Need Help From Someone Who Is Familiar With Autoflowering Outdoors.

[EthosEnthusiast]

As the title says,

I'm over here beyond confused to the point I had to come on here due to finding so much conflicting information online and through the multiple resources I've picked up. While I'm not a veteran grower, I would like some input from someone who is familiar with this situation as it applies to autoflowering outdoor females, as it's much different already than working with photoperiods inside. Recently my buddy gave me a vial of some freebies he got from Ethos, a few Fem Auto Chemdawg beans. Did the good old tried and true soaking method (took 12 hours roughly for all 3 to sink) in some natural spring that I have access to and then once they sunk and soaked for about another 2 hours, then I moved them into a papertowel medium inside a glass container keeping them at around 85% humidity, with the towel fairly moist (not damp or wet). However over the course of ~35-40 hours all of these seeds exploded in growth, quicker than I've ever seen my photoperiods come out of their shell - and while 2 of them had about a 0.5-0.75" taproot coming out, the other seed had almost double the length and had slide out of its shell completely and the cotyledons were attempting to unfold and looked a bit yellowed, otherwise the taproot was super solid (albeit very curly) had tons of fuzz.

Now I've never had beans get this big this fast (maybe its the natural spring water here?) so here's a few questions now since this is throwing me off a tiny bit.

When a female autoflower (obviously this is different by strain) is grow outdoors only - just so im prepared if it ever happens again. Should a seed that popped during germination and pulled its own husk off inside the papertowel exposing the cotyledons be planted directly into soil so it can start getting nitrogen? or should I use jiffy pellet and plant it once it roots itself adequately (I had planned on cutting the bottom of the meshing off upon transfer into a soil medium). I understnad this is a generic question and could be different between what soils are used / mediums etc. However, I'd like this tailored toward autoflowering females grow outdoors specifcally

Next, since this new lady now has no shell and coming out of the paper towel into direct sunlight I knew would be too shocking (someone please correct me if I'm wrong here as I don't know the intricacies of autoflowers like that especially when outdoors has so many variables) so I planted it taproot down inside of a smaller 4" pot with a 0.5" layer of perlite on the bottom, and FF Happy Frog (as I've heard OF is far too hot since these guys are supposed to go in their final container from the start but I didn't have one available on such quick notice) and I then lightly pushed the soil back over it so that the cotyledons were sitting just above the soil along with 1cm" under the cotyledon's lowest position, then left them in the shade but outside (~88 in the sun w/ ~75% humidity outside today) - others said this was incorrect to do and that I was supposed to do the following: (please someone confirm if each is appropriate or totally inappropriate)
A: Plant the dehusked germinated sprout from papertowel directly into a jiffy pellet, as they have a much more airy medium than soil and then leave the cotyledons under the petemoss and let them emerge on their own (seemed off to me - but would prevent sunshock I guess?).
B: The same as above - but plant directly into soil (seemed even harder to believe that cotyledons could really benefit more from being in a darker enviroment and also be trying to force their way through a soil/potting mix medium vs petemoss.
C: Plant into a soil/jiffy pot with the cotyledons exposed and 90% of taproot buried (as the entire sprout is all white at this point and no real stalk position can be seen) and then leave it into the sun right after potting (sunshock warnings written all over this despite the cotyledons providing a means of photosynthesis during early growth)

Lastly - in terms of shorter cycle autoflowers grown outdoors at this time of the year with a very warm climate - given this seedlings situation - should I let it rest for another day in the shade before giving it full sunlight? Since it's so humid here soil in the shade takes a very long time to dry and given that the sprout was very wet during the germination state to have grown like it did, I did not want to risk root rot, but I also don't want to stunt the growth since the soil is a little moist and I added a little water around the 3cm ring surrounding the sprout. Sunlight here I know would obviously dry it out but would preferably not like to shock the plant if it needs more time to adjust from just being in a dark paper towel with water to some soil with nutrients and 14+ hours of sunlight.

If you want to include any scientific articles or any unique tips that worked out well for you when you grew your autoflowers outdoors that'd be awesome. Looking forward to hearing some input - also please feel free to point out any errors that you may see with my process I did, if I did in fact make the right choice.

