Enjoying this chart as a rule of thumb but just adding, PPFD+CO2 tests show if done correctly you can actually receive benefit as high as 1300. I know this is big “trust me bro” energy since I don’t have the charts on hand, but 1200-1300 with proper CO2 is about optimal growth, if you can avoid burn. But 1100 is probably good suggestion for average grower.
I’m curious though, I was always told about 200 for seedlings, is 100 really all that’s needed?
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I run my hlg 350r on the first click about 18” up on my seedling, and I’m around 270. It seems to be doing fine.
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maybe this is why i get obese plants
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Lol my thoughts and opinions about autos are confirmed all over the place here…
I agree with @Jilli. If you just wanna watch the plant grow, sure, keep on growing her, but she ain’t gonna yield squat my friend. Nothing wrong with starting over BTW…but…you’ll want a lot more light.
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I enrich co2 to 1500ppm, temps 86 f. My PPFD is hovering around 1250 at the top of the canopy. I start seedlings under 200w CFL panels…
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I’m stuck in the middle between the advice to let her finish or scrap her and move on to the next one. I think this is one of those situations where it’s fairly easy to make an argument for either side.
Either way, here’s a link to my current grow journal. I’ve been growing autos for several years now, and I get some pretty sporty yields off of them.
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Really nice journal, will definitely follow!
I just don’t see the benefit of autos. They are cranky, relatively low yielding, and more expensive than photos if i run 18/6 from start to finish. IMHO the finished product is always lacking vs. their photoperiod counterparts.
Looking forward to your journal updates tho…
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I grew photo period plants for a little over a year before I switched to autos. I honestly don’t feel like there’s any difference in potency at all. I share weed with many of my friends, and they all choose my stuff over dispensary weed.
What matters most is what works best for each of us as individuals. I’ve spent the last few years fine tuning my techniques and my grow spaces specifically for autos. I feel like I can kick out great yields of high quality buds at about the same rate as someone growing photos and cutting clones from a mother plant. The only downside on my end is the price of a seed for every plant, but that’s minimal in the overall picture.
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Autos exist for people that want to have a few ounces for a few months but don’t really care and have a few other day jobs and barely do this enough to be a hobby, and nobody can change my mind. I’m trying to challenge myself on this perception, so even I am trying to change my mind, but only because I got two bonus autoflower blackberry moonrocks seeds with my photo fat bastard order lately. And I probably wouldn’t even humor it if I wasn’t a fan of BBK already. But to date yes, I agree, they are just nonsense. I invite this BBK based strain to change my mind, guess we’ll find out in a few months.
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Mine was bad for a bit while we had construction in our neighborhood. I’d mix a 5 gallon bucket of nutes to 6.3pH and by next day it’d be at 7.3 and super cloudy. I use a fill up station, but I’ve been getting 5 gallons of dehumidifier water every 2 days, so I just use that.
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I thought of doin the same. Filling up a 5 gal. Container of RO water and using that i just know that id still have to tweak it a little here and there
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You can use calmag or silica first, as nutes alone usually plummet pH, depending on brand. PH up is pretty cheap on Amazon also and you only need a couple drops.
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Ive been hearing a lot about silica and its benefits. Is there a specific brand you can suggest and can i use both cal-mag and silica at the same time?
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I just got a gallon of TPS Silica Gold today. It was around $43 I think? But silica help strengthen cell walls, thus leading to stronger stems and branches. It’s better to use half strength in early veg, if you decide to do training, as it can really make for some sturdy plants.
I grow in coco, and use Jacks 321 nutrient system in dehumidifier water. It has 11ppm lol. So, my pH needs to be between 5.8-6.2. But, per gallon, I first add 4ml of Silica. Mix, well, then I add my nutes. At normal strength, after all is mixed, my pH hits 5.83. Great for starting and early veg. Over the weeks, I make small adjustments to increase pH, eventually finishing closer to 6.2.
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And yes, you can use calmag and silica at the same time, though i recommend going half strength with both, for the first couple of weeks. That way you know if the plants like it or not.
