I’ve been growing Auto Flowers perpetually for 8 grows and they have been hit or miss the whole time. I’ve had some plants that were 3ft tall and yielded 3oz and others that were 1ft tall and yielded 1/4oz.
I’m careful with balancing ph. I have good soil. I don’t overuse nutrients. I have very good lighting. I’m beginning to have the feeling that growing autos will always be this way. The weed is always Fire. Just not much of it sometimes.
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Wish I had an answer. So far between 3 autos all are fairly large for autos I guess. This is 1/3 of one of my girls. I never pushed nutes hard. Just scrogged.
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Oh I do also supercrop them early.
I think @Screwauger seems to have the best looking and consistently so when it comes to autos. Not sure if he’s just got a natural green thumb or what but maybe he’s got some thoughts on it.
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That’s why I’m experimenting with a homemade autopot. His plants are crazy.
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Rapid growth of hydro like grow.
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I done a few autos with only did some LST to allow better light penetration . Can you describe the type of supercropping you do ? I plan on topping , cropping and getting a little more aggressive the next ones that I do .
I’m going to switch to scrog and less plants on the next grow. I bought a great ChiLed logic light to flower with. I know that will improve the yields. I just grow autos to keep from running out of meds when the regular fems aren’t ready. I’m also looking at other nutrients. I’ve been using the GH Flora trio along with KoolBloom since I started growing and have had ok results. I want great results.
The best advice I can give autoflower growers is to push grow nutes into week 6 and 7. I use this guideline and autopots, LST (“Bowl Method”) and supercropping if the plant gets to tall for my tent.
LIFECYCLE OF AN AUTO
A 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 pistils.
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.
I harvested this purple haze auto yesterday
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Thanks for the advice. This will be very helpful.
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I am positive autopots (which I have grown all my auto’s in) have a dramatic effect on the size of the plants. That’s not to say other methods will not grow large autoflower plants. That said, autopots and auto flower strains seem to really be a good match.
Autopots add air into the base of the plant and are a continuous feeding set up so, plants get larger than they would otherwise. This is not a pitch for autopots, just wanted it to be clear that my plants might be larger because of autopots.
I do believe that the above noted “push” of grow nutes causes the plant to really gain some size before flowering goes into full effect and this too, lends itself to larger auto’s.
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I do the nutrients about the same way. I can get 3ft plants, but most look like the Northern Lights in the pic. Not many bud sites. I’m joining the lab in the next few days. I’ve got all the right ingredients. I’m just missing the mark with autos and photos to some extent.
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I just got into the lab forum today. I’m sure that they can give more ideas. I’m hoping my autos in hydro can get to the size of his. This first run I had a few problems so I’ve got two runts. But the other two are shaping up to be good.
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I am one of the few that grows autos outdoors and I have been very pleased with my WWA’s. My last harvest of 4 plants was 9 oz, for the year so far from 8 plants is over 20 oz…not bad for first year growing.
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@Screwauger
I agree with everything you said I have been growing auto’s for two years (only White Widow) Hydro, one plant in a 2x2x7 foot grow box with 200watts of wall lights. Scrog all my plants and keep them in Veg until they fill up the scrog net which is about 8 inches above the tank. I change to bloom Nutes about the 5th or 6th week, Using only GH flora series and Hydroguard Three grows a year.
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Not bad at all, congrats on your harvests and nice stock for the head there.
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Sweet, That’s the top of a Bubblegum Auto? That’s awesome, gives me some hope.
@finalli Yes , that was the main cola .
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