Aslan's Basic Af Autoflower Grow

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A

Aslan

40
18
Hey guys this is basically a thread where I will post some general information and ask for some help (hopefully not too much) about my autoflower grow!

Let's get started with a disclaimer:
I know that I have way too little lighting and I'm working on getting another light in there.
This is the definition of "keep it simple". I appreciate any advanced tips for later experimentation, but this grow is all about an easy and quick yield, as it's my 2nd grow ever and the first grow was a complete failure (read my other thread for that).

OK, so let's get into what I'm using for this grow.
Strain: Hindu Kush Auto
Seed Bank: Sensi Seeds
Grow time: 45-55 days
Medium: Light soil mix, ~8 litres + LECA balls, ~2 litres
Pot: 10 litre "air pruning" textile grow bag
Light: 1 70w, 3200 lumen CFL
[BOLD]Nutrients:[/BOLD] Bio bizz Bloom

I also have a pH- as well as an electrical water pH tester.

Things on my purchase list include a fan and at least 1 more CFL or a small full spectrum LED if I can swing it financially.

I'm doing this grow in my closet, low wattage as established but hopefully I can upgrade. If not, I guess we can see what 70w CFLs will get you when it comes to autos.. When I water I'll carry the bag(s) across the hall to the bathroom and let them drain there for a while before putting them back on the plastic garbage bags covering the floor in the closet.

As of right now I still have a plant from the last failed grow (I grew outside and then summer stopped) that has gotten stunted, probably from the cold. It has started flowering so I'll let it run its course.

I won't be feeding the new plant for the first 3-5 weeks, and the I'll start slowly with about 1/4 of recommended dose. This particular type of cannabis is very sensitive to nutrients and easily gets nutrient burn.

That's all the info I can think of right now.. Maybe some of you even made it through the whole thing! Oh right almost forgot, the light schedule is basically 20/4 right now to make up for the weak lighting and I just put the seed in, the tap root is about 1/4 inch long. I put it pretty shallow but if the seed starts popping up too soon I might cover it some more in order to make sure that the root is big enough to support it. Hopefully I'll see the seedling pop out within 3-4 days. I'll come back with pics of the grow space when I get home.
 
Bannacis

Bannacis

1,238
163
That's a nice start, keep it simple...have patients.
For a closet heat and fresh air will be most important.
So a good air circulation system for one, doesn't have to be that much.
Especially if adding more lighting. An Led light is ideal for closets. Mars 300 watt (150) true watts will be less if not equal heat than a 70 watt clf. $70 on amazon.
For the watering, it will be best to figure out a tray system so your cloth pots can sit on a raised platform so water drains but does not get sukt back up. A turkey baster can suck up any excess water.
always think of "what ifs" what if you had water spill or a light go out... Keep electrical cords tidy, water catch tray for pot, spare light... check your grow area when light is off...no light leaks,no led power lights either.
with Autos, do not interrupt the dark period or stress them.
Moving the plants like your doing will stress them and disturb the roots too much.

The seedlings once popped should have its own light, not a powerful one either 10-20 watts 8-10 inches away.
watch the leaves on seedling, if they are stretching...light not enough or close enough.
When they get second set of leaves you can inclamate them to a stronger light, starting the light higher at first then lower as needed.
About the Autos 45-55 grow time, is that from sprout? if thats so, that is not much time to have a veg and flower time... i've heard of 42 days flower time, but that was not on an auto.
Is this the same strain as your first grow? how long from first set of true leaves to start flowering?
also its sizes at flower set and finish.
 
A

Aslan

40
18
That's a nice start, keep it simple...have patients.
For a closet heat and fresh air will be most important.
So a good air circulation system for one, doesn't have to be that much.
Especially if adding more lighting. An Led light is ideal for closets. Mars 300 watt (150) true watts will be less if not equal heat than a 70 watt clf. $70 on amazon.
For the watering, it will be best to figure out a tray system so your cloth pots can sit on a raised platform so water drains but does not get sukt back up. A turkey baster can suck up any excess water.
always think of "what ifs" what if you had water spill or a light go out... Keep electrical cords tidy, water catch tray for pot, spare light... check your grow area when light is off...no light leaks,no led power lights either.
with Autos, do not interrupt the dark period or stress them.
Moving the plants like your doing will stress them and disturb the roots too much.

