Jon's Sneak It In Auto Grow

[Jon]

hi Jon you have some huge autos i hope you don't mind if i follow along ? im growing autos also but nothing like what i see here hoping i can learn a few things

Hi @con! Absolutely, glad to have you aboard! Please feel free to comment at will. We go for as much wide open dialogue as possible here, exactly for the reason you said - so we can all learn something. I learn just as much from my journals that way as you do, lol. Thank you so much for your interest! Lemme know if I can assist in any way.

 

[Jon]

Changes in the Closet Formerly Known as the 420h/Blurple Closet

Enter the VS XS 1500 Pro
Enter Reds!!
@ViparSpectra

I keep finding new ways to use the ViparSpectra XS1500 Pro. This awesome little light is so flexible. This one was a side light in the main tent until now. The side lights in the 5x5 are defunct. They’ve done their job. So this one is now repurposed, which allows me to use the Bloom setting on the Blurple, ie, reds. Make some more frost and all!

So now we have 570 watts of full spectrum from above (both lights at 100%) and about 175 watts of reds from the side hitting everything. I know from experience that using the reds this way works real well to increase frost (trichome production). And with the VS XS1500 Pro side by side with the 420h, my full spectrum from above no longer includes crappy Blurple “full spectrum.” Lmao.

So here’s what the new situation looks like. Heh.

 

[Jon]

Changes in the Closet Formerly Known as the 420h/Blurple Closet

Enter the VS XS 1500 Pro
Enter Reds!!
@ViparSpectra

I keep finding new ways to use the ViparSpectra XS1500 Pro. This awesome little light is so flexible. This one was a side light in the main tent until now. The side lights in the 5x5 are defunct. They’ve done their job. So this one is now repurposed, which allows me to use the Bloom setting on the Blurple, ie, reds. Make some more frost and all!

So now we have 570 watts of full spectrum from above (both lights at 100%) and about 175 watts of reds from the side hitting everything. I know from experience that using the reds this way works real well to increase frost (trichome production). And with the VS XS1500 Pro side by side with the 420h, my full spectrum from above no longer includes crappy Blurple “full spectrum.” Lmao.

So here’s what the new situation looks like. Heh.

Here’s the new look tent after raising the Dos Si Dos and the one Watermelon Wedding Cake to even out the canopy as much as possible and get those two closer to the light.

Side lights are done. I’ll discuss that in a later post.

 

[Carmen Ray]

Changes in the Closet Formerly Known as the 420h/Blurple Closet

Enter the VS XS 1500 Pro
Enter Reds!!
@ViparSpectra

I keep finding new ways to use the ViparSpectra XS1500 Pro. This awesome little light is so flexible. This one was a side light in the main tent until now. The side lights in the 5x5 are defunct. They’ve done their job. So this one is now repurposed, which allows me to use the Bloom setting on the Blurple, ie, reds. Make some more frost and all!

So now we have 570 watts of full spectrum from above (both lights at 100%) and about 175 watts of reds from the side hitting everything. I know from experience that using the reds this way works real well to increase frost (trichome production). And with the VS XS1500 Pro side by side with the 420h, my full spectrum from above no longer includes crappy Blurple “full spectrum.” Lmao.

So here’s what the new situation looks like. Heh.

Hi Jon, your garden is looking lovely. I'm here to get inspiration if that's ok.

 

[Jon]

Hi Jon, your garden is looking lovely. I'm here to get inspiration if that's ok.

Of course @Carmen Ray, why not? If that’s ok? Whatever do you mean? You and I didn’t just meet or something???

 

[Carmen Ray]

Of course @Carmen Ray, why not? If that’s ok? Whatever do you mean? You and I didn’t just meet or something???

No but I haven't chatted with you in quite a long time and I was trying to be polite. Sorry.

 

[Carmen Ray]

Jon, moving on from the awkward greeting, how big are your autos getting? That's what I was on a mission to find out!

 

[Jon]

No but I haven't chatted with you in quite a long time and I was trying to be polite. Sorry.

Ah! That’s cool @Carmen Ray - no reasons for that, just timing and life. I need to stop over and check you out, I’ve been away a while. And you’re always polite man!

 

[Jon]

Jon, moving on from the awkward greeting, how big are your autos getting? That's what I was on a mission to find out!

