Growing Autos in cold temps

[Crow River]

On 03/01/2023 at 2:58 PM, powski said:

My LED is 94w actual power

 

Should be okay for your space, something around 120-150w would be a bit better. Just hanging your light slightly closer to the plants will give you a decent PPFD I'd imagine.

 

On 03/01/2023 at 2:58 PM, powski said:

As for the seeds, that's a shame, there's £30 down the drain. 

 

Not necessarily. Autos can do just fine, it really depends. I've had some great results with autos using the cheapest possible blurple LEDs. If the lights are a bit underpowered for the space, just run them 24/7 or 20/4 and the plants should do okay.

 

If you follow @MindSoup's advice regarding air temperatures (and especially keep the roots cosy) you may get a decent crop. Your tent is an ideal size for autos. I currently have a small tent (50x50x100) in a room which has a similar ambient temperature. 60w tube heater, plus a heat mat under the pots. I did struggle with temperatures a bit at first but that's stopped since I put insulation around three sides. I just used some old upholstery wadding, several layers of bubble wrap would work too.

 

At the end of the day, you can chuck a few beans in some soil and see what happens!  You'll most likely get something growing.

 

Edited January 6, 2023 by Crow River

[Crow River]

On 03/01/2023 at 4:41 PM, powski said:

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

 

With your setup, lights running 18 hours, maybe couple of quid per day tops. My wee tent is costing less than that just now, but the lights are dimmed to c. 75w draw. The tube heater and heat mat are not on all the time, they cut out when air temps get to 26ºC, controlled with an Inkbird. 

[Crow River]

57 minutes ago, Crow River said:

 

Edited January 6, 2023 by Crow River
weird double post

[mister phlegm]

3 hours ago, Crow River said:

Not necessarily. Autos can do just fine, it really depends.

 

I prefer to think we're just growing geniuses who must veg perfectly every time

 

Seems like every new auto grower on here is being told to ditch them now.

 

I looked back at my entrance and first grow and amazingly nobody commented on my choice, not one person. Not once.  This autoflowering subforum is ten years old, I'm ~three and a half for comparison. The photoperiod conversion therapy started gaining ground some time after I did. shrug.

 

fwiw I wouldn't recommend OP ditches his seeds, but if I had a successful photoperiod grow first up I'd have stuck with them unless there was a compelling reason to change, especially if other things are altering.

[Crow River]

@mister phlegm, I'm inclined to agree with that final comment.

 

I started out with autoflowers, and there's no doubt in my mind they're reasonably easy to grow and you can get decent results.

 

Only recently started doing photoperiod grows, and while I definitely see certain advantages in terms of flexibility and control, there's a learning curve too. Getting to grips with the whole potting up during veg for example. Never killed any seedlings before trying to grow photos!  

 

I get why more experienced growers say that photoperiod grows are maybe more forgiving for a beginner, but I'm not entirely convinced. Autos don't really care about light leaks during flower, for example. Sure if the grow goes haywire early on, you'll end up with a very small plant and not much bud, as I discovered. But I see that as part of the learning process.

 

Also you don't need such powerful lighting for autos, because they usually stay on a longer light schedule. With 12/12 for photos, you need a more powerful light to get the same DLI in a shorter period. That usually translates into higher cost, either for a better spec LED or higher wattage HID bulb (thus more electricity use).

 

All that said, I'm agnostic on the auto vs. photo debate. I see each having their own advantages and disadvantages. I'll happily grow either. 

 

I think the biggest challenge for me since I started growing weed nearly two years ago, is using artificial lighting, heating, ventilation and so on. Never done it before. I've grown all kinds of other plants for decades, but always just using sunlight. So it has taken a fair bit of getting used to the various technologies, techniques, jargon, etc.

 

Now that I have some inkling of what to do in that area (though I don't claim expertise) I'm better able to reckon what may or may not be achievable. But there are still challenges and learning to be done.

