Advanced Autoflower Training, tips, secrets

[Jeffdogg]

This thread is intended to help others and learn as well. Over the past 4-5+ years theres been great improvements on the genetics for autoflowers, and more and more people everyday
are growing them. Think you know a good tip? Have a special way to Train/LST auto's? Whats your feeding schedule? What nutes do you prefer and why? Theres lots of variables as well as
trial and error, we dont always have to error to learn from them. For those of us who like to read anyway ...

I'm new to the AF's just ordered a couple AutoXtreme from Dutch Passion, was gonna go for the AutoMazar but something told me to go with the Xtreme

Theres lots of info around about AF's but the AF forum dont have a sticky yet and this could make a great one if we contribute and show it can be a plethora of information for all to read and learn from .
I'll be quoting other things i've read on the forums that I think will be a good contribution and will give credit to whom I read it from.

 

[Fenian Brotherhood]

Awesome


I'll start.


Never Transplant!!! Start off in the harvesting pot 3Gallon+

You Could!! Cut off the bottom to a party cup, an when the roots come out the bottom just put the Cup in the bigger Pot.
20/4 hours is the best(Depending on Strain) If you really want to Find out what is best, Start with 24/7 then the next batch, use 20/4 and see how that goes...


I have alot more, I'll be back later :smoke:

 

[tekdc911]

I'll back him with one exception. If you "KNOW" really know how to transplant they dont miss a beat. If your a noob let it be.


Soil is more important then lighting.
Auto's have funny tap roots and until you grow one you probably wont understand. They have a tap like normal but its short and stubby usually grows to a 45 at one side. When you hear people say that they veg until the tap hits .... Well this statement is partially right but for the actual tap root to hit. Then you would have to have a shallow pot like 5 inches. Ruderalis has adapted to harsh conditions like permafrost layers that are very thin so to survive it evolved to grow multiple large sideways roots. (Notice the empty spot under the stalk I grabbed it by the stalk and shook it just to elaborate) Now the veg until they hit applies to these from my experience. I have pots that hold the same volume but some are tall and thin. But for some reason the square wide shallow ones always veg longer. This is why they have more reach.
Auto's growth will stop if over watered the easiest indoor mix i have found is a good organic indoor potting mix in ratio of 50/50 mixed with perlite. This promotes really good drainage which auto's love. try and steer clear of time released ferts to easy to burn your plants when using nutes.

For the feed/nutes even with 50% perlite a good soil will more then support a auto for 3-4 weeks. I have finished many nice plants with this mix only using water
best results were from using nutes 1/4 str at first then build up slowly.
I introduce veg nutes at show of preflower roughly 3-4 weeks. If your going to feed every watering then leave nutes at 1/4 str there is not much veg after this 2-3 weeks so these feeds need to be under max dose other wise a burn will greatly reduce yields at this point.
Preflower is not the sign to switch to bloom nutes unless you want a fast low yielding auto. If this is so then there is no need for veg nutes you want the N to diminish.
When the tell tale popcorns of hairs start to pop up over night. I use just water for 1-2 weeks depends on str of nutes i used in veg this just helps with nute build up and helps deter problems later on. Bloom nutes 1/4 str and build up
few auto's actually run for 8 weeks. i assume when i am growing a new strain 10 weeks have had them take aslong as 14.
I have topped and if its within the first couple sets of nodes then it actually helps i pull a 1/4 ounce more from my 1 oz strains
really it just relocates bud sites honestly extra weight is probably just stem weight but the scales dont lie.
Lst they love it absolutely love it SCROG remember this word if your on your first auto grow or a grow using led or cfl its a god send. For hid's this is the money maker in the right setup easily two to three times yield.
Auto's need no schedule when it comes to lighting common misconception is that a auto needs a dark period a true auto needs no such thing.They will run pedal to the metal start to finish under the right conditions. You may need a dark period for temps or your pocket book , If the breeder calls for a dark period its for the desired bud structure but commonly its the fact that they know that if you run 24/7 that the plant is no where near small or stealthy Dinafem white widow auto for example up until a year or so ago growers were advised to put it on 12/12 to bring out the best of this strain that was the claim anyway . But put them on 24 hrs and there 3' tall with a few weeks of veg left.

