GreenSpartan
New member
I have made many mistakes in the past with growing Autos and would like this guide to be a definitive sure fire way for new growers to get great results. This is just a guideline right now for me to plan my grow. I will be trying different methods and documenting results.
I will update with everyone's advice and corrections.
Things you Need
Containers-.75c (Or directly into the ground if you so choose)
Grow bags are a pain in the ass and have caused me many problems for me. I really recommended plastic pots if you can use them.
You want to be able to move your plants to avoid flooding, thieves, and for better light.
Everyone says that you want the tallest container possible because autos love depth. I might try and stack some cups or something to give the plants an extra foot of soil on top of a 2 gallon.
Sexing Pots-3$ Largest Styrofoam cups you can find or half gallon
This is especially helpful if you are growing 50+ seeds trying to find the females, and not wanting to waist soil.
Growing Pots- 1, 2, or 3 Gallon (1 gallon per month growing)
Super Auto Pots- 90+ days 4 or 5 gallons recommend?
Ph Test Kit- 8$
Ph Up/ Down- 15$
Soil
Most important thing in the grow second only to the sun! Buy or make a good soil mix!
Beginners mix = Start the seeds in Light Warrior and move to OF(Ocean Forrest). OF is very strong soil and can possibly cause the m/f ratio to be in favor of male plants?(Some say it’s just fine)
Fox Farms Ocean Forest 1.5 cu ft 20$ = 13 gallons of soil
Fox Farms Light Warrior 1.0 cu ft 24$ = 8.5 gallons of soil
There’s many good guide on making your own soil but if your reading this you are probably better off just using this or any high quality organic soil. One reason for this is ph balanced soil is very important and your local joes potting soil might be way off. I recommend playing it safe.
Nutrients
With my grow i will be using Fox Farms liquid Nutes. If you are using a high quality soil mix your plants will be very happy the whole grow without anything but use added nutes for more results.
Most people use something similar to this, ive tried to make this as similar to what auto breeders have said they use in their grows.
I’m using this grow
Grow BIG 1L-18$ ([FONT="]vegetative growth)[/FONT]
Tiger Bloom 1L-18$ (use [FONT="]at the first sign of flowering)[/FONT]
Big Bloom 1L-18$ ([FONT="]safe enough to use every time you water)[/FONT]
Canna Rhizotonic 250ml 22$ (Supposed to make your roots very healthy) Optional
Additives
Soil Moist 12$= Crystals that hold water in soil so you can visit and water you plants less often. You may need to use less liquid nutes because it will be feeding your plants the liquid nutes over time.
Seeds - 50$ for 10 roughly
Think about what you want from the plant (Yield, potency, smell, bag appeal). Read journals of grows with that strain. The larger producers generally take longer. Make sure to buy from a reliable seed site. You should start with what you can handle. You can always make seeds yourself.
Guide
Most important thing!
Your plants need 6 hrs + of direct sunlight every day! This is very important especially during vegetative growth.
Find some brush on the southern facing side of a lake. This is often the best place for sunlight if you live around a forest and you have a water source close by.
I have tried with less light and got very weak results in a swamp.
Make sure all water that touches the plants is pH balanced. This will stunt growth greatly if it is not.
Fox Farms Nute Schedule Revised 2010 (Its prettier now)
http://www.foxfarmfertilizer.com/FoxFarm-Soil-Schedule.pdf
Week 1 - Seeding’s
Big Bloom 1tsp twice a week (Optional) Feeding before flowering can cause plants to be males.
Week 2
Big Bloom 1tsp twice a week (Optional)
Week 3 (wait for
Big Bloom 6tsp twice a week
Grow big 2tsp twice a week
Week 4 Start Tiger bloom As the females start showing lightly at first.
