New Grower Should we use the MH bulb or the HPS bulb?

[JohnnyScience]

We are about 33 days into our auto grow since seed.

We are about 2 weeks behind as we had a calmag issue & almost lost them all 2 weeks into them sprouting.

So the 3rd week they were dying off & the 4th week they were coming back putting us the 2 weeks behind.

They are back & doing great but still behind which worries us since they are autos.

Isn't the time period for autos 60-70 days?

What happens if these plants are only 6" tall? Most of them are about that & there are a couple that might be 10" by now.

I'm hoping they don't start to bud & only produce a couple of grams per plant - we will be fucking pissed!

For the last 33 days we've just had them under CFL bulbs & are going to be switching them to the MH/HPS bulb this week but wasn't sure which one to use.

Which bulb is best for autos at this stage, MH or HPS?

Are we totally fucked with our autos since they lost 2 weeks by dying/coming back to life?

We can go as long as needed in order for them to finish the flower stage, but I'm just hoping that we can grow them out for at least another 2 weeks before they start to flower.

Thoughts?

 

[namvet25]

HPS should be used 18/6. You can't control when they flower,and the heighth depends on the strain.The only thing is keep them on veg nutes until they go into full flower mode and stop there vertical growth,then switch to flower nutes.

 

[Taviddude]

Like Namvet said, keep em on Veg nutes. If they're not flowering yet, and have been stunted I would hit em with the MH for as long as you can before switching to HPS. May help you make up some lost Veg time.

Tav

 

[rhapsodyrcks]

60-70 days is a rule of thumb. Theres no rule that says it has to. Could take 80 days.

Rule of thumb on the bulbs...MH can be used for veg but is not proper for Flowering but HPS can be used from start to finish. You get some stretch from HPS but it fills in later.

One of the reasons why your plants are small other then your issues is CFLs. CFLs suck for grows. If you have a HPS/MH system trash the CFLs. I have had my Autos under a 800w LED Solarstorm panel. Cannabis likes as much as light as you can take it. Mine are good sized for 3 weeks.

 

[JohnnyScience]

WOW that plant is HUGE compared to ours for 3 weeks!

Just for the record we are using Auto-pounders.

We normally rock the CFL's when we plant the seeds & usually upgrade to the MH a couple of weeks later. They were so fucked up & dead we didn't want to blast them & stress them more by switching over to the MH.

I know that HPS is only for flower but wasn't sure how to approach Auto's with the MH/HPS setup.

Do you guys start your seeds out under MH?

We will leave them on veg nutes & get the MH rocking hopefully today to help increase growth. We are using a bare bulb approach with our setup so we don't have a reflector to use above the seedlings at this time. We need to get our trays hopefully today & transplant them from the 4x4 starter cups to the 2.4g airpots & then drop the bulb inside of a triangle (3 trays forming a triangle, before we did a halo with no trays, worked ok but the drainage was a bitch so we upgraded this round)

I'm using CNS17 in coco for the main nutes, right now just using the "Grow", should I even bother with the "Bloom" mix or just jump straight to "Ripe" when they start to flower? I could use the Grow/Bloom together I think but I don't want to do anything that would induce flowering right now since they're so fucking small.

 

[low_and_slow]

There are a lot of hugely successful organic cannabis growers that veg and flower under Eye Blue MH lights, The Rev being the first that comes to mind. It has less to do with what light you're using than it does with how much light you're using. So long as your setup is properly scaled to the size of your grow and you can control your temperature properly, you should get good results.

 

[Muddy]

The key to high yields with autos is getting them as big as possible during their veg period, the first 5-6 weeks. Any issues during that time will likely stunt them, reducing the yield. Normally they show sex by day 21 or so, are you seeing any pre flowers yet?

In the future I would suggest starting them under the MH or at least switching them to the MH after the first week. Use it till vertical growth stops, then switch to the HPS. When you switch to the HPS also switch nutes from grow to flowering.

 

[JohnnyScience]

I think we're totally fucked. They seem to be just starting to bud & the plants are only 3-6" tall with a couple reaching 10" maybe.

God damn it.

 

[Taviddude]

Are you positive it was a cal-mag issue at only 2 weeks? Also, auto's don't like to be transplanted. A 4x4 cup is WAY to small for a month old auto if you want a big plant. Try getting them into bigger pots right away. The small size of your pot had a lot to do with the small size of the plant I'm sure. I've worked a bit with coco, and coco will produce fast if all is right. People use all different size pots, but I wouldn't go with anything smaller than 2-3 gallons for a decent sized plant and good yield. I personally use 5-7 gallon pots when I grow in soil. The difference is big.

 

[Muddy]

I agree, get them into some bigger pots. I start mine in 1/2 gallon juice containers and transplant into 3 gallon pots after they sex. It's not so much that autos don't like to be transplanted, it's more people don't know how to transplant. Within 24 hours of transplanting mine are back to normal growth.

You should still get some vertical growth out of your plants. Autos grow the fastest between weeks 3 - 6, often as much as an inch a day. More info here: https://www.autoflower.org/f44/life-cycle-auto-flowering-cannabis-5113.html