Best medium for autos?

yummy fur

Well-Known Member
Also, I’ve read articles saying that topping is a must for autos and then the next article says use only LST because autos aren’t meant for HST.
Which do I believe?
I've just chopped my Moby Dick XXL today, it's the first auto I didn't top, and I regretted it nearly every day. Ironically it's the longest grow of all. 18 weeks today. I just put an entry in my journal.

https://www.rollitup.org/Journal/Entry/moby-dick-xxl-auto-gets-the-chop.40179/ you can see the full story on this plant at grow diaries which you can get to via my sig link. In there is my very first OG Kush, which had not only HST but heavy defoliating, and super cropping. It's an interesting journey. Here's another 50c tip, all this cal/mag additive is generally bullshit as far as I'm concerned because I've never needed it ever and I've grown all sorts of different strains, think about that. The secret to growing good autos is all in the mind.

Here's some more walking to go with the talking... Blackberry auto topped at third node day 4th sept at 14 days. Today two weeks later she's got flowering tufts.




Whether you flower fast or slow will have more to do with the genes than anything else.

The health of the root system is what makes everything else possible.
 
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yummy fur

Well-Known Member
Strains like Mephisto 24 carat are not supposed to get taller than about 16 inches. I don't think topping would be a good choice for this strain. Mephisto Hubbabubbasmellascope is supposed to get up to 48 inches tall. This strain would make more sense to me to top. However like Matty said, you can just go by how tall or how many nodes it has around week 3. I wouldn't top later than day 28.
I've got a couple of Mephisto a Sour Crack and a Triangle Kush, I'll see what they're supposed to do. I always get at least three of anything so I can test stuff. I'd like to get a plant that is definitely recommended not to top, just to see. From what I've seen topping just gives you a better form. However sometimes a form that gets you bragging rights, doesn't get better buds, it's just more of a pain.

I wouldn't normally recommend topping after day 21 for an auto. I've done this with hydro but I'd like to see someone do this in soil. Say you top at the fourth node which is generally the best, then you'll get 8 main branches. However you can put two plants in the same pot and treat it like a single plant so you can still go for 8 main branches but spread over two plants.
 

wil2279

Well-Known Member
I've got a couple of Mephisto a Sour Crack and a Triangle Kush, I'll see what they're supposed to do. I always get at least three of anything so I can test stuff. I'd like to get a plant that is definitely recommended not to top, just to see. From what I've seen topping just gives you a better form. However sometimes a form that gets you bragging rights, doesn't get better buds, it's just more of a pain.

I wouldn't normally recommend topping after day 21 for an auto. I've done this with hydro but I'd like to see someone do this in soil. Say you top at the fourth node which is generally the best, then you'll get 8 main branches. However you can put two plants in the same pot and treat it like a single plant so you can still go for 8 main branches but spread over two plants.
I don't know about the triangle Kush but the sour crack is supposed to stay small and I would not suggest topping it. I think sour crack is supposed to stay 16 inches or shorter.
 

yummy fur

Well-Known Member
I don't know about the triangle Kush but the sour crack is supposed to stay small and I would not suggest topping it. I think sour crack is supposed to stay 16 inches or shorter.
Oh that's sounds like it could be a good candidate, maybe I can organise a sour crack grow party.
 

Deketx

Well-Known Member
2liter bottle hempy, 100% perlite, run perpetual sog and you get 15-20g a plant, i start 3 at at time, then start more 3 weeks apart, 9 plants growing at a time, harvest 50ish grams every 3ish weeks
I'd like to learn this method.
 

yummy fur

Well-Known Member
I want to do the same thing with the strawberry nuggets or sour livers.
I'd be happy to participate in an auto Mephisto grow but it would have to be done right...

The most important aspect of these types of things for me is to have a clear goal and to extract some new first hand knowledge at the end. For example to test a contentious myth like topping or what you can or can't do and test it against people who also know what they're doing. I do this myself anyway so anything I say comes from my own testing which is always being modified as new data comes in.

The complete opposite of this are the 'grow battles' on the autoflower network, it's impossible to quantify what a useless piece of bullshit they are, then all you get to display for the final "judging" is a low res shot of the whole plant in a pot. Then that one shot you upload is then further resampled to about file 300kB, it's strangely sad.
 

