Autoflower Myth Busting Thread

[Atrain]

I chatted with beast today he can answer all of your topping questions...he'll be dropping in soon. I choose not to top mine but see folks do it with success.... I do trim my fan leaves up, any large fans covering bud sites are cut off. I don't top but use lst methods pretty heavy and I'm sold it increases yield.. and no there is no cloning of autos.. the reason being are there pre determined life cylcles. Clippings of autos will take root and grow but from the same day as the mother.. so a 60 day clipping will be directly in flower and pretty much for a tiny bud and then die

 

[thebeast27]

here i am atrain and every1 wondering about the TOPIC topping autos. here are my own methods which i learnd myself messing with lots of diffrent autos il try not to miss anyhing out here we go. first of all and very important u want less stress possible for ur auto ur going to top. so pot ur auto straight into her final pot a good size pot bigger and deeper the better and give good root stimulant. good root structure big plant.then let grow for 2 and a half weeks 3 week max.by this point u should be on the 3rd or 4th node so anywere at this time is perfect for topping an auto.then love her and let her grow.no training required and important u dont train as this add stress u dont need which will mean a small plant. plus when u top an auto she branches out all on her own beautifully. apply this and keep ur girls healthy i guarentee u grow some big plants. also depends on strain u top to how tall she will grow as iv topped autos and still grown 5 and a half foot tall. so toping doesnt always restict height remeber this here is some pics of 2 autos i have topped and auto chococolate skunk and auto northern lights both produced 4 oz dry weight.any questions on this topic fire away im here to help and share the love of cannabis with every1.happy growing every

 

[golfer420]

Beast - how long did these ladies go, start to finish? 80 - 90 days?

 

[Atrain]

Thanks for popping in beast... there ya have it folks .... topped autos.... oh my.... I don't top mine but as you can see it works beast is proof of that.... he will be around to help put he will be our auto topping expert...thanks beast hefty rep slap coming to ya

 

[thebeast27]

Thanks alot atrain mate for the kind words and golfer mate. The auto choc skunk is always done 60 days on the dot.auto northern lights .seed bank said 8 weeks.i left her for 10 weeks bout 70 to 80 days .was well worth the wait mate ha ha

 

[CajunCelt]

Hey Strain & Beast. Thanks for the info.
So, when they flower, do you guys stay @ veg light cycle or change?
And, any bulb changes like from MH to HPS?

 

[Atrain]

No light cycle changes brother.... autoflowers will flower under ANY light cycle and no need to change... previously I ran 18/6 but recently I went 20/4 the entire grow and saw a yield increase...

And yes they are like photo plants as far as lighting. I run full spectrum LED all the time now but then I had the air cooled hood in I ran MH until most verticle growth stopped then I would change to HPS and add in bloom nutes

 

[Lady Cannafan]

Well that's not up to me Mr.Brown lol..... probably because I'm an auto grower lol ??? It would Def be an honor to ever even be nominated .

There are many many reasons to be nominated for MOTM, including and certainly not limited to: Helping new members, helping the general mission of cannabis awareness, posting helpful information....etc. etc. You definitely fit the requirements of a nomination in my eyes. What you grow has nothing to do with that. It's cannabis, that's our theme of awareness here.

Any member can nominate someone for MOTM, just send your reasons and the name of the person to a moderator before the upcoming month.
Check the first page on the MOTM contest thread for more info on that.

I think Atrain will be up there soon.

 

[thebeast27]

Atrain has said it as it is.autos will flower regardless of light.i have always gone 18/6 start to finish with autos i like my plants to have abit of dark.but each to there own .i have always used 600 watt hps for veg and flower. and with an auto alot of people switch to bloom feed when see first sign of flower.mistake right there.autos properly begin flowering after strech has ended.so wait till she stops on stretch then flip to bloom nutes

 

[Atrain]

DISCLAIMER: This post is not an original. I gained this knowledge from a very experienced Auto grower and felt the need to share with others to help clarify autos since they have come such a long way an are becoming real contenders.

The life cycle of auto flowering cannabis.

Another common question I see is when to switch autos from veg to bloom. Many people are under the impression that as soon as they see the first flowers it's time to switch. Perhaps a little explanation of the life cycle of autos will help to clarify this.

Weeks 1 - 3. Once you've started your seeds and they break the surface of the soil, they are in their seedling stage. The first set of leaves to appear will usually single fingered, followed by a second set that may still be single fingered or perhaps 3 fingered. Once that second set appears growth will start to accelerate as the new leaves provide more photosynthesis. This process will continue, more new leaves, faster growth. Depending on the type of soil in use, mild vegetative nutes can be introduced at week 2. By week 3 most plants will start to show their sex. Males will start to produce pollen sacks and females will display pistols.-

Weeks 4 - 6. The plants are now entering a pre flowering stage. During this time the plants should exhibit explosive growth, often as much as a new set of nodes and 1" vertical growth a day. This is the time when they will gain most of their vertical height. Many people make the mistake of switching from vegetative to flowering nutrients at this point, assuming that since they see flowers it must be the proper time. This is incorrect. If the switch to flowering nutes is made at this time the vertical growth will stop and the plant will put it's energy into producing buds. If you need to keep your plants small, or want them to finish earlier, they by all means switch nutes at this point. But if you want to get the most out of your plants continue feeding vegetative nutes until you see the vertical growth slow and stop. Depending on the strain that will usually be sometime during week 5 or 6.-

Weeks 7 - 9. By now vertical growth has stopped and the switch to flowering nutrients has been made. The buds will start to fill out and put on weight, becoming hard and tight. Pistols will start to change from white to brown, orange, red, etc. By now the plants will also have developed a strong smell. Toward the end of this phase the large primary and smaller secondary fan leaves will begin to turn yellow. This is an indication that the plant is moving toward the end of it's life.

