Lots of questions about autos

I'm growing my first auto but I feel confident in answering some of your questions.


1. Don't prune autos. They flower based on time alive so slowing down growth via pruning is contrary to the goal. Use low stress training instead.


2. I'm using veg and bloom at 18/6 and my girl looks great. Treat distance as you would in flower with standard plant as long as you're not burning while it's young.


3. I've read that this is more important with autos (to not stress them). The concept of scaling up pot sizes is false. You can always start in final pots. I started mine in a small starter thing and transplanted to final and she only took off after transplant. Even though she wasnt rootbound, it seems like she would have been happier in the final pot to begin with.


4. Water as you would with regular plant but might be more critical to keep it happy since it's more or less already heading to flower.

 

I Don't top them or cut anything only lst and if I get any totally dead leaves I pick them off 18/6 is good but make sure its completely dark during the 6 hrs off cause that can also stunt them I grow mine in the final containers from day one because autos like to shoot a long taproot straight down when their starting out and if it hits the bottom of the container it can get stunted. don't over water. Keep it moist but not soaked or completely dry that's like the # 1 mistake new growers make is over watering you can start them on just the veg panel if you want but you don't have to... Bloom usually starts between 15-20 days in my experience or atleast thats when i notice the first pistils anyways I usually keep my LEDs about a foot from the plant just make sure it doesn't get too hot hope that helps what strain are you running? Also, you may end up needing to feed them I'm not sure but I have a feeling they won't survive their entire life without any feeding what so ever but I would get another opinion on that

I somehow just saw your post

 

If you are using Fox Farms it's basically impossible to over water them. You may "burn" the plants early because that soil is pretty hot. I would suggest happy frog over ocean forest. And you may HAVE to add nutes. I've had a few that just needed more nitrogen than I could throw at them. Well, without fear of over fertilizing.

 

That ocean forest is hot but it will burn out in a couple weeks. So your going to have to get some kind of nutrients . good luck. I'm going to sub up .I'm curious to see what that p300 can do!!

 

Be careful with burning your autos in the ocean forest. I recommend you mix it 50/50 with Happy frog or Light Warrior soil. Also, if you dont plan on adding nutes, dont waste your time. Would you drive a car without motor oil or gasoline???
Plants are like any other living thing, they require nutrition to live. The ocean forest DOES have a lot of nitrogen (generally enough food for about 20-30 days) but not enough to complete the plant's life cycle. Also it lacks sufficient Phosphate and Potash for the flowering cycle. Without adding nutes, it is unlikely that you will harvest more than a couple of grams and the quality will suffer. However if you add nutes you're looking at boosting your yields (over an ounce with proper feeding and over 400 watts of light)

To answer your questions though.
1) Do not bother with topping or pruning autoflowers, at least not your first run with them. Topping them will stunt their growth 5 or so days, and will set the plant back.
2) Use the veg only while the plant is in the vegetative stage, but as soon as it shows presexual flowers, switch on the bloom and keep on the veg for another two weeks until the plant finishes stretching, then use only the red spectrum bloom mood for the rest of the plant's life cycle. Make sure the light is at least 8 inches above your tops.
3) It is best to grow them in their final containers and avoid stress, but I have always started mine in solo cups, and transplanted them into 5 gallon smart pots 2 weeks after germination, without any real problem. During transplant I feed my plants B Vitimans to avoid transplant shock, as well as mycorrhizae, to protect, and encourage growth in the rhizosphere (the biome involving your root system and soil). Living and biologically active soils are happy soils!
My main tip to you is feeding. Autoflowers can eat a lot, and they will reward you with bulky sticky yields.Without it, if your plant even survives the full cycle, butds will be small, spindly and lack resin. Save yourself some time and heart ache by spending an extra $30 on a couple quarts of Fox Farm fertilizer (Big bloom and Grow Big). They are extremely easy to use, come with a feed chart and work well. You will thank me later!

 

Yes you can use that. I'm not sure if you need to make a tea with that since I've never used bottled organics. However the way you feed your plants is less direct in organics than using salts. The micro organisms in your soil break down the items contained in your soil which makes the nutrients available to your plant's roots. Basically your plant eats micro-turds. Anyways, normally you would make a tea. Your tea can be simple. I bubble a mixture of ewc, kelp meal, lava sand, and molasses for 24 hours and use the concoction instead of a watering every once in a while.

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You might be able to just mix that liquid seaweed in some water and feed. Not sure.

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Sorry to hijack your thread with a question mate but I'm just curious to know that if your running autos when u see first signs of flowering would u change a matal halide bulb to an HPS bulb like I would normally do with photos

Any help would be appreciated have had 2 girls scout cookies auto seeds lying about for a few months n want to give them a bash

 

When growing organically, you still feed your plant, just not mineral salt fertilizers! Maxicrop Liquid seaweed will work great in the Veg phase, as well as in the beginning of flowering. Fox Farms Big Bloom is a liquid organic mix designed to be used in the bloom stage. It is basically just liquid bat guano and earthworm castings. I grew using that for many years, and it works very well.
I also recommend feeding fish emulsion (Surge from Roots Organics line works fantastic) especially during the flowering phase. The fish emulsions are loaded with proteins, amino acids, nutrients, and fish oil which really helps aid essential oil production, boosting the aroma and flavor of your end product.
Not into feeding liquids every other watering? I get that, so lets make it even easier on yourself. Build a super soil. It has all of the food it will ever need right in the soil, its 100% organic, and all you need to do is add water and molasses on occasion. Too easy.
TGA Subcool has a pretty killer supersoil mix who's recipe can be found all over the internet. Check it out and whip up a batch!

Last, but certainly not least.... most importantly in fact..... you need to start reading into and thinking about microbes. Growing organic is all about building a soil that is teeming with microbes. These bacteria and fungi basically eat the organic material in your soil, and poop out bio available nutrition for your root system as an end product. They work hand in hand with your root system, protecting your plant from fungal infections, pests, root rot, over/under watering, all while aiding in explosive growth. Micorrhizae is the brain and spine of any organic grow, those little buggars are what keeps the gears turning!

You sure could my friend. If you have the time and dont mind making the effort, your ladies will appreciate it!

 

Spot on thanks

It's no effort when it comes to giving your girls something they appreciate and will reward u in the long run.

 

Just source the most important components. Peat moss, Ewc, some form of rock DUST, some form of aeration, kelp and or alfalfa meal, dolomite lime, and molasses. This simple list will make a soil and provide you with tea ingredients for both veg and bloom.



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Also you can always use websites like buildasoil.com

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I switch to hps after the stretch is over which is normally around week 6 or just before . Then I throw in my hps and start bloom nutes