"cut cure smoke" <~~~~~ this is the autoflower section not gonna explain that one

 

[tekdc911]

• haloman420
  
  
  
  StonerMr. Ganja
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Join DateMay 2009
  LocationThe sunshine statePosts1,167
  
  [h=2]
  
  How To Produce Feminized Seeds.[/h]
  
  I found this article online and found it to be interesting so I thought t I would share.
  Creating feminized marijuana seeds is an art, there are a few different methods of application. I have written about some of my different methods of making cannabis seeds in previous HIGH TIMES articles. I have use gibberellic acid, light stress, ph stress, and fertilizer stress to force my plants to make marijuanaseeds.
  All these methods are harsh on the plants, and some like the gibbrellic acid, are not organic. In my search for cleaner more earth-friendly ways of working with the cannabis plant, I have found a new way to makefeminized cannabis seeds.Feminized seeds occur as a result of stress, other than genetics. All cannabis plants can and will make male flowers under stress. Certain strains like a higher PH, some like a lower one. Some like a lot of food, some like a lot less.
  There is quite a lot of variety in marijuana genetics, and you can’t treat every plant the same way.It takes many harvests before you really get to know a particular strain. Just like getting to know human friends, it takes time. I have grown strains for a decade and am truly getting to know every nuance the different plants exhibit. I can recognize them from a distance. I must say that I get a lot of help from my friends, both in making marijuana seeds and learning new and better ways of working with this sacred plant.
  I named this new method “Rodelization” after a friend who helped me realize and make use of this way of creating female cannabis seeds. After growing crop after crop of the same plant in the same conditions, I noticed that if I flowered the plants 10-14 days longer than usual, they would develop male “bananas”. A male banana is a very slight male flower on a femalemarijuana plant that is formed because of stress. Usually they do not let out any pollen early enough tomake marijuana seeds, but they sometimes do. They are a built in safety factor so in case of sever conditions, the plant can make sure that the species is furthered.
  To me a male banana is quite a beautiful thing. It has the potential of making all female pot seeds. Many growers out there have male banana phobia. They see one and have heart palpitations, they want to cut down the entire crop or at least take tweezers and pluck the little yellow emerging devices out. I call them “Emergency Devices” because they emerge at times of stress.In the Rodelization method, the male banana is very valuable. After growing your female plant 10-14 days longer than usual, hang them up to dry, then carefully take them off the drying lines and inspect for bananas. Each and every banana should be removed and placed in a small bag labeled very accurately. These sealed bags can be placed in the fridge for one to two months and still remain potent.
  For the second phase you need to already have a crop that’s already 2 ½ weeks into flowering. Take your sealed bag of pollen out of the fridge, and proceed toimpregnate your new crop of females. To do this, you must first match the female plant and the pollen from the same strain in the previous crop. Shut down all the fans in the grow room. Then take a very fine paint brush, dip it in the bag of pollen, and paint it on the female flower. Do this to each different strain you have growing together. I have done it with ten different kinds in the same room with great success.I use the lower flowers to make weed seeds, leaving the top colas seedless for smoking. This method takes time(two crops), but is completely organic and lets you have great quality smoke at the same time you make your female cannabis seeds. If you’re one of those growers that has never grown marijuana seeds for fear of not having something good to smoke, you will love this method.You can also use this pollen to make new female crosses by cross pollinating.
  The older females with the bananas can be brought into the room with the younger, un-pollinated females when they are three weeks into flowering. Turn all of the circulation fans on high, and the little bits of pollen will proceed to make it around the room. Do this for several days. Six to seven weeks later you will have ripe 100% female seeds; not nearly as many as a male plant would make, but enough to start over somewhere else with the same genetics.As a farmer who has been forced to move his genetics far away from where they started, I know very well the value ofseeds. My friend Adam from THSeeds in Amsterdam has a motto that I love to borrow these days: “Dropseeds not bombs”.Soma.​
  
  
  
  • Like
  
  
  You can pick frinds. You can pick ur nose. You cant pick a friends nose.

  

  
  ​
  
  

 

[Jeffdogg]

• haloman420
  
  
  
  StonerMr. Ganja
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Join DateMay 2009
  LocationThe sunshine statePosts1,167
  
  
  
  How To Produce Feminized Seeds.
  