 

To return to the topic of this thread. I am testing out a grow at low temperatures just now - winter room temperature (around 15 - 17ºC) but with a heat mat to keep roots cosier, above 20ºC. We'll see how it works out, I have an auto and a photo seedling growing.

 

Anyway, finally good luck to @powski with the grow, let us know how you get on.  

 

 

Edited January 7, 2023 by Crow River

[catweazle1]

@powski Work on 4p an hour for each 100w. That's working on 40p per kw/hr unit cost

[mysticriver]

9 hours ago, Crow River said:

Getting to grips with the whole potting up during veg for example. Never killed any seedlings before trying to grow photos!  

oh shit ive got this to come - have cuttings in the prop hopefully to pot up in a few..

tell me more bro, tell me more

 

 

mystic

[Crow River]

2 hours ago, mysticriver said:

oh shit ive got this to come - have cuttings in the prop hopefully to pot up in a few..

tell me more bro, tell me more

 

Well I don't want to take over somebody else's thread. Suffice to say, getting watering and feeding right in a small pot is trickier than I imagined. I've had to unlearn habits developed while growing autos, which I usually put straight from tiny fibre pots in the propagator, into large final pots.

[powski]

Thanks a bunch..read through all replies. I'll do a grow diary methinks...

 

hope the year has begun well for ya'll  

[powski]

Hey back with some nooby questions. didn't want to start a new thread.

 

My seeds have germinated and I put them straight into the final pot. Do I need to keep my light on before they sprout through the soil? 

[Shumroom]

No. 

 

But you want to get light on them ASAP after they show themselves

 

Atb 

 

 

 

[badbillybob]

On 08/01/2023 at 2:47 PM, powski said:

Hey back with some nooby questions. didn't want to start a new thread.

 

My seeds have germinated and I put them straight into the final pot. Do I need to keep my light on before they sprout through the soil? 

i would , the extrra heat will encourage them out. 

[mysticriver]

On 08/01/2023 at 2:47 PM, powski said:

Do I need to keep my light on before they sprout through the soil? 

I do cos it gives them something to grow to as they break the surface, & before when they are not fully visible but they will be able to sense the light when they get really close

 

 

mystic

[purepotstill]

You can deffo have a more than decent yield with autos as a beginner. I did, so anyone can Sometimes autos are the best choice. I will grow auto this time again because I can't afford a 12h night time : my growing room is cold and damp, keeping lights on 24/24 helps to limit environment variations, although it may be less important with LEDs.

 

Then just follow the advice about keeping temps, especially root temps, as high as you can, as you are running LEDs. Another thing you can do is practicing an "around" watering : water them a bit at their feet, then water a circle a few inches around the plant to force them to develop their roots to find water. Find it gives some good results growing directly in final pots. Stay light on nutes, 1/4 at the beginning then 1/2 of the indicated dose. Increase the dose if the plants look hungry. You could (should ?) LST them too, to form an even canopy and have all your buds at the same height so they all receive enough light. In case you don't know, LST is for Low Stress Training. Read a bit about that, even in my diary (although reading @blackpoolbouncer's one will be way more informative). just do it softly to avoid breaking some stems (guess how I learned that )

 

Finally, give them some time and love and you will have a decent quantity of good weed.

Edited January 22, 2023 by purepotstill

[OldFord]

I am guilty of trying to dissuade novice growers from jumping directly into autos for 2 main reasons but all from love 

 

For me fems offer a better grounding in basic plant skills like simply potting up ...autos you do it once.    Think theres more to be learnt from a fem 1st grow and more scope for input from the grower to gain skills.     Yes you can do a great 1st grow with an auto but theres a higher probability of you getting less than you hoped.

 

Secondly i love autos , played with them for years and def fly the flag for them but i see so many novice growers do their 1st grow with them , it ends with less than expected results and they are put off period & bound around bad 2nd hand info based on an unskilled effort.    This can put other novices off wanting to run autos.   

 

Auto have come a long long way ,  they are tough as hell !!!    You can top them , bend them , break em and they do bounce back ...... look at last years Auto Euforia for the proof 

We need more love for the auto