Socal Autoflower: Small Cheap Outdoor Grow

[ld64]

Hello this is my first post, so nice to meet you!

Here is my basic setup/info:

• First time grower
• Located in a Southern California city
• Acquired autoflower fem seeds online - Northern Lights (NL) and White Widow (WW)
  
• Using 3-gallon fabric pots and organic potting soil from Armstrong Nursery. No nutrients or other additives.
• Planted 5 seeds directly in potting soil with 2 cups of plain tap water.
• Planted in backyard along the south-facing fence, exposed to all weather from the outset: full direct sun, night temps, clouds, rain, etc
• After ~7 days, 2 of the seeds emerged - 1 NL and 1 WW (the NL needed the membrane manually removed). The other 3 seeds died.

My goal is to keep this as low maintenance as possible. I am aiming to only use the original potting soil and tap water, however am open to adding nutrients or pest control if the plant gets too stressed. We'll see if they survive and what the yield looks like with good old mother nature doing all the work.

All counts below are Days from seed (the day the seed was dropped in the soil - April 17 2018)

Day 0:

Day 11

Day 18

Day 26

NL:

WW:

Day 31

NL:

WW:

Day 39

NL:

WW:

 

[Monster762]

Hello this is my first post, so nice to meet you!

Here is my basic setup/info:

• First time grower
• Located in a Southern California city
• Acquired autoflower fem seeds online - Northern Lights (NL) and White Widow (WW)
  
• Using 3-gallon fabric pots and organic potting soil from Armstrong Nursery. No nutrients or other additives.
• Planted 5 seeds directly in potting soil with 2 cups of plain tap water.
• Planted in backyard along the south-facing fence, exposed to all weather from the outset: full direct sun, night temps, clouds, rain, etc
• After ~7 days, 2 of the seeds emerged - 1 NL and 1 WW (the NL needed the membrane manually removed). The other 3 seeds died.

My goal is to keep this as low maintenance as possible. I am aiming to only use the original potting soil and tap water, however am open to adding nutrients or pest control if the plant gets too stressed. We'll see if they survive and what the yield looks like with good old mother nature doing all the work.

All counts below are Days from seed (the day the seed was dropped in the soil - April 17 2018)

Day 0:
View attachment 802918

View attachment 802919

Day 11
View attachment 802920

View attachment 802921

Day 18
View attachment 802922

View attachment 802923

Day 26

NL:
View attachment 802924

WW:
View attachment 802925

Day 31

NL:
View attachment 802927

WW:
View attachment 802926

Day 39

NL:
View attachment 802928

View attachment 802931

View attachment 802929

WW:
View attachment 802930

Looking dry but happy though. How hot is it getting? I just put some autos in soil planning to go out then I thought about how dead summer heat during last weeks of flower will work.

 

[ld64]

Looking dry but happy though. How hot is it getting? I just put some autos in soil planning to go out then I thought about how dead summer heat during last weeks of flower will work.

It hit the low 80s a few weeks ago during the sunniest stretch. Lately it's been mostly cloudy and around 70. I'm hoping these will be ready before the main summer heat.

I am only watering every 10-12 days to avoid overwatering. It doesn't feel right but for some reason they seem to be most perky just before watering. Basically bone dry except for some slightly-moist soil deeper in the pot.

 

[Monster762]

It hit the low 80s a few weeks ago during the sunniest stretch. Lately it's been mostly cloudy and around 70. I'm hoping these will be ready before the main summer heat.

I am only watering every 10-12 days to avoid overwatering. It doesn't feel right but for some reason they seem to be most perky just before watering. Basically bone dry except for some slightly-moist soil deeper in the pot.

I think they want more water. As long as they go light water em. Don’t let dry too much.

 

[Monster762]

I did 2 autos indoor. 1was a single cola little one other took off was tallest there. But my y’all one sucked water and nutes.

 

[ld64]

Updates:

• Both plants had some pest issues. Leaves had some holes and clear/brown spots. I saw bugs that appeared to be aphids, and also a small caterpiller.
• Sprayed both plants a few days ago with an organic product called Fungicide 3 which has neem oil. They were droopy for a day but then mostly perked back up. There are fewer insects around now, but still some.
• Also caved and purchased a bottle of FloraNova Bloom. Both plants have been fed twice now at ~3ml per gallon of water. Both appear to have liked it but I am noticing a few brown tips so will likely back off for a bit.
• The NL is growing well but still isn't flowering. I would expect them to have popped by now as autos but who knows.

Day 45:
WW:

Day 49:
WW:

NL:

 

[ld64]

Updates:

• NL finally started flowering
• Pests seem to love the NL, sprayed neem oil one more time to keep under control. Also found another caterpillar.
• Continuing to feed FloraNova Bloom to both. NL is sucking up nutes/water (every 3-4 days), WW not as much - maybe every week or so (every other watering)
• WW appears to be getting close to harvest, more pistils are turning amber. Unfortunately it's very small. Was hoping the buds would fatten up.

Day 69

NL:

WW:

 

[Toaster79]

Feeeeeeeed them!!!!

 

[Ar.BsG]

Go by color trichs not pistils.

 

[ld64]

How it ended:

Harvested WW on day 77. This plant stayed small. I suppose it's a bit unpredictable with autos.

Harvested NL over a few days, starting on day 89. However it was largely infested with caterpillars. I lost the main cola and a couple others. Major bummer.

I think I pulled both a bit early since the buds are kind of airy (though still fairly potent - not like high-THC dispensary potent - but still nice). I would have let NL mature a bit longer but didnt want to lose more bud to caterpillars..

In terms of curing, I did a normal air dry & jar cure for the WW and about 20% of NL. For the other 80% of the NL I opted for a water cure since they were OK but had caterpillar poop all over them.

WET weight:
WW - 17.5 grams
NL - 75 grams (not including colas lost to cats)

DRY weight:
WW - 4 grams
NL - 17.5 grams

Total dry weight for both plants: 21.5g (0.768 oz)

Overall experience: pretty good, but super bummed about pests. I think next time I will try to put up mosquito nets to prevent moths from laying eggs (apparently a common issue in socal). I will also leave them out longer to hopefully get dense buds... and not sure about autoflowers, I might try photos next time.

NL just before harvest:

WW trimmed:

Cheers :cool:

 

[Rcubed]

How it ended:

Harvested WW on day 77. This plant stayed small. I suppose it's a bit unpredictable with autos.

Harvested NL over a few days, starting on day 89. However it was largely infested with caterpillars. I lost the main cola and a couple others. Major bummer.

I think I pulled both a bit early since the buds are kind of airy (though still fairly potent - not like high-THC dispensary potent - but still nice). I would have let NL mature a bit longer but didnt want to lose more bud to caterpillars..

In terms of curing, I did a normal air dry & jar cure for the WW and about 20% of NL. For the other 80% of the NL I opted for a water cure since they were OK but had caterpillar poop all over them.

WET weight:
WW - 17.5 grams
NL - 75 grams (not including colas lost to cats)

DRY weight:
WW - 4 grams
NL - 17.5 grams

Total dry weight for both plants: 21.5g (0.768 oz)

Overall experience: pretty good, but super bummed about pests. I think next time I will try to put up mosquito nets to prevent moths from laying eggs (apparently a common issue in socal). I will also leave them out longer to hopefully get dense buds... and not sure about autoflowers, I might try photos next time.

NL just before harvest:
View attachment 819184

WW trimmed:
View attachment 819185

Cheers :cool:

Next time spray with BT (bacillus Thuringiensis) to control the caterpillars.