  I found this article online and found it to be interesting so I thought t I would share.
  Creating feminized marijuana seeds is an art, there are a few different methods of application. I have written about some of my different methods of making cannabis seeds in previous HIGH TIMES articles. I have use gibberellic acid, light stress, ph stress, and fertilizer stress to force my plants to make marijuanaseeds.
  All these methods are harsh on the plants, and some like the gibbrellic acid, are not organic. In my search for cleaner more earth-friendly ways of working with the cannabis plant, I have found a new way to makefeminized cannabis seeds.Feminized seeds occur as a result of stress, other than genetics. All cannabis plants can and will make male flowers under stress. Certain strains like a higher PH, some like a lower one. Some like a lot of food, some like a lot less.
  There is quite a lot of variety in marijuana genetics, and you can&#8217;t treat every plant the same way.It takes many harvests before you really get to know a particular strain. Just like getting to know human friends, it takes time. I have grown strains for a decade and am truly getting to know every nuance the different plants exhibit. I can recognize them from a distance. I must say that I get a lot of help from my friends, both in making marijuana seeds and learning new and better ways of working with this sacred plant.
  I named this new method &#8220;Rodelization&#8221; after a friend who helped me realize and make use of this way of creating female cannabis seeds. After growing crop after crop of the same plant in the same conditions, I noticed that if I flowered the plants 10-14 days longer than usual, they would develop male &#8220;bananas&#8221;. A male banana is a very slight male flower on a femalemarijuana plant that is formed because of stress. Usually they do not let out any pollen early enough tomake marijuana seeds, but they sometimes do. They are a built in safety factor so in case of sever conditions, the plant can make sure that the species is furthered.
  To me a male banana is quite a beautiful thing. It has the potential of making all female pot seeds. Many growers out there have male banana phobia. They see one and have heart palpitations, they want to cut down the entire crop or at least take tweezers and pluck the little yellow emerging devices out. I call them &#8220;Emergency Devices&#8221; because they emerge at times of stress.In the Rodelization method, the male banana is very valuable. After growing your female plant 10-14 days longer than usual, hang them up to dry, then carefully take them off the drying lines and inspect for bananas. Each and every banana should be removed and placed in a small bag labeled very accurately. These sealed bags can be placed in the fridge for one to two months and still remain potent.
  For the second phase you need to already have a crop that&#8217;s already 2 ½ weeks into flowering. Take your sealed bag of pollen out of the fridge, and proceed toimpregnate your new crop of females. To do this, you must first match the female plant and the pollen from the same strain in the previous crop. Shut down all the fans in the grow room. Then take a very fine paint brush, dip it in the bag of pollen, and paint it on the female flower. Do this to each different strain you have growing together. I have done it with ten different kinds in the same room with great success.I use the lower flowers to make weed seeds, leaving the top colas seedless for smoking. This method takes time(two crops), but is completely organic and lets you have great quality smoke at the same time you make your female cannabis seeds. If you&#8217;re one of those growers that has never grown marijuana seeds for fear of not having something good to smoke, you will love this method.You can also use this pollen to make new female crosses by cross pollinating.
  The older females with the bananas can be brought into the room with the younger, un-pollinated females when they are three weeks into flowering. Turn all of the circulation fans on high, and the little bits of pollen will proceed to make it around the room. Do this for several days. Six to seven weeks later you will have ripe 100% female seeds; not nearly as many as a male plant would make, but enough to start over somewhere else with the same genetics.As a farmer who has been forced to move his genetics far away from where they started, I know very well the value ofseeds. My friend Adam from THSeeds in Amsterdam has a motto that I love to borrow these days: &#8220;Dropseeds not bombs&#8221;.Soma.​
  
  
  • Like
  You can pick frinds. You can pick ur nose. You cant pick a friends nose.

  

  
  ​
  
  

I'm actually gonna be doing that with one of the seeds i got, gonna try gibberellic acid method, tyvm for this info!!

