Ist Time Auto Flower

Well, it's my first time intentionally growing autos.

Last year I sprouted a seed that my friend Charlotta gave me- that guy popped in 3 days, within a week it looked like a plant on crack, after 3 weeks I had to transplant it outdoors where it took off like gangbusters. It grew about 2 foot in another four weeks- then started sprouting balls. Damn. Research later last summer proved that what I had was an auto flowering plant. I really liked the quickness that strain showed and wanted to try it again.

In the previous ten years of my outdoor grows I always used bag seed; this year I decided to buy some seeds and a buddy and I bought a 5 pack each of feminized auto Lemon Haze and Blue Demon (I got 2 Lemon Haze and 3 Blue Demon) seeds. I started one of each in my Aerogarden three weeks ago along with two leftover seeds from Charlotta seed stash from last year. The Lemon Haze and Blue Demon both popped in three days and today I put them in a pot and moved them outside. The Charlotta seeds are a little further behind.

I also have a couple of plants going from a super sativa bag I bought in 2011 (btw, that was the last bag I bought). Those seeds yield a big (for my situation) crop; the plants turn a beautiful purple in the fall and give forth a quality smoke.

As in the past, I'll be posting about once a week. Next few posts I'll cover "my situation" and my growing method.

A few quick notes about "my situation":

Since I live in the epicenter of the Vast Rightwing Conspiracy discretion is certainly needed for my grow. My yard has a large tree canopy- by looking at my house from satellite images one can see my yard is about 90% shaded in the summer. I have one stretch of yard about 3 meters/10 feet wide by 15 meters/45 feet long that gets 6-8 hours of direct sunlight from April until mid-September where I do all of my growing (tomatoes, potatoes, squash, peppers, etc). Of this section there is a plot 10' x 10' that has a thick hedge between my yard and the neighbors backyard- that is where the magic happens.

Unfortunately, my neighbors patio is on the other side of hedge. A young couple (each now 30 years old) moved in three years ago; they have two toddlers and a couple of dogs- all of whom like to say "hello" when they see or hear me in the garden. Though (I assume) the couple next door does not partake they are pretty cool with my activities. Their parents, all four who are about my age, take a much dimmer view but since they live in Tennessee they have decided to keep peace in the neighborhood and not call the authorities. The neighbors also have several parties in the summer so I have some concerns their guests might either a) narc me out or (more probably) b) rip me off come harvest season.

The main growing issue comes during flowering season- in the past when the plants start stanking I have to move them to a spot in the yard that gets about 3 hours direct sunlight but is far enough away from the neighbors to avoid detection. The seeds I purchased are advertised as "low odour plants" so hopefully that will mean I don't have to move them come flowering time this season.

I will post some pics of the garden area, the two plants already potted, and update on two other plants that sprouted since my last post in the next few days.

Quick correction: One of my strains is Blue Dream, not Blue Demon. Tomorrow will be Day 28 after germination; I will post some birthday pics tomorrow.

Here is a picture from day 24 (plants are in a 1 qt pot; sorry I did not provide a reference beer can to show true size)


Lemon Haze is on the left; Blue Dream is on the right.

Here are pics from Day 25:

Lemon Haze


Blue Dream:



I missed the memo on transplanting autos only one time; I will be transplanting into the final 10 gallon container this weekend.

The Lemon Haze is showing something on it's leaves- almost like a nute burn (too much)? My normal method of transplanting is to soak my medium (ProMix) with Botanicare Grow and then insert the plant. I feed every two weeks so this weekend would be the scheduled feeding time, might as well transplant now and take my lumps on the yield size.

I will update this weekend after the transplant and provide more details on my medium and nutes.

Trying to upload new pictures, not coming through right now.

Now I have six plants going- I germinated a Charlotta seed as well as one I got from my sister last year from a bag she called "Crazy". Crazy germinated and grew quickly- I had to move it outside after three weeks in the Aerogarden. Under the "why the hell not" category, I germed a Pineapple Train Wreck as well as a freebie "Snow" indica (the seeds came with the Lemon Haze and Blue Dream). I will move the Charlotta plant outdoors next weekend, the other two soon after.

I took some pics today but can't them to upload. The two autos are not much taller than a beer can and they are at Day 37. Unfortunately they are only getting about six hours direct sunlight (10:00am - 4:00pm). I may be able to re-position a little but my options are limited.

Sad to say my super seeds from a 2011 Sativa plant are ready for the bird feeder. I was only able to get 1 of 5 seeds to germinate and that sprout soon withered away. Those seeds were a consistent performer for several years but no love the last two growing seasons.

Tried the pics again but no success. I will post tomorrow.

Here are my pictures:

Lemon Haze Day 37



Blue Dream Day 37



"Crazy" (Strain not known) Day 28


Finally, my Aerogarden set up (the largest sprout with many leaves is "Charlotta", an unknown auto; the middle is Snow; the smallest is Pineapple train Wreck)

My Aerogarden set up has been acting up- the plants weren't growing so I moved them outside today.

Here are some updated pictures:

Lemon Haze Day 43


Blue Dream Day 43

I'm only getting a little growth since last week; are these plants flowering or would you call this a pre-flowering stage?

I've read on some other threads that some auto plants take longer to finish than the listed time from the seed store. I hope so- otherwise I would be expected to harvest five weeks from today and I don't think there will be much there to harvest.

