Advice on Autos

[Mollisol]

Ok friends,

So, I have grown plenty of photos. I have zero experience with autos. I've read all I can find on GWE and a few other sites.

This is my plan thus far:

- Plant directly to 3 gallon fabric in FFOF
- Add no nutrients at all just Ph adjusted H20
- I'm thinking the FFOF should be sufficient for 21 days
- Skip topping. LST only
- Once budlets form, bloom nutes 1/2 strength

Am I missing anything? Would you do anything different?

I'm a little concerned about going straight to such a large container. Because it makes watering tricky.

[WolfMansBrother]

I did almost exactly that last year - outdoors. Except I seeded in a solo cup with no nutes in it. The FFOF may be too hot for seedlings.
At one week after sprout, I moved them directly to 7 gal. fabric pots. Added Mycorrhizal dust.
LST with a vengeance. At 30 days in the larger pots, I started the usual FF Trio nutes at half strength. Added cal mag too. At the end, i needed more nitrogen than they had available... I think

Watering wasn't a problem.

Barney's Farm Dos-Si-Dos autos. I was very happy. I'm learning as I go. Advise (to myself as much as for you) would be to figure out the needed nutes beyond the FF Trio

The grow was a total of 90 days from seed drop to chop. June - August - Lower New York state. Way too hot & humid! I'm jealous of your indoor rig!
Good luck!!

[SoOrbudgal]

That auto looks wonderful. I grow outdoors also.

[SoOrbudgal]

I buy a bag of soil for seedlings only. It's light mix no nutes nothing. I start all my seeds in it then after few wks i begin nutes very low dose. And i transplant my autos i do it very gently i've never ruined a root system. But to each there own, it's not rocket science watering seedlings, get a syringe.

[Mollisol]

Your definitely right about that. If I was doing the mathematics. Our astronauts would have burned up in the atmosphere.

Maybe thats why NASA. rejected my application.

[golfnrl]

Sounds like a plan. You should be good with 21 days of no nutes but watch it close, right? Only thing I'd do different is top the plant at the 5th node. So far, I've not had any negative affects from topping an auto as I would a photo. And depending on the cultivar you might be able to use stronger nutes in flower but the plant will let you know. I like starting at less than the manufacturers recommendations and adjusting accordingly.

[Going2fast]

It's your first time with autos. Let them do their thing so you can get a handle on them. My recommendation. Ditch the fabric pots. They are hard to water without runoff which you don't want with soil. 3 gallons is ok. Watch out for FFOF is notorious for being out of wack ph wise out of the bag. miracle grow organics is a cheaper and better alternative. Mix 1/2 cup dolomite lime with the bottom 2/3 soil. That will help buffer it and add calcium and magnesium. Plant directly into their final pots. Don't top just lst if you feel inclined but it's ok to let them alone. Again it's your first time you can experiment with other techniques after you get used to their growing habits.
good luck

[Isaac11247]

Just my 2 cents but I don't trust any soils from Miracle grow. even if it says organic. they are owned by big pharma. its maybe safe for lawns and bushes I won't use it on garden vegetables but I only use natural nutes like Gaia Green and I like Sohum soil, its pricey but very nice mix. I haven't used FF soils yet