Growing techniques Auto vs Photo

A

adam2706

Active Member
Hi everyone,

I'm thinking about trying an Auto grow. Until now, I have only grown photo plants. My first try on autos is going to be CKS jack herer fem seeds.

Typically, I will top/Fim, super crop, and scrog. My setup for this grow will be 2 RDWC plants in a 4x2 tent with LED lights. I have seen alot of mixed reviews on techniques for autos so im looking for some advice, tips, and tricks. My main questions are:

Lighting schedule: I've heard 18/6, 20/4, and 24hrs on, any thoughts on this? Will the flower/veg stage effect the lighting times and/or strength?

Training- I've heard that autos can't handle HST so I am planning to scrog to make the canopy even. Will HST (topping and supercrop) hurt the quality of the final product? Is a scrog ok?

Size: Is it true that autos stay shorter compared to the same phot strain? If so, about how much shorter? I'm trying to figure out the ideal height for my scrog.

Any other advice you have would be greatly appreciated.
 
laddyd

laddyd

Well-Known Member
I am not an expert but here are my observations from 3 auto grows I did this year and the end of last year.
18/6 20/4 and 24 will all work. Really not much difference from what I've read. I chose 18/6 to let my tent completely cool off. I would not recommend topping but if you do it needs to happen right after the 3rd node no later than 2 weeks from sprout and it needs to be growing vigorously. You will have better results LSTing. The height is going to be less than a photo. None of the strains I grew got taller than 30 inches, most were under 20. The thing about autos is they have a short veg cycle, topping retards it and LST encourages it. They can easily start flowering at 3 weeks they need to be growing strong by then. Don't believe the seed vendors finishing times [55 days from seed to harvest etc.!] bullshit. Once they start flowering you are still looking at 8 to 11 more weeks. I've attached a picture of my latest auto it was 2 months old on 8/23.
Looks like another month to go more or less.


IMG_20210823_090638.jpg
 
twentyeight.threefive

twentyeight.threefive

Well-Known Member
adam2706 said:
Hi everyone,

I'm thinking about trying an Auto grow. Until now, I have only grown photo plants. My first try on autos is going to be CKS jack herer fem seeds.

Typically, I will top/Fim, super crop, and scrog. My setup for this grow will be 2 RDWC plants in a 4x2 tent with LED lights. I have seen alot of mixed reviews on techniques for autos so im looking for some advice, tips, and tricks. My main questions are:

Lighting schedule: I've heard 18/6, 20/4, and 24hrs on, any thoughts on this? Will the flower/veg stage effect the lighting times and/or strength?

Training- I've heard that autos can't handle HST so I am planning to scrog to make the canopy even. Will HST (topping and supercrop) hurt the quality of the final product? Is a scrog ok?

Size: Is it true that autos stay shorter compared to the same phot strain? If so, about how much shorter? I'm trying to figure out the ideal height for my scrog.

Any other advice you have would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
A lot of your questions will depend on the experience of the grower and the overall health of your plants. Some will just come down to genetics.

I typically use 18/6 for autos. You can go up to 24/0 as long as you don't exceed the plants DLI. IMO you may get slightly better results with the extra light but you aren't going to see monster gains over the 18/6. By using 18/6 you also ensure you won't light stress the plants by exceeding their DLI.

Healthy autos can withstand any type of training. Your experience and ability to keep them healthy will dictate what kind of training you should use. I can getting equally good training results just from constant LST than I see others get with other training so I don't see the need to do anything else.

Size? Again it's going to depend on your ability to keep them healthy and genetics. You'll see pictures of plenty of 8 inch flowering autos on here from people that can't keep their plants in optimal health. GL
 
A

adam2706

Active Member
Thanks everyone! This is all great info, much appreciated. I think I will stick to my scrog being 12" above the bucket and hold off on the topping, I may experiment more with HST on the next auto grow if this one goes well.
 
wil2279

wil2279

Well-Known Member
adam2706 said:
Hi everyone,

I'm thinking about trying an Auto grow. Until now, I have only grown photo plants. My first try on autos is going to be CKS jack herer fem seeds.

Typically, I will top/Fim, super crop, and scrog. My setup for this grow will be 2 RDWC plants in a 4x2 tent with LED lights. I have seen alot of mixed reviews on techniques for autos so im looking for some advice, tips, and tricks. My main questions are:

Lighting schedule: I've heard 18/6, 20/4, and 24hrs on, any thoughts on this? Will the flower/veg stage effect the lighting times and/or strength?

Training- I've heard that autos can't handle HST so I am planning to scrog to make the canopy even. Will HST (topping and supercrop) hurt the quality of the final product? Is a scrog ok?

