Autoflower Pot Size, Light Distance From Top = Bigger Size and more Bud?

T

TheChodesman

Active Member
I'm starting a new batch of autoflowers. I'm using 1 gallon pots and a 400 HPS. My previous autoflower grow was vegged under 250 watts of CFL in 1/2 gallon pots inches from the tops and they stayed short as fuck. My current plants are roughly 8'' at six weeks and have grown very little since switching to my tent a few weeks ago.

I of course know that pot size increase can lead to a bigger plant, but since I will be vegging under a 400 HPS will they stretch a bit more, grow taller with more bud sites possibly and more bud? My Chronic Ryder is 8'' tall but 6'' of cola, I can't see any stem whatsoever. It has side growth but I feel like it could have developed longer and branched out if it stretched toward the light. The plant is just a huge cola at this point. I feel like they could have been a few inches taller with a HPS veg, but would that necessarily increase the yield? Would a dense, short autoflower be better compared to a taller, say 1-2 foot plant? I have extra space now is why I'm asking.

I don't have much experience with the autos.

So basically tall or short? Let it stretch or lower the light?
 
T

TheChodesman

Active Member
All I had was a 1.5 cubic foot bag of FFOF and 1 gallon pots. I used the 1/2 gallon last run and I expect at least a quarter from my Royal Dwarf. Everyone else got the change to the 1 gallon and seem fine. If I could pull 1/2 to an ounce off a plant in a one gallon that would be fine. Around here somebody would try to dime that shit out and make $500+ off some less quality weed. $20-$25 a gram. Mids around here are called chronic and it's $50-$60 an 1/8. Anyway I can easily fit 12 1 gallon pots in my tent. I can't say the same for 2 or 3 gallon. Since this is a personal grow and I could potentially harvest 12 or so plants 4-5 times a year that's fine by me. I only have a 3 x 3 tent, size matters.

I've already spent $700+ on supplies. I spent my student loans on a bud garden. I'm a broke college student lol.

The question was aimed more at lighting. Stetching of the plant, vegging, nodes, bud density, yields and such.
 
Scyntra

Scyntra

Well-Known Member
in a 3x3 you can easily fit 16-2gal pots there only 8"-9" across most 2 gal pots so 4 rows of 4 and have way more bud in the end... with a little room on the side to start babys when you need them...but as far as light the cfl will make a more compact plant in a lot of cases but the 400hps will not stretch them out unless you had it way to high but they will be bigger/more buds of course because its way more light vs the cfl. I use a 400hps all the way through and mine get from 20-24" by the time there done and yea the taller ones generally have more bud..
 
olblue26

olblue26

Active Member
i only have expierience with the one auto im growing now.i veged with t8 tube flouros and was happy with the results.once in flower i just used 8 red spec cfls.im still about 3 maybe 4 weeks from harves and its about 2 1/2 ft tall and about 1 1/2 ft around.there are cola sites everywhere. i used 3 gal pot and ffof soil and just added a little perolite.im really impressed with it.the strain is auto berry from marijuana-seeds.nl. the colas are getting bigger everyday.today i had a moment of weekness and cliped a little bud from one of the side branches,so ill get back with you on how it tasts.i was very impressed on how dence the bud was considering my getto light setup.hope this helps bro! happy growing!!
 
T

TheChodesman

Active Member
I just measured my pots and they are 7 1/2 inches across for the 1 gallon. I have fans in all corners of my room, accounting for space between the pots, fans and plants I can fit 12 pots. I have pics of my setup in my sig. I already have 3 plants in there so I put in 9 pots with germed seeds waiting to sprout.

I just measured and the top of the pots are exactly 1 1/2 feet from the cool tube. I'd say I want 1 foot plants, that sounds pretty efficient. 12 plants in 1 gallon pots with the tops 6 inches from the tube if they grew 1 foot which I think these will.
 