The seedlings once popped should have its own light, not a powerful one either 10-20 watts 8-10 inches away.
watch the leaves on seedling, if they are stretching...light not enough or close enough.
When they get second set of leaves you can inclamate them to a stronger light, starting the light higher at first then lower as needed.
About the Autos 45-55 grow time, is that from sprout? if thats so, that is not much time to have a veg and flower time... i've heard of 42 days flower time, but that was not on an auto.
Is this the same strain as your first grow? how long from first set of true leaves to start flowering?
also its sizes at flower set and finish.
Thanks for your input! I haven't found any decently priced LEDs that ship to where I live so CFLs are the simplest and cheapest option for me.

And yes the estimated time from seed to harvest is about 50 days on this strain, and it's the same as my first grow. Only one made it to flowering and that took quite some time, probably due to weather stress. I'll create some sort of a runoff tray or something so that I won't have to move the pots.

I purchased another CFL today and put it up in the closet, all electrical wiring is safely away from the pots or any splash zone so to speak. My total is now 140w and I have 2 more CFLs on the way, only about 25w each and a warmer light (2700k instead of the 70w's 5500k). This would bring the total wattage up to 190W, but before I put more lamps in I need a fan to keep the air flow going so that I won't have to be worried about it getting too hot in there. As of right now I'm keeping the closet door half open to circulate the air as best I can without a fan.
 
Bannacis

Bannacis

1,238
163
Sounds like your on track, 190 watts is not bad. you can get a decent result from them. considering what your set up is. Eventually as you learn and get more grows under your belt you will upgrade. But the key is to learn as much as you can. get the most out of what you have. You will be thinking of what you could do to make it better. Don't be afraid to try different things...supper cropping, LST,(low stress training). if something's working...don't mess with it.
good luck
 
H

heisen

2,626
263
I like it,
But throw the PH pen out the window growing in soil.Your wasting your time and especially with BioBiz your gonna screw up.Ph pens are for hydro and fish tanks.Your PH runoff will be all over the place depending on how much water you collect.You can have a PH swing by as much as 2 to 3 from a cup of water to a half gallon of runoff.Same with EC.You will be chasing your tail.
Also your nute strength should match the light intensity.I never understood why people say not to feed plants for 3 weeks.Thats just crazy to me.I put my autos IN DWC under 1000 W hids and push 700 PPM after the get the first set of leaves and they go APESHIT.
Watch your plants man they will tell you what makes them happy.Practice watching the plants and you will turn out to be a good grower.Dont get wrapped up in formulas and all that BS.what one guy feeds his plants might not work for you.Its all about environment and lighting spectrum vs Wattage.One formula will never fit all.
Get good at knowing what your plants want and you will know when the shit hits he fan how to correct the problem.
When i grew in soil i would always start with 1/4 strength everything and watch the plants and see how they responded.Watch for Ram Horns(the claw) and dark green leaves.Usually deficiencies show up in soil because of soil PH.Its always best to amend the soil a month before you grow.You should be amending soil now for your next grow with lime and such.chemical PH adjusters aren't gonna do jack squat in soil to adjust the PH.All them ph probes are Bogus.If they worked farmers wouldn't send soil samples to the co-op to get tested.

9 times out of ten if you start with a quality dirt like fox farms or roots organic you can get through a good 3 month auto grow without any lock outs.Throwing everything under the sun at a plant aint gonna do shit if the PH is out of range.
Use regular tap water and use 1/4 strength recommended and work up and you will be fine.If you notice any tip burn or the plant doing weird shit back off a few days and don't add nothing.Just plain water till she improves.If she responds well than keep that up for a week or two and go to 1/3 or 1/2 strength.
Always and i mean always learn to be a proactive grower not a reactive grower.Know what your plants will need before you give it to them and you will grow some nice green.

One other thing look into CMH setups and forget that LED.Unless your gonna go with a quality COB setup the CMH is gonna be the real deal.research them on this forum and you will see what im talking about
 
A

Aslan

40
18
so here's my setup right now, I got an ugly but secure bunch of cables up and away from both the lights and the floor. I have the lamps held up by a rope (a thin but durable one) which ensures that the cable isn't bearing the load of the lamp. It's a very simple and easy setup.
 
