When to start autos?

[saxman]

Hey guys,

Got a couple (for now) of auto seeds on the way, and ideally I want to have the harvest done by the end of October. Not liking my chances, but will it be too early to get them started in the next couple of weeks? Outdoor grow, inside isn't happening at all. I know I won't get the yield I would starting them a couple of months later with extra daylight and heat, but will it be even worth bothering yet? I'm in Sydney since that info will help. I've got a heated propagation tray so germinating isn't an issue, although from there I know it won't be the easiest.

Also I would look at getting a cheap greenhouse (I'm talking $20 from bunnings) to help with heat, and probably bring the pot it's in inside overnight to keep temps slightly higher. Is this doable or am I going to end up with 3 grams of rubbish? I'm sure I could do that over summer anyway, but the basic question is, will there just not be enough daylight to give it a good go, and will it still be too cold to give it a go? Either way I'll give it a go with one seed, and start the next maybe a month later, basically as an experiment to see what I can do given the parameters, but after opinions on how hard it will be along with 'expected' yield. I know that's an open ended question, but if a good auto grow yields say 50 grams, is the potential there for even 20 grams, or am I going to be lucky to get 5 grams. Presuming of course I am able to achieve the 50 gram target at the right time of year obviously.

If it helps my soil mix is composted turkey nest, a small bag of blood and bone, some lime, fire ashes, cow manure, chook manure, that's sitting fermenting right now. I've got a worm farm for liquid fertilizer, but not enough there to use worm castings in the mix. What am I missing, and should I add some coco and perlite? Cheers

[D.R.S.D]

If you've only got a couple of beans , hold onto them mate till it warms up !! Use the time to do some reading, research , and gain some knowledge on autos so you can give them the best chance of a quality yield .

50 germs ,dry weight , off an auto grown outdoor is a great result. Even in peak growing conditions that is a very competent outdoor auto growing result .

Good luck with it all

[louise]

Agree with DRSD, save the seeds until it has warmed up. Auto's do bugger all in cold conditions.

[saxman]

Not exactly what I want to hear! But will wait a while before planting, will order more seeds in any event, with a plan of getting one planted every week or two so I have a bit flowing through before the regular summer crop is ready.

[Sir PsychoHashy]

Hey Saxman, fully in agreement with what they said.  I'll give you a for example, same strain (Bubblegum), same batch of seeds, to show not only the difference lower temps, light intensity, and hours of light make to autos, but also getting your technique down with the finicky little bastards.

 

Outdoors in NSW Autumn.  Only 5 grams of trimmed bud, and it was stringy and airy, but still a nice smoke.  

 

2nd attempt, indoors in coco/perlite.  Had a Cal/Mag deficiency mid stretch, got a bit over 30 grams, decent solid buds. 

 

3rd attempt, indoors in recirc perlite.  Had to treat with Fongarid late in stretch which hurt it a little, final weight not yet known but guessing 4-5 oz. 

 

I did a different strain outdoors with a November start, did ok but only about 35 grams.

 

Hope this helps you understand why it could be worth waiting and researching.  Best of luck with your grow when you get there, and please share it with us if you can.

[saxman]

Cheers, that's exactly the sort of info I was after. I'll still grow outside rather than inside, my first attempt at growing a couple of years ago (planted late September) was an auto, which since I was a newbie I killed by overfertilising while in flower. However, it was going great until then. Should have got a couple of ounces at a guess.

[billygoat]

Thats an optimistic guess? .....Sorry

 

Why bother planting an auto outdoors in September.... A photo plant will kill it in the long run.... And seeing all the comments about growing in the cooler months is not worth it ? Indoors they require 50% more power, they require more attention. ?

 

Why does anyone bother with the bloody things ?

 

I am starting to think that auto traits will end up ruining quality genetics over the very long term....

[wannagrowbuds]

Some of us don't grow for yield. Outdoors with autos you can get multiple harvests of many different varieties over summer instead of one big harvest in Autumn.

[mastertig]

automatically

[chookymeister]

Some of us don't grow for yield. Outdoors with autos you can get multiple harvests of many different varieties over summer instead of one big harvest in Autumn.

 

what he said