Tryin sumthin with my autoflowers

I decided to post this here because at its root this has to do with what I perceive to be a problem. I'd appreciate any posts that offer your view as a fellow grower. But essentially I'm going to make a big change to my grow room and as this is my first auto grow, I'm curious what you guys think.

So I've got a 5 x5 tent with 1000w hps and six plants in 5-gallon smart pots. I went with Mephisto for genetics based on the advice from members here on rollitup. Fast forward to what should be my last week or two of flower, based on the estimate provided by the breeder. My tent is looking nice, maybe not as high on the gram per watt ratio as id like but ok. But with ten years of old school sexing, cloning, HID growing I can tell these plants have way more than one or two weeks. I've read in other posts that autos can take a long time to complete the flower cycle, which contradicts everything that is supposed to be the "selling points" of autos.

So here's what I'm gonna do. I'm going to drop the light to 12/12 like I was growing photoperiod and see if these girls don't fill out more and really start pumping trichomes.

Do you have pics of your girls? I just started an auto that is supposed to go way past the timelines.

jerry-joe said:

I've read in other posts that autos can take a long time to complete the flower cycle, which contradicts everything that is supposed to be the "selling points" of autos.

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Believe real world experience over a sales pitch.

I wouldn't drop any hours of light on the auto or just lose yields. Give it time. How many days have you seen it flowering so far? Got any pics?

Jman108227 said:

Do you have pics of your girls? I just started an auto that is supposed to go way past the timelines.

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That's last night before the lights shut off. I don't know if you can see it, but you can make out the general shape of all six plants. I was gonna have some fun later and post this pic and ask people to guess indica/sativa for each of the plants and see who gets it right.

Renfro said:

Believe real world experience over a sales pitch.

I wouldn't drop any hours of light on the auto or just lose yields. Give it time. How many days have you seen it flowering so far? Got any pics?

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I just posted a pic in the reply to the previous post. I'm going to post more once I get back from the grocery store but in the pic you can see, especially on the plant in the front left, the gaps that shouldn't be there at day 74 of 75 (as per Mephisto, they put the finish date at 75 days).

I'm also getting mixed messages as far as what constitutes "day one". Is it the day you put the seed in whatever you germinate in, or is it from the day the tap root pops, or is it the day the plant breaks soil?

Renfro said:

Believe real world experience over a sales pitch.

I wouldn't drop any hours of light on the auto or just lose yields. Give it time. How many days have you seen it flowering so far? Got any pics?

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sorry, you asked how many day have I seen it flowering. lets see, put in peat pellets on Jan 26, broke soil Jan 31, so I would say I started seeing signs about the end of the third week in February.

jerry-joe said:

sorry, you asked how many day have I seen it flowering. lets see, put in peat pellets on Jan 26, broke soil Jan 31, so I would say I started seeing signs about the end of the third week in February.

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Then it likely needs another 2-3 weeks ish.

Renfro said:

Then it likely needs another 2-3 weeks ish.

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I can't wait to go back to photo period where I know what the hell I'm doing.

jerry-joe said:

I can't wait to go back to photo period where I know what the hell I'm doing.

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haha yup.. i ran autos one time.. i never will again it was horrible.

Yeah autos are genetic retards anyways. Can't get high THC numbers with them.

jerry-joe said:

View attachment 4528269

That's last night before the lights shut off. I don't know if you can see it, but you can make out the general shape of all six plants. I was gonna have some fun later and post this pic and ask people to guess indica/sativa for each of the plants and see who gets it right.

Click to expand...

Pretty! Thanks for sharing. This will be my second auto grow. First one was a failure but I learned a lot. If I don't make it on this second one I'll try photo periods. Seems I could have learned a lot more starting with photos instead of having such little time to make corrections. I can't wait to see your finished buds. Have a good day

I've never grown autos. That said, because this is an auto thread, thought I'd put something out there.

A few days ago I came across a Canadian seed bank who is shipping 10 auto seeds for shipping only, with a promise you'll pay the rest later.

It's a one-time, "coronavirus" offer. Pay $10 (USD, via Paypal) shipping, and get 10 auto seeds. Pay the $40 (USD) later, when you can.

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the site whatsoever, I literally simply stumbled across it. I tested it out, and it appears legit. Got an email late yesterday confirming my shipping payment, and that I'd receive a tracking number.

All warnings and labels duly attached, see for yourself: https://www.borealseeds.com/seeds/boreal_lights_cov.php?emergency

Just making an observation but are those autos amazingly massive for an auto? Did u grow from seed and how far along r u?

jerry-joe said:

View attachment 4528269

That's last night before the lights shut off. I don't know if you can see it, but you can make out the general shape of all six plants. I was gonna have some fun later and post this pic and ask people to guess indica/sativa for each of the plants and see who gets it right.

Click to expand...

AUTOS .... ( matter of fact ... any plant ) runs on their “ own “ timeframe. Your grow environment, methods of grow will dictate what the plants are working with. Under the breeder‘s OWN CONTROLLED grows are different in the real world and results differ between growers and their skills. Forget most of the “ estimates l they are guides only and will vary.

Run them til they are done regardless if it takes 2 weeks more. If you screw with the cycle , you are pulling the rug from under the final bulking stages , just to finish it. Many autos usually run up to or just over the standard 90 day lifespan. Autos are often over thought because of the flowering stage , the “ VEG ” is the obvious shorter stage , leaving flowering to run as a regular at times.

