What Medium and Nutrients for Auto Flowering Seeds?

[Qwobbler]

Hey everyone, Im thinking of ordering some auto-flowering seeds.

 

Can someone please direct me to a thread on what medium and nutes i should use? or maybe a beginners grow guide for auto flowering..?

 

I cant find info thats easy to understand.

 

i will be mostly growing them indoors under cfl's.

 

Cheers

Edited March 2, 2015 by qwobbler

[Sir PsychoHashy]

Hey qw, unfortunately our 2 best auto experts haven't been around for a while, but if you search out the user name buzzo you'll find some of his diaries to be very helpful, shroomyshroom did some good stuff as well.  I can't hold a candle to those guys, but I know the basics.

 

First up, if you are restricted to CFL's, or at the risk of starting a shitstorm LED's (I'm not anti LED, they are just out of their element in this situation), then don't bother getting auto seeds.  They need optimum everything or they produce sweet fuck all.  HPS on 18/6 schedule all the way for best results lighting wise.  Outside in summer is ok, but it takes a very good outdoor grower to crack the 1 oz mark, with 1/2 an oz closer to average.

 

Secondly, medium is crucial.  Light and well draining so the roots can push through and thrive.  For a strong plant you need a good root system, and with auto's you need to create that root system fast.  Anything that slows down development with auto's, especially early on, will give you small yield, the first few weeks are absolutely critical.  Coco with 30-50% large perlite is good,  traditional hydroponic methods like recirculating in perlite or clay balls, or flood and drain in clay balls, or DWC if you know what you're doing, are even better in my limited experience.

 

Best advice I can give you is do a lot of research before trying to grow autos, and preferably get your shit down pat on photoperiod plants first as well.  Done well they can go nuts and be a lot of fun, done badly they will be very disappointing.  I've done as badly as 5 grams up to as well as 7 oz from the same strain and same batch of seeds as an example.

[Qwobbler]

cool, good info, cheers mate

[max_headroom]

I grew 4 auto's this year and knew nothing about them. My yields were 18 grams, 8 grams, 22 grams and about 22 so have not cracked the Oz on any of them. They are a bit of fun to grow but outdoors makes it really hard due to the inconsistency of the weather. If I am to do this again then I would be doing a few things differently. Like planting all my auto's at once into a large garden bed. I have an idea for planting a number of them together and then try and cultivate a few buds on each plant but trying to make the plant concentrate on these buds until they are a decent .size, A quick grow for small yields but the quality was there and the smoke was good. So if your like me and are still learning get a few and put them in at the same time cause your yields will be small on each plant but overall you should still end up with some decent smoke

 

Apart from anything else...what Hashy said is spot on he knows way more about auto's than I do.

[Qwobbler]

cheers guys, thanks for the quick response 

[Wonkey D]

I'm new to this site bit not new to growing, as hashy sed the first 3-5 weeks are critical with autos, you really can't stress em in any way in that time to achieve best results. canna terra or coco with added perlite/vermiculite (probably spelt that wrong) is a great medium if u don't use hydroponics (I'm a soil grower). Make sure u plant them in there final pots don't transplant as it may stress the plant and that will affect end results. And pretty much any nutes will do just do over/under feed. I use organics (biocanna) And its great stuff. Last auto I grew was harvested bout 3 weeks ago it was a magnum and got just under 4 oz from her. Im going to be doing la diva next. What auto u going for? Edited March 6, 2015 by Wonkey D

[Sir PsychoHashy]

I actually don't agree with it being necessary to start autos in there final pot if you use coco, soil I would agree with it.  I've repotted autos in coco and found that as with photo plants if you do it carefully they just don't seem to cop the stress in coco/perlite mediums, so I just take care to avoid them getting root bound instead of risking them bogging down from over watering.  Having said that, next coco auto I'll be using Blumats to control moisture levels, so I'll likely keep it simple and go straight to the big pot.