Jeffdogg
Well-Known Member
Sorry for my absence, been going through a lot. This past month has just been great and getting better, I stopped by here and there. Ive seen your good doings in this thread Tek thx for keeping some life in it and thx to all who have helped and visited this thread. Its time for a return BUMP
Week 5/10~17/2013
Never Transplant!!! Start off in the harvesting pot 3Gallon+
You Could!! Cut off the bottom to a party cup, an when the roots come out the bottom just put the Cup in the bigger Pot.
20/4 hours is the best(Depending on Strain) If you really want to Find out what is best, Start with 24/7 then the next batch, use 20/4 and see how that goes...
Soil is more important then lighting.
Auto's have funny tap roots and until you grow one you probably wont understand. They have a tap like normal but its short and stubby usually grows to a 45 at one side. When you hear people say that they veg until the tap hits .... Well this statement is partially right but for the actual tap root to hit. Then you would have to have a shallow pot like 5 inches. Ruderalis has adapted to harsh conditions like permafrost layers that are very thin so to survive it evolved to grow multiple large sideways roots.Auto's growth will stop if over watered the easiest indoor mix i have found is a good organic indoor potting mix in ratio of 50/50 mixed with perlite. This promotes really good drainage which auto's love. try and steer clear of time released ferts to easy to burn your plants when using nutes.
For the feed/nutes even with 50% perlite a good soil will more then support a auto for 3-4 weeks. I have finished many nice plants with this mix only using water
best results were from using nutes 1/4 str at first then build up slowly.
I introduce veg nutes at show of preflower roughly 3-4 weeks. If your going to feed every watering then leave nutes at 1/4 str there is not much veg after this 2-3 weeks so these feeds need to be under max dose other wise a burn will greatly reduce yields at this point.
Preflower is not the sign to switch to bloom nutes unless you want a fast low yielding auto. If this is so then there is no need for veg nutes you want the N to diminish.
When the tell tale popcorns of hairs start to pop up over night. I use just water for 1-2 weeks depends on str of nutes i used in veg this just helps with nute build up and helps deter problems later on. Bloom nutes 1/4 str and build up
few auto's actually run for 8 weeks. i assume when i am growing a new strain 10 weeks have had them take aslong as 14.
I have topped and if its within the first couple sets of nodes then it actually helps i pull a 1/4 ounce more from my 1 oz strains
really it just relocates bud sites honestly extra weight is probably just stem weight but the scales dont lie.
Lst they love it absolutely love it SCROG remember this word if your on your first auto grow or a grow using led or cfl its a god send. For hid's this is the money maker in the right setup easily two to three times yield.
Auto's need no schedule when it comes to lighting common misconception is that a auto needs a dark period a true auto needs no such thing.They will run pedal to the metal start to finish under the right conditions. You may need a dark period for temps or your pocket book , If the breeder calls for a dark period its for the desired bud structure but commonly its the fact that they know that if you run 24/7 that the plant is no where near small or stealthy Dinafem white widow auto for example up until a year or so ago growers were advised to put it on 12/12 to bring out the best of this strain that was the claim anyway . But put them on 24 hrs and there 3' tall with a few weeks of veg left.
t-5 is enough to get decent yields
spectrum is personal preference nowadays the requirement of a MH to keep from hermi'n has been bred out most are stable enough to not have problems
personally i use blue spec but only at most 20-30 % is blue blue spec causes close nodes and shorter plants
i prefer a red spec on a auto i have found it makes them reach a bit more and in turn light is allowed to penetrate easier, which if you want a good yield is the key to bumper harvests on a auto ofcourse the more light the better but i have grown full term with 1 68 watt 2700k cfl a plant and got good yields its all about lst
and utilizing the light you have, being sure not to waste any
Dont use the finger method. You dont give them watering schedules, you schedule food but you water them when they need it not when a certain day of the week comes along or if the first few layers of soil is dry. When the pot is watered lift it up and see how heavy it is. Wait a few days till you see the leaves start to droop a little bit then lift the pot again and see how much lighter it got. IMHO thats a better standard for telling when your plant needs water instead of using the finger test. You keep too much water in your soil it hinders their growth.
research research research cant say it enough
research research research cant say it enough
research research research cant say it enough
Also to prevent that, some growers will use extra perlite or newpaper and use it as a bottom layer of the pot/bucket to cover the drain holes.
In horticulture, perlite can be used as a soil amendment or alone as a medium for hydroponics or for starting cuttings. When used as an amendment it has high permeability / low water retention and helps prevent soil compaction. ;P
Auto LST
http://www.autoflowering-cannabis.co....html#more-939
Tie down AF LST
http://www.autoflowering-cannabis.co...s-trainin.html
Mix one table spoon of garden lime per gallon of dirt. Never have a cal- mag deficencey and your soil oh will be stable.
Different strokes for different folks bud
Read the bag when you buy lime there are two kinds of lime: dolomite lime that has cal and mag and then there is also hydrated lime which you do not want to use for cannabis.
