What size pots should i use for Auto's?

Nodgman

Active Member
Hey guys, im starting my first grow, and i kinda ran into a little issue. I have more seeds than i do pots, and i dont have anymore room under my MH light. I currently have 12 3 gallon pots with 12" dishes under them. I put all 12, 3 gallons pots under my lights but i realized i have around 20 seeds i want to try to grow.

Can i leave my normal plants in the 3 gallon pots, and put the Auto flowering strains in smaller pots? Like 1-2 gallon pots?

To be more specific the auto strains are: Auto bomb THC and Barney's Auto Pineapple Express. Then i have a mixture of regular Feminized seeds, mainly Northern Lights, and White widow strains.

Thanks in advance
 

MYOB

Well-Known Member
I would recommend against growing 20 plants for your first grow.

What lights are you running? Twelve 3 gallon pots will require a good amount of space when they are in full bloom. I would say at least 3 sq ft per pot. Thats 36 square feet. One 1000w HPS wouldnt even be sufficient for that space. You might be going big your first time, if thats the case go for it. Just dont think youre going to grow out 20 plants under some spiral CFL's and Y splitters.

To answer your question; I would think 2 gallons or less would be plenty for an autoflower. You just have to stay on top of the watering/feeding. How long did the other ones grow out before flowering?

Pot size really depends on plant size. You wont see people flowering right from seed or clone using 3 gallon pots...
 

bigsteve

Well-Known Member
Go to the Dollar Store and check on their plastic trash buckets. They usually have something in the 1.5-2.0 gallon range for a buck or 2. Get a bunch. BigSteve.
 

amgprb

Well-Known Member
R u running Autos & Photos together? That really seems to be a problem that alot of new & first time growers seem to be doing.

Check out the "Autoflowering Strains" Subforumn on the site. There are many great threads full of alot of info that will help u out. The fact that u r asking this question leads me to believe that u have not done your homework. Swing over to the Auto section and read, read, read, and read some more.
 

Nodgman

Active Member
I would recommend against growing 20 plants for your first grow.

What lights are you running? Twelve 3 gallon pots will require a good amount of space when they are in full bloom. I would say at least 3 sq ft per pot. Thats 36 square feet. One 1000w HPS wouldnt even be sufficient for that space. You might be going big your first time, if thats the case go for it. Just dont think youre going to grow out 20 plants under some spiral CFL's and Y splitters.

To answer your question; I would think 2 gallons or less would be plenty for an autoflower. You just have to stay on top of the watering/feeding. How long did the other ones grow out before flowering?

Pot size really depends on plant size. You wont see people flowering right from seed or clone using 3 gallon pots...
Well i figure even if i plant 20 i might only get 10 - 15 plants past veg stage. See when i ordered my seeds i hadnt done enough research on the autos. Heres all the seeds that i have:
I ordered
5 feminized auto bombs
5 feminized Northern Lights
3 feminized Auto Pineapple Express

Freebies
2 Delicious Critical Jack Herer Feminised Seeds
1 World Of Seeds Medical Mazar X White Rhino Feminised Seed
5 White Widow X Skunk #1 Regular Seeds

Out of all of those i germinated all 13 of the ones i ordered, Plus the 2 jack herer's. Okay, so not 20, i planted 15. I figure out of 15, i might get 10 mature flowering plants? Does that sound about right? I germinated the seeds, then i planted 12 in 3 gallon pots, i choose the 3 gallon pots so i wouldn't have to transplant any of them.
 

Nodgman

Active Member
R u running Autos & Photos together? That really seems to be a problem that alot of new & first time growers seem to be doing.

Check out the "Autoflowering Strains" Subforumn on the site. There are many great threads full of alot of info that will help u out. The fact that u r asking this question leads me to believe that u have not done your homework. Swing over to the Auto section and read, read, read, and read some more.

I am. I figured i could grow out the autos, harvest the autos, then ill change my lighting schedule to start flowering my 5 Northern lights, and 2 Jack herer plants... Do you think this will work? I have room to setup a 2nd grow. Which i plan to do anyways, see When i purchased my seeds i wasnt fully aware of the autos So once i finish these, i probably wont be doing anymore autos. I didnt realize you couldnt propagate autos, till after i had ordered them.
 

Nodgman

Active Member
Does anyone else constantly have a problem with the " token being expired" everytime they try to post? I reload the page and it still tell me the same thing. I am a very frequent forum user, and ive never had this issue anywhere else... lol
 

amgprb

Well-Known Member
I am. I figured i could grow out the autos, harvest the autos, then ill change my lighting schedule to start flowering my 5 Northern lights, and 2 Jack herer plants... Do you think this will work? I have room to setup a 2nd grow. Which i plan to do anyways, see When i purchased my seeds i wasnt fully aware of the autos So once i finish these, i probably wont be doing anymore autos. I didnt realize you couldnt propagate autos, till after i had ordered them.
In a typical grow, yes u could do it this way, but your situation is a bit different. Autos take roughly 8-9 weeks start to finish which would be fine if you were only frowing 2 or 3 photos. But you have SO MANY plants going at once, you will only be able to veg your photos for maybe only 5 weeks max as you will not have enough room to flower that many large plants at once. Good luck to ya, & hope it works out!
 

Nodgman

Active Member
In a typical grow, yes u could do it this way, but your situation is a bit different. Autos take roughly 8-9 weeks start to finish which would be fine if you were only frowing 2 or 3 photos. But you have SO MANY plants going at once, you will only be able to veg your photos for maybe only 5 weeks max as you will not have enough room to flower that many large plants at once. Good luck to ya, & hope it works out!
Hey thanks for the reply...
By room do you mean light coverage? I have alot of room... two medium sized bedrooms... Plus i do plan on purchasing an additonal HPS light, very soon, probably later today, looking at either 400w or 1000w, leaning towards the 1000w. Do you think my guesstimate of ending up with 10 plants out of 15, is off? I mean i know i should have a slightly higher "keeper" rate since all the seeds are feminized(not a guarantee though) but i figured it was better to have too many keepers than not enough. Thanks again for your help.
 

amgprb

Well-Known Member
Hey thanks for the reply...
By room do you mean light coverage? I have alot of room... two medium sized bedrooms... Plus i do plan on purchasing an additonal HPS light, very soon, probably later today, looking at either 400w or 1000w, leaning towards the 1000w. Do you think my guesstimate of ending up with 10 plants out of 15, is off? I mean i know i should have a slightly higher "keeper" rate since all the seeds are feminized(not a guarantee though) but i figured it was better to have too many keepers than not enough. Thanks again for your help.
Yes, light coverage is what i meant. If u r buying another light, then u may be able to pull this off. I would recommend getting a 600 as it is the most efficient. As for the amount that survive thru veg is dependent on how much work u put in. If I crack 6 beans, then I will flower 6 plants! If u take care of em, then u wont lose any. As for the autos, be sure to do alot of research as I find them to b very finicky.
 
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