Outdoor Auto Thread

[OPfarmer]

Joined just because of this thread. I grow autos outdoors in coastal NW WA. I have a 15 plant medical license. (Cancer) I grow both THC and CBD strains.
I popped seeds a few at a time indoors in 5 gallon fabric pots, under grow lights, from April through June. Moved plants outdoors as weather improved, and then once seedlings were established.

My nights are always in the upper 40s and low 50s. So colorful varieties, like bubblegum and purple mazer. Got nice color at maturity. Not the most dense buds, but some strains are satisfingly frosty.
Community, needs to share info on what auto varieties do best outdoors.
So far bubblegum, purple Mazar, and some kind of CBD cheese have been the best. Kush van stitch a big plant but not super frosty. Med gnom1 a CBD plant looks disappointing. Hope, Charlotte's Angle (CBD plant) does well, they are just starting to flower. Will try and get some frosty close ups. No insect issue yet for me.

I sift hash for vaping, then make coconut oil capsules and topicals after a quick sift of the premium tricomes.

 

[OPfarmer]

 

[Humanrob]

Joined just because of this thread. I grow autos outdoors in coastal NW WA. I have a 15 plant medical license. (Cancer) I grow both THC and CBD strains.
I popped seeds a few at a time indoors in 5 gallon fabric pots, under grow lights, from April through June. Moved plants outdoors as weather improved, and then once seedlings were established.

My nights are always in the upper 40s and low 50s. So colorful varieties, like bubblegum and purple mazer. Got nice color at maturity. Not the most dense buds, but some strains are satisfingly frosty.
Community, needs to share info on what auto varieties do best outdoors.
So far bubblegum, purple Mazar, and some kind of CBD cheese have been the best. Kush van stitch a big plant but not super frosty. Med gnom1 a CBD plant looks disappointing. Hope, Charlotte's Angle (CBD plant) does well, they are just starting to flower. Will try and get some frosty close ups. No insect issue yet for me.

I sift hash for vaping, then make coconut oil capsules and topicals after a quick sift of the premium tricomes.

Sounds like you have a good system for collecting and consuming your meds.

I'll keep sharing what I'm finding, but like I said before, from one seed or season to the next, everything keeps changing. This year a Southern Oregon Seeds/Blueberry took off, it's massive (last year's was normal size). The Mephisto/Sky Stomper has gotten pretty big, and a FastBuds/Six Shooter is producing well. The Barney's Farm/Blue Mammoth, Sweet Seeds/Mohan Ram, and /Dark Devil -- are all smaller and unimpressive so far. I have a couple of other wild cards out there, freebies I picked up along the way. I'll know more at the end of the season.

I know what you mean about 'frosty, but not dense'. I'm still pretty new to autos, just my second time growing them and both have been outdoor. This year so far I've cut one down, a Mephisto AvT, and it is frosty as hell but you can basically see light through the buds if you hold them up, there is no density there at all. We have yet to see how it smokes, it probably has two more days of drying and then at least a month of curing before we taste it.

 

[Thegermling]

View attachment 4167855

I dont know how you grow. Im in yakima, washington. My autos arent fluffy. Getting ready to chop soon. Blue dream'matic from fast buds in 102 degree weather for 3 days in a row predatory spiders living inside killing whatever else crawls on. Dont mind it. Bud washing it for sure though (maybe she so dense).
EDIT:I think you need more light.

 

[OPfarmer]

Cool humanrob, look forward to reports as the season progresses. Just starting to jar after a slow whole plant drying on the first few taken down.

Thegremling. . YEP! Indeed I need more light and heat in Western Washington!. (Plants are on South Wall outside of Greenhouse, out of our howling cold wind off the ocean.)

I am an organic farmer, I grow acres of produce. I don't baby the pot as much as I should. Just 5 gal of peat, perlite, Coco coir and a little alalfa meal, then low dose liquid fish when the plants scream for it. I know I could get a better yield with some TLC.. my bad..

