Advice on growing autoflowers indoors first time

Hi, I'm looking to grow 4 autoflowering plants very soon and was hoping someone with a bit of experience could look through my plan and give me some advice.

So I'm planning to get a 4x4 tent using a 3000W Mars Hydro TS as my light source. Obviously, I'll have a carbon filter with an extraction fan too. I'll use aluminium ducting to keep my tent reflective. I wanted a heater with a thermostat and dehumidifier with a hygrometer in order to automate the temperature and humidity. I'll also have a fan to keep air circulating. I'm planning on growing four different strains with similar flowering times so that I can dry them in the tent they will grow in. I'll use low stress training in 5L fabric pots.

My growing medium will be coco with perlite mixed in. In terms of nutrients, I plan to use Canna Terra Vega for the seedling and two weeks into flowering before switching to Canna Terra Flores, until two weeks before harvest where I will just use pH altered water until harvest.

I also want to use Canna PK 13/14, Canna Cannazym and molasses but I'm not sure if it's a good idea to be using them as a beginner, nor am I sure when to use them and in what quantities. I also heard about cannaboost but apparently it has the same effect as molasses and is much more expensive.

So what do you think about my grow plan? Anything I should change? Any tips on my first grow? I'm excited to start and any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!

If this is your first grow then I would suggest going with larger pots (5gal instead of 5L), soil (instead of coco), and photo period plants. Autos are less forgiving with mistakes and coco is very easy to get wrong as a beginner.

amm4r said:

Hi, I'm looking to grow 4 autoflowering plants very soon and was hoping someone with a bit of experience could look through my plan and give me some advice.

So I'm planning to get a 4x4 tent using a 3000W Mars Hydro TS as my light source. Obviously, I'll have a carbon filter with an extraction fan too. I'll use aluminium ducting to keep my tent reflective. I wanted a heater with a thermostat and dehumidifier with a hygrometer in order to automate the temperature and humidity. I'll also have a fan to keep air circulating. I'm planning on growing four different strains with similar flowering times so that I can dry them in the tent they will grow in. I'll use low stress training in 5L fabric pots.

My growing medium will be coco with perlite mixed in. In terms of nutrients, I plan to use Canna Terra Vega for the seedling and two weeks into flowering before switching to Canna Terra Flores, until two weeks before harvest where I will just use pH altered water until harvest.

I also want to use Canna PK 13/14, Canna Cannazym and molasses but I'm not sure if it's a good idea to be using them as a beginner, nor am I sure when to use them and in what quantities. I also heard about cannaboost but apparently it has the same effect as molasses and is much more expensive.

So what do you think about my grow plan? Anything I should change? Any tips on my first grow? I'm excited to start and any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!

Click to expand...

If you can work a measuring cup or dropper, there's no difference in using nutrients at any experience level. As far as the particulars of growing in coco and perlite and bottled nutrient regimens, I couldn't tell you because that's not my thing. Make sure your exhaust is more than adequate to create negative pressure in your grow space and keep your environment within acceptable parameters. Get a handle on pest and disease prevention up front. Resist the urge to play mad scientist and just let the plants do their thing and you'll be fine.

TreeFarmerCharlie said:

If this is your first grow then I would suggest going with larger pots (5gal instead of 5L), soil (instead of coco), and photo period plants. Autos are less forgiving with mistakes and coco is very easy to get wrong as a beginner.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply! As much as I'd love to grow photo period plants, unfortunately I simply don't have the time, hence why I want to grow autos. If I was to use soil instead, would you suggest mixing it with anything (such as perlite) or just pure soil? If I do use soil I will be using Canna Terra Professional.

Hawg Wild said:

If you can work a measuring cup or dropper, there's no difference in using nutrients at any experience level. As far as the particulars of growing in coco and perlite and bottled nutrient regimens, I couldn't tell you because that's not my thing. Make sure your exhaust is more than adequate to create negative pressure in your grow space and keep your environment within acceptable parameters. Get a handle on pest and disease prevention up front. Resist the urge to play mad scientist and just let the plants do their thing and you'll be fine.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice What do you recommend for disease and pest prevention? Will I face many pests in an indoor grow?

amm4r said:

Thanks for the advice What do you recommend for disease and pest prevention? Will I face many pests in an indoor grow?

Click to expand...

Whether or not you will face pests is totally dependent on your area and the environment you create. I make my own foliar spray that includes OHN (Oriental Herbal Nutrient) and topdress my soil with castings full of hypoapsis miles and springtails. The only pests I see are an occasional fungus gnat, and they never live long. I'm sure there are plenty of good sprays available for your applications, but I'm not very up to date on those. Safer's used to be a pretty good one, if I recall correctly.

amm4r said:

Thanks for your reply! As much as I'd love to grow photo period plants, unfortunately I simply don't have the time, hence why I want to grow autos. If I was to use soil instead, would you suggest mixing it with anything (such as perlite) or just pure soil? If I do use soil I will be using Canna Terra Professional.

Click to expand...

I've never used that particular soil blend so I'm not sure if it would need any perlite added. What do you mean when you say you don't have the time for photo period plants? Photo period plants can be done from start to finish failry quickly, too, if you just keep the vegetation stage shorter.

amm4r said:

Thanks for your reply! As much as I'd love to grow photo period plants, unfortunately I simply don't have the time, hence why I want to grow autos. If I was to use soil instead, would you suggest mixing it with anything (such as perlite) or just pure soil? If I do use soil I will be using Canna Terra Professional.

Click to expand...

Unless you're going to use a super soil in large (5-7gallon) pots for a 9-11 week auto grow, you're soil will need just as many nutrients as coco after the first few weeks. I've grown both ways and I prefer the coco ... lighter, dries out faster, and no hidden pest surprises. If it's available, Botanicare ReadyGro Moisture is a great growing medium. There's nothing wrong with the nutes you're considering, but I always suggest taking a look at Greenleaf Nutrients Mega Crop and other additives. You have to mix it with water, but it's very inexpensive and much better than the Jack's 3-2-1 regimen.
For your first grow, you should stick with one strain unless you really like mixing lots of different nutrient concentrations. You may have 4 strains that claim the same grow time seed to harvest, but that doesn't say anything about their feeding requirement or size. Even with 4 of the same strain you'll likely have some canopy management issues.