Lol @Carmen Ray! Ok, awkwardness aside…

The five in the tent are trained basically to canopies. So all of them are short when measured vertically. But all of them are trained to have many a bud site. The ones most perceive as the bigger ones are in the closet in my room, converted to a small grow room. Of those, I would say the Gorilla Zkittlez is nothing special - nice auto, not blowing my socks off. She is 31” tall at her highest point. The Pink Rozay is about the same, maybe a little bigger (can’t get to her at the moment), but that plant is amazing and super productive. The monster is the Apple Fritter from Blimburn. This thing is 53” tall and I had to tie back three colas. It’s one of the biggest autos I’ve ever seen. And it seems as if it never really stops growing vertically. Five days ago she was 48” tall and we are way past the stretch. She just went nuts. I’ve learned that assuming I pick the right strain, I can pretty much grow them any way I want. I believe most any auto can get four or five feet tall if that’s one’s interest. Might take coco or hydro, but they can and do get as big as photos these days. I don’t grow too many photos as big as this Apple Fritter auto. Mostly I cut them off around four feet if I can.

Does that answer your question?

Edit: I know your table top thing doesn’t really allow for gigantic autos as you’re sort of bound there size wise, but if you ever want to try a different situation where you can let an auto get big, I have the list of monsters for you!

 

[Jon]

Colors

First two are the Platinum Mimosa Cookies indica pheno and the third is the Dos Si Dos. These are the two most colorful plants so far.

 

[Carmen Ray]

Lol @Carmen Ray! Ok, awkwardness aside…

The five in the tent are trained basically to canopies. So all of them are short when measured vertically. But all of them are trained to have many a bud site. The ones most perceive as the bigger ones are in the closet in my room, converted to a small grow room. Of those, I would say the Gorilla Zkittlez is nothing special - nice auto, not blowing my socks off. She is 31” tall at her highest point. The Pink Rozay is about the same, maybe a little bigger (can’t get to her at the moment), but that plant is amazing and super productive. The monster is the Apple Fritter from Blimburn. This thing is 53” tall and I had to tie back three colas. It’s one of the biggest autos I’ve ever seen. And it seems as if it never really stops growing vertically. Five days ago she was 48” tall and we are way past the stretch. She just went nuts. I’ve learned that assuming I pick the right strain, I can pretty much grow them any way I want. I believe most any auto can get four or five feet tall if that’s one’s interest. Might take coco or hydro, but they can and do get as big as photos these days. I don’t grow too many photos as big as this Apple Fritter auto. Mostly I cut them off around four feet if I can.

Does that answer your question?

Edit: I know your table top thing doesn’t really allow for gigantic autos as you’re sort of bound there size wise, but if you ever want to try a different situation where you can let an auto get big, I have the list of monsters for you!

It's hard for me to imagine autos that tall! Mine are both only about 14 inches tall. They are canopies and just starting to flower but still. What size pots are yours in? Mine are in 5 Gal and I think they could go to 7 in future. What height do your canopies average? I can go quite a bit taller on the tabletop than I first thought. I have a high ceiling. I'd like to get a list of higher yielding, bigger autos pls

 

[ViparSpectra]

Colors

First two are the Platinum Mimosa Cookies indica pheno and the third is the Dos Si Dos. These are the two most colorful plants so far.

The pics looks awesome

 

[Jon]

It's hard for me to imagine autos that tall! Mine are both only about 14 inches tall. They are canopies and just starting to flower but still. What size pots are yours in? Mine are in 5 Gal and I think they could go to 7 in future. What height do your canopies average? I can go quite a bit taller on the tabletop than I first thought. I have a high ceiling. I'd like to get a list of higher yielding, bigger autos pls

Ok, well let’s unpack that.

The List: I have six guaranteed giant autos so far on my list.

- Watermelon Wedding Cake XXL auto (Growers Choice)
- Platinum Mimosa Cookies XXL auto (Growers Choice)
- Apple Frittter (Blimburn Seeds)
- Pineapple Express (Royal Queen Seeds)
- Chunkadelic (Humboldt Seed Company)
- White Widow (Greenpoint Seeds)

Those breeders are the ones I grew, but other than the two from Growers Choice and the one from Humboldt Seed Company which are very specific, you’d get large plants from any breeder with the other three. Growers Choice and almost all auto breeders now offer the XL or XXL or “Super” autos - generally they are the ones bred to get bigger. I stick with them mostly.

Pot sizes: I only use fives for autos if I’m out of sevens. I always use sevens and am considering trying a ten for the two Growers Choice strains, as I have grown them both enough to know they’d have a real good shot at filling a ten. I think in terms of fish - they grow to the size of their aquarium. Yes, pot size has something to do with plant size. All my sevens in this grow have long since filled the pots with roots. Keep in mind that I grow in coco, so compared to soil…well, there isn’t really any comparison. Take any two seeds on earth of the same strain and I’ll destroy the soil plant every time. The results I get, in my opinion, cannot be duplicated in soil. That said, one *could* argue that soil plants taste better. But for size and yield coco laughs at soil. Still, in soil, all the ones on my list will be big. Also - I uppot autos to start. That’s a big thing because my roots are very well established before they hit their final pot.