Anyway, here is another bubblegum auto just starting to mature. Cola is not as dense/fat as your pic with the can.

 

[Thegermling]

Cool humanrob, look forward to reports as the season progresses. Just starting to jar after a slow whole plant drying on the first few taken down.

Thegremling. . YEP! Indeed I need more light and heat in Western Washington!. (Plants are on South Wall outside of Greenhouse, out of our howling cold wind off the ocean.)

I am an organic farmer, I grow acres of produce. I don't baby the pot as much as I should. Just 5 gal of peat, perlite, Coco coir and a little alalfa meal, then low dose liquid fish when the plants scream for it. I know I could get a better yield with some TLC.. my bad..

Anyway, here is another bubblegum auto just starting to mature. Cola is not as dense/fat as your pic with the can.

View attachment 4168042

At the moment Im currently unemployed because of a physical injury and I spend most of the time taking care of them LOL. I do give them tlc, bro, you nailed that one on the head. That plant looks frosty. When I physically get better im going to install a drip system and go back to work. For now im getting my green thumb on. Learning on here and other forums. Keep growing on !!!

 

[Humanrob]

My autos arent fluffy.

Odd note about fluffy plants... I just finished final trim and jarring my Alien V Triangle, and it was very larfy/fluffy. You wouldn't know it when it was growing though, it looked really solid and when the fresh branches were cut they were pretty heavy. What I found was that the stems and leaves were very thick, and when it dried, instead of the leaves shrinking down into tight buds, they stayed spread apart in their original positions (as I guess often happens with fluffy buds?).

It is very sticky and covered with trichomes, in 4 weeks we'll see how it smokes. I tried to make it look like normal buds, and ended out trimming off a lot of sugar shake in the process. I ended out with about 3.5oz of bud, and .6oz of sugar shake for joints (in other words, if I had left all the frosty leaves on, it would have come to about 4oz. of buds).

 

[Thegermling]

Odd note about fluffy plants... I just finished final trim and jarring my Alien V Triangle, and it was very larfy/fluffy. You wouldn't know it when it was growing though, it looked really solid and when the fresh branches were cut they were pretty heavy. What I found was that the stems and leaves were very thick, and when it dried, instead of the leaves shrinking down into tight buds, they stayed spread apart in their original positions (as I guess often happens with fluffy buds?).

It is very sticky and covered with trichomes, in 4 weeks we'll see how it smokes. I tried to make it look like normal buds, and ended out trimming off a lot of sugar shake in the process. I ended out with about 3.5oz of bud, and .6oz of sugar shake for joints (in other words, if I had left all the frosty leaves on, it would have come to about 4oz. of buds).

View attachment 4168350

It could just be the genetics of that plant. The plant I have in the photo is blue dreammatic from fast buds. Ive grown a couple of them. My bluedream matic isnt fluffy I can guarantee you that.

 

[OPfarmer]

Humanrob,
Are you east or west of the Cascades?
Warmer down in OR than me up north, but still on this sunny day thing. That's an early harvest, if you are on the wet side of the mountains, you surely had plenty of May grey, and Junuary/June gloom marine weather.
I have the same strain that was frosty but fluffy that was planted later. Now that summer almost is starting, I might get 5 weeks of sun, and see about bud density.

Strain? Or Sun?

So far only the auto cheese has decent density. But then again, I don't want to dense of buds in June, when it can be cool with a very wet misty marine layer for 3/4 of the day.. (mold)

This is interesting.

 

[Humanrob]

Humanrob,
Are you east or west of the Cascades?
Warmer down in OR than me up north, but still on this sunny day thing. That's an early harvest, if you are on the wet side of the mountains, you surely had plenty of May grey, and Junuary/June gloom marine weather.
I have the same strain that was frosty but fluffy that was planted later. Now that summer almost is starting, I might get 5 weeks of sun, and see about bud density.

Strain? Or Sun?

