Growing Autos in cold temps

[powski]

Hi, 

 

Just joined this forum, glad to be here. I'm about to start my first auto grow (two plants - Auto 1 & Polar Express from autoseeds). 

 

600w LED 

75cm x 75cm x 160cm tent 

Soil 

 

I've successfully grown a photoperiod in soil before, aurora indica, decent enough harvest with five cheap LED lightbulbs. That was in a better insulated apartment. 

 

My main concern now is temperatures. Right now it's 15 degrees in the room I intend to grow in. Reading around, that seems to be the absolute minimum for autos. I went for strains that are supposed to be quite resistant to cold. 

 

 So my questions are:

 

Would a small thermostat tube heater do the trick? 

What's the lowest temps I can get away with without compromising too much in yield? 

How resistant are autos really? 

Any other tips that won't cost a bomb in equipment and leccy?

 

Thanks in advance. 

 

 

[Clubs]

Hi and welcome. 

I've got a similar space to work with. My auto/autos are warmed with a 500w oil rad and a heat mat on a thermostat. It's the roots you need to keep warm (23/24C). Slightly warmer air temps are best for optimal growth if possible. When  my heating goes off, the  bedroom the tent is in drops to around 15C but the heater keeps it above 20C. Cold will cause a host of issues.

[MindSoup]

Welcome to UK420 mate.

 

600 watts is a lot of light for a 75x75 is it actually a 600 watt light though? A lot of the cheaper lights overstate their power. 

 

1 hour ago, powski said:

Would a small thermostat tube heater do the trick? 

 

Depends on a multitude of factors so hard to really say. Best bet is to get the system set up and running before you crack any beans, then see if you're managing to maintain a suitable environment. As the weather outside changes so will the measures you'll need to take to maintain the right environment in the tent, so be prepared to switch things around at different times of the year.

 

1 hour ago, powski said:

What's the lowest temps I can get away with without compromising too much in yield? 

 

As an absolute minimum I'd say 23° air temps ideally more like 25-7°. 

 

1 hour ago, powski said:

How resistant are autos really?

 

Autos are the least resistant, for some reason they're marketed as being hardy and easy to grow compared to photos, this is complete nonsense. They're far more prone to stress/stunting and every bit of it effects the final yield. I personally wouldn't recommend them to a beginner, I imagine a lot of other people would agree with me. 

 

On top of that the ones you've picked are from what appears to be a fairly unscrupulous "breeder" (probably just generic bulk beans), so probably the least likely to offer you any chance of success regardless of experience.

 

Sorry if that comes off as a bit blunt, there's no real nice way to say it but your heading straight for failure. Most of us have been there, it's all part of the learning process, luckily you joined here before finding out the hard way. There's a lot of crooks out there trying to sell you shit quality beans/equipment and or overpriced crap you don't need, that's what makes a place like this so invaluable, so get swatting up, a few weeks reading on here could save you wasting months of hard work and expensive electrons.

 

Personally I'd recommend that you ditch the seeds and get some fem photo's from one of our sponsors like Real Gorilla Seeds or Sweet Seeds. Have a look for ones that have been grown by members on here and get good recommendations (Lemon Drizzle is banging and very easy to grow as is Sweet Afghani Delicious) that way you'll be able to get first hand advice if you face any issues.

 

Secondly I would be having a thorough look at your light and making sure it's up to the task, you want about 200-240 watts (actual power) of full spectrum LED for that space, expect to pay about 1£+ a watt for a quality fixture, we have a site sponsor that sells good quality fixtures for good prices and offers a discount for members.  

 

http://www.uk420.com/boards/index.php?/forum/290-ledgrowlightscouk/

 

After that get the thing up and running and play about with dialing stuff in before you start growing. Electric is expensive AF nowadays so it's worth treading carefully and being fully prepared to avoid costly mistakes. 

 

Good luck!

Edited January 3, 2023 by MindSoup

[latitude54]

I think @MindSoup and a few others would agree that I am living proof that autos are not easy!

 

My first grow (outdoors) last year I planted 5 autos and 2 photos. I harvested about 3/4 of an ounce between all 5 autos.

My second grow (indoors) I planted 5 autos. The environment was not stable and I managed to overwater them slightly, they stopped growing and went into flower at about 3 inches tall. 

My third grow (indoors) I finally have an almost stable environment and 3 autos that look like they may be ok (so far). 