Big Bloom 6tsp twice a week
Grow big 2tsp twice a week
Tiger Bloom 2tsp
Week 5
Grow big 3tsp twice a week
Tiger Bloom 2tsp
Week 6
Big Bloom 3tsp twice a week
Tiger Bloom 2tsp
week 7
Big Bloom 3tsp twice a week
Tiger Bloom 2tsp
week 8 (You want to stop feeding non organic nutes a week before harvest and use only pH balanced water)
Big Bloom 3tsp twice a week
Tiger Bloom 2tsp
week 9
Big Bloom 3tsp twice a week
Tiger Bloom 2tsp
BEFORE YOU PLANT YOUR SEEDS
Make sure you have a pH meter, as tap water and pond or other water might have a poor pH balance. The optimum pH for marijuana is between 6.2-6.5. My tap water however runs at 8.5+ So make sure that you go out and buy some pH adjusters and a pH measuring kit.
GERMINATING
1. Separate your seeds by strain so they do not get mixed up (only for those with multiple strains).
2. Fill a cup 1/2 of the way with pH adjusted water.
4. Place each strain of seeds into their own separate cups.
5. Wait for 24 hours, and check to see if the seeds have sunk to the bottoms of the cups. Gently stir the cup if there are some floating, and if they still do not sink, wait for a few more hours.
6. Once your seeds have sunk, they are ready to plant into 16oz or larger cups.
7. Be sure you water your soil and mix it up BEFORE planting the seeds so that the seeds are not washed away.
8 To reduce stress, it is recommended for you to plant directly into cups pointy side down about a half inch in the soil.
9. The seeds should start sprouting within 3 days.
Start Here
Week 1 - Seedlings (Very slow growth)
Germinate your seed and place them into your large cup or 18oz. Make sure your cup has plenty of drainage by poking a number of holes in the bottom. Buy clear plastic party cups and cut a line all the way down the side so you can make an airtight seal around the top of the cup (If needed). Place the clear cup on top of the other upside down as to hold in moisture and allows sunlight in. This way you can leave your plants outside right after germination BUT MAKE SURE THEY ARE NOT GETTING MUCH DIRECT SUNLIGHT BECAUSE THEY WILL GET TOO HOT AND DIE!
Week 2 - (Nodes start to form)
Your plants should show a large amount of growth compared to the first week. Mine for example, grew its second and third set of leaves in this week.
Week 3 - (Sexing Starts) Start using nutes quarter strength when flowering starts.
Your males will show up first then females around day 21 depending on strain.
Remove all male plants if you don't want to end up with a bunch of seeds! You have about 4-8 days before they can release pollen.
By using the cups you got rid of the males without wasting expensive quality soil on them. You can then pick your favorite male and keep him in the cup inside or somewhere far from your plants to collect pollen with. I lay the male down sideways and let it grow inside a large zip-lock bag to capture pollen for making more seeds.
Remember, pollen WILL travel far.
WEEK 4
By the end of the week all your plants should be finished showing their sex. Some of your female plants will start to develop bud. (This is where the excitement begins)You can up the dose of nutrients to 3/4th.
WEEK 5
Full dose of nutrients can be delivered to your plants.
WEEK 6~9
Basically the same as week 5, except you have the choice of upping your nutrients SLIGHTLY, or keeping it at full dose. Watch out for insects and mold.
After week 9 you seeds should be about done, possibly much sooner.
GENERAL RULES
1. DO NOT over water your plants. Generally, a cup and a half of water a week is enough for the plants.
2. Water your plants consistently on the same day. This helps you keep to a schedule, which prevents you from forgetting to water, or watering excessively.
3. DO NOT over feed your plants with nutrients. Nutrients help plants grow to a certain extent, but too much of something is always bad. Be patient. If your plants aren't growing as fast as you'd like them to, just wait. Pouring nutrients over them are not going to help.
4. Keep your operation to yourself. Boasting about your grow operation is one of the most common reasons for people to get caught and in trouble. I only tell people that I trust the most.
5. Have fun. The most important part of taking care of your plants is to enjoy it. What's the point of growing for yourself if you're just slaving away without a smile on your face?
Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed my mini-guide, and I wish all you readers the best of luck in your operations
Thanks to Midori's Boost Start Guide for some of this information
Follow these steps exactly and you should have a great harvest
I will be adding pictures and more details on my grow as it happens in a couple weeks.
