I see. So sand and perlite. gotcha. Probably to late at this point to fix that for these girls. It took me a few seasons to learn what the regular plants liked, so I expect this to go about the same while I am learning. Good thing these are quick plants so I still have time to get a successful crop.
Your autoflowers will like what your regular warm weather veggies like, for the most part.
Indoors, my autoflowers thrive on warmth & light, with early development being critical. You're in a race with their autoflowering biological clock, trying to get maximum development before they flower & then max flowering before they're done, exhausted. You'll know when they're finished because the fan leaves yellow & fall away as bud development ceases. They'll tell you when they're ready.
In a good soil mix, they don't really need to be fertilized much if at all because they're done before using up the necessary nutrients.
For your purposes next season, a cold frame would probably work well, the kind with an automatic damper to prevent the plants from getting too hot. It gives seedlings a nice warm jump start. Google it up. Something else to consider are semi-autoflowering strains, usually from Canadian breeders. So long as the day length is increasing, they vegetate, but begin to flower as soon as day length begins to shorten at all, letting them finish much earlier than regular photoperiod varieties.
Good luck with your project. Don't be terribly disappointed if yields are small this first go-round- it's about learning, about getting better at it.