So far only the auto cheese has decent density. But then again, I don't want to dense of buds in June, when it can be cool with a very wet misty marine layer for 3/4 of the day.. (mold)

This is interesting.

I'm west of the Cascades, near the Gorge. We're in the solid 8-10 weeks of full sun we get from late June to early September, and the plants are loving it.

I can't imagine how you grow with misty marine air hitting your plants, that's a lot to deal with. It would be expensive, but have you thought about a greenhouse? They come with their own learning curve and new sets of challenges, but overall I'd think it would give you a lot more control.

Density itself is not my primary goal -- potency and flavor are, followed by volume. Since I'm not selling it, "bag appeal" is meaningless, for a summer grow the only time density really comes into play is that I find dense buds are much easier to trim. And of course, a 3' tall plant full of dense buds will have more overall weight than the same size plant full of larfy buds. But like you pointed out, there are some advantages to more open bud structures.

Density will be more of an issue for me this winter when I'm doing an indoor and trying to match weight goals from each tent -- if each tent holds 4 plants and it turns out that one has larfy autos and the other has dense photos, that will be a deciding factor on whether or not I continue with autos.

 

[bf80255]

Ive never heard of BT being used for budworms. Predatory insects can be used anytime and they dont "run away" from the plant. They usually stay on there hunting for their target pest.

youve never heard of BT on budworms???? have you ever grown outdoor before? I find that a little odd.... everyone knows BT is the go to for organic budworm cure

 

[Thegermling]

youve never heard of BT on budworms???? have you ever grown outdoor before? I find that a little odd.... everyone knows BT is the go to for organic budworm cure

BT=Bacillus Thuringiensis? I use bti for fungus gnats. I only grow cannabis. I have never grown any other plant so its the first time ive heard of BT on budworms.

 

[OPfarmer]

I'm west of the Cascades, near the Gorge. We're in the solid 8-10 weeks of full sun we get from late June to early September, and the plants are loving it.

I can't imagine how you grow with misty marine air hitting your plants, that's a lot to deal with. It would be expensive, but have you thought about a greenhouse? They come with their own learning curve and new sets of challenges, but overall I'd think it would give you a lot more control.

Density itself is not my primary goal -- potency and flavor are, followed by volume. Since I'm not selling it, "bag appeal" is meaningless, for a summer grow the only time density really comes into play is that I find dense buds are much easier to trim. And of course, a 3' tall plant full of dense buds will have more overall weight than the same size plant full of larfy buds. But like you pointed out, there are some advantages to more open bud structures.

Density will be more of an issue for me this winter when I'm doing an indoor and trying to match weight goals from each tent -- if each tent holds 4 plants and it turns out that one has larfy autos and the other has dense photos, that will be a deciding factor on whether or not I continue with autos.

I hear you on bag appeal! Yep, you got a bit more sunshine and warmth than me. We got a few commercial outdoor pot growers, but it can be a real gamble on scale. A greenhouse or indoors is more common.
IMHO,
Autos outdoors in short summer areas is the ticket. Indoors sure why not if you have strains that work. ( I have only grown photoperiod indoors.) But will try indoor autos under LED instead of breaking out the HPS. (Short auto plants don't need the penitration of MH/HPS way I see it...)

Bro, I am a commercial veggie farmer, got a 20x60 foot greenhouse. Full up with veggie plant start rotations and veggies. For several reasons, I don't want to grow my personal meds in the greenhouse.

( Greenhouse being 14 foot high I could grow some huge pot plants though... That be fun!! Hehehe)

Be well...

 

[puck1969]

Just set up my redneck greenhouse to keep the mold away. Should
be chopping in the next two weeks and don’t want to do it anytime
sooner than that!

 

[OPfarmer]

Just set up my redneck greenhouse to keep the mold away. Should
be chopping in the next two weeks and don’t want to do it anytime
sooner than that!

