Autoflower Mentor

[mitch_connor]

I recently read a report of AF's testing pretty highly, LR2 was quoted at 19%

You are doing the best test you can though, grow both.. and compare.

There's no doubt they will keep improving as time goes on

 

[Rambro]

I recently read a report of AF's testing pretty highly, LR2 was quoted at 19%

You are doing the best test you can though, grow both.. and compare.

There's no doubt they will keep improving as time goes on

you grow both though right? which do you prefer and why? do you notice a difference between AF and photoperiod plants or is it all just strain/grow dependent? sorry if im asking a lot but im just trying to figure out before this run finishes if i should order more AF's, run a few more sour 60's from the seeds i made, or try to set up a small cloning box to keep the photoperiod genetics i have now alive

 

[mitch_connor]

From a growing perspective I prefer AF's in my situation.
Reliable, Productive and fast with a nice end product. And the ease factor, I find it much easier to go from seed than to clone, keep mothers and everything that entails.

It is strain and grow dependant, I like to keep trying new strains, which means nothing gets truely dialled in, but variety is the spice of life so they say.

I do think the Photo strains I have been running, do take the cake in outright potency right now, but sometimes you don't need total knock out, it's pretty subjective with how you like to smoke, the effects you like etc
So i'm not sure that clinches it for me.

One thing I do want to try at some point is a 12/12 from seed Vs AF run, I have recently been sprouting AF seeds the day I switch to 12/12 and they pretty much finish up around the same time.

Hope that helps?

 

[blackosprey]

ive got a question, and im sure a lot of people might chime in but im only looking for unbiased answers. the first couple grows ive done were autoflowers, and now im doing a grow of regular plants. with modern autoflowers and regular cannabis plants, is there still a huge if any proven difference in the thc levels? i know a lot of people say autos dont compare but i havent gotten a real chance to compare yet since my plants have another 2-3 weeks until harvest. im thinking of coming back to the autoflowering side of things so i can simplify this and kinda use it as a perpetual grow without needing 2 grow boxes. thanks all

You're treading on some tricky ground. The pro-photo crowd seem to hate autos, and many seem stuck in old ways of thinking about the potency of autos. However, there are some serious strains coming out right now, and some of them claim 19-21% (two of those are sweet seeds' Black Jack auto and Dinafem's Critical Jack). Things will continue to progress, and in the next couple years, I think there will be a MAJOR swing to autos, much like the feminized movement.

 

[masamaaso]

Great thread,A friend sent care packaged me with a nice selection of seed including 30 autos to try here in this climate, the tropics,, I grow badass Sativas year round, when its not raining but hey take a life time to finish IF they ever finish, so me m8t in Scotland has hooked me up ,,takes a few months to get stuff here, if they make it I'll be back on the thread with "stuff" to ask and yak about.
Ciao

 

[mitch_connor]

Great thread,A friend sent care packaged me with a nice selection of seed including 30 autos to try here in this climate, the tropics,, I grow badass Sativas year round, when its not raining but hey take a life time to finish IF they ever finish, so me m8t in Scotland has hooked me up ,,takes a few months to get stuff here, if they make it I'll be back on the thread with "stuff" to ask and yak about.
Ciao

Sounds interesting, keep us posted.
Could be a great solution for you.

 

[Eschatos]

I, too, prefer autos, not that am any major grower, just keeping myself happy There are quite a few solid AF strains right now that can tolerate my noobness haha

The 12/12 photo and AF side by side sounds very interesting sir mitch connor

 

[Husky Jackal]

Hey Mitch, what about nutes ? Last Monday they had preflowers so I gave them 1ml grow+1ml bloom/litre(Biobizz nutes). Should I maintain this cycle untill flush, gradually increase bloom or something else ?

 

[Rambro]

From a growing perspective I prefer AF's in my situation.
Reliable, Productive and fast with a nice end product. And the ease factor, I find it much easier to go from seed than to clone, keep mothers and everything that entails.

It is strain and grow dependant, I like to keep trying new strains, which means nothing gets truely dialled in, but variety is the spice of life so they say.

I do think the Photo strains I have been running, do take the cake in outright potency right now, but sometimes you don't need total knock out, it's pretty subjective with how you like to smoke, the effects you like etc
So i'm not sure that clinches it for me.

One thing I do want to try at some point is a 12/12 from seed Vs AF run, I have recently been sprouting AF seeds the day I switch to 12/12 and they pretty much finish up around the same time.

Hope that helps?

helps out immensely, i think im just gonna go back to auto flowers until i at least figure out the the hell im doing a little better and i have more space for photo plants. thanks a bunch brother

You're treading on some tricky ground. The pro-photo crowd seem to hate autos, and many seem stuck in old ways of thinking about the potency of autos. However, there are some serious strains coming out right now, and some of them claim 19-21% (two of those are sweet seeds' Black Jack auto and Dinafem's Critical Jack). Things will continue to progress, and in the next couple years, I think there will be a MAJOR swing to autos, much like the feminized movement.

exactly why i asked in the auto section, because i auto growers arent always anti photo, dunno why the photo growers are anti auto tho. thanks for your help too bro, im gonna research those two strains you just listed and maybe give them a go next time!

 

[mitch_connor]

Hey Mitch, what about nutes ? Last Monday they had preflowers so I gave them 1ml grow+1ml bloom/litre(Biobizz nutes). Should I maintain this cycle untill flush, gradually increase bloom or something else ?