 

[tekdc911]

the trick is to get to know your strain your working with and how to tell what pheno is what early on then you herm your fav and let it self polinate it stabilizes and they become more cookie cutter / uniform almost clone like even

 

[tekdc911]

i like your signature by the way
i stold a saying a long time ago
" illegal is just a sick bird untill you get caught" reminded me of that lol good times

 

[tekdc911]

ok so i guess ill cover lighting since no one else has chimed in

t-5 is enough to get decent yields
spectrum is personal preference nowadays the requirement of a MH to keep from hermi'n has been bred out most are stable enough to not have problems
personally i use blue spec but only at most 20-30 % is blue blue spec causes close nodes and shorter plants
i prefer a red spec on a auto i have found it makes them reach a bit more and in turn light is allowed to penetrate easier, which if you want a good yield is the key to bumper harvests on a auto ofcourse the more light the better but i have grown full term with 1 68 watt 2700k cfl a plant and got good yields its all about lst
and utilizing the light you have, being sure not to waste any

 

[lilroach]

I don't know if I should post this on the sick plants blog or here....so I'll pick here because my issues are auto-specific.

I am a noob with two successful photo-period grows under my belt. I really like the idea of autos and purchased 5 Cream of the Crop KO's ( https://www.cannabis-seeds-bank.co.uk/cream-of-the-crop-ko-crop-auto/prod_3694.html ) and got one auto AK47 as a freebie.

I germed and planted the 3 seeds in either a 5 gal bucket, or a 5 gal smart pot....starting with the AK47. It popped like normal, and grew to about 1.5" and stopped.




Would you believe that this plant is 45 days old?

I figured that I did something wrong, or the seed was a dud, so I planted a COC KO and it too grew about 1.5" and stopped.



This plant hasn't changed in weeks.

I'm using Humbolt's organic mix, have 'em under T5's 18/6, have watered only when needed, and not until this past week did I give them a light dose of nutes hoping that it would help....it didn't.

What am I doing wrong?

 

[marijuana2176]

I don't know if I should post this on the sick plants blog or here....so I'll pick here because my issues are auto-specific.

I am a noob with two successful photo-period grows under my belt. I really like the idea of autos and purchased 5 Cream of the Crop KO's ( https://www.cannabis-seeds-bank.co.uk/cream-of-the-crop-ko-crop-auto/prod_3694.html ) and got one auto AK47 as a freebie.

I germed and planted the 3 seeds in either a 5 gal bucket, or a 5 gal smart pot....starting with the AK47. It popped like normal, and grew to about 1.5" and stopped.


View attachment 2652145

Would you believe that this plant is 45 days old?

I figured that I did something wrong, or the seed was a dud, so I planted a COC KO and it too grew about 1.5" and stopped.

View attachment 2652146

This plant hasn't changed in weeks.

I'm using Humbolt's organic mix, have 'em under T5's 18/6, have watered only when needed, and not until this past week did I give them a light dose of nutes hoping that it would help....it didn't.

What am I doing wrong?

my guess would be dodgy seed. i've had slow ones but never that slow. i would ditch em and try something else to be honest.

 

[tekdc911]

if you read what i wrote earlier im sure you could figure it out
its either too much water or nutes are to high most soils are to hot for baby auto's and at full strength can support a auto for the 3 months it takes to finish
next try plant a jiffy pellet in your pot then plant the seed in it you wont have to water it for a while if the top of the soil looks wet then a inch down its soaked

 

[tekdc911]

i know it sounds like im setting you up for destruction but try not watering it for a week bet it shows new growth

5 gals is alot of soil my 3 gal pots in full bloom i only have to water every 2-3 days and i dont ever water more then a half gallon usually gallon i can water 3 plants in 3 gal pots full size plants that being said i usually only water maybe half a coffee cup every couple days on seedlings in a 3 gal and that is with out ever wetting the soil just the area the seed is planted and slowly work up

 

[lilroach]

I think I may have my own answer....after penning my post on here I went down to check out the plants and instead of doing my "finger in the soil" method of checking to see if I had to give 'em water, I lifted the 5 gal bucket.....it weighed a TON! The friggin' Humbolt soil clogged all my drain-holes like it was made of clay. Here lies the difference between the happy frog and ocean forest I've used in the past and Humbolt's soil.

