Hawaiian Snow auto by Seed Supreme

[Galgrows]

So these are the 2 Jack Herer autos that just finished and the harvest hanging in the tent. These 2 plants together produced just shy of a pound of flower. Autos can get quite big. This is what I mean when I said I don't think your small plants are a normal autoflower grow. My best 2 reasons for why that might be are either the transplant at the beginning or a watering issue which is the most common cannabis growing issue, but hey I'm no scientist. I'm just looking at your pics and telling you what I see. I think your next grow will be much better.

Excellent!

 

[Sustenance.Farmer]

@Calgrows

I get on average 2+oz any less i don't grow that strain again. I'm a photoperiod grower i just play around with autos when i'm stocked up and just wanting to grow something.

Thanks. I've always grown photoperiod strains as well. Until now...autos are just as potent as photoperiod strains, try 'em...sprout to harvest in 80 - 90 days, try 'em....and here we are.

So these are the 2 Jack Herer autos that just finished and the harvest hanging in the tent. These 2 plants together produced just shy of a pound of flower. Autos can get quite big. This is what I mean when I said I don't think your small plants are a normal autoflower grow. My best 2 reasons for why that might be are either the transplant at the beginning or a watering issue which is the most common cannabis growing issue, but hey I'm no scientist. I'm just looking at your pics and telling you what I see. I think your next grow will be much better.

That is encouraging.
I'd sure appreciate a little more direction...

I start seeds in rooting plugs, not small pots. The rooting plugs do sit in a plastic container, so what you said about the long tap root lying on the bottom of the container sending cues to begin flowering makes some sense.

So, I'm going to start 2 more seeds and plant the plugs into the 7 gal pots as soon as the cotyledons appear, long before roots are visible.

I still can't wrap my head around giving a specified amount of water regardless of the size of the root ball...all grow media do not have the same moisture retaining and drainage characteristics. In my experience [with photoperiod strains], it's always easier to water them again than to remedy waterlogged roots.

I can wrap my head around the notion of ensuring the entirety of the root network and surrounding area is moist so the roots always have moist soil to grow into. This has always worked for me [with photoperiod strains].

I didn't think there would be a learning curve when "the only difference is you don't have to change the light cycle".

Thanks again for the help

 

[Budtirement]

I still can't wrap my head around giving a specified amount of water regardless of the size of the root ball...all grow media do not have the same moisture retaining and drainage characteristics. In my experience [with photoperiod strains], it's always easier to water them again than to remedy waterlogged roots.

As happens fairly often 2 people approach an issue with different experiences. I started off growing photperiods. My first few grows I had a lot of problems with yellowing leaves towards the end of veg and a tough flower cycle. Even though I did manage a harvest it wasn't great. After a couple of those grows I was going over all my methods and after harvest I dumped the pot and found the soil at the bottom third of the pot was dry as a bone. I thought I had watered thoroughly and I always made sure that water came out the bottom of the pot but I realized that it was just running through along the easiest path down and out the bottom. It wasn't getting all the soil wet. After that I adopted the slow watering method GNick55 wrote about above. I also have taken to making a couple small upside down "V" cuts in the side of the pot an inch from the bottom. That lets me actually stick my finger in there and see how wet it is and then lower the fabric back into place. I've kept doin this because I found as the plants get bigger their water intake increases and I can feel with my finger when things start to dry up down there. The way I use the slow watering method I get the top surface of the soil wet. Wait 10 minutes. Water the whole soil surface with about 4 cups of water. Wait 10 minutes. Then water again. Wait 10 minutes and continue like that until a few cups of water come out the bottom. I don't really care exactly how much water it takes, what's most important to me is to go slow until a small amount of water comes out the bottom. Then I know that all the soil is wet.
The one thing that you mentioned about it being easier to water again than to remedy waterlogged roots I find odd. If I water too often that's when I run into trouble. I don't want to do that. As long as water can run freely out of the bottom of the pot, and I only water on watering day, the roots are not going to get waterlogged. The way they could get waterlogged from my perspective is if I watered too often or if water could not escape from the bottom and formed a pool at the bottom of the pot. So I probably am misunderstanding what you're saying there or how it works for you. Your photoperiod plants have the look!

 

[Sustenance.Farmer]

I don't really care exactly how much water it takes, what's most important to me is to go slow until a small amount of water comes out the bottom. Then I know that all the soil is wet.

@GNick55 advocates applying specifically 1.5 gal water to a 7 gal pot because "it takes that much to fully saturate the soil", that's where I believe "your mileage may vary". The soil doesn't need to be saturated, it needs to be moist.

Watering slowly and thoroughly makes perfect sense. Our methods are not all that different.
I apply about a cup at a time from the top until there is runoff from the sides and bottom, then I switch to bottom watering, filling the drain pan and waiting for the level to drop, refilling and waiting for the level to drop, etc, until it takes more than a minute for the drain pan to drop to half full. Then I refill it and call it done.

The one thing that you mentioned about it being easier to water again than to remedy waterlogged roots I find odd. If I water too often that's when I run into trouble. I don't want to do that. As long as water can run freely out of the bottom of the pot

Saturating a giant pot when the plant has a rootball the size of or smaller than a golfball can set up the same situation. Saturated soil holds less O2 than moist soil, there are no roots to absorb the water, it takes forever for the water to evaporate and the roots suffocate because O2 is displaced by H2O. I've done it a couple times, I've seen it lots of times. It's a fabric pot, if you pour water in it, water will freely run out the sides and bottom, especially if the soil is saturated.

In my experience, plants that have wilted because I missed a watering recover within hours of applying water. Plants that have waterlogged roots take weeks to recover, IF they recover, and there's always loss of foliage.

and I only water on watering day,

If you apply water it's watering day

I use a moisture meter to gauge wetness. It reaches to ~ 1/2 from the bottom of the pot. I find them reliable for measuring moisture, they're crap for measuring light intensity and pH.

 

[Budtirement]

Then I refill it and call it done.

This part here. You leave the pot in a pool of water? I have got to be misunderstanding that. Everything else seems groovy.

 

[Sustenance.Farmer]

This part here. You leave the pot in a pool of water? I have got to be misunderstanding that. Everything else seems groovy.

No, you have it right. It takes about 10 minutes for the drain pan to empty. If it isn't empty by then, I know the soil has absorbed as much as it can, so I dump whatever is left.

 

[Sustenance.Farmer]

Things are going well. The flowering plants are just over 2 weeks along.
I planted 2 more seeds directly into 3 gallon pots, sprouts broke ground 4 - 5 days ago. Hopefully these will be larger plants .