Week 5/17~24/2013
sweet tooth from barneys is a all time fav its almost always in rotation,probably the strain i would suggest to any beginner grower
buy 3 of these plant all 3 at the same time
this will insure that if you get the real cabbage like pheno that youll know it and not have problems
its not common but not uncommon and have heard horror stories about it indoors gave one of these "cabbage" pheno's to a buddy a week ago was about 3 weeks old he said after he stuck it in the ground outside its grown almost a foot in a week that is nuts
I like to use Super Roots Air Pots 7.5L(2 gallon) with 60/40 Perlite/Coco.. This allows for the most beginner gardener to NOT over water.. We all now when we first start that's the hardest part is to not overwater.. But this also allows for great rapid growth in my experience.. Air pots also allow for you to grow more plants in the same area.. Say you have 3-4gal buckets, well there HUGE.. Air pots are 9x9" tiny compared to buckets.. This is because they DONT ever get root bound.. I would also advise to get Advanced Nutes PH perfect as well.. Then you have nothing to do but PPM.. And with feeding always UNDERFEED(compared to back label instructions) would be my suggestion, but there are a VERY few that will take full dose.. Veg nutes if used weeks 3-5, then flower nutes weeks 5-8.5 then water for 1.5 weeks= 10 weeks.. Week 5 half veg half bloom nutes.. KISS, not to many additives... Last but NOT least LEAVE them ALONE lol, don't be touching and sqeezing your nuggies every HR.. Its hard but really just water and feed and well watch thru your tent, lol.. You have a lot of Oils on your hands so you touching them and stuff can/maybe affect them.. GL everyone
Yeah its not recommended to transplant auto's, you will get a couple rogue growers who say they have done it w/o problems which I can see. It's a 50/50 chance in my opinion to really stress it out. I've transplanted many of times and never seen any kinds of shock. They just keep going. But I'm for sure gonna play it safe this round, Should do what i am doing if you are confident in your strain. Take one of the seeds get some Gibberellic Acid. You spray it on the plant according to the directions (they seem to vary on the seller) when the auto strarts flowering. t'll make male parts and hermie itself, and it will give you 100's if not 1000's of seeds exactly like the ones you bought.
As for the height LST them they like to be tied down. Will stay under 4' that way for sure(depending on the strain, some AF can get like 7' lol).
8-14 weeks depending on strain and most will get good sized outdoors if you have some high drainage but still absorbs water type soil
if they get to large. drive a stake in the ground and tie the main stalk down from almost the top if. you can get the main cola/tip to bend down to where its looking at the ground "do this before flowering/ you can still tie them down after flower but be gentle" and bend it over a couple days or a week depending on how gentle you need to be if it feels like its gonna break or starts to bend stop and tie it off or stake it off
you get a s.o.g. effect
all it is.
is a controlled stress on the stalk i do it all the time its like super croping for auto's really dense's them up
i grow with cfl's and led's and its nice to not have stretchy plants
TIP OF THE DAY!!!
Dont talk down to your Autoflowers, it wont make them feel any bigger...
Posted this in a thread earlier, not many ppl frequent the proper forum to find this. I think its a great addition to the thread.
Have A Plant Problem? Check Here First
And this
Guide to Nutrient Deficiency or Toxicity
Andddd this
Guide for Diagnosing Plant Problems
The key to getting a successful harvest from autoflowers is SIZE
A true autoflowering strain has a pre programmed lifespan: from the moment the seed cracks to the day she dies the age is indeed pre-destined therefore more than any other type of cannabis the vegative growth is critical to the end yield
Read here on the veg stage in autos→So here are our 10 Top Tips for a Better Autoflowering Yield!
Size of Pot
Even for dwarf autos you need to be using a 3 gallon pot to give the plant enough space to develop a good rootball.
A good light mix
A nice light mix such as 50:50 cocoerlite is best as it makes sure you get a good wet-dry cycle.
AVOID OVERWATERING AT ALL COSTS
Give NO NUTRIENTS AT ALL until the autoflowering cannabis plant has developed 4 nodes. The dose should only be introduced gradually and in increments.
Continue vegetative feed until ALL upward growth stops. The auto will have started flowering before this happens (in a 9-10 week auto, you would expect to continue using veg nutes until week 6)
Ensure the genetic material (thats technical talk for Cannabis Seeds guys!) that you start off with is of good, well bred and viable stock. Check what other growers are / have been growing and how well the strain did.
For maximum grams (oz) / foot, make sure you have 16 dwarf/short autos in a 4 ft x 4 ft (1.2m x 1.2m) area
Go easy on the nutes. Generally less is better in most cases.
Dont give them too much light to start with. Go for a low watt fixture for seedling growth, increasing the amount of light as the plant develops.
ViaVoltTM T5 Grow Light Fluorescent Lighting System Fixture, 2′ 4 Lamp $96.59
This kind of T5 light is a must if you are using HID grow lights for giving seedlings and young cannabis plants a great start.
and that brings us to top tip no 10:
Autos dont appreciate being transplanted. They just dont have time to recover from transplant shock in their mad dash from seed to harvest. So dont do it! Either sow the auto seed direct into their 3 gallon pot
Fixing marijuana Nutrients Deficiencies & Fertilizer Burn
http://bigbudsmag.com/grow/article/m...fertilizers-ph
Part 2:
http://bigbudsmag.com/grow/article/m...ies-fertilizer
Part 3:
Looking for it ;P
Part 4:
http://direct.bigbudsmag.com/grow/ar...ficiencies-thc
Part 5:
http://bigbudsmag.com/grow/article/m...-fertilization
http://www.dutch-passion.nl/en/news-...de-to-AutoFem/