2nd grow, 1st attempt at autos

[Jams67]

So I have finally bit the bullet and popped 2 auto wedding cake seeds into jiffy pellets this morning. Ive just gone into week 6 of flower on my first grow with lemon drizzle photo’s, theres been plenty of ups and downs with that grow but one thing ive learned is to relax a little bit and not get stressed out trying to make sure everything is perfect. So with that mindset im going into this grow more relaxed and with an open mind. 

 

I am constantly going back and forth on how to setup my second tent, wether I use what I have (4 x 15l autopots and 1 res) between the 2 tents, get more autopots and an extra reservoir or I was thinking of going for something totally different like the Wilma 4 pot system. I dont have any spare cash for buying extra equipment at the moment so I thought I will just get started using what I have available at the moment which means running a single autopot in the small tent. Originally I had thought to do 1 auto gelato but I noticed my pack of wedding cake seeds had 4 seeds so popped 2 of them instead. If both germinate my plan is to either experiment a bit,  using a pot divider to have 2 plants in the one pot (hopefully wont have to resort to this but if I do it will used as an experiment and and see how it plays out). The other option if both germinate is to get an extra autopot so I can have 2 in the small tent and 3 in the big tent (this is what I would prefer to do but willing to try 2 plants in the 1 pot if needs must) 

 

I’m looking to move the jiffy pellets into the final pot/pots without potting up like i done with the photos, as I read that potting up not really recommended with autos. Is there a rough estimate on when this will need to be done? I read that if the roots start heading sideways it can make them move to the next stage too early so im thinking they will move into the final pot within a week to 10 days after germinating, does that sound about right or do I need to move earlier to avoid any potential problems?

 

Nutes/feeding - My first grow I have followed the Canna nutes grow schedule although diluted a fair bit compared to the instructions. Will the autos use the same schedule and nutes as the photos, or do they need more/less?

 

Conditions - What is the best conditions to aim for after germinating? I am thinking to stick with a lighting schedule of 20/4 throughout the grow and aim to keep temp around 25c, with humidity 80+ for veg and under 60 for flower. For this grow im thinking to stick to this and not bothering to have different day/night temps.

 

LST/Topping - I know there is a lot of opinions on topping with autos and generally people dont seem to bother but does anyone have 1st hand experience specifically with auto wedding cake from RGSC, would you recommend 1 or other or neither training method?

 

Any other tips or advice would be great.

 

ATB folks

 

 

 

[SkyRider]

18 minutes ago, Jams67 said:

LST/Topping - I know there is a lot of opinions on topping with autos and generally people dont seem to bother but does anyone have 1st hand experience specifically with auto wedding cake from RGSC, would you recommend 1 or other or neither training method?

Untrained = Christmas tree shape that will have a massive central bud more likely to get bud rot
Topped = Lazy way to get a more even canopy. Lose a slight bit of growth. Some people do say that topping also promotes growth, not sure about that.

LST = Best option, requires most work.

Some plants/breeders I found take to topping better than others. Sweet Seeds Gelato & similar absolutely loved it. I'd wait till I have 5 sets of nodes and cut off above the 5. Then trim off the bottom set, leaving me with 4 lots of nodes, giving 8 branches. Easiest training method imo. I got very similar results using LST as I did to topping when I last tried it, so didn't bother given the extra effort it took. I'm not a fan of untrained autos. A massive central cola isn't my thing.

[Jams67]

Just now, SkyRider said:

Untrained = Christmas tree shape that will have a massive central bud more likely to get bud rot
Topped = Lazy way to get a more even canopy. Lose a slight bit of growth. Some people do say that topping also promotes growth, not sure about that.

LST = Best option, requires most work.

Some plants/breeders I found take to topping better than others. Sweet Seeds Gelato & similar absolutely loved it. I'd wait till I have 5 sets of nodes and cut off above the 5. Then trim off the bottom set, leaving me with 4 lots of nodes, giving 8 branches. Easiest training method imo. I got very similar results using LST as I did to topping when I last tried it, so didn't bother given the extra effort it took. I'm not a fan of untrained autos. A massive central cola isn't my thing.

Cheers for the reply bud, much appreciated. I need to have another read through your lazy grower diary (im very much heading in that direction myself ) My end goal is to have system that is as hands free as possible, ideally if I can get away  once a week for an hour or so and still get a big enough yield to keep me going would be ideal.

 

With that being said I think topping could be the way to go, but remembering that results will be strain dependent I will just need to find some strains to match the style. I was going to go for some sweet seeds next time so I will make a note to look out for their gelato. Ive got 3 auto gelato seeds from RGSC that im planning to put in the big tent after the 1st grow comes down, so that will give me a good back to back comparison between the same strain but different breeder

 

[SkyRider]

Just now, Jams67 said:

(im very much heading in that direction myself

Autos are great for being a bit lazy imo. Also opens up the door to a continual harvest if that's something that interests you.
 

Just now, Jams67 said:

I was going to go for some sweet seeds next time so I will make a note to look out for their gelato.