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I really do appreciate all the tips and pointers you’ve given me a hand with. Sounds like you got your stuff pretty dialed in. I bet your ladies grow out nicely!!
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That depends on the strain and how long I let them run and what tricks I use. I’ve also been told I have a habit of pushing plants to the point of confusing people. This girl had 2 weeks seedling, 32 days veg, and had her light cycle flipped 26 days ago, for example. Still probably has another 3.5-4~ weeks, but I can shave time off her. Because photoperiod.
These Fat Bastards are 5 weeks total (3 veg) and I could put them in the tent now, or I can wait until my others are almost coming out and let their toppings develop more.
FB can run something like a pound and a half in good conditions, scrogged and at a square meter canopy, whereas the BBK or Blueberry would run about 1 lb at the sq meter. My current BBK and Blueberry I chose to flip earlier than that, though, so I’ll get less.
My point being, if I just want a QP per plant or whatever, I too can do a 90 day grow. Heck I could Sea of Green them and am considering a wave of that depending on if any of my girl’s haircuts from today take as clones, and just do something ridonculous like 60. But I can also make the executive decision to give a plant a 120 day cycle to widen it’s available yield with more time to generate canopy, what have you. Autoflower just does not give me that kind of authority or decision making. It blooms when it blooms and it is what it is.
I also can do things like expedite cycles. The girl who’s light cycle flipped 26 days ago is already acting like week 3.5 of flower or maybe a hair more, when she’s… been flipped 3.5 weeks ago. Not just Stretch–stretch–wait for pistil–start counting flower–pray. Heck ILGM itself has a grow journal that marks her and her nestmates as about 46-50 from lighting switch or general bloom phase.
(Below shot was taken yesterday Day 25 since light change, compared to ILGM grow journal)
Because again, she reacts to my lighting on when she blooms, or how she feels about the Indoor Season. Yes, it involves stressing them but understanding when and how can be invaluable. Change to 12/12, shock them with a 24 hour long night and only bring them back at 10/14 for a few weeks. I just 20 houred them yesterday, and am going 10/20, 9/18, 8/16 descending until holding there over the next week or so, and again, convincing them Winter is upon them like it’s game of thrones.
With photoperiod, my yield is what I want, when I want. Autoflower you can influencing by topping or nutes or LST or whatever but at the end of the day, I can use all of those things on my plants too. Autoflower both takes away my choice and an entire tier of how I influence them.
Playing timelord involves some plant algebra on umols and moles per day and the like to make sure you don’t starve them of potential, it can lose yield, but my point is I CAN run those numbers and CAN make those choices.
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@Hankwi1, I apologize for clogging up your thread with this. I’ve been a member here for a few years, and about 99% of the time I’m a mellow dude who strictly observes the rules of the forum. Once in a while though, another user like @Starky comes along who’s so pretentious it becomes too difficult to hold my tongue. He could have given his negative opinion on autos as strongly and as often as he wanted without bothering me at all, but instead he chose to go after the people who grow them, and in that I believe his intention was to draw the ire of those growers. So here I am.
@Starky, you are a presumptuous little shit who believes not only that you know the reasons why other growers make their own decisions, but also that you have some unique abilities because you know how to read and watch videos. Spending a few hours memorizing acronyms and learning terminology does not make you a master grower. It makes you just another arrogant bigmouth exposing yourself as an amateur with big dreams. You ought to consider changing your screen moniker to “Snarky”, or just put it all right out on the table and go with “megalomaniac”. You might have a better time here in the forum if you stop being convinced of your own superiority.
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No problem at all man! Actually, i thank you for taking part. Im new to this. I started in April by throwing some sativa bag seeds here and there and to my surprise, they took off! As a new grower i messed up a lot along the way. I ended up with four ladies and theyre all in flower AND i get to harvest this weekend!! I did get a little discouraged after a few comments on here but thats why i post here, to hear it all good, bad and opinions of all types. Then there are you awesome, respectful and very knowledgeable guys and gals that remind me that were all here for the same thing. To enjoy the best product we can create and to help each other. Im going to continue on with my first auto and test myself. Thank you!
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