My thanks.

 

[Baystatestank]

You can dig a hole in whatever you're using and fill it with a little coco coir or a light seed starter or perhaps just peat moss, although I've never tried it, and it should be fine. Make sure its adequately watered. Transplanting autos shocks them.

 

[EthosEnthusiast]

You can dig a hole in whatever you're using and fill it with a little coco coir or a light seed starter or perhaps just peat moss, although I've never tried it, and it should be fine. Make sure its adequately watered. Transplanting autos shocks them.

Thanks yeah I know the transplant shocks em so that why I would have started it in a bigger pot normally but that's besides the point - my main concern I guess was mostly, if this happens again, should I plant it with the taproot and cotyledons under the medium or leave the cotyledons above it? (they act as the plants beginner leaves so I feel like robbing them of more air would not be conducive to growth after being in a paper towel medium) - the reasoning I was told, was that there would be more nitrogen absorption with the cotyledons buried and less sunshock as the plant would have a day or two to adjust to outside vs sunshocking it by leaving the cotyledons above ground.

To counter this I left it in afternoon shade and let it adjust to the warm humid outdoor temps overnight then gave her a little sun this morning and she seems to be doing okay - but not going as strong as the others. I'm pissed I didn't take a better look during the germ process and notice the taproot exploding out like it did that quick, but c'est la vie.

 

[Hugo Phurst]

should I plant it with the taproot and cotyledons under the medium or leave the cotyledons above it?

robbing them of more air would not be conducive to growth

would be more nitrogen absorption with the cotyledons buried and less sunshock as the plant would have a day or two to adjust to outside vs sunshocking it by leaving the cotyledons above ground.

To counter this I left it in afternoon shade

Definitely above. If the shell were still attached then under.
I agree.
Cotyledon to my knowledge don't absorb N, they provide the nutrients to get things going.
IMO, shade for a day or two is a good thing for seedlings.

 

[EthosEnthusiast]

Definitely above. If the shell were still attached then under.
I agree.
Cotyledon to my knowledge don't absorb N, they provide the nutrients to get things going.
IMO, shade for a day or two is a good thing for seedlings.

yeah this has me all confused ever since lol I've just never had this happen before, figured shade would beat the sunshock since it came straight from the dark but still might catch some uv from ambient light in the shaded area for the cotyledons to start sucking up some juice. Most a beans ever really popped for me was maybe 0.5 in tap in 2 days but still held the casing on making life easy waiting for the rise. Guess I'll update this here once I actually get a little sun after all this rain with how shes doing. Appreciate all your guys feedback

 

[Humanrob]

I started with photos and then switched to autos indoors and out, so I've had a few years of growing autos outdoors (within the confines of my climate, and specific logistics and environment). It's a challenge for me to comment on many of your questions, because we have different approaches from the start. It sounds like you are past that stage at this point and have chosen a solution for your initial questions.

In general, I've found autos to be less forgiving than photos, the first six weeks are really important. There is no recovery time during vegetation, anything that slows them down (cold weather, rough transplanting/root damage, bug issues, etc.) will impact their final size. My response to this vulnerability is that I'll do anything I can to control the early environment of the plant as much as possible.

To that end, I start my seeds indoors directly in 1 gallon pots of soil (for outdoor grows, for indoor which I don't need to move, I start them in their final pots). For a while I was putting the seed into a handful of Light Warrior seed starter mix in the top center of the pot of soil, but honestly I didn't notice any difference in germination rates, growth rates, or final size compared to ones just started directly in soil. I use Happy Frog or Roots Organic soil in that first gallon.

I tend to keep them under lights for 2 - 3 weeks before transplanting them into their final pots or the ground, outside. If we're having a particularly cold spring, I will generally keep them in longer. It all depends on the weather that particular year. Early on when I tried putting them outside as sprouts, it was too easy for bugs to kill them, or conditions to be too hot or too cold for them to get an optimal start. Just my experience (or inexperience...), your environment and skillset might get you different results.

What is their final spot, pots or the ground? Both have advantages and disadvantages. If you're going with pots, I'm curious what size you chose? 14+ hours of direct sunlight is outstanding, way more than I get, that should allow you to reach close to the plants full potential.