I did some research on how to grow a regular plant, but then heard of the auto-flowering plants. I'm just wondering if you do the same thing pretty much as if you were growing a regular plant. Like, I was going to germinate the auto flower seeds and then transplant then into a 5 gallon bucket, and I'm wondering, since they only take like 2 months to grow, how long after they sprout should I transplant them to the permanent 5 gallon bucket? Also, I was going to use the FoxFarm 3 pack of the liquid fertilizer, and I just wanted to know, once my plant sprouts from the soil, how long should I wait before I fertilize the plant, so I don't give it to much nutes at once and once I start to fertilze how many times should I fertilize my plant? (1 once a week?) By the way, the soil I will be using is FoxFarm Ocean Forest.....
I've never used an autoflowering myself, but from everything I've researched it seems like a regular strain would be better. I like being able to control the size and everything of my plants in veg, and take clones from a permanently vegging mother. I would think the transplant would take place about the same time. I've transplanted lots during flowering and veg, it doesn't really matter which stage it's in just whenever it outgrows the old pot has worked fine for me.
There isn't really much of a difference in growing an autoflower vs. a regular strain. The only real difference is you don't need to switch the light cycle from veg to flower, it does it on its own. The yield will not be as high with an autoflower, but they are perfect for a small stealth grow. Wait until they are a couple of weeks old before you add nutes. Start with 1/3 or 1/2 strength, and give it to them once a week, with a good watering in between. To make it easier and eliminate transplant shock, once the seeds germinate stick them in their permanent container.
I'm also wondering about auto flowering, what kinda lighting do u do and for how long? For example 20/4, and spectrum of CFL: 6500 k
I have yet to see an auto-flowering strain that wasn't a squat/bushy type plant. My worry about the auto strains comes from a general concern that most of them suffer from the same genetics issues that Lowryder suffers from (indica, with some ruderalis somewhere in there -- i.e. dirt weed). However, my cannabis genetics knowledge is quite limited so I don't definitively know whether the auto strains are genetically sound or not. I have noted that the strain is perfect for a personal, stealth microgrow.