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Changes for Next Outdoor Grow

  • Thread starter Thread starter gjnpyb
  • Start date Start date Sep 29, 2023
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Changes for Next Outdoor Grow

gjnpyb Sep 29, 2023 6 Replies 5,997 Views
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gjnpyb

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#1
Hey All,

I'm new here because I just finished my very first grow with an autoflower Zkittles seed from ILGM. I'm posting because I have a couple of questions about what I think happened and how I can get better results next time (I have 20 seeds of this strain and only used 2). Any feedback would be awesome and appreciated!

1. Biggest candidates for why my plants stayed so small before they flowered? (Picture included right at harvest, those are the entire plant cut from the base). Becuase it's an autoflower, I couldn't control when it switched from vegetative to flowering. Is it a stress thing or nutrient issue? A little column A and B? I didn't use any nutrients during vegetation other than what was in a nutrient-rich potting soil, and my climate is dry with moderate to high heat (Climate Zone 5). Temps tend to swing quite a bit with 30-40degF fluctuations from night to day depending on humidity and clouds. But clear, warm days are typical. My elevation is about 7000ft if that's of consideration as well. They were in 5-7gallon pots with decent drainage, and I watered them with irrigation water just before the soil was bone dry. I do not know the pH or ion content of the water, but it's probably about pH of 7-7.5 with a medium alkalinity. I am willing to play with water, but will not be growing indoors in the future.

2. Again, your thoughts on the biggest culprit for my buds for being so small. They endured some high heat during a lot of days in July (90-95degF), and I did not have the foresight to cover them. I did start to use an inorganic 2-8-4 fertilizer when I noticed pistils forming. This lasted for about 5-6 weeks before I stopped using the fert and just let the plants flush for the final few weeks of flowering before harvest. I did not do any pruning during vegetation or flowering, another possible spot to improve bud development?

I dried them properly, at least as well as I could with my limited equipment. They're currently in the first week of curing, and they smell really good...the buds are just really small and half-trimmed because the sugar leaves were pretty much the overwhelming mass lol. I'll post photos of my finished trim job, which I already know is not ideal...

Again, any adivce or help on this would be really appreciated. I'm enjoying the learning, but I'd also like some decent results next time haha.
 
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Imzzaudae

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Sep 29, 2023
#2
Hello and welcome to the forum. First off reach around and give yourself a pat on the back. You grew a jar full of nice bud.
So you can feel good knowing you grew it when you burn one. Well done!

What seeds are the auto Flower.
Some just produce small plants. Others seem to grow larger plants.
That said. I grew a Northern lights auto this year. It was a very nice plant quite large.
The# 1 thing you need is big pots. I grow in 15 gallon pots. 5 gallon pots are ok for indoors but if you
want big plants. Grow in big pots.
Where I live in Ontario Canada. Garden season starts May 24 weekend. I find giving it another week about the 1st of June before planting.
This lets the ground warm up a little more.

Do you grow organic or with bottled fertilizer?
This is a link to my outdoor organic grow this year.
You may just find it interesting

Country Boys EZ Organic Grow

I started with a cutting of wild grass. You can just as easily do this with lawn clippings in a 20L bucket. Filled a 55 gal drum 3/4 full of wild grass and fresh cut alfalfa. 2 nice scoops of 2 year old compost. Added 2x20L buckets of Microbial solution and topped the barrel off with rain...
www.thcfarmer.com

I have also had great success with cheep hardware store potting mix
and plain old Hardware store pro-mix fertilizer. It does not have to be fancy.
promix-2-copy-jpg.2049731/" class="bbImage " width="1200" height="826" layout="intrinsic" alt="Promix 2 Copy">
This is a Bubba Kush photo in a 5 gallon pot I grew with Pro - Mix last year.

You don't have to drop 600.00 on fertilizer to grow real nice plants.
I feed seedlings 5-15-5. Veg on 12-6-6 and flower with 5-15-5 super easy.


I am fussy about placement in the yard. The must get early morning sun to dry the dew.
Be shaded from 2-4 pm to take the edge off the summer sun. And full sun until sunset.
It matters.
If your growing organic don't bother with ph. Use rain water it's 7 and the plant will look after itself.

It's all up to you how complicated you want to make your grow. You can mix up super soils.
or try something like this.
Auto flower grow in DR Earth

Any way welcome to the forum. Lots of guys will chime in and help you get sorted out for next planting season.
Ron
 
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Imzzaudae

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Sep 29, 2023
#3

The Ultimate Guide to Growing Autoflowering Cannabis Outdoors | Fast Buds

Discover the secrets to cultivating thriving autoflowering cannabis plants outdoors with our comprehensive guide. Master the art of outdoor cultivation.
2fast4buds.com
 
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MisterHelix

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Sep 29, 2023
#4
Autoflowers get almost all of their vegetative growth in the first 30 days. Any impediments can really set them back. In my limited experience with autos, I’ve found that a very light aerated medium and Liquid organics can get them up to speed quickly.

Here’s a pic of some “Girl Scout cookies extreme” autos (whatever that means) from ILGM I did in a 5 gallon.

April 6-June 23rd photo to photo



I used promix with extra perlite, mycorrhizae, and EWC’s. Fed with Neptune’s Harvest (various flavors)
 
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gjnpyb

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Oct 2, 2023
#5
Imzzaudae said:
Hello and welcome to the forum. First off reach around and give yourself a pat on the back. You grew a jar full of nice bud.
So you can feel good knowing you grew it when you burn one. Well done!

What seeds are the auto Flower.
Some just produce small plants. Others seem to grow larger plants.
That said. I grew a Northern lights auto this year. It was a very nice plant quite large.
The# 1 thing you need is big pots. I grow in 15 gallon pots. 5 gallon pots are ok for indoors but if you
want big plants. Grow in big pots.
Where I live in Ontario Canada. Garden season starts May 24 weekend. I find giving it another week about the 1st of June before planting.
This lets the ground warm up a little more.

