Indoor autos and pots

[sparrowhawk]

Been growing indoors and outdoors for 5 years but very new to autos. My question is, i germed two autos 3 weeks ago and have spent their early life either in the lighted seed box or outside in the lovely weather we have had recently (uk). they were in small pots and i have put them into 3 gallon pots today, i noticed the root growth was great. I have since read i should have put them straight into the 3 gallon pots as it could stop the plant growing to its full potential, but i have for years repotted slightly bigger each time they needed it, i also have 2 auto mazars in the seed box about 10 days old which are a few inches high in small pot so do i put these into the 3 gallons pot now, they just seem so small to go in the big pot . cheers.

 

[ripster]

Hey there sparrowhawk, how's thing going?

These auto's create solid root systems pretty quick. I never transplant...I start mine in 10" or 12" pots and leave them til harvest...As long as the auto's aren't in full flowering, then I go ahead and transplant now. It will slow down the end maturation a bit. So expect maybe an extra week or 2 before harvest....

What, besides the Auto Mazar's, strains ya got going? And just a note on the Mazar's. Nice choice. That's one killer strain. One of my favs...Watch for huge fan leaves. I'm talking the size of your hand man...Also be prepared for a large plant. Most are med. but I've seen quite a few flukes in where they turn into 4 ft. super auto's. I had one...Plus a normal one. But anyway, good choice there man...

 

[realcarlos]

Hey there Spar

It's recommended that you place them in their final container as autos have less time to recover from stress than photo's.

What you could do is place start them in cups once their ready to be transplanted you could tier them. By tier I mean cut the bottom of the cup and transplant it. This won't be as 'shocking' as a straight transplant. (A member came up with that method in this forum)
Good luck friend

 

[BigBuddha]

Hey sparrow. ^^ Wot they said.


For photos potting-up is excellent.. but autos do prefer to be put in their final containers as the other guys have said. I've not long planted a seed in a 37ltr airpot and some in 1ltr airpots to see what happens. A while back I started doing something similar to realcarlos, but I used coir pots instead of plastic and let the roots grow through that. Works well. However, that was only because I was using batmix (very strong soil), but now that I've started using a light soil & mineral nutes I go straight to final pots and germ in the soil. So far it's producing much better results that transplanting or using coir pots.

I know it feels weird to use that method.. I did too at first, but for autos it's the better option overall.

Hope you enjoy growing autos. I know I do. They get a lot of unwarranted bad press these days so it's good to see more photo growers taking a punt on them.

 

[ripster]

Try this. Perfect germination in 3 days...But be sure to water the soil the day before and poke plenty of small holes for breathing...It's the only germing method I use anymore...

 

[BigBuddha]

^^ I'm going to borrow that method next time because I normally go straight into the soil, wet it and whack it in a tent. That'll save some aggro with spraying it every few hrs. + rep.

 

[ripster]

Thanks, and run with it dude. As you can see, the plastic keeps the whole pot nice and warm and wet. But if you do make a mistake and after 5 days, nothing has popped, pull off the plastic cause it might be to wet. Did that once myself and the seed popped in the next 2 days...

If using reg. seed, not female seed, put a thermometer in there so you can make sure it don't get to hot. That will make a reg seed a male more so than not...Anything under 82° should be fine..

 

[namvet]

I agree with putting the sprouted seed directly into to its final pot.As far as I know the seed doesn't know what size pot it's in.I also agree that they can be moved from one pot to a bigger one if its done carefully.There will be some transplant shock and it might slow the growth a little but nothing to worry about.The bigger the pot the bigger the plant only goes so far but I do beleave in having a pot big enough so the roots can travel normally with out being confined and root bound.

 

[BigBuddha]

Thanks, and run with it dude. As you can see, the plastic keeps the whole pot nice and warm and wet. But if you do make a mistake and after 5 days, nothing has popped, pull off the plastic cause it might be to wet. Did that once myself and the seed popped in the next 2 days...

If using reg. seed, not female seed, put a thermometer in there so you can make sure it don't get to hot. That will make a reg seed a male more so than not...Anything under 82° should be fine..

Excellent tips, ripster.

Cheers fella.

The bigger the pot the bigger the plant only goes so far

I wonder about that often. Currently testing the theory but I'm of the same mind that there's only so much soil an auto needs before it's overkill. I've seen lot of snaps of them being grown outdoors but so far I haven't seen a gigantic one like I have with photos.

 

[sparrowhawk]

cheers everyone i will put the two little mazars (auto) in their final pot tonight, and like you said the two others. 1 kanabia gnome and, 1 samsara crystal storm should not be to stressed as i was carefull with them when i repotted them. I will keep to the paper towel method for germing, then pop them into a peat pellet under my light for a few days then carefully place the pellet in the final pot. Many thanks