, beautiful plant with a full 36” canopy (about 91 cm) with well over 200 dense and greasy top colas. She was a lot of work getting her across the finish line without any issues, but all the work finally paid off.

After I cut her away from the tent and was finally able to pick her up, I could tell she was a big girl and would most likely weigh heavier than the 2.83-pound (1.2 kg) Auto Daiquiri Lime I harvested 6 months ago.

Harvested my other DP Auto Critical Orange Punch a couple of days ago on day 122 (10/10/24).

Rootball picture.

Dry yield
1363g

Overall rating
★★★★1/2

Aroma
★★★★1/2

Taste
★★★★☆

Effect
★★★★★

Bag appeal
★★★★1/2

Final comments on an epic display of autoflower growing

The long grow cycle (110 days) was possibly a result of the stress caused by the tough plant training & schwazzing. But with such heavy yields there were no complaints from the grower!

Calyx-leaf ratio (Easy trim/yes or no):
Good sized buds, easy trim, not a lot of leaves. Frosty, colourful display.

Quality (Resin/Smell/Compactness):
Hybrid style buds, nice aroma and solid resin development on the buds!

Yield:

Auto Critical Orange Punch #1: 1480 grams (3,30 pounds)
Auto Critical Orange Punch #2: 1363g (3 pounds)
Auto Candy Bubatz XL: 1054g
Auto Melonade Runtz: 612g
Auto SFV OG: 1254g
Auto Creeper: #1 1192g
Auto Creeper: #2 912g

Grand total: 7867g from 7 plants (17.56lbs).

Observations and expert tips from 420autoflower

Buds/colas on both Auto Creepers look great with plenty of trichomes and very greasy, comparable to the 1480-gram Auto Critical Orange Punch I just harvested.

Your Auto Candy Bubatz was harvested on day 98 and Auto Critical Orange Punch #1 on day 110 but in general my autos are taking anywhere from 100-120 days lately.

I’m sure the stress I put on my plants does slow them down a bit but it’s also a known fact that running hydro properly will increase your veg and preflower time, must have something to do with the consistent nutrients they get every 4-5 hours.

If I hook them up to automated fertigation at day 21 my preflower pistils don’t usually appear until around day 45, giving me a little extra time to work the plant compared to your average soil grow. The 420autoflower scrog method is completely different from your typical scrog. People usually use scrog netting to even out a canopy (or cola support) but with the 420-method, the net is used for training only.

If you’re going for the 420-method timing is very important so it’s good to scrog out your autos 3-5 days after seeing your first preflower pistil or about 10 days after flip with photoperiod strains. This allows the last remaining stretch to be done under the net and by keeping all your main branches pointing horizontal the energy will be diverted to the smaller nodes in the middle which helps create a nice canopy of colas.

There is no room for errors with autoflowers. Everything has got to be spot on from the beginning or yields will be sacrificed. My new youngsters are only a few days old and from day 1 I have been doing everything I can to provide them the ideal environment for optimal growth. Everyday counts!

I am doing what I can to make your cultivars shine, and I’m convinced I can grow a bigger and “badder” plant indoors in a controlled environment, so I put the smaller phenos in the outdoor scrog carts.

I’m getting a good 12 hours of sunlight where I am (7:00am-7:00pm) but it doesn’t compare to the 24/7 of LED lighting my indoor plants are getting, and there was a noticeable difference in cola density and size with my last outdoor/indoor grow I just harvested.

Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to showcase your cultivars. Had a lot of fun growing out your genetics over the summer and now I have some wonderful memories to look back on.

Hope to work together more in the future.

Conclusions on an epic grow

The 420autoflower grow method delivers incredible yields in return for the effort. The combination of fine-quality autoflower seeds, LED light (above & below the canopy) together with expert hydroponic nutrient control, the SCROG method and regular schwazzing produced the type of harvest that all home growers dream of.

Here are some previous Dutch Passion grow reviews from 420autoflower

Good luck and check out the ongoing Dutch Passion seed sale where you can find some of our best sellers at up to half normal price!