Seeking Outdoor Autoflower Feeding Tips

[bc_southbuds]

I'm just a few days into my very first grow which is an outdoor autoflower grow, but I've been doing quite a bit of homework to make sure everything is ready to go when they get bigger. Right now the sprouted seeds are in their 5 Gallon grow bag 'forever homes' using Pro-Mix and a little bit extra perlite. The weather has been cool and cloudy, so they're taking their time, but I expect them to pop up in the next few days.

I researched nutes and feeding schedules and decided to stock up according to the Kiss feeding schedule, but using only Maxibloom unless I see deficiencies.

I bought a Ph and EC meter. Calibrated them successfully. I did a test batch of KISS, and just basically got myself acclimated to mixing and testing and mixing again. I thought I was ready to go until I realized you feed autoflowers way LESS than photoperiod plants.

Good thing I did.

So I went looking around for an Autoflower feeding chart and found various videos and stuff, but I really have my mind set on using just Maxbloom if possible.

QUESTION:
If I wanted to use the KIss formula (with or without the koolbloom and cal-mag), would I cut the amounts in half or 1/4 compared to a photoperiod plant? So far I've seen 'adjust to 1/4' and "work your way up" but I wouldn't mind seeing if anyone else had the same question and figured something out.

What EC/ppm range should I be aiming for (ballpark) for each stage? Is photoperiod EC/PPM cut to 1/4 or 1/2 for Autoflowers as well?


Thanks!

——

Kiss formula (in case you're wondering)

start of veg!
7 grams of maxibloom
5 ml of cal mag
7ml of molasses
adjust ph as needed ( i run mine around 5.6-6.2)

week 1-2 of flower
5 grams of maxi
2ml of koolbloom liquid(GH)
5ml of cal-mag
7ml of molasses
adjust ph as needed

2 weeks before you flush
3 grams of maxi
1 gram of koolbloom powder(strong stuff)
5 ml of cal-mag
7 ml of molasses
add just ph as needed!

transition from week 3 to 2 weeks before flush
7 grams maxi
5ml cal-mag
7 ml molasses
adjust ph as needed

 

[Nutty sKunK]

Read the plant. Some autos are crazy heavy feeders. Some are not.

As a rough guide it goes a little like this for soil;

Root stim for 2 weeks. Add a little food. Pay attention to first set of leaves. If they yellow increase food.

Week 3-5 comes the stretch. Lots of calcium/N needed at this stage. Will get a calcium def week 6-7 if you’ve not kept up with the requirements. Autos seem to require a lot of calmag between stretch and initial budding.

Keep reading the plant for signs of hunger.

Week 7-9 is usually the most food they get. Then you can taper off around week 9 depending on plant mature ness.

Ive had autos be ready in 70 days or 100. Keep reading the plant to know when to cut food.

Good luck

 

[bc_southbuds]

Thanks for the advice.

Do you usually cut the nutrients to 1/4 - 1/2 strength compared to photoperiod plant guidelines for stretch (veg) + bud?

 

[GroBud]

Personally I feed autos like photos only difference is they may not get fed as often. Instead of every 3 weeks may be 4 to 5. In 5 gallons I'll give 5 to 8 tbls of veg or flower or mixed. 5 tbls of humic acid, 1 cup worm castings, and 5 teaspoons of azomite or 5 tbls of rock dust.

If they go longer than expected instead of feeding again that'll be mainly wasted I'll add a couple inches of worm castings, fox farms original blend, or ocean forest to the top.

 

[bc_southbuds]

I'm going completely non-organic, but your feeding adjustment for autoflowers still lines up with the general advice I've seen so far: Cut down nutes and feeding in some way. I know there isn't an exact number, but I'll go by the rule of thumb of feeding under and adjust as needed.

Thanks.

 

[Crow River]

As said above, it is strain dependent to some extent. However I tend to feed quite sparingly. Not very frequent, and about half the amount it says on the bottle/packet. Only root stimulant, e.g liquid seaweed, during the early stages of veg, and then only once. When pre-flowers appear around week 5, I give some grow nutes, and again when flowering proper starts. This helps with the stretch. I give grow nutes again, then start the bloom nutes, tapering off the grow nutes gradually but keeping up with the bloom.

 

[bc_southbuds]

How does the plant get any nutrients if you’re going soilless using Promix like I am?

 

[Crow River]

How does the plant get any nutrients if you’re going soilless using Promix like I am?

Sorry, missed that you were growing soilless. That's a whole different ball game. You're going to need a base level of nutrients I suppose, and how close that is to a photoperiod requirement depends on the strain. Some modern autos behave much more like the photo counterparts.