Autos suck, oh Hello

[Keffka]

Auto outdoors this summer in old garden soil.

I find my best success with sprouting in a 4 inch then transplanting into final container and leaving alone aside from watering and supporting branches.

 

[jmrl]

Hey man glad to have more peeps around here to chat and learn from!
I do not grow autos as of yet, good luck!

It doesn't matter whos fault it is my friend, just try to learn from it. At least you know it was yours. now we just need to focus on putting the foot forward and manning up. Hope to see more, come holla, dm, or w/e opinion of one man.

 

[Carmen Ray]

Autoflowers don't really like to be topped and manhandled too much, they do their own thing. When they get nipped an tucked they can get a little butt-hurt and stop growing an stuff.
Genetics play a big role in those strains.
New420Guyseeds.com has good seeds and he doesn't take an arm or a leg for them.

Hey there JiggiLotus,
I think you'll be impressed if you try some of the techniques suggested by Justin Goody below. I want to add a list of autoflower myth busting to encourage you on your way!

I think this is a common misconception and has become misinformation.
Look at @Trala and her journals. She delayed her current auto into later flower through creative pruning.
Just letting an auto go is the best way to keep it small.
Training, nipping, tucking and constant manipulation and manicuring are pretty much the new norm with autos. Uppotting used to be frowned on too for whatever reason.
I top within a day or two of seeing sex no matter what day it is.
Autos can’t really be cloned either but there are several examples of that not being 100% true.
Just saying, people write them off as some lost cause but it’s really just a lack of understanding.

So glad you are here to speak for the cause of autoflowers.

 

[JiggiLotus]

I will attempt a few techniques the more comfortable and familiar I get with growing. These are my 1st grows ever. I have a few seeds I'll be planting after these harvest, they were free seeds, so I will use those to learn these techniques.

 

[Chuckeye]

I will attempt a few techniques the more comfortable and familiar I get with growing. These are my 1st grows ever. I have a few seeds I'll be planting after these harvest, they were free seeds, so I will use those to learn these techniques.

You may want to consider a KISS method

A soilless medium such as ProMix HP or Sunshine #4 so you Completely control the feeding and depending on your water source negate the need to ph your water in.

A low cost and simple nutrient such as Mega Crop one part or GH Maxiseries.

They are powders you mix by weight/volume of water and both are relatively inexpensive...

And the biggest bonus for a new grower, a SIP.

Store bought GroBuckets will do if you are not comfortable with DIY !

They will eliminate under/over watering issues..

Very generally speaking I veg my photo's for 50 days and my auto's at least match and exceed their yields !

Cheers, eh ?

 

[Roy Growin]

I understand that being in AU makes it tough, but not all auto seeds are junk, nor are the breeders out to ruin genetic lines. Some folks just don’t have the touch to grow autos.
All the rumors that they are sensitive, difficult, stubborn, impossible even- they’ve all been proven and disproven here.
There’s an auto I bred that is currently up for plant of the year along with mostly photo plants. They can succeed.
Many people go through a phase where they try to grow a few and since they weren’t perfect, they will assume that must be how they all are.

If you climbed into a race car and could eventually get it started but for some reason it wouldn’t get out of 1st gear, it’s not the cars fault. It’s the untrained driver.
This site is full of adversity overcome by everyday average growers. Many of them have one thing in common- rather than complaining, they put in work.
In a few hours you could read 100 successful stories about autos and it would probably help. Or you could find more confirmation bias about them being stupid and not worth the time. The decision is in your hands.
I know you don’t want to hear this but it’s not the plant’s fault.

Sure, couldn't agree more @Justin Goody
Autos are not the scrawny cousins of photos they once were
Breeders have just turbo-charged the tortoise with the hare's legs, but it's still essentially a tortoise

 

[Justin Goody]

Sure, couldn't agree more @Justin Goody
Autos are not the scrawny cousins of photos they once were
Breeders have just turbo-charged the tortoise with the hare's legs, but it's still essentially a tortoise

I remember seeing my first auto in person (at @Carcass house) and everything I had heard/thought about them went out the window. I had one growing a month or so later and they’ve been probably 80% of my grows since then. I had grown for years and had some old ideas stuck in my head. 1 part food like MC tripped me out just as much. I didn’t believe until I saw it work.
Every year growing I have realized that I knew almost nothing the few years prior
I’ve spent a few years breeding autos now and yes some of them are definitely a Tortoise with hares legs but they are certainly a different animal than people think. I’ve bred out most things that require a lot of trimming and have achieved the tastes I’m after with very little difference in THC content compared to similar photos.
It’s been great fun watching people grow them out and their experiences. @InTheShed and @Trala currently have some of my beans going.

 

[Roy Growin]

First time I got 4oz per 3L pot x 9, 80cm x 80cm tent, 12 weeks from seed all the questions were answered = no-brainer for indoor growers

 

[Phytoplankton]

Never really had a problem with autos, the main thing is to get them a good clean start, overwatering or other stressors can really impact them when they're young, and because you don't control when they flower, there's not enough time for them to catch up. I regularly get 4-7 OZ trimmed, cured bud per auto.

 

[Keffka]

So as can be seen, Autos aren’t the issue

Part of the problem is Autos get marketed as new grower friendly since you don’t have to do anything extra. This is ludicrous. The only thing extra you have to do with a photo is change your light timer. If that’s an issue, then growing probably isn’t a good idea to begin with.