Good Luck!
I will update with everyone's advice and corrections.
Things you Need
Containers-.75c (Or directly into the ground if you so choose)
Grow bags are a pain in the ass and have caused me many problems for me. I really recommended plastic pots if you can use them.
You want to be able to move your plants to avoid flooding, thieves, and for better light.
Everyone says that you want the tallest container possible because autos love depth. I might try and stack some cups or something to give the plants an extra foot of soil on top of a 2 gallon.
Sexing Pots-3$ Largest Styrofoam cups you can find or half gallon
This is especially helpful if you are growing 50+ seeds trying to find the females, and not wanting to waist soil.
Growing Pots- 1, 2, or 3 Gallon (1 gallon per month growing)
Super Auto Pots- 90+ days 4 or 5 gallons recommend?
Ph Test Kit- 8$
Ph Up/ Down- 15$
Soil
Most important thing in the grow second only to the sun! Buy or make a good soil mix!
Beginners mix = Start the seeds in Light Warrior and move to OF(Ocean Forrest). OF is very strong soil and can possibly cause the m/f ratio to be in favor of male plants?(Some say it’s just fine)
Fox Farms Ocean Forest 1.5 cu ft 20$ = 13 gallons of soil
Fox Farms Light Warrior 1.0 cu ft 24$ = 8.5 gallons of soil
There’s many good guide on making your own soil but if your reading this you are probably better off just using this or any high quality organic soil. One reason for this is ph balanced soil is very important and your local joes potting soil might be way off. I recommend playing it safe.
Nutrients
With my grow i will be using Fox Farms liquid Nutes. If you are using a high quality soil mix your plants will be very happy the whole grow without anything but use added nutes for more results.
Most people use something similar to this, ive tried to make this as similar to what auto breeders have said they use in their grows.
I’m using this grow
Grow BIG 1L-18$ ([FONT="]vegetative growth)[/FONT]
Tiger Bloom 1L-18$ (use [FONT="]at the first sign of flowering)[/FONT]
Big Bloom 1L-18$ ([FONT="]safe enough to use every time you water)[/FONT]
Canna Rhizotonic 250ml 22$ (Supposed to make your roots very healthy) Optional
Additives
Soil Moist 12$= Crystals that hold water in soil so you can visit and water you plants less often. You may need to use less liquid nutes because it will be feeding your plants the liquid nutes over time.
Seeds - 50$ for 10 roughly
Think about what you want from the plant (Yield, potency, smell, bag appeal). Read journals of grows with that strain. The larger producers generally take longer. Make sure to buy from a reliable seed site. You should start with what you can handle. You can always make seeds yourself.
Guide
Most important thing!
Your plants need 6 hrs + of direct sunlight every day! This is very important especially during vegetative growth.
Find some brush on the southern facing side of a lake. This is often the best place for sunlight if you live around a forest and you have a water source close by.
I have tried with less light and got very weak results in a swamp.
Make sure all water that touches the plants is pH balanced. This will stunt growth greatly if it is not.
Fox Farms Nute Schedule Revised 2010 (Its prettier now)
http://www.foxfarmfertilizer.com/FoxFarm-Soil-Schedule.pdf
Week 1 - Seeding’s
Big Bloom 1tsp twice a week (Optional) Feeding before flowering can cause plants to be males.
Week 2
Big Bloom 1tsp twice a week (Optional)
Week 3 (wait for
Big Bloom 6tsp twice a week
Grow big 2tsp twice a week
Week 4 Start Tiger bloom As the females start showing lightly at first.