 

The 2 photos I grew first time round survived every possible mistake a new grower could possibly throw at it and still produced a good few ounces of decent weed.  

[MindSoup]

@latitude54 they're tricky little buggers aren't they, feel like maybe I should behave tried to steer you away from them now, the benefit of being able to keep the lights on 24/7 may well have been outweighed. Still, at least the new batch are looking promising. 

[powski]

My LED is 94w actual power.. eeek.. but as I said before I did manage to get a decent yield out of a handful of household LEDs during my first grow. I read reviews from other growers (with pics) using the light I have and it seems legit. I'm on a real tight budget and can not afford anything more expensive.

 

Thanks for the responses. Some hard truths to swallow! Well based on that I will wait until the spring until I start growing. I think it's best to wait until the ambient temp is favourable. As for the seeds, that's a shame, there's £30 down the drain. I should have come here first for advice before shopping around!

 

I'll bite the bullet and go for some good photos in a couple of months. Had success with them before (even managed to FIM them) so makes sense that I stick to what I know. 

 

EDIT: while on that topic, what good quality photos can you recommend that don't stink up the place? I need maximum stealth

Edited January 3, 2023 by powski

[MindSoup]

95 watts is just about enough to flower about a 50x50cm space so you could just run a single plant underneath it, that would be better than filling the tent as the stuff round the edges will all be popcorny shite. Household bulbs do a fine job from what I've seen, so if you still have them chuck them in as well and you might be able to expand on the footprint, you want about 40 watts per square foot.  

 

Or you could run an HID (HPS or CMH) they're not as efficient but they're much cheaper to buy initially and as they give off more heat the running cost balances out with LEDs in colder months. You can run led and hid together as well if that helps.

 

Yeah shame about the seeds, but at least you didn't waste more money on light and heat for them. Once you've got more experience and some full jars you could always revisit them, have a read (or 3) of serpents guide in the autoflower section for a good rundown on getting the most from autos, decent results are definitely achievable with the right approach and no mistakes. 

[Clubs]

As much as I agree with everything mentioned above, I'd chuck in a small rad and just get started. £20 for a small oil rad and you'll already have a plant in late flowering a few months down the road. Only real way to learn is through trial and error. Just one plant under that light though. Crack that bean and go for it.

[MindSoup]

@Clubs yeah TBF with just an oil rad or a heated blanket and an inkbird he could probably just get going now, especially if he got a good hardy photo strain. 

 

 

[powski]

Thanks both of you. Am a little apprehensive now though. One plant is fine. This is for myself only (i'm quite a light smoker - 1/2 J's a day) and is primarily medicinal, so I guess even a small yield is good if it beats the price of the street. I'll have to take a look at my budget again. I would like to give this polar express auto a chance though.  

 

Having not done this for a while, how much do you reckon the hit to the electric bill would be? 

[Clubs]

11 minutes ago, powski said:

while, how much do you reckon the hit to the electric bill would be? 

It isn't excessive on a small set-up, even with today's prices. 

[powski]

Wanted to let you two know that germination is underway... using my airing cupboard instead with better temps of between 18-21 degrees without heating. My ancient af boiler can actually provide the heat - when its operating temps in there rise to around 24. 

 

A couple more q's - serpent mentions an 18/6 cycle, would you also recommend this? I've read others use 20/4 or 22/2 .. what're your thoughts? Also do feminized plants give only feminized seeds? 

 

 

 

 

[AustrianToker]

Mindsoup gave you some really good advice...  but if you choose to grow autos, you've been warned that they are a bit less forgiving, but doable and can also turn out really nice. 

I would  let the light hours (18-24hrs) be dictated by the temps you have during lights out.  If the temps don't go below 20c during lights out, i would run 18/6 cycle.  If you struggle with temps during lights out, then simply reduce the night hours. 

No, feminized plants don't only produce fem seeds.  That really depends on the polen source....  but that's quite a long story.  Lots of info in the breeding section if you got the time to read.

wish you luck!

[Ghillie_G]

With autos you really need your growing environment to be dialled in as if they stress during veg you’ll have a much reduced yield, no correcting with autos, get it wrong and they’re a waste of time.

Keeping the root temperature up is paramount, an inkbird, heatmat and tube heater are good, also a speed controller on your extraction fan so you can reduce it right down to conserve heat.

 I’ve always ran 24hrs light for my autos under led.

[powski]

Thanks for the replies, really helps.