Question about growing Autos

[flexy123]

I got a variety of Autos which I want to grow just out of boredom.
(We had some discussion already about re/up-potting or not with Autos, but I decided I wanted to put them in my 5L pots right after germinating without repotting this time. So I put them in their final pots.

My question is...should I have "crappy" or light soil in those pots with few or none nutrients, let the plants start (to have them grow some roots) and then slowly begin giving nutes - OR put them in final pots with readily fertilized potting mix and not give any nutes, just later on in flowering?)

How do you do it with Autos?

 

[Rifleman]

I hope this help you. Atrain is an auto guy. Look up his journals and writings.

Life cycle of autoflowering cannabis

 

[sonicDlf]

Hi flexy , if it was me i would fill the pot with your main soil , put a small pot in the middle to make a mold .
Take the pot out and fill the bit in the middle will soil that has very little to no nutes .
After your seeds germ , plant in the soil with no nutes
Be safe .

 

[flexy123]

OMG that's brilliant! Too bad I put those two in already, but will do this the next time! Then I can also compare!

 

[Papageno]

That's how I do it. I sprout in a pet cube under a hood. Then transfer that to a solo cup that has lots of hole in the bottom and "no" nute soil. Long before it gets root bound, basically after about 1 week I transfer to the final pot before the tap root gets too munched up. I fill the pot to the level that if you place the solo cup on it the top of the cup is about 1 inch below the top of the pot. Then place A solo cup (not the same one) in there and fill around it to 1 inch below top of the pot. Then remove the solo cup and transplant the baby which perfectly fills the hole.

I stopped dong the paper towel thing decades ago. Cannabis seeds work just like normal seeds and I have done more grows from placing seed directly in dirt in the final pot to begin with than I can imagine and they always come up.

I am running my first autos now and I did like I explained above but next time I am just planting them directly in the final pot like any other seed you would buy at a store.

Transplanting is bad so anyway you can avoid it or reduce the number of times you are doing it really helps.

 

[flexy123]

I still do the paper towel thing but merely because now it gets a little chilly outside, 14C-15C at night and it's warmer in the closet where I germinate. Of course I could also try to germinate in the pots IN THE HOUSE (and not in the greenhouse on balcony) but too lazy to move pots in and out now. Will see how those go. In my experience, when I germinate seeds with the PT method, seeds either germinate within 2 days...or the don't. (With one exception of someone who obviously sold me crappy seeds where NONE germinated), all other seeds or at least 90% of them germinate fine with paper towels. Or said differently: Quality seeds almost always germinate in paper towels, so no problem there.

 

[Papageno]

Yeah back then I was breeding so I was using fresh stock. Actually a little more than a year ago...the day we made it legal in Oregon I dug out my old stash . I did have to do a lot to get those up. I really had to dig deep into the bag of tricks but I got some 20 year old seeds to harvest eventually.