Hydro vs Autos?

GoatSoup

Well-Known Member
I just finished a Tangerine Dream Auto in a Stinkbud Tub type system. I was running GH FloraGBM and had some trouble adjusting the nutes and ph but got it running pretty smooth. I had good growth/flowering until about the 12th week and then things went south! Major Mg deficiency!
I got some Epsom Salts and fixed the problem but it had me wondering if Autos had a different pattern of needs?
The TD was billed as a 7-9 week plant and she was very vigoriously growing from her third week, into to a scrog net and she built buds till the 19th week end. My lights were wimpy (~225 watt Burple) and my LST, super cropping training might have slowed her down? My training was spotty but she almost filled a 2x2' screen and I got six quart jars for curing. Not compacted of course.

It got me wondering if there are things that need to be done differently in Auto/Hydro?
Like in the later stages some heavy MG and lighter feedings of 400 to 800 ppm?

I was generally aiming for 900-1200 ppm. I tried to keep Ph down to 5.8 but it varied 5.0 to ~6.3.

Any Stink Buddies with Auto experience care to participate in the discussion?
 

eyderbuddy

Well-Known Member
speaking from experience, you're right on autos hogging the MG...

overall they're different genetically, so it figures that they'll have different needs
 

GoatSoup

Well-Known Member
I have enough seeds for four or five more rounds of Autos and was wondering if there are more kinks to find ?

Was it the lst/scrog that cause her to run so long before ambering? I kind'a thought it was the wimpy light, I was running only 300-800 umols of "good" spectrum, depending upon the distance from the light to canopy.
 

Logan Burke

Well-Known Member
I've been doing auto's in hydro for years now...personally, I love running my auto's in DWC. Auto's do great in hydro, and the only real differences that I've found is that auto's are more sensitive to high doses of nutrients, and they simply do not like to be topped, pruned, defoilated, or being trained beyond very, very low stress conditions. I tuck leaves and will even tie buds to their main stalk for extra support from the bud's weight, but no supercropping or any other form of training. Auto's really aren't that complicated. They tend to work better for growers who don't mind to let their plant go and do it's own thing without interfering at a lot of levels, where as with photo's you control everything from when they bloom to how many primary growing tips you want to have...auto's like being left alone. It could be a lot of different things as to why your babies got sort of set back, but I'd bet money that the supercropping is what did it. LST'ing likely wouldn't have done that, or at least not much. Hope I could be of help :)
 
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