8 Strains Auto - All Input Welcomed

[ibrokeit]

this grow may prove too much for a beginner, but going in head first!
What I have is 1 each of the following- Dinafem white widow xl, dinafem critical, girl scout cookies, dark devil, black cream, pinapple express, and 2 budda mix seeds. All are 2 days old and I was planning on putting them in their final home on 4-20.
I want to try a few methods and I have limited resources at the moment. All will be in soil, some in pots, some in fabric containers, and maybe 1-2 in the hydro-soil set up since the one I have now seems to love it.
not the best at planning so this will be an evolving grow to help me develop skills and gain more knowledge.

 

[dick23rk]

Hey man how's it going? Welcome to 420 Mag! Happy to see you made a journal to share with everyone. Lots of good people and info here on the forum, there will always be someone around to help you out if needed.
I will sub up on this grow with ya if you don't mind? I also am growing auto's and intend to keep on going with them for some time. I like the ease of them for when it comes time for me start a perpetual grow next round. I have always wondered about autos, did a ton of research on here and then went for it. They will certainly impress in one way or another.
So it looks like you got things set for now. Keep updating us every once in a while so everyone can see how things are going.
You can also try including more about your grow such as your room, lights and any nutrients you may be using. This always helps people get a better understanding of your grow so they can help out if you need it quickly.
Keep up the good work over there! Best of luck.

P.S. We always like lots of pictures, don't be shy!

 

[Hozona]

Hey there ibrokeit! Sorry you broke it, hope it can be fixed!
WELCOME to 420 magazine!!! We were ALL newbies at one time and I consider a day I don't learn something new here a wasted one! As far as soil/hydro, I do both although in Summer months I lean towards soil, mainly because the Sun is FREE!!! Also putting plants on a drip system outside takes less time every day for things to get done. Most of the help you will need is under the Grow Room tab at the top of the page. When it comes to limited resources a lot of us are in the same boat. A lot of DIY things happening here ALL THE TIME including in my own grow. If it gets results then it was worth the time. The sponsors here ALL are very supportive and their products are developed here and other sites exclusively for fellow growers. If you have a question, ask it! There is NO SUCH THING as a DUMB QUESTION. There are only good answers IF a question gets asked! Again, WELCOME!

 

[ibrokeit]

Thank you. Not sure yet on what set up , I have a 4x4'6x7' room with a t5 4'x8bulb and a room 3'6x4'x7' with a 1000w
hps. Which room is best for autos? I have some jungle grow soil, mg soil, generic soil, and worm castings. For gured I would try All

 

[Hozona]

Thank you. Not sure yet on what set up , I have a 4x4'6x7' room with a t5 4'x8bulb and a room 3'6x4'x7' with a 1000w
hps. Which room is best for autos? I have some jungle grow soil, mg soil, generic soil, and worm castings. For gured I would try All

I have never used 1000w setup, but two 450w in cool tubes a couple years ago. The power bill killed me. That being said, I would probably go with the T5 and the eight bulbs. Make sure you get some good airflow in which ever you use. As far as soil goes, I use Fox Farms Ocean Forest, Worm Castings, fish bone meal, and bat guano to start. I supplement it as time goes on trying to read my plants needs as my grow progresses. I always have high hopes (pun intended), but sometimes there is a failure. That is how we ALL learn here, from each other's successes and failures. Good luck!

 

[ibrokeit]

Thanks Hozona, learning a lot of what NOT to do so far. Broke a top on one of my better looking plants this morning. In a panic I clipped the leaves off, 45* the end, scraped it, coated the stem with root maker, and put it in a small rockwool cube. Maybe it will pull thru.
The ladies are looking good today with the GSC finally shedding the seed husk.

 

[Hozona]

Thanks Hozona, learning a lot of what NOT to do so far. Broke a top on one of my better looking plants this morning. In a panic I clipped the leaves off, 45* the end, scraped it, coated the stem with root maker, and put it in a small rockwool cube. Maybe it will pull thru.
The ladies are looking good today with the GSC finally shedding the seed husk.