A

Aslan

40
18
I like it,
But throw the PH pen out the window growing in soil.Your wasting your time and especially with BioBiz your gonna screw up.Ph pens are for hydro and fish tanks.Your PH runoff will be all over the place depending on how much water you collect.You can have a PH swing by as much as 2 to 3 from a cup of water to a half gallon of runoff.Same with EC.You will be chasing your tail.
Also your nute strength should match the light intensity.I never understood why people say not to feed plants for 3 weeks.Thats just crazy to me.I put my autos IN DWC under 1000 W hids and push 700 PPM after the get the first set of leaves and they go APESHIT.
Watch your plants man they will tell you what makes them happy.Practice watching the plants and you will turn out to be a good grower.Dont get wrapped up in formulas and all that BS.what one guy feeds his plants might not work for you.Its all about environment and lighting spectrum vs Wattage.One formula will never fit all.
Get good at knowing what your plants want and you will know when the shit hits he fan how to correct the problem.
When i grew in soil i would always start with 1/4 strength everything and watch the plants and see how they responded.Watch for Ram Horns(the claw) and dark green leaves.Usually deficiencies show up in soil because of soil PH.Its always best to amend the soil a month before you grow.You should be amending soil now for your next grow with lime and such.chemical PH adjusters aren't gonna do jack squat in soil to adjust the PH.All them ph probes are Bogus.If they worked farmers wouldn't send soil samples to the co-op to get tested.

9 times out of ten if you start with a quality dirt like fox farms or roots organic you can get through a good 3 month auto grow without any lock outs.Throwing everything under the sun at a plant aint gonna do shit if the PH is out of range.
Use regular tap water and use 1/4 strength recommended and work up and you will be fine.If you notice any tip burn or the plant doing weird shit back off a few days and don't add nothing.Just plain water till she improves.If she responds well than keep that up for a week or two and go to 1/3 or 1/2 strength.
Always and i mean always learn to be a proactive grower not a reactive grower.Know what your plants will need before you give it to them and you will grow some nice green.

One other thing look into CMH setups and forget that LED.Unless your gonna go with a quality COB setup the CMH is gonna be the real deal.research them on this forum and you will see what im talking about
That's a lot of great tips! Sorry for being slow, but I use my pH measurer on the water before I water the plants.. I thought runoff was just runoff and figured that if the water wasn't at a good pH level when it gets in the soil it would cause lockout. I never heard of measuring runoff pH.. I don't know what EC is.

I also don't know what DWC, hids, PPM or COB means, English is my 2ND language and I don't live in the states so alot of the abbreviations are just swooshing by over my head lol (I know that one!)

When it comes to the soil it's been pH tested at 6.2 average from 10 samples in an independent quality test of the brands that we have here where I live. So I try to water it with water that is as close to 6.2 as I can get it. Maybe that's just plain retarded..

Also, what's amending soil?
 
A

Aslan

40
18
so here's my setup right now, I got an ugly but secure bunch of cables up and away from both the lights and the floor. I have the lamps held up by a rope (a thin but durable one) which ensures that the cable isn't bearing the load of the lamp. It's a very simple and easy setup.
I had images for think now can't edit it, delete it or see any images in this post..?
 
A

Aslan

40
18
15101730384181603735071
1510173057494947695616
15101731106871765064273
15101733188561613140317
So here they are, the pics of my setup.
 
Bannacis

Bannacis

1,238
163
Ok, I would suggest getting some grow books. do some reading and get to know the basics and also all the references that you don't know. this forum has a lot of categories to read.
Youtube.com is good for grow videos. Do not take every word as truth, but if you watch enough you will see the what works and what doesn't... Especially for your set up.
Your set up is along way from being ideal, remove the clothing... make some kind of reflector to reflect the light down. that will put more lumens on plant plus will shield your eyes when you enter your room. also lower your thermometer to be level with your plants, that is where the temp maters.
If you are going to go bigger in lights I would suggest putting some reflective material on wall around plants. A circulating fan. and to prep your closet properly. meaning, no cloths, better reflective walls, fresh air, a good tray to put under pots, and read grow books...can't say that enough.
As I can tell, you are on a budget and peeps are going to say get this, get that... with out thinking that you are probably strict on cash. keeping it simple until you get a better understanding of growing and all the terminology of it.
In soil the ph rises up and down as you water and feed, 5.8 to 7 ph. every type of nutrient has a specific range of ph that the plant will take up.so as it moves up and down certain nutrients will be used. some nutrients when being used will cause ph to raise and or lower.
You do have to do some reading on growing cannabis, the more you read the better. read...READ...oh and read...
 
