Autoflowers: Am I Missing Something?

[Going2fast]

The biggest mistake made with autos is treating them like photos. Can you top them and transplant them? Yes but it does nothing good for them and unless done at the perfect time will have negative effects. They are mostly a set it and forget it plant. Their first 3 weeks of life are the most critical.
in order to avoid over/under watering them I give the planter a good soaking a day before planting. Drop your seed cover it and put a clear plastic cup over it. Note the weight of the planter. Remove the cup a day after sprout. In normal growing conditions that plant won't need to be watered for at least two weeks. Let the roots find the moisture.
and don't get hung up in the overpriced dirt hype. Can't fathom why people pay 30+ bucks for a bag of dirt with colorful graphics only to burn up their seedlings.
Man I wish I was the guy that started build a soil. That dude's getting rich off of the uninformed. Volcanic dust? Bat guano? Geez.

[MagicMike66]

I’ve only grown 2 sets of autos but I’d have to disagree on this. I treated both grows the exact same as I would autos with very good results. My last grow produced the fattest plants I’ve ever seen!

[ZigZag]

MagicMike66- did you top the autos, if so at what node and week?

[MagicMike66]

I always top my plants at the 6th node. I also train them using a manifold technique and very heavy defoliation throughout veg and flower

[Blowdout2269]

It has the same effect(affect?) as topping a photoperiod plant. It is just extremely critical that you do it before she begins flower. Otherwise you're effd. The plant must also be in the most healthy of conditions. I've been able to top autos at the fourth and fifth nodes without any negative effects. But it was a judgment call for sure.

[ChubbNugg]

"Effect"

[ZigZag]

Thanks, I’ll have 3 plants of two strains (autos), maybe I should experiment, top one, FIM one and just LST the third? Then compare. That should increase my odds of success.....maybe?

[MagicMike66]

[ChubbNugg]

What did you do? Crunch up some Wheaties? Nicely done. Good form!

[ZigZag]

Beauties- just in time for the holiday season!

[90Gizmo]

I tried something different this time (with my whisky zulu autos.) I noticed from the first grow that the biggest secondary colas came from the bottom of the plants so I cut the second and third true leaf sets early on to get more light to the base of the plants. I think that it did what I wanted. The bigger plant is falling down from it's own weight.

[ChubbNugg]

Holy! 3rd photo.on the right hand side in the back. That thing looks like a football !!

[Blowdout2269]

^That's what I was thinking!

[90Gizmo]

I think it will fit in a quart jar if I find a wide mouth one.

[3Berries]

My first auto I fimmed and then topped that. It was a bad grow due to not knowing what to expect and didn't get too big, 100 gr harvest. Second auto fimmed at the fourth node around two weeks above ground. If I didn't then it would get too tall. It now has filled out the 30x30x60" tent and is a square plant. Lights are up as high as I can get them and the main stalks all bent down. Two weeks to go or so.

[ZigZag]

Hopefully she will spend her energy on buds and not height, good growing!......can you cut the floor out to lower the planter🤣,
Just kidding but I’ve been there before.

[ZigZag]

Crucialbunny- I just Started an auto grow, picked two fast strains- I have a hundred days to finish and with the training I do with photoperiods usually takes about 4 months since they are in veg a little longer than with less training. Only time I did autos before was when I was two months into one grow, had extra room for two plants, so I tried the autos. It worked well because photoperiod didn’t matter. When the photoperiod were finished I just turned the lights up to 20 hrs and finished them about 4 weeks latter.

[ChubbNugg]

I'd have to side with my photos. fug em auto's, if I had to make a choice.

[ZigZag]

Yeah, give the photos the priority. The autos can adapt, heck that’s what they’re for!

[Puglover1]

I was just curious what almost mature autos would do if flipped to 12's, because photos rule.

[Puglover1]

Autos - not sure which was worse, the plants or the multitude of car repairs this year. I grew a 3.5 g dried NL, four inches high.

[ZigZag]

Puglover1- good question. Usually, if you started them at the same time the autos should mature first but if not then you could probably turn the lights back up to 20hrs without any problems. That’s kinda what happened to me except I just started the autos later than the photoperiods.

[ZigZag]

Sorry to hear about the auto....darn car cost more in $’s but the tiny plant was a bummer time wise. Hope your 2023 goes much better !

[Puglover1]

Thanks folks .... Saturday, washer overflow, basement floor, tried product, next day neighbor tried snake, guy was here, I have never had a cleanout part. He said Call Tues am, he could fix it in the afternoon. I did. Now he says Thursday, $300. We have a major storm predicted to start after midnight on Thursday. I can't use the kitchen sink, same drain pipe underneath in the basement, washer full of half drained wash load, since the weekend. I wrapped a bath towel around the faucet and plugged the kitchen sink drain bc I went to use it 10 times the first day.

Thursday, storm/blizzard, starting after midnight: I was born on a Thursday, Dec 22nd at 12:30 a.m. ... I am the Storm.

[bboyfromwayback]

I agree. Every once in a while an auto will surprise you but for the most part they’re not worth it to me. I continue to grow the freebie auto seeds I’ve accumulated but not wasting money on purchasing them

[ZigZag]

That’s been my experience too, thought I’d try a full auto grow this time. If I had a large grow room I’d grow more from regular seed but it takes a lot of space to veg until you can sex them. So I usually use feminized. Freebie seeds are great, but I had to buy them this time. The seeds I started soaking are already germinating after 36hrs. Time to plant!

[3Berries]

I'm amazed with the current auto grow. I have time to squeeze in another before the photo season requires the tent. The tops are getting quite mature but the lower small popcorns are still all white. Probably cut the tops off next week and let it go another week or so after that.