T

TheChodesman

Active Member
2 gallon pots would be too big in my opinion for what I have going. I could fit maybe 9 2 gallons from the ones I saw. I'm growing multiple strains and have no clue how tall or big they'll get in general let alone in a 2 gallon pot.
 
sonar

sonar

Well-Known Member
Sounds like you are looking to do a small SOG, more or less. What about trying a regular, photoperiod strain and taking clones and flowering them as soon as they root in 1 gallon grow bags/pots. It would be a little more work, but in the end, I think you would pull significantly more and save a lot of money over having to keep buying auto seeds each some. Since you would be looking at keeping them as pretty much one big cola anyway you could keep the light close and maximize the space in the tent because they will be a lot more uniform.
 
hoss12781

hoss12781

Well-Known Member
you can pull 2 oz off autos in 5 gal pots. I've done this several times. 1.25-1.5 is about average, sometimes I've pulled more than 2 on a really solid pheno.

Distance from the light is going to depend entirely on the lighting source you've chosen.
 
T

TheChodesman

Active Member
Yes the Dwarf was a freebie from Attitude. I thought nothing of it for almost three weeks. Absolutely puny. It flowered with three nodes at about two or so inches. I'd grow it again, it's fast and stinky it should be done in 3 weeks.

I have some other freebies from the Attitude:

Paradise Seeds Acid
Dinafem Blue Hash and Blue Widow

I was thinking of vegging a few out when my three flowering plants are finished and taking clones. However, I was also thinking of getting a really good, small auto strain like the Royal Dwarf, keeping a male under a CFL and pollinating a few females for seeds, buying like 40 1/2 gallon pots and growing a shit ton of plants.
 
Scyntra

Scyntra

Well-Known Member
TheChodesman said:
I just measured my pots and they are 7 1/2 inches across for the 1 gallon. I have fans in all corners of my room, accounting for space between the pots, fans and plants I can fit 12 pots. I have pics of my setup in my sig. I already have 3 plants in there so I put in 9 pots with germed seeds waiting to sprout.

I just measured and the top of the pots are exactly 1 1/2 feet from the cool tube. I'd say I want 1 foot plants, that sounds pretty efficient. 12 plants in 1 gallon pots with the tops 6 inches from the tube if they grew 1 foot which I think these will.
Click to expand...
you should get some pots like these there 2 gal and 9" across...http://plasticflowerpots.net/2gallonnewplasticflowerpotslotof10.aspx ...could put 4 wide x 4 deep just would have to move your fans, hang them!! safer anyway to have them up in the air then on the floor if you happen to spill water... general safety rule... all power is from waste up, all water is from waste down...
 
hoss12781

hoss12781

Well-Known Member
I hate to hate on your pot selection but the plastics are not the best way to go. Air pots will give you better results and with two gallons you'll sacrifice some yield. You'll want at least four gal to max them out.
 
sixteenounces

sixteenounces

Well-Known Member
I tend to disagree with the 4 and 5 gallon pots. I have proven that you can obtain a better result, space to pot with 2 - 3 gallon square containers. And i would like to explain my findings.

When growing with 5(14 inches) gallon buckets, i found the production increase to be minimal <10g between 3(10 inches) gallon square rose pots. And the loss of space was rather high, I lost space for 2 square rose pots with the 5 gallons.

A rudimentary drawing of canibus strain root structure can be found below. As you can see, a smaller stature, ruderalis prevalent pheno will grow a more spindly short root system in comparison to indica and sativa prevalent plants. Also when you take into consideration, a short life cycle, and minimal intervention, there is plenty of space in a 3 gallon container to accommodate an auto flower.

 
hoss12781

hoss12781

Well-Known Member
Sixteen - I'm not disagreeing there but as I can only grow four plants at a time without crossing into felony territory for my garden I'm going for max producion on each plant. While it may only be a smaller increase in final yield since I can only have the four at a time ...
 
hoss12781

hoss12781

Well-Known Member
Could call it strict I guess, not that bad considering you can cultivate four and its a misdemeanor - which was actually lowered to a ticketable offense in summer of 2012. I don't think we'll see dispensaries in the bluegrass state any time soon. I'd rather be hidden in the woods here in KY than in Indiana though, its pretty much a felony for one plant (over 30g) over there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top