What they don’t mention is every mistake adds up. You don’t have time to recover from a mistake with an auto like you do with a photo. However, even with photos, new growers ruin those all the time too. In my opinion there really isn’t a better strain to learn on. Both will give you problems if you don’t know how to grow plants. We see it here every day.

The most beneficial thing a new grower can do is to go learn gardening fundamentals. If you learn that then it becomes vastly easier to grow. Otherwise, it’s trial and error, and that can get both expensive and demoralizing, fast.

 

[Meds4cancer]

I love the input here, keep it coming people, I figured out what I was doing wrong from this post, over watering possible, also topping to early and basically over caring. I loved them to failure. learning is what’s the greatest reward. My next auto grow may be awhile away but the goal is to find genetics and a seed bank that has reputable beans of the highest quality. Once I find them I will give it another go. Ps I love lights off photos here’s one I just took

 

[Meds4cancer]

Here’s a couple more 5 weeks in to flower. Around 4 to go

 

[JiggiLotus]

Wow! An that's just one plant... So awesome

 

[Meds4cancer]

Wow! An that's just one plant... So awesome

It’s my first indoor grow! I’ve had some great help from some old school growing legends. Very lucky to have the guidance and support

 

[Justin Goody]

So as can be seen, Autos aren’t the issue

Part of the problem is Autos get marketed as new grower friendly since you don’t have to do anything extra. This is ludicrous. The only thing extra you have to do with a photo is change your light timer. If that’s an issue, then growing probably isn’t a good idea to begin with.

What they don’t mention is every mistake adds up. You don’t have time to recover from a mistake with an auto like you do with a photo. However, even with photos, new growers ruin those all the time too. In my opinion there really isn’t a better strain to learn on. Both will give you problems if you don’t know how to grow plants. We see it here every day.

The most beneficial thing a new grower can do is to go learn gardening fundamentals. If you learn that then it becomes vastly easier to grow. Otherwise, it’s trial and error, and that can get both expensive and demoralizing, fast.

There is much truth spoken here

 

[Meds4cancer]

There is much truth spoken here

I’ve taken a lot of what has been said here and will use it for the future, I’d love to grow some nice autos at some stage, just won’t waste my time buying seeds from any Australian seed bank. My goal is to find the best so atleast I have the start I need, everything else that happens will be up to me and what I know and learn. Appreciate everyone’s honesty and help here see if I can find some 2-3 nice beans somewhere and I’ll have a go! Happy growing legends yeeeww

 

[HappyHazmat88]

For starters hello and welcome.... Second look at @Herbies Seeds they do international shipping... And any where you look here will say one of thee best seed banks around with awesome genetics both auto and photoperiod.

I've never had an auto stunt heavily or give to much issues... From personal experience they bounce back fast and handle most of the abuse you can dish out to them.... Here's a couple of my favorite ladies from the past all auto flowers.

 

[Delps8]

Just found this thread and I ran autos a few times when I started growing.

It wasn't until after I'd done a few grows that I learned from all the experienced growers just what I was up against.

First thing that struck me was their size. I was expecting that they'd be taller.

And then maybe it was because there were problems with them establishing their root system. I though growing in hydro, watching pH, lots of light, just enough fertilizer to be in the "sufficiency" zone, etc .Try as I might, this is how the roots ended up looking ("You're going to need a bigger boat ruler.")

OK, I know. I shouldn't have paid attention to the propaganda and fake grow journals of thousands of member of the cannabis network whose name starts with autoflowers. Heh, autoflowers use Ruderalis and Ruderalis grows in Russia so it must be those Russians!

I was hoping to get those cute little nugs. Instead I got stuff like this. It was awful, I tell ya. I had to cut it all down, trim it, put it in bags. Really frustrating to have to do all that. But that's what it's like with autos, right? One disappointment after another.

But it did turn out that there were some of the little guys. Clearly, my superior growing skills were able overcome the obstacles of an inferior product, right?

And after all that, this is all I got out of it. Can you imagine. Two plants and barely enough to fill out the bags!

After five auto grows, I gave up on them. Really, I mean - barely over a pound per grow. From a 2' x 4'. Autos suck, right?

I decided to switch to photos and I ended up with plants like this. But that plant got bud rot so it took some convincing for me to try photos again. Who wants to grow a nice plant like this and then have the dog shit genetics get bud rot?

So now I'm trying photos again and if they get bud rot again, I'll just go back to autos. Sure, I'll learn to deal with their problems but at least they don't get bud rot. And, you know, I've heard that photos get bud rot a lot. Something to do with genetics or planting the seed the wrong way up or something something something.

I mean, it's not like I did anything wrong. It's the plant that done it.

In all seriousness, I've read comments by many growers who repeatedly disparage autos. The fact that some sage tells me autos are "crap" makes me wonder about the messenger. I've had pretty good results from autos and there's a cannabis site where tens/dozens/hundreds of thousands of growers are getting great outcomes so I have to really about the message that they're an inferior product when it's so obviously untrue.

I did my first auto grow because I had to "get a grow done in 11 weeks". It took a bit longer than that (35 days = a bit!) but other than that, it turns out that it's a cannabis plant. I'm on grow 7 or 8 and, as I was told three years ago here on 420, "it's a plant". Yup, it's a plant.

My thinking (photos or autos) - feed it lightly, keep VPD in range, give it 1000µmol, and, for the love of God, don't cut off the fuckin' leaves. Do those things, and it's really quite amazing what you'll get.