Size: Is it true that autos stay shorter compared to the same phot strain? If so, about how much shorter? I'm trying to figure out the ideal height for my scrog.

Any other advice you have would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Most breeders will tell you that you can run any light schedule you want however most recommend some type of dark period. Most people run 18/6. Scrog should be fine... Most people use LST. I don't believe HST will affect the quality of your harvest but may lower your quantity at harvest.

Just remember Most autos start to flower in 3-4 weeks. So keep that in mind when planning nutrients. Most finish in 10-13 weeks so you will have about 3 or 4 weeks of veg... and then 7-10 weeks of flower. Most people tell you less is more when running autos in soil.
 
R

rembrandt100

Well-Known Member
This is a Jack Herer I started germination July 4 and in the soil on July 6 so it is 8 weeks 1 day. She is in a small greenhouse in a 5 gallon pot and the only light she gets is sunlight for as long as it shines. She gets watered 2 times daily with Plant Prod nutes. Since it is outside you can not tie it down like you inside guys can so you are left with training and topping. She got topped at the fifth node and when I did that I did not cut it as cleanly as I should have. I had only cut 4/5th of the way and then it broke off be itself. I saw the stub end but left it thinking it would die back. It did not. I formed a new cola! A week later I had 3 colas growing from the main stem. See pic 2. Right now is is getting too close to the peak so I am trying super cropping the top most limbs. I have already crimped a few of them.
 

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yummy fur

yummy fur

Well-Known Member
adam2706 said:
Hi everyone,

I'm thinking about trying an Auto grow. Until now, I have only grown photo plants. My first try on autos is going to be CKS jack herer fem seeds.

Typically, I will top/Fim, super crop, and scrog. My setup for this grow will be 2 RDWC plants in a 4x2 tent with LED lights. I have seen alot of mixed reviews on techniques for autos so im looking for some advice, tips, and tricks. My main questions are:

Lighting schedule: I've heard 18/6, 20/4, and 24hrs on, any thoughts on this? Will the flower/veg stage effect the lighting times and/or strength?

Training- I've heard that autos can't handle HST so I am planning to scrog to make the canopy even. Will HST (topping and supercrop) hurt the quality of the final product? Is a scrog ok?

Size: Is it true that autos stay shorter compared to the same phot strain? If so, about how much shorter? I'm trying to figure out the ideal height for my scrog.

Any other advice you have would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
I've never tried 24 hours but it feels wrong. I cannot see any difference between 18 or 20 hours on, so I run at 18/6. If you are growing a healthy auto in hydro then they are at least as resilient as photoperiod, maybe even more. They respond to super cropping well but make sure you tie the branches down otherwise you won't even know you super cropped. I've snapped branches almost clean off split down the middle, the plant did not batter a leaf. Sometimes if you get a very rigid plant with short internode it can be difficult. Probably gonna want the scrog about 12". 26" is an average auto height in hydro. Personally I do not like scrolling with autos, I prefer to just manipulate them around it give you much more room for some pruning creativity. They like having a lot of wiggly undergrowth and spindly looking branches cut out early. Autos respond very well to topping.

However there's a big problem if you want to scrog an auto and that is you need to know if she is a scrogable specimen. Some are just too short stocky and rigid to scrog. Others would be ideal, but on the whole they are better just tied down.
 
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MATTYMATT726

MATTYMATT726

Well-Known Member
rembrandt100 said:
I did not mean to say that IU know better than you do just that what you said is not a completely true statement. Pic shows how many colas are on the plant now at about 10 weeks. Pic 2 shows where the plant was topped.
Click to expand...
It's not his fault. 9/10 growers repeat what they read and not what they've actually done. They just don't know any better.
 
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PopAndSonGrows

PopAndSonGrows

Well-Known Member
Literally no difference in grow style honestly. If you're growing bomb ass photoperiod plants, just carry that over to autos. That's it.

Only literal difference is that autoflowers don't specifically require a photo-dark period. They are "day neutral". I personally use 16/8 lighting to save a lil bit extra on the electric bill. And i personally think those couple extra hours darkness is good for the roots.

They can be sensitive to high stess training and it can affect their final size and yield, but that's not set in stone. Do whatever the fck you want; SCROG em, flog em, whatever.
 
OutdoorOpps

OutdoorOpps

Active Member
They are very easy, is the main diference to me, you don't need to handle big plants, wich make growing it very easy and convenient in every regard, imo autos have lot to say outdoors wise, easy fast and stealth, I know ppl 35-39 north degree that grow autos all year long outdoors, is a dream come true. Effects is a matter of genetics as always was, 12 or 14 years back or so, a friend of mine tried some autos but it really lacks potency so I never tried, maybe back then I was a fool for not find something better or at least do some research, today there are plenty of fairly potent autos I'm pretty sure
 
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