A

Aslan

40
18
Yeah so the first seed didn't take, so I'm in the process of germinating another one.. This time I'll try the coco pot again, but I'll make sure that there's plenty of holes and that the fibers have some separation so the roots can get out once I put it into the larger pot. I had some success with it the last grow but some of them couldn't grow through the coco pot so now I really made a lot of room for roots to poke through.

I have a question for you pros out there: should you cover the pot with saran wrap when you first put the seed in or no? Some people seem to believe that you should seal the air in at first until the seed pops up and some don't seem to do that ever..
 
Bannacis

Bannacis

1,238
163
I'm not a fan of coco pots, What are you using in your pot? straight coco fiber?
I prefer peat pellets, or a peat mixture in peat pot. works better for me.
The saran wrap cover is to maintain moisture for the seedling, I have done it with success. It's kinda like the seed in a plastic baggy germ technic.
It might be relative to how dry your climate is in your area and grow room.
If possible try a few seeds at a time, more chance of success.
 
A

Aslan

40
18
I'm not a fan of coco pots, What are you using in your pot? straight coco fiber?
I prefer peat pellets, or a peat mixture in peat pot. works better for me.
The saran wrap cover is to maintain moisture for the seedling, I have done it with success. It's kinda like the seed in a plastic baggy germ technic.
It might be relative to how dry your climate is in your area and grow room.
If possible try a few seeds at a time, more chance of success.
I use regular soil in the coco pot, I'm starting to see the seed pop up to the surface, I put a plastic bag over the pot, air sealed.

I also got a fan in there now, finally. The last survivor of the last grow has really taken off and is flowering fast. Every day I see at least 10 new pistils and there's buds forming at every node. I'm so thrilled!
 
MirrorZen

MirrorZen

1,362
263
I like it,
But throw the PH pen out the window growing in soil.Your wasting your time and especially with BioBiz your gonna screw up.Ph pens are for hydro and fish tanks.Your PH runoff will be all over the place depending on how much water you collect.You can have a PH swing by as much as 2 to 3 from a cup of water to a half gallon of runoff.Same with EC.You will be chasing your tail.
Also your nute strength should match the light intensity.I never understood why people say not to feed plants for 3 weeks.Thats just crazy to me.I put my autos IN DWC under 1000 W hids and push 700 PPM after the get the first set of leaves and they go APESHIT.
Watch your plants man they will tell you what makes them happy.Practice watching the plants and you will turn out to be a good grower.Dont get wrapped up in formulas and all that BS.what one guy feeds his plants might not work for you.Its all about environment and lighting spectrum vs Wattage.One formula will never fit all.
Get good at knowing what your plants want and you will know when the shit hits he fan how to correct the problem.
When i grew in soil i would always start with 1/4 strength everything and watch the plants and see how they responded.Watch for Ram Horns(the claw) and dark green leaves.Usually deficiencies show up in soil because of soil PH.Its always best to amend the soil a month before you grow.You should be amending soil now for your next grow with lime and such.chemical PH adjusters aren't gonna do jack squat in soil to adjust the PH.All them ph probes are Bogus.If they worked farmers wouldn't send soil samples to the co-op to get tested.

9 times out of ten if you start with a quality dirt like fox farms or roots organic you can get through a good 3 month auto grow without any lock outs.Throwing everything under the sun at a plant aint gonna do shit if the PH is out of range.
Use regular tap water and use 1/4 strength recommended and work up and you will be fine.If you notice any tip burn or the plant doing weird shit back off a few days and don't add nothing.Just plain water till she improves.If she responds well than keep that up for a week or two and go to 1/3 or 1/2 strength.
Always and i mean always learn to be a proactive grower not a reactive grower.Know what your plants will need before you give it to them and you will grow some nice green.

One other thing look into CMH setups and forget that LED.Unless your gonna go with a quality COB setup the CMH is gonna be the real deal.research them on this forum and you will see what im talking about
I agree with most of what you say here definitely but do see a couple things not quite right. Just

But throw the PH pen out the window growing in soil.Your wasting your time
only wasting time if a soil grower is growing in super soil, no till, or using knf techniques. Otherwise yes even in soil PHing is important especially with bottled nutes.

9 times out of ten if you start with a quality dirt like fox farms
Okay this is so far from the truth, yes with roots organics but fox farms is garbage. They truly produce poor soil and often times now a days have fungus gnats. My local hydro shop got rid of them recently because of how bad every batch has been coming out recently.
 
