The Art of The Auto

Sorry to jump in but 1 thing i've always wondered is with AF's when you run (for example) an 18/6 schedule is it ok to wake them during the dark period bearing in mind they don't react to photoperiod?

Endorium said:

On page 70 of this great thead I posted top down pics of my babies. Do you think I should trim them more??

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Endorium all i would think about is the food stores are mostly in the fan leaves so you want to leave as many as possible till they go brown, then there technically dead so cut them, if your worried about light and the lower buds why don't you think of doing a staggered harvest, take the top off when it's ready and lower you lights so the bottom buds can fatten up? Staggered harvests are so under-rated!

Sorry Mossy, FullD and the rest of you for butting in! Just my 2 cents worth!

Slayer545 said:

Sorry to jump in but 1 thing i've always wondered is with AF's when you run (for example) an 18/6 schedule is it ok to wake them during the dark period bearing in mind they don't react to photoperiod?

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I pretty sure its okay, that's the great thing about them. I wouldn't advise waking them up all the time though, as that may affect your yield.

43Hitman said:

I pretty sure its okay, that's the great thing about them. I wouldn't advise waking them up all the time though, as that may affect your yield.

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Thanks Hitman, i've never noticed them being affected but it's just they look so good you want to stare at them even when there sleeping!!

Endorium said:

On page 70 of this great thead I posted top down pics of my babies. Do you think I should trim them more??

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I think that i may have answered in a quote but there has been so much posting going on that it may have got lost in the mix

I think that they look great now. There will be more light penetration going on now.
One thing that i would do is stop trimming for a while, once the buds have filled out
and you are into flushing then you can consider trimming again allowing the last few weeks
as much light as possible.

Slayer545 said:

Endorium all i would think about is the food stores are mostly in the fan leaves so you want to leave as many as possible till they go brown, then there technically dead so cut them, if your worried about light and the lower buds why don't you think of doing a staggered harvest, take the top off when it's ready and lower you lights so the bottom buds can fatten up? Staggered harvests are so under-rated!

Sorry Mossy, FullD and the rest of you for butting in! Just my 2 cents worth!

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Greetings Slayer545, glad to have you aboard, and your 2 cents is always welcome. Seems that is what has been driving the thread. Its all about coming in here sand sharing.

You are right about the food stores, this is exactly where the plant holds all its sugars/food to sustain life. However removing some of the fan leafs will not harm her as much as people lead to believe. Most of the time we are using some sort of nutrition to feed our gals. We are supplying them with a constant source of food so they don't have to rely on them selfs for it. Making it easier for them to grow, or at least i think.

The reason that you see so many fans is because this is the plants way of defending its self so to speak. In nature she is going to loose fan's anyway from things like bugs, wind, rain, and things of that nature. So they do produce several of them to sustain the fact that they WILL loose some. Mind you even if a strain is grown in doors for generations that is one thing that you most likely cant breed out of them, nor would you want to. As long as you are feeding the girls they can pull all there needs from the roots and medium and not from them selves.

So with this in mind i don't think trimming a few fans here and there are gonna hurt a thing. I look at it this way. Yes there is a possibility that you can trim too much and slow growth for a few days or even stunt the plant. And i think that if you don't want to trim a staggered harvest is the way to go, either way you'll be waiting the same time if she stunts or you take her staggered.

But if your feeding the plant and trim a little and watch the growth pattern you can have the best of both worlds thicker buds all around and a harvest all at once.

Dale Dickerson said:

I'm of the opinion that nutes that young can burn and cause lockout, I usually start with mine a week-10 days into flower at 1/3 dose and work up to 1/2 dosage, my little girls don't need much to thrive. (FFOF mixed 60/40 w/ perlite which makes it super light and tiger bloom only with calmg) I've found that autos are actually pretty simple to tend to if you follow a few simple suggestions.

In the spring I hope to get my own super soil going on though when I build my raised bed garden outside, so hopefully I'll be nute free then.

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This is interesting stuff here guys, i usually have to feed my girls way before the 10 day mark, but i think i know why.
I know that all plants need different things, there like women, no two are alike. But I see that most of you can pass through the seedling/veg stage with out having to feed. I usually start off in the jiffy pellets and then transfer to a cup
once they have showed their heads.

Seems to me that the FFoF has what these guys need at a light dose that keeps them going till they hit the bloom stage.
what all this comes to is that i am running another test this run. I have 5 out of 6 new germs out of the ground and sucking in the HPS. These guys were planted direct to the soil that i make. I plant on only using my super charged rain water this run. No teas, no ferts just the rain water. I want to see if my soil will run all the way through to bloom with out the nutes. the soil that these guys went into is not a hot hot mix like super soil, i just has the right amounts of this and that so she can grow as natural and organic as possible.