Mephisto shines in getting bigger flower yields from a short veg .... that’s the appeal.

Renfro said:

Yeah autos are genetic retards anyways. Can't get high THC numbers with them.

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So I've read enough of your posts and threads that I'm aware you know your shit, but your disdain for autos makes me feel like it's 15 years ago again when I first started growing. When the only dudes growing lowryder strains were growing in stealth computer cabs with homemade LED rigs and CFLs (also your use of the word retard in a derogatory manner).

It's cool that you don't like them, but calling them genetically inferior because they don't meet your own personal goal seems misguided. I mean in order to get photo weed strains with 30% THC it took decades, if not centuries of genetic manipulation through selective breeding. People have been working with ruderalis strains for far less time. They may get there someday. And in the meantime, they serve a purpose for some people. I like both, so I have two tents now. One for autos, one for photos.

Anyways, I usually just ignore your auto flower hatred because hey, it doesn't really effect me. But I'm a little high and couldn't bite my proverbial tongue

@Renfro is fine ... AIR HUG EVERYBODY ....LOL

Gentlemencorpse said:

So I've read enough of your posts and threads that I'm aware you know your shit, but your disdain for autos makes me feel like it's 15 years ago again when I first started growing. When the only dudes growing lowryder strains were growing in stealth computer cabs with homemade LED rigs and CFLs (also your use of the word retard in a derogatory manner).

It's cool that you don't like them, but calling them genetically inferior because they don't meet your own personal goal seems misguided. I mean in order to get photo weed strains with 30% THC it took decades, if not centuries of genetic manipulation through selective breeding. People have been working with ruderalis strains for far less time. They may get there someday. And in the meantime, they serve a purpose for some people. I like both, so I have two tents now. One for autos, one for photos.

Anyways, I usually just ignore your auto flower hatred because hey, it doesn't really effect me. But I'm a little high and couldn't bite my proverbial tongue

Click to expand...

Budzbuddha said:

@Renfro is fine ... AIR HUG EVERYBODY ....LOL

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@Renfro better be fine. Last I heard, he was dealing with plants that were root bound...

Polyuro said:

Just making an observation but are those autos amazingly massive for an auto? Did u grow from seed and how far along r u?

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As far as I know there is no other way to grow autos but from seed. I'm not 100% sure but you can't take cuttings from an auto. With photo's I harvest clones a few days before I'm planning to cut my lights. If you did that with an auto, the cutting you took would be days from flower and so the cutting would be too? Right?

Anyway, thank you for the compliment on the health of my girls, but as I said in the original post, I've got years experience (10 years) growing photos and I'm familiar with what to look for as the plant is approaching harvest (70%amber30%milky) and these are still struggling to fill in colas, never mind observing trichome evolution. As per manufacturers specification, this strain will harvest in 75 days. That's tomorrow. They started showing flowering properties around February 21st.

Budzbuddha said:

AUTOS .... ( matter of fact ... any plant ) runs on their “ own “ timeframe. Your grow environment, methods of grow will dictate what the plants are working with. Under the breeder‘s OWN CONTROLLED grows are different in the real world and results differ between growers and their skills. Forget most of the “ estimates l they are guides only and will vary.

Run them til they are done regardless if it takes 2 weeks more. If you screw with the cycle , you are pulling the rug from under the final bulking stages , just to finish it. Many autos usually run up to or just over the standard 90 day lifespan. Autos are often over thought because of the flowering stage , the “ VEG ” is the obvious shorter stage , leaving flowering to run as a regular at times.

Mephisto shines in getting bigger flower yields from a short veg .... that’s the appeal.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the input. I appreciate the fact that autos are special and I'm looking forward to see what happens. I had no preconceived ideas on how this was gonna go so my judgement of how this grow turns out isn't tied to weight or ratios or par levels. It's all about quality and what I'm seeing is encouraging, though whether or not it will end looking the way I see it in my head remains to be seen. I'm used to spending the last two weeks flushing and getting out the lope. I thought bud mass and trichome production were kinda seperate. The buds get big and somewhat symmetrical and then you start looking at trichomes.

Gentlemencorpse said:

So I've read enough of your posts and threads that I'm aware you know your shit, but your disdain for autos makes me feel like it's 15 years ago again when I first started growing. When the only dudes growing lowryder strains were growing in stealth computer cabs with homemade LED rigs and CFLs (also your use of the word retard in a derogatory manner).

It's cool that you don't like them, but calling them genetically inferior because they don't meet your own personal goal seems misguided. I mean in order to get photo weed strains with 30% THC it took decades, if not centuries of genetic manipulation through selective breeding. People have been working with ruderalis strains for far less time. They may get there someday. And in the meantime, they serve a purpose for some people. I like both, so I have two tents now. One for autos, one for photos.

Anyways, I usually just ignore your auto flower hatred because hey, it doesn't really effect me. But I'm a little high and couldn't bite my proverbial tongue

Click to expand...

It's funny I only mess with chat rooms for weed and vaping, but I don't think it matters where you go, there's always gonna be that kinda stuff. I was in another thread on here a while back and the the thing was whether or not to defoliate. Holy shit, that was an epic argument.