I drilled much bigger and many more drain-holes and did my best to bust up the globs of soil in the bottom half of my bucket (it was like rock). It may be too late for these seedlings, but you can bet that I'll never use this soil again and will happily pay more for Happy Frog or Ocean Forest.

 

[tekdc911]

I think I may have my own answer....after penning my post on here I went down to check out the plants and instead of doing my "finger in the soil" method of checking to see if I had to give 'em water, I lifted the 5 gal bucket.....it weighed a TON! The friggin' Humbolt soil clogged all my drain-holes like it was made of clay. Here lies the difference between the happy frog and ocean forest I've used in the past and Humbolt's soil.

I drilled much bigger and many more drain-holes and did my best to bust up the globs of soil in the bottom half of my bucket (it was like rock). It may be too late for these seedlings, but you can bet that I'll never use this soil again and will happily pay more for Happy Frog or Ocean Forest.

i use a 50/50 soil and perlite for a reason my auto's get 3' under cfls
and really a bag of perlite is like 6 bucks and they require less nutes 1/2 - 3/4 strength is a strong dose so really they save you money

 

[tekdc911]

and brother i use garden soil from home depot the organic stuff with no time release ive used fox's soil and came to the conclusion that its comparable results from stuff i can get locally

 

[Taviddude]

Don't run 12/12.

BLAZE the with as much light as possible for at least 18 hours a day.
Personally I say stay away from CFL unless you plant to really BLAZE them with a TON of watts and train your plants well.
Watts are watts and you may as well be using a 400 watt HPS if you're using 400 watts of Fluorescent.
HPS will penetrate far better, give you heavy dense rock hard colas. No matter what you do with CFL you are going to get a lot fluffy bud.
Much of the Auto's prowess is in the fact that it can flower under 24/0 of light without reverting to veg.
There are sativa dominant auto's that are finishing in 90 days from seed with bumper crops.
Not possible with photo's.

Blaze Them.

 

[Jeffdogg]

I think I may have my own answer....after penning my post on here I went down to check out the plants and instead of doing my "finger in the soil" method of checking to see if I had to give 'em water, I lifted the 5 gal bucket.....it weighed a TON! The friggin' Humbolt soil clogged all my drain-holes like it was made of clay. Here lies the difference between the happy frog and ocean forest I've used in the past and Humbolt's soil.

I drilled much bigger and many more drain-holes and did my best to bust up the globs of soil in the bottom half of my bucket (it was like rock). It may be too late for these seedlings, but you can bet that I'll never use this soil again and will happily pay more for Happy Frog or Ocean Forest.

Dont use the finger method. You dont give them watering schedules, you schedule food but you water them when they need it not when a certain day of the week comes along or if the first few layers of soil is dry. When the pot is watered lift it up and see how heavy it is. Wait a few days till you see the leaves start to droop a little bit then lift the pot again and see how much lighter it got. IMHO thats a better standard for telling when your plant needs water instead of using the finger test. You keep too much water in your soil it hinders their growth.

 

[tekdc911]

really being consistent is the key
baby steps find something that works
a good grow is like a combination on a safe

make small changes to your system nutes soil ect.
unless it just not working
then big changes one at a time until problem is solved if you have a good memory then your ahead of the game
if not take notes
research research research cant say it enough
know i mean really know what your plant needs there are step by step grow guides but what good does that do you really if you change strains ?
or pop a nute sensitive pheno

 

[Jeffdogg]

Hopefully you also flushed it her with several gallons of water, if those holes clogged up bet ya got some salt buildup =X

 

[Jeffdogg]

I think I may have my own answer....after penning my post on here I went down to check out the plants and instead of doing my "finger in the soil" method of checking to see if I had to give 'em water, I lifted the 5 gal bucket.....it weighed a TON! The friggin' Humbolt soil clogged all my drain-holes like it was made of clay. Here lies the difference between the happy frog and ocean forest I've used in the past and Humbolt's soil.

I drilled much bigger and many more drain-holes and did my best to bust up the globs of soil in the bottom half of my bucket (it was like rock). It may be too late for these seedlings, but you can bet that I'll never use this soil again and will happily pay more for Happy Frog or Ocean Forest.

Also to prevent that, some growers will use extra perlite or newpaper and use it as a bottom layer of the pot/bucket to cover the drain holes.