Bighill said:

As far as feeding atuos, they will tell you when they need it. The first sign they are feeding on them selves is when the cotlydons turn yellow and die. Then once that one finger one goes it's a good time to hit em up with low/mild veg nutes. Again i like a good soil mix, you can just add water until mid flower.

Bh.

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Couldn't agree with you more here my friend, i have noticed that these little guys will tell you plain out they need something. All that needs to be done is listen to them and supply their demand.

Going organic is the best thing that i have done. Things taste and smell better, the smoke is cleaner and there is little to no ash left once i burn a bowl. I think its the best thing that has happened in my grow closet. I am now testing my soils limits, my goal this round is to see if the soil has finally everything it needed to do a full run with just water i have tested a few times in the past but still needed to add food. I want things in there as natural as they can be. Seems to me that they want to reward you more when you get it dialed in like that


PS if anyone tried to send me a PM and couldn't im sorry i keep forgetting to clean them out at 50. Good to go now

FullDuplex said:

I am now testing my soils limits, my goal this round is to see if the soil has finally everything it needed to do a full run with just water i have tested a few times in the past but still needed to add food. I want things in there as natural as they can be. Seems to me that they want to reward you more when you get it dialed in like that

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You have a soil recipe you are willing to share?

KuLong said:

You have a soil recipe you are willing to share?

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Here ya go it was posted a few pages back

FullDuplex said:

Most of my stuff is natural and home brewed. Both soil and nutes are all hand mixed and made by me.

Over the last year or so i have finally got my soil and teas down to a science. I can run a plant in the soil from start to finish and only use water to feed them, then if i want a kick i can add the teas.

My Soil:
Cow Manure/compost (as base)
Peat Moss
Blood Meal
Bone Meal
Epsom Salt
Seaweed Kelp (Liquid)
Sterile Perlite (lots of this stuff)
Powered Baby cereal (trace minerals ie copper, zinc, boron, and a few others)
of course the left over plant material that goes back in the bin after harvest.

Once i mix the soil ill leave it for about 4to5 days and then add in the left over trimmings. This allows the soil to "bake" so to speak allowing the microbes to get active to break down the plat material. I can throw a plant in the bin after harvest and the remains are gone in 2 days, got lots of micro activity going on in there.

My Teas are close to the same ingredients as the soil. the only difference is i modify the tea to the time of the plant. If i am in veg stage ill up the N content on the brewing of the tea. If im in flower the phosphorous gets a boost. It all comes back to what the plant needs/wants at the time.

If there is interest in my teas PM me and let me know.

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FullDuplex said:

Greetings Slayer545, glad to have you aboard, and your 2 cents is always welcome. Seems that is what has been driving the thread. Its all about coming in here sand sharing.

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Thanks FullD, sorry didn't want to seem like i've just jumped in from nowhere, it's taken me 3 days to read the whole thread before i posted anything!!

The 1 piece of advice i will give on AF's, IMO let them stretch a little..... If you grow them perfectly with no stretch you end up with a rock hard 15" tall plant, a dense 40g Cola and 20g off the side branches, this is great but i've found bud rot to be a big problem, if you let them stretch a little you get a 2 foot plant which has a good 30g Cola and about 40g off the side branches (All wet weights by the way!) and bud rot never seems to be a problem!

Just my opinion, perhaps im the only 1 that has problem with bud rot in some of the AF's, but im sure i've read on another thread somewhere this is a problem with them!

And before any doubters think im "slateing AF's" i love them! Potency, Taste, Bud Appeal, It's all there in the AF's if your willing to give them a go!

Chopped the green PJ last night. Ran into a bit of an issue that I am still irritated about. Looks like things got a little warm under my HPS and dried out the tips of some buds and leaves. Not a huge deal, but required some extra trimming.

Testing the buds on this plant dont show them as sticky as the purple PJ, but definitely much more yield. I was able to see a couple trichs with some amber (not in these pics), so figured that I would go ahead and chop.

I cant pinpoint the smell of the green PJ. Definitely not the same smell as the purp. Cant put my finger on it. Not sure its mango, but definitely a somewhat unique smell.

How many days was that Lenny?

Slayer545 said:

Thanks FullD, sorry didn't want to seem like i've just jumped in from nowhere, it's taken me 3 days to read the whole thread before i posted anything!!

The 1 piece of advice i will give on AF's, IMO let them stretch a little..... If you grow them perfectly with no stretch you end up with a rock hard 15" tall plant, a dense 40g Cola and 20g off the side branches, this is great but i've found bud rot to be a big problem, if you let them stretch a little you get a 2 foot plant which has a good 30g Cola and about 40g off the side branches (All wet weights by the way!) and bud rot never seems to be a problem!

Just my opinion, perhaps im the only 1 that has problem with bud rot in some of the AF's, but im sure i've read on another thread somewhere this is a problem with them!