Nice looking plants, see lots of moisture on your lean too greenhouse,. Doing it's job!

I notice the one grow bag I see is not all stained white with nutrient salts from over fertilization.

I love that about outdoors, don't need to redline the plants, as our grow lights are free.

 

[puck1969]

Nice looking plants, see lots of moisture on your lean too greenhouse,. Doing it's job!

I notice the one grow bag I see is not all stained white with nutrient salts from over fertilization.

I love that about outdoors, don't need to redline the plants, as our grow lights are free.

I use composted cow poop, seasoned seaweed eggshells and limestone.
No fertilizer needed.

 

[OPfarmer]

Cool, a decade ago before I went back to farming, I used to make nice organic soils like you. I need to stop being lazy and make something more than my generic peat, perlite, coir mix with a little whatever organic fert I have laying around. Yep, need to cook up a batch with some nice charged biochar.

 

[Thegermling]

Density will be more of an issue for me this winter when I'm doing an indoor and trying to match weight goals from each tent -- if each tent holds 4 plants and it turns out that one has larfy autos and the other has dense photos, that will be a deciding factor on whether or not I continue with autos.

Dont blame autos for not being dense. I personally, and dont take this as an offense (more like constructive criticism), dont think youre grow style/techniques are not conducive to bringing autos to their full potential. Heres a pic of some indoor grown green crack cbd (auto) I chopped off a plant to guage the trichomes to know when to harvest. This is from the lower part of the plant. Im using LED to grow.

You can see some nanners starting to develop. That is because my friend likes there to be more amber than cloudy because of the pain relief for his chronic back pain. So I let these go past their chop date. Dense? Can you see through the buds? Im sorry my friend but Im defending autos. You must be doing something to get fluffy buds. If you dont have fluffy photos then I presume you are stressing your autos too much. Contrary to popular belief that autos can handle stress, well thanks to so much breeding I believe that trait of the ruderalis has been eliminated. Autos are not for beginners, Ive seen it too many times. Peace.

 

[Humanrob]

Dont blame autos for not being dense. I personally, and dont take this as an offense (more like constructive criticism), dont think youre grow style/techniques are not conducive to bringing autos to their full potential. Heres a pic of some indoor grown green crack cbd (auto) I chopped off a plant to guage the trichomes to know when to harvest. This is from the lower part of the plant. Im using LED to grow.
View attachment 4169447 View attachment 4169448 View attachment 4169449
You can see some nanners starting to develop. That is because my friend likes there to be more amber than cloudy because of the pain relief for his chronic back pain. So I let these go past their chop date. Dense? Can you see through the buds? Im sorry my friend but Im defending autos. You must be doing something to get fluffy buds. If you dont have fluffy photos then I presume you are stressing your autos too much. Contrary to popular belief that autos can handle stress, well thanks to so much breeding I believe that trait of the ruderalis has been eliminated. Autos are not for beginners, Ive seen it too many times. Peace.

Could be.

 

[Lucky Luke]

Dont blame autos for not being dense. I personally, and dont take this as an offense (more like constructive criticism), dont think youre grow style/techniques are not conducive to bringing autos to their full potential. Heres a pic of some indoor grown green crack cbd (auto) I chopped off a plant to guage the trichomes to know when to harvest. This is from the lower part of the plant. Im using LED to grow.
View attachment 4169447 View attachment 4169448 View attachment 4169449
You can see some nanners starting to develop. That is because my friend likes there to be more amber than cloudy because of the pain relief for his chronic back pain. So I let these go past their chop date. Dense? Can you see through the buds? Im sorry my friend but Im defending autos. You must be doing something to get fluffy buds. If you dont have fluffy photos then I presume you are stressing your autos too much. Contrary to popular belief that autos can handle stress, well thanks to so much breeding I believe that trait of the ruderalis has been eliminated. Autos are not for beginners, Ive seen it too many times. Peace.

That looks like its got ages to go. Is that a normal looking auto bud?