Hey guys, I get asked a lot about autos and how to treat them so I put together a little booklet on how to grow them. Since the accurate info thread is so long now it can be hard to find what you are looking for so I though I would make it easy for you and just post the booklet here so you will have all the info in one place to read at your leisure.
Chapters
- Introduction
- Preparation
- Feeding Procedures
- Harvesting
- Drying and Curing
- Troubleshooting
- Reference
Introduction
This book is meant as a quick reference guide for growers of photoperiod plants who want to try auto-flowering plants. By this I mean that I am assuming that you have a grow space, lighting, air circulation, carbon filter etc.. ready to go and set up on a timer system.
Autos vs Photos
There are many pro's and con's to both varieties but for this short guide I will just be going through the differences in genetics and requirements.
Genetics
Photoperiod plants require a drop in the available light hours from 18 to 12, in order for them to begin flowering and producing buds.
Autoflowering plants do not need this change, they will show sex at around 21 days old and then continue on to full maturity even under 24hrs of light.
There are three types of cannabis plant
Indica
Sativa
Ruderalis
Autoflowering plants contain the ruderalis gene which dictates flowering by age rather than light exposure
This presents a number of possibilities as it does away with the need for a veg room. I believe these possibilities are the main reason that autoflowering plants have become so popular. This potential for perpetual grows and a constant supply has changed the world of marijuana forever.
Requirements
Autos require different treatment to photos in order to get the best out of them.
Here are the two key differences:
Photos require a 12/12 light cycle to flower. Autos do best under a 20/4 light cycle for the whole life of the plant
Photos can take stronger nutrients. When using nutrients on autos always use half the recommended dose. You can always play with this as some stains can take more nutrients than others.
Preparation
So you have your equipment, your grow room is all ready and you are itching to start growing your own Autoflowering cannabis. There is still a bit of preparation to do before we can start growing though. So lets get started!
Soil Preparation
Preparing your soil in advance is the easiest way to avoid problems. By taking the time to get it right now you can save a lot of head aches down the line.
To buy or to make?
You can get good soils for autoflowering cannabis from all good hydro shops.
I would recommend a light mix like Plagron light mix.
Personally I don't like going into hydro shops so I mix my own soil which I get from the local garden centre. If you are going to mix your own soil then first you will need everything on the following list
Soil Ingredients
ph spike
fish blood and bone
egg shells (washed, dried and powdered)
bat guano
perlite
vermiculite
multipurpose compost(low nutrients, not miracle grow!)
Everything on this list is readily available at good garden centres except bat guano. This is easy enough to get on Amazon or Ebay
Mix
60% Multipurpose compost
20% Perlite
20% Vermiculite
this will be your base mix
To this you will need to add:
1 tablespoon of bat guano per 8 litres
1 tablespoon of fish blood and bone per 8 litres
2 powdered egg shells per 8 litres
Now wet the soil and test the ph with your soil ph spike, this will give you an indication of the ph but not a proper reading
Getting the ph right
Now you have your soil mix you want to let it sit for at least a day or 2 for the ph to stabilise then test it and make sure it is in the 6.5-6.8 ph range. If it is a little over I.e between 6.8-7 then leave it, if not then you will need to amend your soil to the right ph. Use dolomite/garden lime to raise the ph and sulphur pellets to lower it.
Potting up
You will want to fill your pots and wet them about a week before you are going to plant anything. This way you can check the soil ph again before you plant to ensure it is stable and in the correct range.
Make sure you use a minimum of an 8 litre pot. For most autos grown indoors 10-12 litres is the ideal pot size. For super autos you will need at least a 15 litre pot.
Germination
Now you have everything ready, you have the hardest choice. What strain to grow?
Once you have figured this out you will need to germinate the seed and plant it.
There are a few ways of doing this and I have given you two options below.
Option 1 - Root Riot Cubes
- put the seed into a root riot cube and keep moist and warm until the seed sprouts from the cube and roots become visible on the outside of the cube.
- Plant the cube directly into the plants final home
Option 2 – Paper Towel Method
- Place a folded paper towel into a plastic container(you want about four layers of paper towel on the top and bottom)
- Wet the paper towel
- Place the seed on top of the wet paper towel
- Cover with another folded paper towel
- Ensure there is sufficient water(paper towels should be very wet, but not flooded)
- Place somewhere warm to germinate
- Once germinated transplant to its final home
Preparation is over and its time to see the plants grow!
Feeding Procedures
In this section I will lay out a guide for feeding your plants and avoiding issues.
General Principals
When feeding your plants you will need to ensure that
- Your water is ready
- The plant is healthy(if the plant is not healthy go to troubleshooting section)
- The plants have the correct environment i.e. soil ph is between 6.5 and 6.8(see troubleshooting section for ph correction)
- Nutrients are correct strength
- PH of feed is adjusted according to soil PH
- Adequate water is held by the soil
Getting Your Water Ready
All the water you use to feed your plants should be allowed to sit for at least 12hrs before use. Tap water comes loaded with chlorine and this evaporates while the water sits and makes it better for your plants.