And before all you doubters think im "slateing AF's" i love them! Potency, Taste, Bud Appeal, It's all there in the AF's if your willing to give them a go!

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First off i want to thank you for taking to read this massive monster. I have to watch the thread like a hawk because if i dont i miss things as it grows so fast during the day it blows my mind. The reason for that is guys who are in here sharing experience after experience and thast all i ever wanted is for a place for auto growers to call home. So never worry about posting anything about them here

Second about the stretching i have to agree. I really havent let the last few stretch at all and i have to go in and get my fingers behind the buds allowing air flow. this is the main reason that i have 4 fans in there on top of the intake and exhaust fan. I havent had any bud rot yet because of the extra care but i deff could see this being a problem for a novice. Once they get dense they hold a little extra water weight hidden behind the buds. Great tip to add here my friend.

hydrolenny said:

I cant pinpoint the smell of the green PJ. Definitely not the same smell as the purp. Cant put my finger on it. Not sure its mango, but definitely a somewhat unique smell.

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Let me ask you this Lenny, back when you watered her did the smell intensify? Does it smell like incense/spiced cherries? If so you have a killer pheno on your hands my friend. I now know why mossy Raves about this


This girl looks like the one i had only on a bigger scale.


I bet you got a hold of the incense pheno on that one

teflondummy said:

How many days was that Lenny?

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Right at 60 days. I might have let it go a couple more days, but was worried about the heat damage. Plus, like I said, I saw some ambering of a few trichs, so figured it was time.

hydrolenny said:

So, yes, you have a hydro guy here, but with very limited experience.

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And thats all i needed was some one who was successful with a hydro setup. Someone i can reference with and share their experiences with. If you were successful and got a yield and didn't kill them something you did was right and thats all we need as a building block glad to have you here lenny

Slayer545 said:

Thanks FullD, sorry didn't want to seem like i've just jumped in from nowhere, it's taken me 3 days to read the whole thread before i posted anything!!

The 1 piece of advice i will give on AF's, IMO let them stretch a little..... If you grow them perfectly with no stretch you end up with a rock hard 15" tall plant, a dense 40g Cola and 20g off the side branches, this is great but i've found bud rot to be a big problem, if you let them stretch a little you get a 2 foot plant which has a good 30g Cola and about 40g off the side branches (All wet weights by the way!) and bud rot never seems to be a problem!

Just my opinion, perhaps im the only 1 that has problem with bud rot in some of the AF's, but im sure i've read on another thread somewhere this is a problem with them!

And before any doubters think im "slateing AF's" i love them! Potency, Taste, Bud Appeal, It's all there in the AF's if your willing to give them a go!

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I have a short space to work with 30" to be exact so I just leave a fan on them. If they do need to be short just move more air over them.

FullDuplex said:

Let me ask you this Lenny, back when you watered her did the smell intensify? Does it smell like incense/spiced cherries? If so you have a killer pheno on your hands my friend. I now know why mossy Raves about this

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No, I cant say it smells like cherries either... its more of a musky, non-sweet smell, maybe advocado sort-of. It was definitely different from the purple smell. I just cant put my finger on it. Maybe mango, like Mossy was asking about, but I would need to have a mango handy to compare to!

FullDuplex said:

Second about the stretching i have to agree. I really havent let the last few stretch at all and i have to go in and get my fingers behind the buds allowing air flow. this is the main reason that i have 4 fans in there on top of the intake and exhaust fan. I havent had any bud rot yet because of the extra care but i deff could see this being a problem for a novice. Once they get dense they hold a little extra water weight hidden behind the buds. Great tip to add here my friend.

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My problem is the cold weather, temps drop as low as 45F during the night period, during the day they don't raise above about 58F, i know this is stupidly low but the AF's are so resiliant and don't seem to suffer too badly, in fact the cold helps them stretch thus avoiding the whole bud rot due to low temps, think it goe's back to that "Heart of a Lion" someone mentioned earlier!!

hydrolenny said:

No, I cant say it smells like cherries either... its more of a musky, non-sweet smell, maybe advocado sort-of. It was definitely different from the purple smell. I just cant put my finger on it. Maybe mango, like Mossy was asking about, but I would need to have a mango handy to compare to!

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Never had that scent over here but i do agree i think its time you go to the store
you can test the theory that we have been working on
I am gonna give the mango a run today to see if i get the synergy effect.

Maybe if you have a mango scent going on over there and a mango to eat
you might have a kick ass combo it would be interesting to see and then compare our results.

hydrolenny said:

Right at 60 days. I might have let it go a couple more days, but was worried about the heat damage. Plus, like I said, I saw some ambering of a few trichs, so figured it was time.

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I have one that I pollinated and It is looking ripe but the seeds I have popped off of it won't germ yet. I am thinking it will have to go a little longer. Any one have experience with growing for seed stock?