Weeks 10 - 11. At this time flowering nutes should be discontinued and only plain pHed water fed to flush the remaining nutrients from the soil and improve the taste. Yellowing of the fan leaves will continue as the plant draws the stored energy from them. Eventually they will die and fall off. By the time that the smaller leaves that come from out of the buds will also start to turn yellow. Then it's time to harvest.-

I know that many of you are thinking that the seed bank said the plants will finish in 8-9 weeks, so why are you saying they take 10-11? The claims made by the seed banks are somewhat deceptive. If you switch to flowering nutes at week 3 or 4 the plants can finish in the times the seed banks say but they will remain small and not reach their full potential yield. Years of growing by myself and others has shown that autos do best if you follow this time line.

Of course, there will always be variations depending on the strain, the environment, nutrients, etc. This information is meant to only serve as a general guideline.

 

[Atrain]

Figured I would drop this here it really helped me a lot growing autos in the beginning.... it's also linked in my sig

 

[Atrain]

From my auto growing I would say 70 to 75 is about the MEAN auto life cylce.... the more sativa dominate hybrids go longer and as a result are usually larger

 

[Reddog1981]

So atrain... You recommend with me using 600wt mph and hps I should go ahead with a 20/4 light cycle from germ to finis?? Also what about light to plant/seed distance? Would somthing like 24" be ok for the entire life cycle and not burn ,dry out or possibly make links plants.

 

[Atrain]

24 inches or so with a MH 600w is great for the seedling.... once they have established them selves you can move in to 18 and when there is no more stretch and full on flower with a HPS bulb I go 12 to 15 inches from the highest top to light.... but be sure to keep a small fan or something blowing across them

 

[CajunCelt]

Awesome info.
Taking the time for this is not taken lightly by any of us my friend.

MotM coming up...
I know you probably don't care about all that, but it's our way of saying thanks, so don't down play it either.
And... Thanx. If I get a decent auto yield, it'll be what I learned here. Cause I still don't care for the lil shits. But, you guys are banging them out like photos. It's exciting to me.
I think the Breeder's are stepping it up too. Even the genotypes are becoming impressive.

 

[Atrain]

I can't remember if we talked already do you have beans yet or placing an order?

 

[CajunCelt]

I'm on my 2nd all auto grow & have another 9 strains in the nursery.
I'm seriously on a mission to find the best auto genotypes. Fast N Vast is one of my next victims. I got some test freebies too.

 

[Lady Cannafan]

Awesome info.
Taking the time for this is not taken lightly by any of us my friend.

DITTO on those thoughts.

Excellent posts Atrain and Beast!

 

[thebeast27]

Thanks cannafan any questions any1 just ask

 

[thebeast27]

Hello, I've never personally grew that particular strain but I have grown with auto-flowering plants for close to 2 years now and I would like to share my experiences with you.

A pound with any cannabis plant is a growers dream! unfortunately ( and I am un fermillier with your strain) I do not think you will get vary close to 16 dry ounces, Trust me I don't like bursting bubbles but I have experienced and seen many auto-flowing cannabis grows.

One thing I can tell you the success rate of a auto-flowering plant is a lot harder to achieve then a Photo-period cannabis plant, Its not really harder but people go about growing them as if they were growing a photo-period plant and they are not.

I will try and hit all the key points that has made my auto-flowers produce close to 4-8 ounces most of the time ( my preferred auto-flower is the Pineapple Express)

Any type of High stress will murder your yield plain and simple, This plant is flipping through several growth stages (like the Photo-period) only difference is Auto-flowers do this much faster and while Super-cropping and topping etc works for Photo-period plants (mainly because they have time to recover!) It does not work for Auto-flowering plants, believe it or not letting it grow straight up and introducing no stress will land you Thick Dense and heavy colas.

The next point I want to make is Plant your auto-flowering plant in the pot it will be in its entire life! The root structure of a auto-flowering plant is much different then a photo-period (at first) in the fact that it sends its tap root straight down! and during this time you will get some good growth and you don't want to stop that by stressing it. Good advice would be a taller pot, this allows more time for the tap root to find its way to the bottom. ( I have a hydroponic Pineapple express started 2 days ago and just went into cube, Your more then welcome to come check it out in a week or so ill have pics of the tap root)


I can not stress enough how transplanting will hurt this plant, Once the tap root is established if you transplant she will start growing down all over again really screwing up ur plant.

Finally DO NOT start blooming nutrients un till you see bud formations, as the plant will start stretching and going through rapid growth but this is NOT the beginning of budding.

This is a type of plant you want to water it and forget about it till the next watering and let it grow. (even LSTing to one side is going to dramatically slow her growth down)

Please remember this is all information I have acquired while trying to grow auto's the first auto that I grew only give me an ounce because I did not know all of this and there was and still is vary limited info on the matter. So don't believe it just cause I said it, try it out yourself and come up with your own conclusion.

Ok that about wraps it up, if you have any questions feel free to ask. Ill be poking around your journal to see how you are doing

Hope everyone has a great day!
.here is abit of key info about autos also passed down from a fellow grower on an old journel of mine.happy growing every1