Amateur-Grower
Well-Known Member
These autos are about 70 days since sprouting. I feel like my auto’s don’t grow as big as I’ve seen others. Not sure what I’m doing wrong.
How to get bigger autos
- Thread starter Amateur-Grower
- Start date
Nutty sKunK
Well-Known Member
The main factors limiting their growth are;
1. Genetics
2. Watering frequency (amount)
3. Environment
4. Nutrition
What often catches people out is small plant/big pot and the amount/frequency of watering needed.
From seed in the final container I water every 3 days but simply change the volume I give them.
From 1 gallon to 5 gal I always start with 250ml and work my way up to a 1/6ths volume of the pot in water
I assume your environment is on point?
1. Genetics
2. Watering frequency (amount)
3. Environment
4. Nutrition
What often catches people out is small plant/big pot and the amount/frequency of watering needed.
From seed in the final container I water every 3 days but simply change the volume I give them.
From 1 gallon to 5 gal I always start with 250ml and work my way up to a 1/6ths volume of the pot in water
I assume your environment is on point?
Amateur-Grower
Well-Known Member
So I go right into a 5 gallon pot of FoxFarm Coco Loco. Then I'd use a water sprayer for the first 2 weeks without nutrients about every 1 - 2 days. 3rd week I'd water about 16 oz of water and wait till the soil dries up. Could be like 3 - 4 days. 4th week is when I start adding nutrients Jacks 321 with Silica. Silica 5ml Part A 3.6g Epsom 1.2g Part B 2.4g all per gallon. My light intensity is set to around 660 the whole process.
Nutty sKunK
Well-Known Member
Ah Kk, sounds like watering issue. Try this on your next run.
Saturate the soil before potting up with 15% volume of the pot then plant the seed (fabric pots wick moisture away from the sides).
Every 3 days from sprout give it water but simply up the volume. Start with 250ml for the first 3 waterings then up it to 500ml when they are like 10 days old. Around 20 days 750ml and so on until around 2-3L depending on plant size.
I found I had to water them around 2-3 weeks from the bottom to moisten the edges of the fabric pot because the amount the plant needs isn’t enough to keep the soil moist enough. Took about 30 seconds for it to suck up 1L of moisture.
DoubleD5374
Well-Known Member
Quality genetics from , speedrun , nightowl etc are gonna be your ticket .
I also can’t suggest , autopots enough . Combine with medium of your choice - they’re the best thing for a new grower - to maximize yields, while being as simple as mixing and filling a reservoir .
honestly you could get build a soil or whatever living soil you prefer , and fill the reservoir with ph’d water only . Idk of a way simpler to be honest . Top water for 2 weeks , then once the leaves have reached the edges of your pot , you can turn it on , and “set it and forget it “ so to speak
this is a speed run boss battle at day 77 , I could’ve disconnected 3 pot , trained this plant and had it fill the entire canopy with ease . Squished together it’s 2.5 ft in diameter and 4.5 foot tall . Also forgot to mention that this is my second grow ever with the autopots - first was full of pitfalls , and beginner mistakes - and still yielded a lb from four 18-24” talks autoflowers .
speed run seems to be having some major communication and logistics issues right now . I love Ben’s gear , and his genetics are second to none imho , but it’s just a friendly fore warning that people are waiting for several weeks to get their orders as of late . Daz / night owl, is also just as good - but he sells out insanely fast and you wait 2-3 weeks for them also .
hop on instagram and follow autopotamus , if you want to see what autopots and autoflowers are capable of . Awhile back this man grew a 26.6 ounce grape deebo, along with 3-4 other plants in a 5x5 , and yielded 6 lbs .
Jjgrow420
Well-Known Member
If you want to learn how to grow autos better grow photo periods until you're able to get them going with little to no hiccups then use those same tactics with your auto. It's all about the first few weeks of growth. Not over watering and over fertilizing is key. Temps and light intensity play a large role as well.
You don't need expensive pots, or secret sauce. Experience is going to be your main factor.
You don't need expensive pots, or secret sauce. Experience is going to be your main factor.
DoubleD5374
Well-Known Member
The problem is , everyone speaks as if all autos are created equal and that’s not even remotely the case .
This whole “50% light/ 50% feed of a photoperiod” was drilled into my head , and it almost ruined my first autopot grow . My plants starved , and cannabilized . That being said - I stuck by that 50%”theory” growing lots of small fastbuds , rqs autos and it worked flawlessly - but when you go get great genetics , everything changes .
This time around , the owner of speedrun suggested I crank my light , at day 14 - which I did , and the pictures show just how they responded in my grow journal .
The two main ways to grow big autoflowers , are SIPS , and DWC. I’ve grown autos in soil/DTW, coco/dtw , ebb and flow , aero , drip . Based on my personal experience - those two systems destroy any other method out there .
One of the biggest factors with autos vs photos - is you are on a timer with an auto , so if you mess up , it could potentially ruin the entire grow or at the very least “ kill yield and quality “
Photoperiod , can stay in veg as long as you’d like till you fix your issue and keep chugging along ..
