FD's Guide to Growing Hefty Autos in Small Places.

Ok guys i have been dragging my knuckles on this for too long. This thread will be dedicated to my actual grow technique. I will have everything in here from the way i germ seeds to the way i harvest and everything in between.

ill cover my soil mixes, teas, water adjustments, feeding schedules as well as the recipes for the soil and teas that i use. My goal is to teach how to grow the bud lumps you see in the small pots i use. I feel if you use this you may have the same success that i do when it comes to autos in small places.

Bare with me as i will update this on the regular, but will be locking it to get it all organized.

 

[Pyxis]

Hi FD. I just wanted to say thanks for all the great info in this thread. I am on my first indoor grow and am using your soil mix on all of my 9 girlies (6 strains in total). I sourced all of the ingrediants but replaced the egg shell with oyster shell. My plants are going into their 7th week now and the and doing great under cfl's. When I reach 20 posts I'll stick some photo's up. I'm sure it's the soil mix and water aeriation, my plants look amazing so thanks again!

 

[L]

I use oyster shells also and love it. I can't wait to see your grow, what strains are you growing?

 

[FullDuplex]

Hi FD. I just wanted to say thanks for all the great info in this thread. I am on my first indoor grow and am using your soil mix on all of my 9 girlies (6 strains in total). I sourced all of the ingrediants but replaced the egg shell with oyster shell. My plants are going into their 7th week now and the and doing great under cfl's. When I reach 20 posts I'll stick some photo's up. I'm sure it's the soil mix and water aeriation, my plants look amazing so thanks again!

Awesome and thats what i like to hear. If it helps you get what you want than i am happy. The oyster shells are a great replacement if you dont have the egg shells. We just eat sooooo many eggs i have them around. Plus i have the fam save them for me. They are also good to keep slugs at bay.

I use oyster shells also and love it. I can't wait to see your grow, what strains are you growing?

i feel ya on this one l3v3r i too want to see the ladies.

 

[cream]

The only same brands I can find are the liquid seaweed,dha,and epsom!......I already asked you about the black kow I just am gonna have to go with the truegreens steer manure as they wont ship black kow. But my question for the others is can i use miracle grow brand bloodmeal,bonemeal and perlite?? I did a search on schultz online and cant find where to order??

 

[D.W.P]

. If you have been growing autos for any time you know that the bigger you get the plant the better the yield is going to be. The first step to this is providing a thriving environment for the roots, if you do that then the plat will yield well.

This next process was to stop the root balling at the base of the plant to en long the veg period of the auto. Currently we think that the auto show sex at the time the roots touch the sides and or the bottom, i think think that there is a massive explosion of root growth at this point. If you think about it the auto shows its preflowers and then the plant goes into overdrive. This is when the roots start to fill the bottom of the pot and i believe that this is when the head starts to form and vertical growth stops and the buds begin to cluster, form and then swell.

On my last grow i had 7 plants, one in which i change something about the pot. what i did was remove the bottom of the pot and replace it with a fine screen. Something small enough to stop the roots but yet let water pass and not cause a clogging issue. what happend was amazing, the mesh bottom stopped the root ball from forming as fast as it usually does allowing the plant long time to grow int he veg stage. This plant was 2x taller and 2x the yield of the other six in the room of the exact same age.

As the roots grew to the mesh and through it, they were "air pruned" and then from the tip back feeder roots will form, stopping the root pooling at the bottom untill the mesh became full of roots. This proves to me that a lot of the autos "timing" has to come from the roots.

THIS WORKS!! I HAVE BEEN DOING THIS SINCE LR1 FIRST BEING AVAILABLE, USED TO ADD UP TO 1/2 oz TO FINAL DRY WEIGHT ON A JUST OVER OZ PLANT PLANTED STRAIGHT INTO 3 GALLON POTS

Sorry to shout but this is v.important imho and often overlooked :clap:

Cheers,

Ditch.