Do you grow organic or with bottled fertilizer?
This is a link to my outdoor organic grow this year.
You may just find it interesting

Country Boys EZ Organic Grow

I started with a cutting of wild grass. You can just as easily do this with lawn clippings in a 20L bucket. Filled a 55 gal drum 3/4 full of wild grass and fresh cut alfalfa. 2 nice scoops of 2 year old compost. Added 2x20L buckets of Microbial solution and topped the barrel off with rain...
www.thcfarmer.com

I have also had great success with cheep hardware store potting mix
and plain old Hardware store pro-mix fertilizer. It does not have to be fancy.
View attachment 2049731
This is a Bubba Kush photo in a 5 gallon pot I grew with Pro - Mix last year.

You don't have to drop 600.00 on fertilizer to grow real nice plants.
I feed seedlings 5-15-5. Veg on 12-6-6 and flower with 5-15-5 super easy.
View attachment 2049734

I am fussy about placement in the yard. The must get early morning sun to dry the dew.
Be shaded from 2-4 pm to take the edge off the summer sun. And full sun until sunset.
It matters.
If your growing organic don't bother with ph. Use rain water it's 7 and the plant will look after itself.

It's all up to you how complicated you want to make your grow. You can mix up super soils.
or try something like this.
Auto flower grow in DR Earth

Any way welcome to the forum. Lots of guys will chime in and help you get sorted out for next planting season.
Ron
Click to expand...
Ron, thanks so much. This is all great information. I was looking at the prices for marijuana-specific fertilizers, and there is no way I can afford any of those. So I tried some cheaper inorganic fertilizer for the flowering phase. It seemed like it did OK, but I will definitely look for some organic amenments with your nutrient regimen. I'll also find a way to shade them during the hot parts of the day. I should be able to do that farily cheaply and easily. You rock!
 
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G

gjnpyb

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Oct 2, 2023
#6
MisterHelix said:
Autoflowers get almost all of their vegetative growth in the first 30 days. Any impediments can really set them back. In my limited experience with autos, I’ve found that a very light aerated medium and Liquid organics can get them up to speed quickly.

Here’s a pic of some “Girl Scout cookies extreme” autos (whatever that means) from ILGM I did in a 5 gallon.
View attachment 2049759
April 6-June 23rd photo to photo

View attachment 2049760

I used promix with extra perlite, mycorrhizae, and EWC’s. Fed with Neptune’s Harvest (various flavors)
Click to expand...
Thank you! I noticed the growth at the beginning was very slow, and so I was concerned with it being an autoflower that the slow start would not be ideal. It all turned out OK at the end, but I will definitely be taking measures to increase the growth during those initial weeks to really get it going strong and healthy before it flowers. Both plants I did didn't really grow until just a few weeks before they started to flower, which I found strange and felt like it was wrong haha.
 
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Novaracer69

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Oct 2, 2023
#7
gjnpyb said:
Hey All,

I'm new here because I just finished my very first grow with an autoflower Zkittles seed from ILGM. I'm posting because I have a couple of questions about what I think happened and how I can get better results next time (I have 20 seeds of this strain and only used 2). Any feedback would be awesome and appreciated!

1. Biggest candidates for why my plants stayed so small before they flowered? (Picture included right at harvest, those are the entire plant cut from the base). Becuase it's an autoflower, I couldn't control when it switched from vegetative to flowering. Is it a stress thing or nutrient issue? A little column A and B? I didn't use any nutrients during vegetation other than what was in a nutrient-rich potting soil, and my climate is dry with moderate to high heat (Climate Zone 5). Temps tend to swing quite a bit with 30-40degF fluctuations from night to day depending on humidity and clouds. But clear, warm days are typical. My elevation is about 7000ft if that's of consideration as well. They were in 5-7gallon pots with decent drainage, and I watered them with irrigation water just before the soil was bone dry. I do not know the pH or ion content of the water, but it's probably about pH of 7-7.5 with a medium alkalinity. I am willing to play with water, but will not be growing indoors in the future.View attachment 2049673View attachment 2049674

2. Again, your thoughts on the biggest culprit for my buds for being so small. They endured some high heat during a lot of days in July (90-95degF), and I did not have the foresight to cover them. I did start to use an inorganic 2-8-4 fertilizer when I noticed pistils forming. This lasted for about 5-6 weeks before I stopped using the fert and just let the plants flush for the final few weeks of flowering before harvest. I did not do any pruning during vegetation or flowering, another possible spot to improve bud development?

I dried them properly, at least as well as I could with my limited equipment. They're currently in the first week of curing, and they smell really good...the buds are just really small and half-trimmed because the sugar leaves were pretty much the overwhelming mass lol. I'll post photos of my finished trim job, which I already know is not ideal...
View attachment 2049672
Again, any adivce or help on this would be really appreciated. I'm enjoying the learning, but I'd also like some decent results next time haha.
Click to expand...
Well first I will say pot size helps a ton. As far as fertilizer I personally use dry organic fertilizers. Usually what ever I can get a deal on but my recommendation for outdoor is. 20+ gallon fabric pots or a raised bed. There's more than 1 type of autoflower also. The other type is a fast version you will see are a autoflower x a photoperiod. Here in Michigan there outstanding because they finish before October normally. They normally finish 3 to 4 weeks before a regular photoperiod. this is a candy dream fast I created in a 20gallon. Trust me in a 20gallon I get 14 to 25oz on average.
 
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Replies 6
Views 5,997
Started Sep 29, 2023
Latest post Oct 2, 2023
Starter gjnpyb
Forum General Outdoor Growing

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