SoCal lazyman outdoor grow plan ... thoughts/suggestions?

[Beach_Town_Brit]

I'm helping a friend set up an outdoor grow in the LA area and we're hoping for fun quality results with minimal effort. Good easy weed with lots of variety is the goal rather than massive yields or optimized cost/weight ratios.

My plan is to grow feminized autoflower seeds in large clay pots. The pots would have 75% supersoil topped with 25% store brought organic bag soil. The idea is that the seeds can get started in the normal soil then as they grow out their roots they'll hit the super soil and be self-sustaining. Watering would be by an automated drip feed system. The hope would be to grow year round under the SoCal sun. Beyond an early topping I don't plan to do much with the plants (except perhaps chat with them a bit and play them Burning Spear). The grow area is an old monkey cage (I kid you not), the walls will be shielded but the roof will be open. There's a constant breeze in this location that helps with the temps that can get up into the 90s at times. There's never a frost here and the only inclement weather is the occasional torrential downpour but then we haven't seen those very much recently what with the epic drought and all!

Anyone see any glaring problems with my plan?
Does anyone have any insight into how big a pot is too big a pot for an outdoor auto-flower in LA?
I've never actually done a super soil grow before, is my thinking sound on the 25% normal soil at the top of the pot so as not to burn the plant early?

[Royal Nugs]

Check out kindsoil.com. They use a similar setup. It involves using a concentrated super soil at the bottom of your container. The rest is filled with whatever soil/soilless mix you prefer.

[Beach_Town_Brit]

That makes things even easier, thanks!

[Mañ'O'Green]

How much direct sunlight per day will they get? Autoflowers do not care about day length but they need plenty of sunshine to do very well.

[Beach_Town_Brit]

The very least we get here is 10 hours a day. Typically that's full sun.

[Mañ'O'Green]

Excellent.

[Weed Pharma]

There are a couple of items, perhaps you should revisit:

1) autoflowers require a lower level of nutrients from all I've read- and you are basically double dosing with the supersoil % presented.
I'm currently doing an autogrow in amended Roots Organic Original and will see just how far along I get before there is a need to add anything- that time frame, will determine what I do next.

2) with such a short veg time your plant MAY not have time to recover from a topping and my understanding is Fimming is the way to proceed.
(I'm not there yet with current grow that's about 14 days old).

If you have healthy plants the temperature will be OK- as the plants will measure a lower temperature at the leaf- and shade is your friend on hot days.

[Beach_Town_Brit]

Thanks, yeah I think they key will be working out what percentage of hotsoil to normal soil. SoCal has pretty perfect conditions so I want to make sure the plants can reach their full potential.

I'll do some tests I guess

[NebulaHaze]

It all sounds like it would definitely work! I do suggest getting "smart pots" or fabric pots as opposed to regular plant containers because they help prevent overwatering and make plants grow faster. I bet the 5-gallon size would be a good size for smaller auto-flowering plants. The main problem with smart pots is they tend to dry out really fast since the roots get air from the sides, but since you're going to use an automated drip feed that's not really a consideration for you so you can get all the benefits with none of the downsides

I also probably wouldn't top an auto on your first grow. Although it can be done successfully in the right conditions, I've definitely seen many, many growers unintentionally stunt an auto-flower with topping. Topping is more a technique for indoors to take advantage of indoor grow lights that don't have a long range, and it's far less effective outdoors anyway. There's actually some controversy over whether topping actually increases yields outdoors at all.

I live in southern California too and someday I want to do almost exactly what you're doing now Same plan with super soil, automated drip feed, and year round autos. I'm excited to see it in action!

[Beach_Town_Brit]

Thanks Nebula. I use smart pots at home but my buddy likes the look of the clay pots (matches the roof). I also hoped that large clay pots would help the plant regulate its temperature better for those hot days. Size wise I think he has 30 gallon clay pots right now so my pot size questions was really, given an autoflower's short lifespan, how much soil, or pot capacity, can it effectively utilize?

We have a Nirvana Bubbleicious auto in organic soil in a big clay pot right now as a test. Just planted it a week ago, We're hand watering this one but it'll be interesting to see how big it can get in the winter sun. I'll post some pics

[NebulaHaze]

As far as the soil capacity, 5 gallons is plenty for an auto strain that's ready to harvest in around 3 months

[Beach_Town_Brit]

An AK48 clone we're growing out in the proposed location.

[PuravidaC]

What are the chances for legalized recreational use in California this November?

[Beach_Town_Brit]

I'm pretty sure it's going to happen, but I have my medical card for my gout (proper English genetics right here ) anyhow.

[tree dawg]

just plant in ground unless your ground is very sandy

[Beach_Town_Brit]

I'm sure it would work just fine, but my buddy wants organic weed and who knows what the gardener uses on the rest of the garden.Growing in pots up off the ground also helps keep the bugs at bay.

[Beach_Town_Brit]

Well the Bubblicous auto test popped just fine. Here she is ... drowning in soil in that huge pot!
We'll hand water this and likely add some Fox Farms nutes later in its lifespan but it'll be interesting to see how much it grows out in the heart of the SoCal "winter"

I'll follow Nebula's cautions and leave her alone (no topping) this time around

[rockman]

I've had a bubblelicious growing indoors for a month now in a 6 gallon smartpot. Checked this AM and roots were pushing out though sides and bottom, so I would vote for the large pot. Also did not top this one, but so far I can not see a big difference between it and the previous ones that I topped (all were growing strongly, topping did not seem to slow them down much).
Lucky you (and Nebula) to have the luxury of your outdoor sunny climate!!😊

[Royal Nugs]

I can't help but chuckle when i see that tiny seedling in the massive pot. Good Luck on your grow, BTB!

[Beach_Town_Brit]

Royal Nugs we got a whole family going. I need one of those stickers for the rear window of my truck

Left to right, AK48 clone - 1 month CFL 2 months outside just started flowering; Super Skunk clone - 1 month CFL 1 week outdoors; mystery sativa clone - 2 weeks CFL 1 week outdoors; and the auto baby

[Royal Nugs]

Aww.... What beautiful children you have! Watch out for bugs!

[Boo]

Got a couple of bubble auto starting myself. SE Arizona, temps are down some now...Put them in the rooters on the 1st...maybe Christmas buds !

[Beach_Town_Brit]

Christmas bubbles for us both

[Beach_Town_Brit]

Royal Nugs Diatomaceous earth and SM90 seem to have protected the AK so far. What else do you recommend?

[Royal Nugs]

The trick with IPM (integrated pest management) is to utilize multiple modes of action.

So if you get azamax or azatrol, don't bother with neem oil as its an extract of neem called azadirachtin. Both use the same mode of action.

I use mosquito dunks (BT), SM90 as a surfactant as well as repellent, azamax, and spinosad. I alternate usage with azamax/sm90 and spinosad. The dunks are for gnats only and I just break it up and use it as a root drench.

[Beach_Town_Brit]

Our little outdoor experiment continues. The AK clone is going gangbusters with a ton of tightly packed bud, although the local avian society seems to have taken issue with the plant and keeps pooping on it.

The new clones went right into early budding so we won't get much from them but it was worth learning the lesson that even though it seems like all-sun-all-the-time here in SoCal the shorter days will still kick plants into flowering immediately. [I learn best the hard way ]

The bubblicious auto looks good 1 week in. Still drowning in that huge pot though.