If you want to see explosive growth then you will also need to bubble your water. To do this just use an aquarium air pump and air stone. You place the stone in the water and allow bubbles to pas through it. The water should be bubbled for at least 12 hrs.
By bubbling the water you allow oxygen to be dissolved in the water which is highly beneficial for the roots.
Plant Health Check
Before you feed your plant you need to check and see if it is healthy. If you see any of the following signs then go to the troubleshooting section.
- Pale or discoloured leaves
- Spots on leaves
- Curling leaves
- Insects or pests
- Sour smell from the soil
Checking Soil
Before making up your feed you will need to test the soil ph. To ensure you get an accurate reading follow these steps:
- Wet the soil if it is completely dry.
- If you are using a cheap ph spike then scrub the probe with a scouring pad, otherwise you will get false readings.
- Spike soil and let the reading stabilise for about 3 – 5 mins
If your soil is not in the 6 – 7 range then go to troubleshooting.
Mixing the Feed
Now you have all the info you need to mix your feed.
Getting this right is crucial to a successful grow. Too weak and you will not get the full potential from the plant, too strong and you can damage or even kill your plant, and if your ph is off then it can block the absorption of nutrients completely
To make sure you have the correct mix I have put a feeding chart at the back of this book for reference.
Once you have added all the nutrients to your feed you will need to test the ph of your feed and adjust it to meet the needs of your plant.
If your soil is in the correct ph range then always water at PH 6.5
PH Adjustments
For minor corrections in soil ph the feed can be used.
To explain this lets say your soil ph is 6.2 and you want it at 6.5
To correct it you take the difference of what the soil ph is and what you want it to be. In this case 0.3, then double it( 0.6 ) and add it to the soil ph ( 6.2 ) and you get the ph you need to water at to correct the imbalance (6.8)
So its
Find the difference
Required Soil ph – Actual Soil ph = Difference
Then
Difference x 2 + Soil ph = Feed ph
(0.3 x 2) + 6.2 = 6.8
0.6 + 6.2 = 6.8
By using this formula you can correct low ph problems. For high ph problems instead of adding the (difference x 2) subtract it.
Flushing Salts
When your plants use the nutrients you are feeding them there is salt created as a by-product. This salt can build up and become toxic. To avoid this you should always make more feed than you need.
The reason for this is that you need to allow the feed to flow through the soil and wash away the salts that can build up.
Adequate Saturation
It is very important to water slowly!
By feeding slowly you allow the soil time to absorb the liquid.
When your soil is dry it will allow liquid to run right through the pot with very little being absorbed by the soil. If you water slowly then the liquid will be absorbed by the soil and have a chance to wash away any salts that may be present in the soil.
When slow watering NEVER re-use the run off water as this will contain the salts.
Harvesting
When to Harvest
The easiest way to know when to harvest an auto-flowering plant is to wait until the fan leaves have yellowed and died, at this point the plant is at its peak and its time to harvest.
If you have a jewelers loupe or a microscope then you can have a look at the trichomes and see if they are ready. You can tell by their colour if they are ready. I have put a trichomes reference chart at the back of this book. I like to harvest at around 20% amber
If they are ready now all you need to do is trim away all the leaves and start drying the plant
Drying and Curing
Drying
The simple way to dry your bud is the paper bag method.
- For this you need to get some brown paper bags.
- Place your buds into the paper bags and fold the top over to seal it.
- Place somewhere with good air circulation and allow to dry until the stems snap when bent
Curing
- Take your dry buds and your small humidity meter and place them into an airtight container
- open/burp the container three times a day for 15 mins each time. Continue doing this until your relative humidity reaches 67%
- Once 67% RH is reached burp once a month
Troubleshooting
PH and Deficiencies
9 times out of 10 the problem indoor growers have is a bad soil ph. The bad ph causes a lockout of nutrients and this shows itself as nutrient deficiency in the plant.
If you have a bad soil ph it is important to correct it as soon as possible.
To raise soil ph use dolomite or garden lime
To lower soil ph use sulphur pellets
There is a ph nutrient availability chart in the reference section. I have also included a deficiency identification chart so you can diagnose and correct any deficiency you may have.
The most common nutrient problems are
- Nitrogen deficiency – caused by lack of food or bad ph – cure – correct the ph / give stronger feed
- Calcium/magnesium deficiency – caused by lack of nutrients or ph lockout – cure – correct ph / feed molasses / add cal/mag liquid feed
Pests
Some of the pests you get in a grow room can be devastating. Things like spider mites and thrips can destroy a whole crop if left unchecked.
For these pests I recommend you use a pesticide that is designed to kill thrips and spidermites as these ones will usually kill everything else too.
DO NOT SPRAY PESTICIDE ON BUDS, YOU WILL MAKE THEM POISONUS
If you have budding plants and want to get rid of the pests with no risk to your bud them you can use ladybugs/ladybirds. They can be ordered from garden centres or online. Once released into your grow room they will eat all of your bugs and leave the plants untouched.
I have included pictures of the common bugs in the reference section.
So there you have it a quick guide to Autos, I hope this book helps you produce some winning plants
Seraphim
REFERENCE
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Thrips
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