 

[Pyxis]

Here are a few photo's of my grow in FD's soil mix

I lost track of which plant is which with the three plants below. One is 'Black Jack' by Sweet Seeds, another is Barneys 'Pineapple Express' and the last is a Sweet Seeds 'Cream Caramel'

'
Here we have working from the left, a Greenhouse 'Big Bang', then a 'BHD' from short stuff and furthest to the right is my 'Easyryder' from the Joint Doctor


The last three are also 'Blue Himalaya Diesel' at about week 5. I'm using LST to great effect but I did accidently decapitate the one in the middle


That's 6 different varieties (9 plants) all absolutely loving your soil mix

All the above are now at week 8 and I will post a grow report on them very soon.

 

[FullDuplex]

The only same brands I can find are the liquid seaweed,dha,and epsom!......I already asked you about the black kow I just am gonna have to go with the truegreens steer manure as they wont ship black kow. But my question for the others is can i use miracle grow brand bloodmeal,bonemeal and perlite?? I did a search on schultz online and cant find where to order??

The brands dont have to be the same but i would stay away from the MG perlite and other products. Something tells me that they are more chemical than organic.
i know that the perlite has some of their nutes in it so be careful with that one. I found this link for the shultz stuff online

ferts

---------- Post added 09-20-2011 at 09:08 AM ----------

Here are a few photo's of my grow in FD's soil mix

I lost track of which plant is which with the three plants below. One is 'Black Jack' by Sweet Seeds, another is Barneys 'Pineapple Express' and the last is a Sweet Seeds 'Cream Caramel'
View attachment 29863
'
Here we have working from the left, a Greenhouse 'Big Bang', then a 'BHD' from short stuff and furthest to the right is my 'Easyryder' from the Joint Doctor
View attachment 29864

The last three are also 'Blue Himalaya Diesel' at about week 5. I'm using LST to great effect but I did accidently decapitate the one in the middle
View attachment 29865

That's 6 different varieties (9 plants) all absolutely loving your soil mix

All the above are now at week 8 and I will post a grow report on them very soon.

fantastic, those are some damn healthy plants you got there. Glad to see that it works for others :thumbs:

 

[ketchieshoobie]

Bubbling your water to add oxygen is the single BEST idea I have read on this forum or any other. I started with a Pineapple Express at about 6 weeks with some serious ph and deficiency issues and it rebounded remarkably in its last 2 weeks before chopping. I have used the "bubbled" water on an Easy Ryder that is 4 weeks old today and exploding. It has been very happy from seedling to a bushy beast. It has 11 bud sites at the top of the canopy. Knock on wood.

Thank you FD for sharing it!

KS

 

[AndyBotwin]

Bubbling your water to add oxygen is the single BEST idea I have read on this forum or any other. I started with a Pineapple Express at about 6 weeks with some serious ph and deficiency issues and it rebounded remarkably in its last 2 weeks before chopping. I have used the "bubbled" water on an Easy Ryder that is 4 weeks old today and exploding. It has been very happy from seedling to a bushy beast. It has 11 bud sites at the top of the canopy. Knock on wood.

Thank you FD for sharing it!

KS

Absolutely. Not only does it help with growth, but it also significantly reduces the damage done by overwatering, which is one of the most common rookie mistakes. Plus it makes you feel like a mad scientist with all your different concoctions bubbling away in the background.

 

[Northern Grower]

Bubbling your water to add oxygen is the single BEST idea I have read on this forum or any other. I started with a Pineapple Express at about 6 weeks with some serious ph and deficiency issues and it rebounded remarkably in its last 2 weeks before chopping. I have used the "bubbled" water on an Easy Ryder that is 4 weeks old today and exploding. It has been very happy from seedling to a bushy beast. It has 11 bud sites at the top of the canopy. Knock on wood.

Thank you FD for sharing it!

KS

It does make the difference eh?! I was really shocked how much you notice the difference in overall plant vigor. I find i have less PH issues as well.. Maybe it's the air bubbling keeping it in check, but i haven't got out the ph down in months....
It REALLY kicks the shit out of photo strains too.. You can get in a couple extra waterings Vs. a normal schedule, since there is so much O2 in the water.

On a side note.

It works well for veggies too. My tomatoes this year were bloody massive.. The plant bent the metal tomatoe cage it was so heavy....