I wanna talk about autoflowering plants. I've never really followed their development, and they've been around for a while now and their popularity is probably at an all-time high, and they're better than ever. Never grew one, never smoked one. But I got a freebie. Auto Cheese Candy (Cheese Auto x Caramelo Auto.) Is there a commonly agreed upon light cycle? I see a lot of people running 20/4, but that sounds counterproductive to me. Plants flower at night. So based on that, wouldn't a 12/12 cycle be the most beneficial for flower development? Basically, I'll be running 16/8 (yes, you read that right, 8 hours off to promote stretch) for veg and 12/12 for flower. Should I put the auto in the flower cab once preflowers show, or leave it in the veg cab to finish?
the more light the more energy they can collect. I have experimented a little on light cycles many years ago but I found 18/6 works great, any more light hours than that doesn't really give any better results. 12/12 will significantly reduce your yield . why do you think flowers grow in the dark?
Appreciate that. I figure 18/6 is gonna be the standard response I get here. I believe that the buds grow at night because When the lights come on, phytocrome (sp? the hormone responsible for flower production) sits on standby while the plant absorbs necessary energy to store and produce those flowers during the dark period. This is why in late stages of flower you can check on the plants first thing after lights come on and you'll swear they grew overnight.... because they did.
Here's what I don't get. If people are changing light cycles... What's the point of auto? I thought its set it and forget it? Does that make sense? If u are going to be changing photo period, why not get photo period seeds? I also have autos coming so keep the info coming.. Thanks for the thread
Info I can add: supposedly autos start flowering when they full out the root system so it's advised to use larger pots or the ones you plan to finish in fairly quickly
I run my autos on 12/12 since they're usually in with my photos. I still average 2 oz per plant so I can't really complain.
plants do grow through the night, this is when vegging too, but I don't think it has anything to do with flower hormones, it's just they have the energy still in their system. after an "x" amount of time their energy will be so depleted that their growth will slow, but I don't know how long this would be, could be 4 hours, or it could be 20. I suspect it's around 6 as having 6 hours night time seems to be the point where speed of growth seems to be the dropping off point, any less than 6 hours dark doesn't seem to give any better growth, but more dark hours show less overall growth
I couldn't tell you. I've never seen the appeal of autos. Started this whole thread because I got a freebie auto and figured I'd grow it out for some quick bud. Well, I guess that's an appeal. Quick harvest from seed if you're gonna run out of stash before your next usual harvest. As for container size... gonna be limited to 2 gal container, can't have it taking up too much space in veg. Good to hear that 12/12 didn't really affect yours. The reason I asked about 12/12 is because I got 2 options... 12/12 under HPS or 18/6 under T5. I'm no biologist that's for sure, so I'm gonna stick with your suggestion I think and keep 'em in my veg cab. That's what I originally wanted to do with them anyway. Just a little concerned about it being under T5, but I suppose I can build a small screen to put over it and just SCOG the plant. You can do that with autos, right? If you kept the screen low and trained the plant before it started flowering into the screen, should be able to get a nice spread on the nugs and keep penetration from being necessary.
ahh I didn't know those were your options. what wattage I'd your hps and fluorescents? personally I wouldn't ScrOG, in the classic sense anyway. simply because auto's start showing flowers around 21 days old. but LST works well, or a sort of combination of both, using a screen but tie the plant down to it instead of letting the plant bush out under the screen first, there's just not enough veg time for that. have a look at my pot noodle challenge thread linked in my signature. that's an auto. I'll be ScrOGing that, but just as I said earlier with tieing it to the top of the screen I believe auto's don't really have massive advantage for growers that grow indoors and already have an established grow area. but for someone just starting out it means they don't have to worry about light proofing. and for someone who grows outdoors in a cold climate they are a godsend. having them go through their whole budding cycle while in mid summer sun you really see the advantages
12/12 will be either 400 or 800w - I'm doing a vert grow and not sure if I'm stacking bulbs yet or not. But really, 400w will be all this plant receives. the T5 is 324w. You've talked me into LST, not gonna worry about the screen. Also, I see the advantages of a auto outdoors with short winters, I've just never understood the advantages indoors. You can get 60 days from seed with an auto, but you can get 60 days from clones as well.
I agree, for most indoor growers auto's don't offer many advantages, but I think for beginners who have so much information to take in in one go, having a plant that is essentially simpler to learn how to grow must be the appeal. I think you would probably get a better result with the t5s than the hps as long as you LST to keep it close to the bulbs. but probably not a huge difference between the two
bro i do autos and the best thing is 18/6 all the way through hence the name auto-flowering when the plant reaches a certain point it will flower automatically there is no need for different light cycles with auto. best thing to remeber is at first signof flowering stop nutes and switch to a flower boosting nute and you will see amazing results.
I use veg nutes for 3 weeks (if needed), flower and veg nutes half and half for 3 weeks, flower nutes for 3 weeks, and then rinse the soil and use just water in the last week
Should i get these? Says its a new strain, but im leary of why its only barely 10 euros for 10 regular seeds!!! Any advice???
Dont know if the sites reputable but that strain looks like it would be massive. ive always found kc brains to do pretty much giant plants. id check it out first, one of theyre strains can grow something mental like 10ft with a kilo of bud grown in optimum conditions
Dude, I just planted my Germed auto Cheese candy. It was that or the WW x BB. Here's to our plants man! Hope your turn out bountiful! That attitude sale has set me up for the next year or so!