Try to make a humidity dome and mist it occasionally. Sounds like you might already have a handle on it! Sometimes I use a toothpick to help sprouts lose their husk, but once I have a good crop going I clone a bunch so I don't have to germinate seeds. I really am not fond of germinating seeds, but sometimes our ONLY option! If you don't have a humidity dome you can cut the top off a 2ltr bottle and use it for a dome over your clone/seedling. Good luck!

 

[ibrokeit]

I have a jiffy seed tray with plastic cover, and with the cover on the top the plant almost touches, will that be ok?
Should I mist my new girls or just keep the soil moist?
If the plants get to 4" tall in the next few days will it be ok to transplant them?
Will those Walmart shopping bags (cloth) work for a container? I have seen where ppl use them in place of air pots.

 

[Hozona]

I have a jiffy seed tray with plastic cover, and with the cover on the top the plant almost touches, will that be ok?
Should I mist my new girls or just keep the soil moist? MIST
If the plants get to 4" tall in the next few days will it be ok to transplant them?Yes
Will those Walmart shopping bags (cloth) work for a container? I have seen where ppl use them in place of air pots.

I have never seen/tried those. It seems people who use hempy/jiffy pots really like them. They are easy to move around. I have one, but not in use at this time.

 

[dick23rk]

Hey guys. Sorry to hear ya broke a top off, hope it gets its legs growing again for ya. Seems like you took pretty good action on it. We all learn from mistakes, that's just how the world seems to work. Always a good thing to take notes on the side of any little things that happen and how you fixed them, then you can go back and reflect on that some day in another grow if something happens. Can never have to much info right. These journals really help as well and I'm glad you decided to start one. There's been a lot of buzz about autos lately and this forum is where I learned the majority of what I needed to know.

Here are a couple of good threads for you to read up on that really helped me out with my autos. They may take a while to read and actually get to the main info in between all the chatting, but it's a great read. You may have seen them already but maybe not.

Autoflower Myth Busting by Atrain

Auto Topping Thread by thebeast27

Keep up the good work over there, when in doubt about something just ask away. I bet Hozona has lots of useful info over there, I see his name all over the place here, and I will try to help out where I can with the info I have soaked in lately about autos. Best of luck!


Hozona, nice to meet you as well. Always nice meeting some of the more reputable growers on the forum. Cheers!

 

[ibrokeit]

I appreciate the links. Good thing is the top I broke was from my first grow I have going on. My plan was to get my basics out of the way so these auto's get a better chance and hopefully yield decent. Learning LST and topping has been interesting, and im getting better I think. Side note, I went into the woods to check on a plant I started about 40 days ago.......it was 1 tall, skinny stalk about 36'' tall and had a nice cluster of seeds hanging. DEAD!!!!

 

[dick23rk]

I appreciate the links. Good thing is the top I broke was from my first grow I have going on. My plan was to get my basics out of the way so these auto's get a better chance and hopefully yield decent. Learning LST and topping has been interesting, and im getting better I think. Side note, I went into the woods to check on a plant I started about 40 days ago.......it was 1 tall, skinny stalk about 36'' tall and had a nice cluster of seeds hanging. DEAD!!!!

That's how I did it when I started growing inside in a tent. I started out with some decent bagseeds in soil to get things sort of dialed in and learn what I needed before starting the seeds I had bought. I found I wasn't caring for the soil indoors and decided to use the hempy method for my autos. First time doing it this way and I am happy with the results so far. I certainly like how my amnesia haze reacted to FIMing her, she blew right up!

That sucks man, it's always stressful planting outdoors in some areas. It's either the weather, pests or animals that make things go wrong I found. When you say it had a nice cluster of seeds hanging from it, do you mean pollen sacs? Just curious

 

[ibrokeit]

It looked like seeds, like tiny tomatoes hanging down. We have had stupid amounts of rain, and cooler than usual temps. Think it stressed it? Where I put it turned out to be a bad idea as all the surroundings exploded around it so I don't think it was getting the light it needed.
Hempy method?