H

heisen

2,626
263
I agree with most of what you say here definitely but do see a couple things not quite right. Just

only wasting time if a soil grower is growing in super soil, no till, or using knf techniques. Otherwise yes even in soil PHing is important especially with bottled nutes.


Okay this is so far from the truth, yes with roots organics but fox farms is garbage. They truly produce poor soil and often times now a days have fungus gnats. My local hydro shop got rid of them recently because of how bad every batch has been coming out recently.
I agree with most of what you say here definitely but do see a couple things not quite right. Just

only wasting time if a soil grower is growing in super soil, no till, or using knf techniques. Otherwise yes even in soil PHing is important especially with bottled nutes.


Okay this is so far from the truth, yes with roots organics but fox farms is garbage. They truly produce poor soil and often times now a days have fungus gnats. My local hydro shop got rid of them recently because of how bad every batch has been coming out recently.
I agree with most of what you say here definitely but do see a couple things not quite right. Just

only wasting time if a soil grower is growing in super soil, no till, or using knf techniques. Otherwise yes even in soil PHing is important especially with bottled nutes.


Okay this is so far from the truth, yes with roots organics but fox farms is garbage. They truly produce poor soil and often times now a days have fungus gnats. My local hydro shop got rid of them recently because of how bad every batch has been coming out recently.
Maybe your local store wasnt' storing it right or had issues,some of the best shit I've ever grown was in fox farm dirt.a bad batch can come from any company but as a whole there is nothing wrong with it.
 
A

Aslan

40
18
Quick update: I have started new seedling which poked up through the soil over night. I keep 1 CFL 70W over it.
The other plant is in full flower mode, I fed it about 1/4 of recommended nutes about a week ago and it really seemed like that was the right move. I've fed it water in between and today I fed it some more, next time I'll feed it 1/2 strength.

I also got 2 more CFLs, 23w with 2700k light. I hung one on each side of the flowering plant and I have 1 70w CFL with 5500k light hanging over it. Every light is about 2 inches away from the plant.
 
Bannacis

Bannacis

1,238
163
Sounds good, be careful with the feeding. The recommendations of nutrients are based on optimum conditions.
That is...With more powerful lighting. With your cfl's keep it minimal, take note of how she looks after feeding.
I always do a mini "flush" with just water every now and then...get a good run off, don't let pot soak run off back up. hopefully you have good drainage.
IMO the flushes are a preventive measure, so no salt build up.
If your going the cfl route...the more the better.
 
King Julien

King Julien

292
93
The one thing I'll add about growing with CFL is that most of the light comes out of the sides of the bulb. You want those suckers facing the canopy horizontally for the best usage of the bulb output. A reflector above it greatly increases the efficiency as well.

A lot of the ones I've seen just use direct bulb to plug in fixture plugged into a power strip and mounted in a frame or on a board so they are horizontal. Then they use some particular kind of sheet metal to fashion their own reflector. Really cheap way of doing things. We're talking 10-20 bucks cheap minus the bulbs.
 
A

Aslan

40
18
The one thing I'll add about growing with CFL is that most of the light comes out of the sides of the bulb. You want those suckers facing the canopy horizontally for the best usage of the bulb output. A reflector above it greatly increases the efficiency as well.

A lot of the ones I've seen just use direct bulb to plug in fixture plugged into a power strip and mounted in a frame or on a board so they are horizontal. Then they use some particular kind of sheet metal to fashion their own reflector. Really cheap way of doing things. We're talking 10-20 bucks cheap minus the bulbs.
I got one cfl on each side of the flowering plant for that reason, hanging vertically. My seedling only has one cfl above it but I'll put cfls on the sides once its tall enough. In about a week I'll put the seedling in the big pot as well.
 
A

Aslan

40
18
Sounds good, be careful with the feeding. The recommendations of nutrients are based on optimum conditions.
That is...With more powerful lighting. With your cfl's keep it minimal, take note of how she looks after feeding.
I always do a mini "flush" with just water every now and then...get a good run off, don't let pot soak run off back up. hopefully you have good drainage.
IMO the flushes are a preventive measure, so no salt build up.
If your going the cfl route...the more the better.
Thanks for the tip, I'm very careful with the feeding and I'm feeding it water as well 2x per feeding, but I haven't really flushed, I'll do that next time and maybe hold off on another watering because of the dense soil.. It doesn't dry out easily.
 
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