Canopies: my canopies are not exactly even this time as I chose to let any rogues grow out and have their dominance. So each of the five is a nice canopy with buds sticking out the top. But if I went just by the height of the main canopies they come in between 20 - 24”. This is the first time I’ve canopied autos this way - as if they were scrogged. I wouldn’t do it again. Better yields from minimal training and topping and letting them get big. Plus it’s way more work. I’ll save those kind of canopies for photos in the future.

Training: I went to your journal and saw what you have going on. You’re doing great. They’re small but you’re doing everything right. One of the ways I generate so many bud sites is by topping side branches. You double your colas with each topping. I also do nothing to the plant at all, just let it grow, until the 5th node is pushing out. I top there at four. So my plants are taller than yours (for example) before I begin to train. All my training begins when I top the main stem. That way, when you then start pulling branches to the side, they already have a bit of length and are easy to work with and manipulate.

If you train your colas in the shape of a ring you might do better on yield. That shape is the most natural and lends itself to side branch generation very readily. Doing it as you are works too, but it’s more difficult to figure out what to do with what. Also - IMPORTANT - you do not want to top anything once you see pistils. At that point your topping window is closed. There’s no point. The two you make won’t have time to become significant. I do all my topping as early as possible and never top after pistils. I feel there is a sweet spot somewhere in terms of number of colas that results in the best case scenario. Still trying to find it. But it’s way less than what I have now in the tent. Somewhere between 12 and 30 I believe.

I think that covers your queries??

 

[StoneOtter]

Beat me to the list Jon!

 

[Jon]

Beat me to the list Jon!

One step behind Otter, I don’t know what to tell you…

 

[Jon]

Some Saturday Morning Gorilla Zkittlez Bud Shots

She continues to slowly and subtly fatten up. Wowee are these little buds dense as hell.

 

[Carmen Ray]

Ok, well let’s unpack that.

Thank you for a thorough response Jon.

The List: I have six guaranteed giant autos so far on my list.

- Watermelon Wedding Cake XXL auto (Growers Choice)
- Platinum Mimosa Cookies XXL auto (Growers Choice)
- Apple Frittter (Blimburn Seeds)
- Pineapple Express (Royal Queen Seeds)
- Chunkadelic (Humboldt Seed Company)
- White Widow (Greenpoint Seeds)

Thank you for the list. I've saved it for reference and will see what I can get in SA. I can get RQS but not sure about the others.

Those breeders are the ones I grew, but other than the two from Growers Choice and the one from Humboldt Seed Company which are very specific, you’d get large plants from any breeder with the other three. Growers Choice and almost all auto breeders now offer the XL or XXL or “Super” autos - generally they are the ones bred to get bigger. I stick with them mostly.

Pot sizes: I only use fives for autos if I’m out of sevens. I always use sevens and am considering trying a ten for the two Growers Choice strains, as I have grown them both enough to know they’d have a real good shot at filling a ten. I think in terms of fish - they grow to the size of their aquarium. Yes, pot size has something to do with plant size. All my sevens in this grow have long since filled the pots with roots. Keep in mind that I grow in coco, so compared to soil…well, there isn’t really any comparison. Take any two seeds on earth of the same strain and I’ll destroy the soil plant every time. The results I get, in my opinion, cannot be duplicated in soil. That said, one *could* argue that soil plants taste better. But for size and yield coco laughs at soil. Still, in soil, all the ones on my list will be big. Also - I uppot autos to start. That’s a big thing because my roots are very well established before they hit their final pot.

I'm swicking (sub-irrigating a soil grow in a cloth bag), and I up-pot as soon as the roots start invading the perlite wick. I don't have any up-pot shock if I do it this way.

Canopies: my canopies are not exactly even this time as I chose to let any rogues grow out and have their dominance. So each of the five is a nice canopy with buds sticking out the top. But if I went just by the height of the main canopies they come in between 20 - 24”. This is the first time I’ve canopied autos this way - as if they were scrogged. I wouldn’t do it again. Better yields from minimal training and topping and letting them get big. Plus it’s way more work. I’ll save those kind of canopies for photos in the future.

What do you mean by minimal training and topping?

Training: I went to your journal and saw what you have going on. You’re doing great. They’re small but you’re doing everything right. One of the ways I generate so many bud sites is by topping side branches. You double your colas with each topping. I also do nothing to the plant at all, just let it grow, until the 5th node is pushing out. I top there at four. So my plants are taller than yours (for example) before I begin to train. All my training begins when I top the main stem. That way, when you then start pulling branches to the side, they already have a bit of length and are easy to work with and manipulate.