 

[Hozona]

Autoflower Myth Busting by Atrain
Auto Topping Thread by thebeast27
Keep up the good work over there, when in doubt about something just ask away. I bet Hozona has lots of useful info over there, I see his name all over the place here, and I will try to help out where I can with the info I have soaked in lately about autos. Best of luck!
Hozona, nice to meet you as well. Always nice meeting some of the more reputable growers on the forum. Cheers!

dick, Thanks for the props! I am a retired art teacher and enjoy teaching and learning. Topping an auto is done early in the plant's life, after third main set of leaves. I then top after the next two and the next two and the next two... LST'ing as I go.
Here is the start of my OG Kush auto/fem.

You end up with little bonsai Cannabis plants! Lots of terminal nodes= LOTS OF BUDS/TOPS

 

[dick23rk]

If they looked like seeds than I am guessing you had a male plant. Was there any flower sites with hair like pistils protruding from the nodes or new growth? If you had a bunch of green balls almost shaped like a football then it was a male and was no good to you anyway unless you were planning to breed plants or collect pollen for breeding in the future. I am not sure what part of the world you're from and how your day cycles work or what the climate is like but it sounds to me like it certainly could have gotten stressed, or it just simply could have been a male to begin with.

Hempy method is a passive hydro setup. I use soilless inert mediums that have no nutrients in them at all for the plants to live, I supply all of their nutrients from seedling to harvest. My buckets contain about 3/4 perlite and 1/4 vermiculite. There are lots off different variations of the hempy bucket method but I chose the original way to go for my first round. It's worth looking up, there is info around the forums on this as well.

 

[dick23rk]

dick, Thanks for the props! I am a retired art teacher and enjoy teaching and learning. Topping an auto is done early in the plant's life, after third main set of leaves. I then top after the next two and the next two and the next two... LST'ing as I go.
Here is the start of my OG Kush auto/fem.

You end up with little bonsai Cannabis plants! Lots of terminal nodes= LOTS OF BUDS/TOPS

Very nice. I have just started growing auto's so I am just slowly playing with them a little to see what they like and how they progress. I FIM'd 2 of my autos and left the other 2 to grow naturally and compare my findings. Next time I may try topping twice or more like you have mentioned and see how that pans out for me. All depends on my growth rates and what week I am on as to what I can do with the plants. I wouldn't want to get to close to being out of the veg stage and try doing this. Made sure mine were done early enough this time around that I didn't screw them up haha. Growing indoors and soilless is fairly new to me and autos are a new thing all together, trying to KISS!

 

[ibrokeit]

It had very few leafs and only other growth was the seeds. It was a crap seed so no need for a male. South east coast is location. I tried a few hydro methods and they went south quick lol. the hydro-soil set up I have is doing good. Basically a 5 gal bucket, 2 1/2 gal of soil and enough water to make it a thick soup, and pumping air thru the mix from the bottom of the bucket. It bubbles out in 3 places.
I will most likely stick with soil on my new girls, and hope for a few ounces along with knowledge. I know I tend to over think most things and in the back of my mind i'm thinking "it is a weed" so shouldn't be hard to keep alive?

 

[ibrokeit]

So as soon as 3rd node shows up, top it?

 

[dick23rk]

Yes, just above the 3rd node. I am off for the night but will be back tomorrow at some point to update my journal and will stop in here again to see what's up. Have a good one

 

[Hozona]

trying to KISS!

Yes, Keep It Simple Student !

So as soon as 3rd node shows up, top it?

Like this,
Cotyledon leaves = first but I don't count these
The next set usually a 3 point leaf but not always, = First set of fan leaves
The next set usually has 5 points and is the second set of fan leaves
The next set has 5 points also and is the third set of fan leaves.
I top after those are established

Then train it to do what you want it to.