Midwest outdoor container grow questions

[jamesphoto]

Hi all. Newbie question time. Summer will be here soon and I would like to do some growing outside in containers. The house I own has a second story deck. This would be my first outside grow. All auto flowering for this year to get the hang of it.

Questions:
3 or 5 gal containers?
Fabric smart pots or simple home depot buckets?
Soil for outside growing?
Leave out or bring in at night (security not really an issue where I'm at but...)?
Is one autoflower better then another for outside growing?
Will the squirrels think this is a free meal?

Thank you in advance. Feel free to give me any other advice that you think is necessary.

[SoOrbudgal]

We have at least 4 1/2 months before i would think of outdoor here in Oregon. Outdoor temps need to be very warm days and no less than 55f nights. Sure someone will say " Oh i've had them out in 40f " not if you want good weed. 3gal fabric are fine, i mix my own soils. Mine will stay outside night an day. You must have at least 8-10hrs of direct sun alittle shade OK if it's too hot. I did not have issue with animals cause i have dogs. Bugs are the issue. I grow all strains with indica being primary. I did 3 auto grows last summer it was great, along with my 4 legal photo gals.

[SoOrbudgal]

Those are 3gal. fabric pots

[jamesphoto]

SoOrbudgal oh... They look very big to me. That is the size then I'm gonna get. Looking at what you are using I think 5 gal would be much too big for my needs. Thank you!

[SoOrbudgal]

Different manufacturers but those are 3gal. you can get fabric from 1gal to 100gal and bigger LOL. And those are autos so you see you could even go less but need to pay close attention to there needs. More frequent watering's. I check outdoors for bugs many times a day.....( retired ) It was the fires & smoke that messed up the finish of my photos.

[crucialbunny]

Here in Southern California I start my germination in March using party cups for the seedlings. I bring them inside at night or when it's cold / windy. Once I repot into permanent containers I use 5 gal plastic containers and sometimes 3 gal. and around the middle of May they pretty much live outside. Rule of thumb is the bigger the container, the bigger the plant. I'm sure for autoflower plants the 3 gallon will work just fine. As far as soil goes, any rich loamy soil with good drainage will do the trick. (Perlite and coarse sand help a lot with drainage) A good quality tomato soil with no timed released nutrients should do the trick. Here, the primary pest is caterpillars and unfortunately they show up in late September early October during bud. I grow on a third floor balcony and that seems to keep pest problems to a minimum compared to my in the ground growing friends. Good luck

[jamesphoto]

Southern California? So you're not waiting for the snow to melt like I am in Michigan? Ha, ha - I used to like in the Bay area so I know your weather... All great info you have shared - thank you very much! We just have a lot of squirrels and I'm concerned as to whether they'll be attracted to the plants or not. We will see.

[Budgal]

3 gal pots are a good size, don't use the 5 gal buckets they don't have drainage holes. Use something to raise your pots off the surface, like 2 2x4 in a rail system. Actually, start the autos in something smaller, 6" pot, then transplant them into the bigger container later. Leave them outside in the sun, don't bring them inside. Haters gonna hate, but I've had tremendous success this past summer with auto's when I topped and LSTed like crazy, min 20 giant buds per plant in 3gal pots. (They say you shouldn't top auto's but I did, 6-8 times per plant, very successful)

[jamesphoto]

Excellent, thank you. I need to keep them small because of weight. Yes they will be elevated. My guess is to start them in Solo cups mid to late May then into final pots outside after that. Good to hear about your topping and LST success. I will give that a try as well. Thanks again!

[Rwise]

3-5 gallon fabric pots are good, (mine cost less then 5G buckets), grow medium your choice I use soil, might bring them in for bad weather, autos like more light than nature provides in the mid west, squirrels have never been an issue for the MJ plants, the house may be under attack, and forget apples or pears, any tree nuts they will steel them from you. The fry well!
Autos grown outside most often foxtail as the heat and sun is a bit intense for them. Still I grow a few outside and will this year as well, and may well have some going out and in by the end of March. Light can be added but points out the plants to thieves.
As for training an auto, from what I see they make more bud trained than not.

[jamesphoto]

Humm. Great advice - thanks. Ya got me thinking. Maybe I should purchase 5 gal fabric for this year. Then the following year if I decide to grow photos that would be a better size to do it in. Although I do have to be concerned with the weight I put on my flat roof. Maybe autos or photos would be fine in 3 gal. This is just a hobby - I can't consume because of my work. The final product will go to my kids for their fun. Then I will probably still use the Fox Farm soil I'm using now. Thanks for the squirrel info - I didn't know about them at all - now I do. There is a shade tree there - I can adjust where they sit out there if the sun is too intense (thanks!). Again thanks for your addition advice - you rock!!!