I need to become more familiar with autos before I start topping side branches. I'd like a tutorial on that if you feel up to writing a blog?
I waited until I saw first pistils before topping these two because that's what BooWho2 does very well at. I wanted to try it and so far I feel it has worked nicely I feel.
I can treat the third plant differently but that is already at node 7 and no flower yet. Where would you top that now?

If you train your colas in the shape of a ring you might do better on yield. That shape is the most natural and lends itself to side branch generation very readily. Doing it as you are works too, but it’s more difficult to figure out what to do with what. Also - IMPORTANT - you do not want to top anything once you see pistils. At that point your topping window is closed. There’s no point. The two you make won’t have time to become significant. I do all my topping as early as possible and never top after pistils. I feel there is a sweet spot somewhere in terms of number of colas that results in the best case scenario. Still trying to find it. But it’s way less than what I have now in the tent. Somewhere between 12 and 30 I believe.

What do you mean by shape of a ring? I know that's round but what would I do differently?

I think that covers your queries??

Yes, thank you very much but now I have more

 

[Jon]

Apple Fritter

Cleanup in aisle three!

Undercarriage maintenance. I kept the main stems of the lower ring and eliminated the crap.

The results:

 

[KeithLemon]

Apple Fritter

Cleanup in aisle three!

Undercarriage maintenance. I kept the main stems of the lower ring and eliminated the crap.

The results:

Looks great Jon. Nice plant your maintenance sure looks good.

 

[NickHardy]

Ok, well let’s unpack that.

The List: I have six guaranteed giant autos so far on my list.

- Watermelon Wedding Cake XXL auto (Growers Choice)
- Platinum Mimosa Cookies XXL auto (Growers Choice)
- Apple Frittter (Blimburn Seeds)
- Pineapple Express (Royal Queen Seeds)
- Chunkadelic (Humboldt Seed Company)
- White Widow (Greenpoint Seeds)

Those breeders are the ones I grew, but other than the two from Growers Choice and the one from Humboldt Seed Company which are very specific, you’d get large plants from any breeder with the other three. Growers Choice and almost all auto breeders now offer the XL or XXL or “Super” autos - generally they are the ones bred to get bigger. I stick with them mostly.

Pot sizes: I only use fives for autos if I’m out of sevens. I always use sevens and am considering trying a ten for the two Growers Choice strains, as I have grown them both enough to know they’d have a real good shot at filling a ten. I think in terms of fish - they grow to the size of their aquarium. Yes, pot size has something to do with plant size. All my sevens in this grow have long since filled the pots with roots. Keep in mind that I grow in coco, so compared to soil…well, there isn’t really any comparison. Take any two seeds on earth of the same strain and I’ll destroy the soil plant every time. The results I get, in my opinion, cannot be duplicated in soil. That said, one *could* argue that soil plants taste better. But for size and yield coco laughs at soil. Still, in soil, all the ones on my list will be big. Also - I uppot autos to start. That’s a big thing because my roots are very well established before they hit their final pot.

Canopies: my canopies are not exactly even this time as I chose to let any rogues grow out and have their dominance. So each of the five is a nice canopy with buds sticking out the top. But if I went just by the height of the main canopies they come in between 20 - 24”. This is the first time I’ve canopied autos this way - as if they were scrogged. I wouldn’t do it again. Better yields from minimal training and topping and letting them get big. Plus it’s way more work. I’ll save those kind of canopies for photos in the future.

Training: I went to your journal and saw what you have going on. You’re doing great. They’re small but you’re doing everything right. One of the ways I generate so many bud sites is by topping side branches. You double your colas with each topping. I also do nothing to the plant at all, just let it grow, until the 5th node is pushing out. I top there at four. So my plants are taller than yours (for example) before I begin to train. All my training begins when I top the main stem. That way, when you then start pulling branches to the side, they already have a bit of length and are easy to work with and manipulate.

If you train your colas in the shape of a ring you might do better on yield. That shape is the most natural and lends itself to side branch generation very readily. Doing it as you are works too, but it’s more difficult to figure out what to do with what. Also - IMPORTANT - you do not want to top anything once you see pistils. At that point your topping window is closed. There’s no point. The two you make won’t have time to become significant. I do all my topping as early as possible and never top after pistils. I feel there is a sweet spot somewhere in terms of number of colas that results in the best case scenario. Still trying to find it. But it’s way less than what I have now in the tent. Somewhere between 12 and 30 I believe.

I think that covers your queries??

My mate did 4000 autos earlier in the year. Full outdoor in LOS. Saw pictures from the same spot in one of the fields fields at seedling, early flower and end of flower. Amazing

The majority were White Widow. (Serious) They got to about 80-100cm. I haven’t tried it yet but there’s a nug I have. Poorly trimmed, jeez!

Nick