My bag seed plant Crazy is doing well- already at the 4th node on Day 34 (hard to see with the lilies in the background:


My plan is to top this plant back to node 4 when it hits the sixth node.

One other picture- the three plants together:

I trimmed off the yellow leaves after I took these pictures.

I am having a big outdoor party next weekend (don't worry, I will be hiding the plants) and afterwards I'm pulling up the lilies so I can a little less sun competition for the plants.

Been busy with the Kentucky Derby Party last week and catching up at work (a client is really breathing hard down my neck but that's better than no client's at all) but have a few moments to share some updates.

My two autos are definitely in flower; by doing some additional research and following a few threads I see a couple of errors in my grow: 1) Started too soon in the spring, when I moved the plants outdoors they went straight to flower 2) I should have put the auto's in 5 gallon buckets; nothing wrong using the 10 gallon but no added benefit from the extra expense for medium and nutes.

Lemon Haze: Day 51


Blue Dream Day 51


Here are my three babies (L-R Snow, Pineapple Train Wreck, and Auto "Charlotta"

Finally, bag seed "Crazy" which I will top soon (just reached the sixth node)- by looks, let me know if you think it is a Sativa or Indica

I have three more auto seeds (1 Lemon Haze, 2 Blue Dream) which I will start next week; I am not going to fool with the Aerogarden set up, instead just put them in some potted wet soil outdoors and let nature do it's thing. I'll be gone for a few days but will update next week.

It looks like your close to me. It'll be nice to see how plants grow outside around here. I've wanted to do a small grow in the back yard but don't know if its worth the risk for me. I was thinking if I do, I'd probably gives autos a try so they could finish early. Since I started growing I've noticed it rains a lot around harvest time.

My issue is with limited direct sunlight; I have been growing nearly a decade now and rain at harvest time was only an issue last year when it rained for 12 days straight- I should have moved the plants under cover sooner. I still ended up getting a half-decent quality and a decent yield.

I might be a little more risk tolerant than most (older person, never been in trouble, don't "run" my crop, very discreet, have tolerant neighbors and, in general, would not be worth the paperwork for the officials); if you only do 2-4 plants and aren't stupid about your grow you should be okay.

I haven't bought weed in a decade and am real popular with my friends at Christmas!

Both autos are plumping up nicely. Comparing pics to three weeks back, both plants have about doubled in size & nice odor from both when squeezed. Packaging date suggests harvest around June 2, that might be a little soon. I will order a loupe (FINALLY) to watch the trichomes to make sure I hit the best harvest date..

I started my last 3 autos (1 Lemon Haze, 2 Blue Dream) today- did it the old fashioned way, seeds into moist medium, placed outside, and let Mother Nature do her work.

Garden auto starting flower

My three new autos all germinated last weekend & were doing well until this afternoon: we had a gully washer that beat the seedlings down pretty well. The next few days will be hot and sunny so hopefully they will quickly recover.

I bought a cheap loupe from Amazon that promises a 100x magnification- it arrived yesterday, I was not able to make it work/focus to look at the trichomes of my first two autos. I am coming up on a projected harvest date and want to use the loupe to improve my chances of harvesting at the right time. Both plants are runts but the buds are filling out nicely. I will post pics in the next day or two.

Pig4buzz said:

Garden auto starting flower

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Nice placement of your lady in the garden bed!

A quick post mortem on the first grow: The plants never grew large, both ended up around 1 1/2 foot tall. Combined yield between the two was only 10 grams (after stems removed), very little root development with the plants. Still, the buzz from both is pretty good though one might have gone a little (couple of days) past optimum.

I got the hang of the loupe and WOW, what a difference from using my zoom lens and blowing up the picture! I should have bought one and used it years ago, will use a lot in the future.

Speaking of future- I started my second batch at the end of may (1 each lemon Haze and Blue Dream). They grew to about 9 inches in height and started flowering! I transplanted the seedlings into a 5 gallon pot, the soil never dries out! I don't know if that is the reason why my plants are stunted and growing less than a 1/3 of their expected height.My other plants are doing well by comparison. maybe I am just using the wrong strain for my environment.

IvyPirate said:

I might be a little more risk tolerant than most (older person, never been in trouble, don't "run" my crop, very discreet, have tolerant neighbors and, in general, would not be worth the paperwork for the officials); if you only do 2-4 plants and aren't stupid about your grow you should be okay.

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Like you, I'm a little older and have no need to grow for money. But I am doing a lot more plants, hoping to do some crosses with my strain. Mine are all in the woods though.

I've never grown auto's but do have an interest in a photo/auto cross {semiautomatic}. I'm down here in NW Florida and I'm thinking of a winter/spring crop this year. Are you going to be making seeds from any of your plants?

Larry {the} Gardener said:

I've never grown auto's but do have an interest in a photo/auto cross {semiautomatic}. I'm down here in NW Florida and I'm thinking of a winter/spring crop this year. Are you going to be making seeds from any of your plants?

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No- all of my plants are female, I purge the males as soon as they show. I still have about 20 seeds from the last couple of years that I will be using in the near future. I have not tried to make seeds yet- maybe in the future.

I purchased feminized seeds this year; the seed company threw in five extra regular seeds of which I germinated one. That plant is now nearly seven feet tall (and I topped it when it was three feet tall) and is in pre-flower; I expect it will yield at least 10x the amount of the four auto flower plants combined.

There might be enough autumn sunlight to start a crop now in Florabama if you hurry. Good luck with your seed production efforts!