There's a lot of factors at play here mate,

It depends on what soil you started them in?

What lights they are under?

Rate of development?

Under 600w of HPS, I feed and transplant them when they sex.
And they get 0.5 - 1ml of biogrow, and through pre-flowering they get the amount of biogrow increased up to around 2-3 ml/litre.
Then as the weeks go on I generally drop back on the grow to 1-1.5ml and increase to around 4ml per litre of bloom.

With the biobizz nutes they will want the grow all the way through. And if they are growing at a rate of knots they may well require a decent amount of food.

Best thing to do is keep a close eye on them really, daily if you can, and get them out to look at them under natural light and inspect them.

 

[Husky Jackal]

My auto is exclusively grown outdoor, I transplanted it at 3 weeks in some 15 l of lightly fertilised soil and perlite. Next week I'll increase grow and bloom to 2ml/l and I'll build from there, just wanted to make sure I'm not doing anything very wrong. Thanks again Mitch.

 

[mitch_connor]

Sure I remember now,

How many hours and what kind of intensity of sunshine are you getting, and keep an eye on how fast they are developing, as for you that will play the key role in how much food to give.

IMO, better to push them slightly, rather than let them get hungry, as it tends to be a game of catchup after that, which is never really won again.

Pics would be really helpful dude. I find the biobloom quite week, so perhaps next week try 1.5 grow, and 2.5ml/litre of bloom.

Look at the overall colour and texture of the leaves, and especially at the new leaves being produced.

Every AF can be slightly different, but just don't give too much too soon, and you should be good.

 

[Husky Jackal]

Another problem with my little auto... Four days ago I noticed some thrip damage on two fan leaves and trip shit all over them. I made a solution with water, garlic, a drop of liquid soap and a tsp of pepper. I dilluted it exactly like in the the recipe but I think it was too strong because five fan leaves are orange-brown on top and are curling down. Should I cut down those leaves ? Will the plant recover ? She is 5 weeks old, two weeks since I saw preflowers, calixes are appearing and maybe a month left.

 

[mitch_connor]

I only encountered thrips for the first time a few weeks ago.

I first tried a soap solution that was a little too strong and burnt them a bit, but could have been because they were under lights at the time.

I followed up with a systemic which is safe to use on plants you would eat.

This was when they were 10 days old and have since been free of them.

The age your plant is, I don't think it would hinder it to remove the leaves, perhaps try and remove a couple one time and see how she goes.

 

[Husky Jackal]

It was cloudy all day so I sprayed the affected leaves with plain water and now they look better I think. I'll watch them closely for a couple of days and decide whether to cut them or not. At least the thrips are gone for now. Peace and good vibes, HJ.

 

[blackosprey]

Mitch, what do you think about using a bloom booster on autos? I am looking at a 10-52-8 booster, thinking about adding it to a couple plants as a trial. If I were to do this, when youd be a good time to start using (I'm thinking about using weeks 4-7, up until I stop all nutes).
Thanks in advance.

 

[Husky Jackal]

Sorry for not waiting in line blackosprey, but I've got a question for Mitch too... I've heard that I shouldn't give Bio Grow to autos when they are in flower because it will slow the development of buds. My auto has 6 weeks, preflowers appeared 3 weeks ago and now it's getting frostier and the calyxes are starting to swell. Should I cut the Bio Grow completely ?

 

[mitch_connor]

Mitch, what do you think about using a bloom booster on autos? I am looking at a 10-52-8 booster, thinking about adding it to a couple plants as a trial. If I were to do this, when youd be a good time to start using (I'm thinking about using weeks 4-7, up until I stop all nutes).
Thanks in advance.

What is the product? Can we look it up to see?

Your plan seems sound to me though, for the timing and the trial.

 

[mitch_connor]

Sorry for not waiting in line blackosprey, but I've got a question for Mitch too... I've heard that I shouldn't give Bio Grow to autos when they are in flower because it will slow the development of buds. My auto has 6 weeks, preflowers appeared 3 weeks ago and now it's getting frostier and the calyxes are starting to swell. Should I cut the Bio Grow completely ?

Hi mate,

I disagree there, I've always used Biogrow along with biobloom.
And have seen no negative effect on the plants.
If I don't use grow the plants get hungry and fade out early and I'm sure that does effect the yield.

They are designed to be used together (clever ploy by them really), I think the biobloom is pretty weak as a stand alone nutrient.

Now, recently I switched to Plant Magic old timers bloom, and when I still gave biogrow alongside that, there was too much N in the plants.

Hope that helps, ta mitch

 

[blackosprey]

What is the product? Can we look it up to see?

Your plan seems sound to me though, for the timing and the trial.

The product is Garden Elements Bud and Bloom. It's available at my local garden store. There is very little info online about it, other than stores selling it. I did a bit of research, and it contains the same ingredients and has nearly the same NPK value of both Fox Farm's Open Sesame and Cha Ching. It is a 10-52-8, where chaching is 9-50-10 and open sesame is 5-45-19. You can see the analysis of the Cha ching here http://www.igrowhydro.com/Fox-Farm-Cha-Ching-1-lb.aspx
i want to use this because it is only 10 bucks for 1.5 pounds, way better than 60 for 2 pounds, especially if I get good results.