Big Bloom 6tsp twice a week
Grow big 2tsp twice a week
Tiger Bloom 2tsp
Week 5
Grow big 3tsp twice a week
Tiger Bloom 2tsp
Week 6
Big Bloom 3tsp twice a week
Tiger Bloom 2tsp
week 7
Big Bloom 3tsp twice a week
Tiger Bloom 2tsp
week 8 (You want to stop feeding non organic nutes a week before harvest and use only pH balanced water)
Big Bloom 3tsp twice a week
Tiger Bloom 2tsp
week 9
Big Bloom 3tsp twice a week
Tiger Bloom 2tsp
BEFORE YOU PLANT YOUR SEEDS
Make sure you have a pH meter, as tap water and pond or other water might have a poor pH balance. The optimum pH for marijuana is between 6.2-6.5. My tap water however runs at 8.5+ So make sure that you go out and buy some pH adjusters and a pH measuring kit.
GERMINATING
1. Separate your seeds by strain so they do not get mixed up (only for those with multiple strains).
2. Fill a cup 1/2 of the way with pH adjusted water.
4. Place each strain of seeds into their own separate cups.
5. Wait for 24 hours, and check to see if the seeds have sunk to the bottoms of the cups. Gently stir the cup if there are some floating, and if they still do not sink, wait for a few more hours.
6. Once your seeds have sunk, they are ready to plant into 16oz or larger cups.
7. Be sure you water your soil and mix it up BEFORE planting the seeds so that the seeds are not washed away.
8 To reduce stress, it is recommended for you to plant directly into cups pointy side down about a half inch in the soil.
9. The seeds should start sprouting within 3 days.
Start Here
Week 1 - Seedlings (Very slow growth)
Germinate your seed and place them into your large cup or 18oz. Make sure your cup has plenty of drainage by poking a number of holes in the bottom. Buy clear plastic party cups and cut a line all the way down the side so you can make an airtight seal around the top of the cup (If needed). Place the clear cup on top of the other upside down as to hold in moisture and allows sunlight in. This way you can leave your plants outside right after germination BUT MAKE SURE THEY ARE NOT GETTING MUCH DIRECT SUNLIGHT BECAUSE THEY WILL GET TOO HOT AND DIE!
Week 2 - (Nodes start to form)
Your plants should show a large amount of growth compared to the first week. Mine for example, grew its second and third set of leaves in this week.
Week 3 - (Sexing Starts) Start using nutes quarter strength when flowering starts.
Your males will show up first then females around day 21 depending on strain.
Remove all male plants if you don't want to end up with a bunch of seeds! You have about 4-8 days before they can release pollen.
By using the cups you got rid of the males without wasting expensive quality soil on them. You can then pick your favorite male and keep him in the cup inside or somewhere far from your plants to collect pollen with. I lay the male down sideways and let it grow inside a large zip-lock bag to capture pollen for making more seeds.
Remember, pollen WILL travel far.
WEEK 4
By the end of the week all your plants should be finished showing their sex. Some of your female plants will start to develop bud. (This is where the excitement begins)You can up the dose of nutrients to 3/4th.
WEEK 5
Full dose of nutrients can be delivered to your plants.
WEEK 6~9
Basically the same as week 5, except you have the choice of upping your nutrients SLIGHTLY, or keeping it at full dose. Watch out for insects and mold.
After week 9 you seeds should be about done, possibly much sooner.
GENERAL RULES
1. DO NOT over water your plants. Generally, a cup and a half of water a week is enough for the plants.
2. Water your plants consistently on the same day. This helps you keep to a schedule, which prevents you from forgetting to water, or watering excessively.
3. DO NOT over feed your plants with nutrients. Nutrients help plants grow to a certain extent, but too much of something is always bad. Be patient. If your plants aren't growing as fast as you'd like them to, just wait. Pouring nutrients over them are not going to help.
4. Keep your operation to yourself. Boasting about your grow operation is one of the most common reasons for people to get caught and in trouble. I only tell people that I trust the most.
5. Have fun. The most important part of taking care of your plants is to enjoy it. What's the point of growing for yourself if you're just slaving away without a smile on your face?
Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed my mini-guide, and I wish all you readers the best of luck in your operations
Thanks to Midori's Boost Start Guide for some of this information
Follow these steps exactly and you should have a great harvest
I will be adding pictures and more details on my grow as it happens in a couple weeks.
Good Luck!
!