I’m running a kind x750 , in a 4x4 tent , and the full spectrum is set to 100% , and has been for 60 days , and the ir/uv is now at 100% for the last 2 days , but has been increased gradually for over a month from 25% and up . I feed them heavy heavy - 3.5 EC right now along with a ton of C02.
after growing well over 1000 autoflowers in the last 5 years , the one single thing I’ve noticed always playing a factor in plant size , is pot size .
running soil side by side , vs dwc - the dwc is going to grow larger autos every single time - all else being equal . I personally wouldn’t recommend dwc for a beginner grower , but the autopots , are equal in every aspect to DWC, and are the simplest form of growing “hydroponically” , you’re ever going to find . No setting flow rates , pump speed , worrying about power outages etc , over or under watering . If your floor is level , and you don’t add something that turns into a solid in the reservoir and plugs the lines “I’ve been there “ , it’s literally fool proof .
i have a 1 gallon floraflex quick fill , same strain - started the same exact day , fed the same exact nutes . It’s Drain to waste coco , vs the AP grown in coco/perlite .
it’s not even remotely close . Not only did the 1 gallon start flowering way earlier 2 weeks sooner , but it’s also much slower and won’t finish for another 5-6 weeks ! You could argue pot size being the reason , but I’ve grown an auto in a 10 gallon fabric pot indoors and still never came close to what these are doing right now .
Also if the OP is growing one single plant , he can score a single pot XXL system with reservoir for under 145 dollars brand new “used on marketplace for probably 75 or less . The beauty of the system is , you can add as many pots as you want to it - and if you’re an outdoor grower - you can use it out in the field - by removing the plugs to ensure it never floods .
As far as nutrients go , use whatever floats your boat - as long as it can’t plug the lines . Jacks , Athena , crop salts , floraflex new line . The cleaner the better
This whole “50% light/ 50% feed of a photoperiod” was drilled into my head , and it almost ruined my first autopot grow . My plants starved , and cannabilized . That being said - I stuck by that 50%”theory” growing lots of small fastbuds , rqs autos and it worked flawlessly - but when you go get great genetics , everything changes .
This time around , the owner of speedrun suggested I crank my light , at day 14 - which I did , and the pictures show just how they responded in my grow journal .
The two main ways to grow big autoflowers , are SIPS , and DWC. I’ve grown autos in soil/DTW, coco/dtw , ebb and flow , aero , drip . Based on my personal experience - those two systems destroy any other method out there .
One of the biggest factors with autos vs photos - is you are on a timer with an auto , so if you mess up , it could potentially ruin the entire grow or at the very least “ kill yield and quality “
Photoperiod , can stay in veg as long as you’d like till you fix your issue and keep chugging along ..
I’m running a kind x750 , in a 4x4 tent , and the full spectrum is set to 100% , and has been for 60 days , and the ir/uv is now at 100% for the last 2 days , but has been increased gradually for over a month from 25% and up . I feed them heavy heavy - 3.5 EC right now along with a ton of C02.
after growing well over 1000 autoflowers in the last 5 years , the one single thing I’ve noticed always playing a factor in plant size , is pot size .
running soil side by side , vs dwc - the dwc is going to grow larger autos every single time - all else being equal . I personally wouldn’t recommend dwc for a beginner grower , but the autopots , are equal in every aspect to DWC, and are the simplest form of growing “hydroponically” , you’re ever going to find . No setting flow rates , pump speed , worrying about power outages etc , over or under watering . If your floor is level , and you don’t add something that turns into a solid in the reservoir and plugs the lines “I’ve been there “ , it’s literally fool proof .
i have a 1 gallon floraflex quick fill , same strain - started the same exact day , fed the same exact nutes . It’s Drain to waste coco , vs the AP grown in coco/perlite .
it’s not even remotely close . Not only did the 1 gallon start flowering way earlier 2 weeks sooner , but it’s also much slower and won’t finish for another 5-6 weeks ! You could argue pot size being the reason , but I’ve grown an auto in a 10 gallon fabric pot indoors and still never came close to what these are doing right now .
Also if the OP is growing one single plant , he can score a single pot XXL system with reservoir for under 145 dollars brand new “used on marketplace for probably 75 or less . The beauty of the system is , you can add as many pots as you want to it - and if you’re an outdoor grower - you can use it out in the field - by removing the plugs to ensure it never floods .
As far as nutrients go , use whatever floats your boat - as long as it can’t plug the lines . Jacks , Athena , crop salts , floraflex new line . The cleaner the better
Absorber
Well-Known Member
I agree SIP's for the win, i just harvested this one yesterday it took 90 days from popping seed to finished .
Using MegaCrop
DoubleD5374
Well-Known Member
Absorber
Well-Known Member
Thanks man, yours is pumping too
.If you're only getting 660µmol on your grow, you're losing about 25% of your yield. Given that yield increases in an almost linear manner, it behooves growers to give their plants more light.
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Aside from CO2, once the inputs to the grow environment have reached the "sufficiency" level, light is the only input you can add that will increase crop yield.
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I've grown autos and photos and, with the exception of the photoperiod, I treat them the same because they're both cannabis. With photos, I run 12/12 but for autos I run 20/4. 21/3, or 19/4 so DLI's will be in the 70's or 80's.
Biggest issues:
Give your plants as much light as they can tolerate, starting at day one. Light is the only way plants can make food and it's impossible to grow a large plant unless you give it a lot of light. Disregard the conventional wisdom, everything that's recommended at growlightmeter.com, as well as the recommendations by Shane at micro.com.
Give your plants as few nutrients as are needed to keep them in the sufficiency zone.
Prune judiciously - many growers swear that heavy pruning and schwazzing are keys to great yields but the only research on this topic that I've seen showed those approaches resulted in significantly reduced yields. No one has provided any data to support their argument for heavy leaf removal so I don't recommend that approach. I'm not one for anecdotes.
Finally, LTFA
Below are the daily light readings from my current grow. It's typical of how I feed my plants and it's one of the reasons why my grows exceed the yield estimates that seed sellers provide. I grow one plant in hydro in a 2' x 4' tent and expect at least a pound per grow.
