I have a few questions that I hope I can get answers for, please and thank you! Most of these questions are aimed towards autoflowering strains, and what is needed to best grow them. What size smart pot would be best for autos? Would autos produce more if put directly in the ground? If so, what type/brand of soil should I use? Smart Pots vs Dirt Bags? Should the pots go in-ground, or stay above ground? I assume above, but Ive heard of people putting them in ground. What type/brand of soil would you recommend? What type/brand of nutrients do you recommend for outdoors? Are nutrients necessary?
[quote name='"4Twinkie"']I have a few questions that I hope I can get answers for, please and thank you! Most of these questions are aimed towards autoflowering strains, and what is needed to best grow them. What size smart pot would be best for autos? Would autos produce more if put directly in the ground? If so, what type/brand of soil should I use? Smart Pots vs Dirt Bags? Should the pots go in-ground, or stay above ground? I assume above, but Ive heard of people putting them in ground. What type/brand of soil would you recommend? What type/brand of nutrients do you recommend for outdoors? Are nutrients necessary?[/quote] 1. Anywhere from a 5-10 gallon smart pot seems to be the consensus around here. 2. They could, I'm not entirely sure. It probably wouldn't be a huge difference compared to a 10 gallon smart pot because the root system doesn't get as big as a photoperiod plant. I'd recommend mixing your own organic soil personally, but there's plenty of different opinions on that. Do some research and see what suits you. 3. I'm not sure what a dirt bag is, sorry. 4. Well the whole point (in my opinion) of a pot is to keep it above ground. Putting it in ground would reduce the amount of watering you'd have to do though. 5. Refer to answer 2 6. If you go organic, mix a super soil/water only mix. You won't need any additional nutrients throughout the year except maybe a tea or the occasional topdressing. For chemicals, a lot of people use fox farms or advanced nutrients. I haven't researched chemicals though, you can find plenty of info around the city. This is just my opinion, I'm no expert. Best way to determine how you should go about this is to research A LOT. I'd recommend at LEAST 20 hours of research before germinating a seed. There are many methods so read up on as many as you can, then figure out the best route for you.
Thanks for the info, I'll be doing more research for sure. I was just trying to get the basics and see what setup other people were using to successfully grow autos, etc.
Couple more questions. If anyone could answer them for me that'd be great. Hope I'm not bugging you guys with all these questions, I'm just trying to get everything straight. Say I decide to plant them in the ground. Let's also say that I have fox farm ocean forest. I can dig the hole, and use the FFOF in there right? And that would hence cut down on waterings and such as opposed to using the smart pots, correct? Thing is, I would only be able to get out to the site maybe once, or twice a week. So I'm trying to figure out if the smart pots will be able to keep my plants alive even if I could only water it once a week, not to mention rains and such which would buy me time. Also, I've heard of this stuff called Soil Moist, which I heard works well. Any opinions?
Some people don't like answering these questions because research would get you the answers. It offends some that we have done hundreds of hours of research/experimentation and noobs want to be spoon fed. Its cool though, I'm not one of those people. Putting FFOF in the ground rather than a pot would help with the water retention. Smart pots allow excess water to drain out quickly compared to in the ground. Plus roots can sometimes gather moisture from the earth if planted directly. Those water crystal things probably work well, but I'm not sure if they're organic or not (or if that even matters to you). One of the bigger factors to determining how often you have to water is your rainfall. If you live in a really wet climate, a smart pot might work for you. If not, I'd definitely go in ground if you can only get there once a week. P.S. when are you planting? If you're in the northern hemisphere its too late to plant. Autos might work in a warm climate here, but the yield would probably be shitty.
I wont be planting until next year, but I'll be growing on the west coast. And I see what you mean by the spoon feeding effect. I didn't mean to come across like that and have other people do the research for me. I'll take the job onto myself to find out anything else that I may need. I did a bunch of research before, but I didn't get exact answers to the specific questions that I had. Thanks for help though man, helped me out a lot. +rep
Not a problem, and like I said I don't mind helping out. I know that there are a ton of conflicting ideas and somethings aren't very clear. One thing I'd recommend is reading some grow journals, you encounter a growers problems and solutions which is very helpful. You can also try to find someone that has your genetics. But if you have any other questions, feel free to ask. Just know that I'm only one person, others might have much better answers.
Take a look at my auto journal I had this summer if you wana get a better idea of what to expect with autos.