If I had to do a cash crop of autos, without doubt Sweet Seeds Gelato/Runtz/Sweet Z are the 3 strains I'd go for. All very similar. All yield well, respond well to topping and most importantly, produce a very, very nice smoke.
I wouldn't even like to guess how many SS Gelato autos I've grown out. Certainly more than any other strain, auto or photo.

Biggest downside to autos imo is variety. Too many shit breeders out there with auto parents that just aren't up to scratch. Even the older Sweet Seeds autos aren't that great imo. I know a few people here love certain strains, but I really don't think the quality is there compared to their newer ones. They hit their stride with the Gelato auto and seem to have got much better from there. To be fair though, autos are still the relative new comers to the game. In another ten years I imagine there'll be a lot more decent choice. In another twenty years, I imagine they'll have the majority share of the seed market.
 

[MindSoup]

I would just stick the Jiffy plugs into soil as soon as the seedlings come up, the pellets can dry out pretty quickly. 

 

Good luck!

Edited July 25, 2022 by MindSoup

[Jams67]

Just now, SkyRider said:

Autos are great for being a bit lazy imo. Also opens up the door to a continual harvest if that's something that interests you.
 

If I had to do a cash crop of autos, without doubt Sweet Seeds Gelato/Runtz/Sweet Z are the 3 strains I'd go for. All very similar. All yield well, respond well to topping and most importantly, produce a very, very nice smoke.
I wouldn't even like to guess how many SS Gelato autos I've grown out. Certainly more than any other strain, auto or photo.

Biggest downside to autos imo is variety. Too many shit breeders out there with auto parents that just aren't up to scratch. Even the older Sweet Seeds autos aren't that great imo. I know a few people here love certain strains, but I really don't think the quality is there compared to their newer ones. They hit their stride with the Gelato auto and seem to have got much better from there. To be fair though, autos are still the relative new comers to the game. In another ten years I imagine there'll be a lot more decent choice. In another twenty years, I imagine they'll have the majority share of the seed market.
 

I do like the idea of continual harvest but im in 2 minds wether I would rather run both tents at the same time so I can use 1 reservoir or go for split grows and run 2 reservoirs. This run if all goes to plan the autos will be about 4 weeks in when the 1st grow is ready to chop, 6 weeks before the tent is free if I end up drying in the same tent. If this goes well I will probably stick with it as it will be nice to have a harvest every 4-6 weeks.

 

Thats great info about the strains that take a topping well. I will have a look at those and get them on the shopping list. Does it matter where you buy the seeds from, I had a good experience with RGSC first time round and I see they also sell sweet seeds. 

 

Just now, MindSoup said:

I would just stick the Jiffy plugs into soil as soon as the seedlings come up, the pellets can dry out pretty quickly. 

 

Good luck!

 

Hey bud, thanks for the reply. If I put the jiffy straight into the final pot after she comes up, what would be the best method for watering do you concentrate the feed where the pellet is or do you start watering the whole pot to get the medium evenly soaked?

[MindSoup]

I normally just do a tiny bit on and around the plug, like a shit glass or 2, if you wet the whole pot it will likely take too long to dry, go sour and cause stunting and lock out. Have you read serpents guide in the autoflowering section? Blackpoolbouncers old auto diaries are another good place to pick up some tips.

[Jams67]

Just now, MindSoup said:

I normally just do a tiny bit on and around the plug, like a shit glass or 2, if you wet the whole pot it will likely take too long to dry, go sour and cause stunting and lock out. Have you read serpents guide in the autoflowering section? Blackpoolbouncers old auto diaries are another good place to pick up some tips.

Cheers bud. I know i was looking through lots of diaries at the start but I found myself getting overwhelmed with all the info so started to just concentrate on my own diary and ask questions there if I couldn’t find what I was looking for through the search, I will have another read through now that im more settled and can start to take things in a bit better (hopefully ) 

 

Thats good to know about the feed, I probably would have just watered the whole pot thinking better safe than sorry but that could have cause issues so il stick that in my notes

[Jams67]

On 25/07/2022 at 10:38 AM, SkyRider said:

Some plants/breeders I found take to topping better than others. Sweet Seeds Gelato & similar absolutely loved it. I'd wait till I have 5 sets of nodes and cut off above the 5. Then trim off the bottom set, leaving me with 4 lots of nodes, giving 8 branches. Easiest training method imo. I got very similar results using LST as I did to topping when I last tried it, so didn't bother given the extra effort it took. I'm not a fan of untrained autos. A massive central cola isn't my thing.

 

Hey buddy, how's it going? Hope you don't mind, back looking for a bit of advice again. I'm 17 days into my auto 1st grow, I was planning and doing like you said, topping after the 5th node and removing the 1st set of leaves. I've tried to do some LST up to now but the 1st attempt was a bit too early so I took the hooks back off. I tried again this morning but the nodes are so close together I feel I might be doing more damage than good. Looking at these pics do you think I should try and do a little more LST or wait until the 5th node is a bit bigger so I can top from just above it, or are they too small to do either? 

 

Appreciate your help mate

 

This morning after attempting some LST again

 

 

Taken yesterday, I now have the 5th nodes starting to appear