Frank Nitty

Well-Known Member
Are you a lazy/laid back grower? Go FFOF. Do you not mind feeding nutrients every watering(should be atleat 1 time a day) in coco? Coco will blow soil out the door in growth and yeild provided it doesn't kill you to take the 5 min to mix and feed you're plants 1-2x dailey.
3-5 for me!!!
 

wil2279

Well-Known Member
I'd be happy to participate in an auto Mephisto grow but it would have to be done right...

The most important aspect of these types of things for me is to have a clear goal and to extract some new first hand knowledge at the end. For example to test a contentious myth like topping or what you can or can't do and test it against people who also know what they're doing. I do this myself anyway so anything I say comes from my own testing which is always being modified as new data comes in.

The complete opposite of this are the 'grow battles' on the autoflower network, it's impossible to quantify what a useless piece of bullshit they are, then all you get to display for the final "judging" is a low res shot of the whole plant in a pot. Then that one shot you upload is then further resampled to about file 300kB, it's strangely sad.
I am hoping to start a grow soon. Was hoping this month but it's looking like next month. I was hoping to get a few guys growing autos hopefully starting around the same time or within a couple of weeks as me. Not as a contest but as a thread people could use for info. I am fairly new to growing but I do a ton of research. You are welcome to join the thread when I start. I am thinking about starting a perpetual grow.. starting 2 autos on startup and another 2 every couple of weeks. Until I have 8-9 of them going all at different stages. My reasoning behind this is I don't want to have to trim 9 autos all within a few weeks. I'd prefer to do a couple at a time and have a week or 2 in-between trim sessions. I just got a new yield lab 4x4 tent and a growers choice roi-e680 light for the grow.
 

yummy fur

Well-Known Member
I am hoping to start a grow soon. Was hoping this month but it's looking like next month. I was hoping to get a few guys growing autos hopefully starting around the same time or within a couple of weeks as me. Not as a contest but as a thread people could use for info. I am fairly new to growing but I do a ton of research. You are welcome to join the thread when I start. I am thinking about starting a perpetual grow.. starting 2 autos on startup and another 2 every couple of weeks. Until I have 8-9 of them going all at different stages. My reasoning behind this is I don't want to have to trim 9 autos all within a few weeks. I'd prefer to do a couple at a time and have a week or 2 in-between trim sessions. I just got a new yield lab 4x4 tent and a growers choice roi-e680 light for the grow.
Yeah it sounds good, as you say it's not a competition the primary aim is direct knowledge. I get what you say about trimming them, however you may as well forget about it because the reality is that they will all go out of sync you never really know what is going to occur.

I just harvested my MobyDickXXL which decided to take 18 weeks to finish, then of my two other orange buds that were planted three weeks later, one was harvested 3 weeks ago and the other one just done this morning. So much for timing.

What I do now is keep trimming the plant while it's growing by the time I get to harvest there's almost no trimming to be done.
 

wil2279

Well-Known Member
Yeah it sounds good, as you say it's not a competition the primary aim is direct knowledge. I get what you say about trimming them, however you may as well forget about it because the reality is that they will all go out of sync you never really know what is going to occur.

I just harvested my MobyDickXXL which decided to take 18 weeks to finish, then of my two other orange buds that were planted three weeks later, one was harvested 3 weeks ago and the other one just done this morning. So much for timing.

What I do now is keep trimming the plant while it's growing by the time I get to harvest there's almost no trimming to be done.
I have been dry trimming... I'm looking into wet trimming which I believe is a lot easier. And looking into a new drying technology that dries the buds in 3 days while not ruining them...
 

Frank Nitty

Well-Known Member
I have been dry trimming... I'm looking into wet trimming which I believe is a lot easier. And looking into a new drying technology that dries the buds in 3 days while not ruining them...
Set the buds on top of your light... You've got to keep an eye on them to make sure that they dry evenly... Or you can trim them and sit them in the tent with the lights on and in a few hours they will be perfect!!! Jar it,smoke it,sell it,whatever,it's ready!!! Smell,feel,taste is all there!!!
 

wil2279

Well-Known Member
Set the buds on top of your light... You've got to keep an eye on them to make sure that they dry evenly... Or you can trim them and sit them in the tent with the lights on and in a few hours they will be perfect!!! Jar it,smoke it,sell it,whatever,it's ready!!! Smell,feel,taste is all there!!!
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