Autoflower light schedule & set up

[grasscropper]

I have grown regular cannabis plants and now am going to try these autoflower. I have 10 seeds that I ordered online of a mixed bag of Autos from Vancouver seed bank. $15.00 figured can't go wrong and I'' give it a try.
Question is can I have them in an area that is not tented off with the lights overhead working on a timer at 18/6. It's a crawl space so when its dark, it's black and it's big. Space could be an issue in my veg room and putting them in the flower with others on 12/12 may compromise the yield. I am going to grow in soil.
Any recommendations and advise would be appreicated. Thanks

 

[jimmer6577]

Yes they will grow and flower anywhere, anyplace, anytime. I run mine in my veg area, but time it so when they are budding and finishing, your regulars are small clones or seedlings. It's great use of veg area while waiting for plants to fill it up. The only area I have "tented" is my flower area. Good luck

 

[grasscropper]

thanks for the input... so it is like a bonus during the wait time of regs. I will have to add some more light to the veg room even and open it up larger if required.
Now next question... the 4 seeds have popped but I am leaving them in the paper towel for another night to get longer tap roots then will put in small pot. Do you count the first day of life for the seedling the day you see the seed pop the tap root?

 

[tekdc911]

usually when the plant pops up is day one


dont expect them to be done in 80 days
just tossing that out there

 

[jackvanimpe]

Also keep in mind you do not want to transplant them so make sure your planting them into a container of adequate size. I like 3-5 gallon myself.

 

[grasscropper]

I was going to do 3 gallon fabric pots or bags. How long are we talking then from breaking ground to harvest approximately?

 

[jackvanimpe]

Can't say for sure. Usually a month per gallon of container. But genetics will also play a roll.

 

[tekdc911]

I was going to do 3 gallon fabric pots or bags. How long are we talking then from breaking ground to harvest approximately?

10+ weeks depends on how patient you are
8-9 weeks if your out of smoke but you can automatically expect a huge loss of yield from chopping a few weeks early
so 75 days or so with more of them wanting or needing to run close to 90 days

 

[Ovibird]

Also keep in mind you do not want to transplant them so make sure your planting them into a container of adequate size. I like 3-5 gallon myself.

Why would you not want to transplant autos. I got a freebie of diesel auto and started it off in a solo cup just like the rest of my regular plants. Was that wrong. What's the issue with transplanting an auto??

 

[tekdc911]

its not that it cant be done
its just that if its done incorrectly the plant will stunt permanently seeing how by the time it recovers it will already be in flower
so most people just say not too

 

[Ovibird]

its not that it cant be done
its just that if its done incorrectly the plant will stunt permanently seeing how by the time it recovers it will already be in flower
so most people just say not too

So should I transplant earlier into final pot

 

[tekdc911]

So should I transplant earlier into final pot

i use a party cup for the first 2 weeks MAX if i have too or feel the need
other then that i still go straight into the final pot
you have to get auto's dam near perfect the whole grow with just a little push in veg
i like to get a slight tip burn going late in veg then again later in flower

 

[grasscropper]

Now I found this light at Home Depot and just wondered if it could be utilized for growing. I currently flower under LED, two 300 watt. Then I was going to leave the autos in my veg area and thought I'd add to the light which is currently 4 t5s. This security light is a 150 watt hps for $89 with the bulb. What do you think? My autos just popped yesterday all 4. They are in jiffy peat pots and will go from those to 3 gallon fabric pots or bags

 

[oldman60]

If that is what you have so be it, but I don't think security lights
are tuned to agricultural spectrum but I'm not sure, you could look
it up on the web.
I would be willing to bet others have used them in small grows
any added red/orange spectrum helps with maturation.
Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[tekdc911]

Dude check ebay
I bought my apollo 600 and 400. Hoods ,lights ,hangers ,ballast and timer for less then 300 shipped. If your gonna spend 90 you might aswell spend 120 on a dimmable. Aircooled 400 watt

-edit- figured I would add these ballasts may be cheap. But I have 6 months on the 600 and over a year and a half almost on the 400. I run 20/4 on the hps but my led's and 56w cfl's are 24/0. So they have some burn time and still ticking

 

[tekdc911]

And most people just run normal 2000k hps bulbs. They are cheap. And you can replace them often .. I went high dollar and it makes my skin crawl when I order a lumatek high par hps. Sometimes I can find em cheap but when I can't and I have to go to a shop they bend me over

 

[oldman60]

And most people just run normal 2000k hps bulbs. They are cheap. And you can replace them often .. I went high dollar and it makes my skin crawl when I order a lumatek high par hps. Sometimes I can find em cheap but when I can't and I have to go to a shop they bend me over

I've been using digilux 600 hps with enhanced blue they are supposed
to compare to the hortilux, they seem to work OK but I get a hell of a lot
of stretch in flower 125%+, is this because of the blue spectrum? and
would I be better off with straight hps?
I'm using t-5 for first 2 weeks then mh 600 watt until flower.

 

[tekdc911]

The stretch in flower is flower is fairly normal when dealing with sativa hybrids. I pinch and pinch and then pinch some more. Before I flip my photo's. Even my auto's after I've grown them a few times get pinched. Always in prep for what's to come. Not to remedy a problem. But to fix one I already know is going to happen

 

[tekdc911]

The added blue is more to help keep the stretch down in veg I believe and its suppossed to help with resin production I believe
I run 2000k hps ,2700k cfl's, a 5 band bloom led,7 band veg led with the uv emmiter , all from seed to chop
Led's 24/0
Cfl's fill in the dark spots after the plants fill in
Hps. Has a 4 hour cooldown that starts around 1pm since its the hottest part of the day basically

 

[oldman60]

I'm running 20/4 with 4 - 600 watt and 2 sets of 4/24" t-5's for fill.
Espoma Organic soil 7 gal. pots, FF for nutes .
I think I'm getting pretty good results with auto's (my 3rd grow)
l avg. from 3+ to 5+ per plant depending on strain but I've had
some great help from members of RIU.
I've grown photo's outside for years but this area has gotten so
built up it's impossible, so I moved in with auto's.
Thanks for the info.