Outdoor 2013 automazar grow

[jreffa456]

Hi guys i have never attempted to grow cannabis before but it is a big interest of mine and ive done tons of research and now all that is left is to go for it and try it myself. I have researched strains and i am growing DP's Automazar. I am going to be germinating 10 seeds to plant ~may 1st and harvest sometime between July 10-31 (that would give them a 10-13 week seed to weed when the website says 10 weeks in optimal conditions). This will be my grow guide and i will update pictures every couple weeks and hopefully this thread is helpful for any other beginners!

I know it is only December and im not growing til May but i have never done this before so here is my procedure and I would love to know if i should change anything before my grow starts. if anyone who has grown automazar indoor/outdoor or anybody who lives around 40-50 N lat that grows outdoors or anyone who sees a flaw in my procedure please give me any critisizm or feedback, what im doing right, wrong, etc. Thanks in advance for your feedback.

I am going to prepare the soil by purchasing organic gardening soil from either Kents, Home Depot, or Canadian Tire (not sure which brand or type so taking recommendations) and mixing it in 50/50 with the current soil in the grow area. About 2 ft. x 5 ft. x 1 ft deep for decent spacing.
I am going to germinate using the paper towel method (i have done this before with 5 bagseeds at 100% success rate but had nowhere to plant them so they died).
Once the tap root is sprouted im gunna plant the seeds (tap root pointing up) 1/2" deep directly into the soil area where they will be harvested so i dont stunt the short veg cycle during transplanting.
For fertilizers I am going to use Miracle Gro Ultra Bloom water soluble plant food.
Week 1-3: water feed (no nutes)
week 4: 1/4 strength
week 5: 1/2 strength
week 6-flush: full strength
last week: flush

For watering, leaving water outside for two days to remove chlorine and make it the right temp. Just watering when the plants need it.

Going to use a 60x magnifier to check trichs and harvest hopefully with the least possible clear and amber trichs. (if I want to get a strong head high from these buds and less of a body high, how should i go about harvesting?)

Gunna do a wet trim, dispose of fan leaves and keep the leaves with resin for hash or something.

Drying: ~7 days. My apartment isnt an option to hang oz's of weed so does anybody have any good ideas or DIY rigs for drying stealthily? Maybe like in a big box hanging on string or something?
Curing: put buds in airtight quart sized mason jars and burp them a couple times per day for 1-2 weeks (?)

 

[south]

bro you're probably going to forget most of this by waiting 6 months to start... i say start now

 

[The Squid]

Hey there jr, how goes it? I like the fact that you're planning ahead. Smart man. Let's see if I can get you steered in the right direction here.

Autoflowering Cannabis is a different ballgame than photo sensitive strains which take longer and can take on far more nutrients than Autos. Your nute scheduling is on point. No nutes for the first few weeks and start low and slow and work your way up, good.

Soil: Since you have access to Home Depot and such, look for a mix called Promix. It'll come in either HP or BX versions, both are fantastic and great for all stages of growth. It contains just very little starter nutes but more importantly the micorrizael fungi, very beneficial. I found some at a local nursery so shop around, but they've been carrying it at some Lowes and Depots or Ace Hardwares.

Back to nutes: I would steer away from the Miracle Grow products if I were you. Most here would agree. You can use them, but they're just so non specific to Canna I don't recommend them. Besides the fact that about all of their stuff contains too many nutes and/or slow release nutes which make their products too "hot" for Autos. I use General Organics Bio Thrive lineup. Check them out, I think they're great nutes, and not high dollar either. Some members use Advanced Nutrient products and they are fantastic and highly recommended, but are a bit more pricey than others.

Watering: Sounds good. You can also get a little airstone that is used to bubble fish tanks and drop one into a gallon of water at a time or whatever your reservoir is. This helps bubble off the chlorine but mainly packs it full of oxygen and roots loovvvvee Oxygen. You'll need a good digital Ph meter for testing nute solutions and runoff. Ph is super duper important. Hanna and Milwaukee make great ph products.
Canna needs a good'wet/dry' cycle. And by wet I mean moist, but it doesn't need watering until the entire pot is nearly dry. A good method to use is the weight method that basically everyone here uses I believe. You'll need to get used to how the pots weigh with and without water and then you'll be able to tell when they need watering. As it dries the tap root will stretch out seeking for water, and this is good. If it stays we then your roots won't grow properly. Speaking of taproot, this is somewhat controversial, but plant that tap root DOWN. It's the tap root and that's where it wants and needs to go; straight down as far as it can.

Harvesting, trimming, drying and curing will all come in time but you're on track from what you've said.

 

[jreffa456]

The Squid, great stuff! focusing on the areas i am not too sure about, watering, soil.. i think i actually saw promix in KENT home hardware so ill be sure to look into that guy.

So your talking about planting in pots but i was planning on planting right in the earth with 50/50 mix of soil (probably promix) and the soil that already inhabited the area. i wanted to steer away from pots because i have a good area, but i still wanted it to be as stealthy as possible because i do not own the property. the weight method does sound appealing though because it sounds like an easy way to measure when to water. So do you HIGHLY recommend using pots? Or is there a better indicator of when to water plants in the earth because i do not know anything about gardening! And the airstone is a great idea.

And for Ph is there anything else other than to make sure the soil, water, and nute solution are all neutral?

 

[The Squid]

Sorry, didn't realize you were outside till afterwards. I am just getting into Outdoor myself and I just plan on experienced timing and the finger method. Which is carefully inserting your finger up to your second knuckle or so and if you're dry then you should probably water. But someone with more outdoor experience should pop in eventually.

I planned on digging a hole and pouring Promix in, but my spot(s) are close by right now. And you don't want a neutral ph for your soil and feeds and water. For soil you want to stay around 6.5 but with Promix being considered a Semi Soil-less medium, it is recommended to use a ph more towards hydro which is around 5.9. I was keeping mine around 6.5 before I learned about it and when I dropped it down it made obvious differences. Promix is pretty much good to go out of the bag.

Your water is going to depend on your source, and you'll need the ph pen or liquid drops at the least to test the ph of your water. The liquid drops work fine for plain clear water but not after you start adding nutes later on, that's where the digital meter comes in. You'll also wanna get some ph up and down products. These are liquids or crystal format that you add to your feeds to raise or lower your ph as needed.

 

[wbojb]

If you are planting directly into mother earth, dont sweat overwatering. You basically have a bottomless pot. Your topsoil will tend to dry out quickly exposed to the elements. I used a large drum resevoir with a drip system or soaker hose with highly soluble nutes. This allowed me to contol my ph and nutes for a large area without worrying about drying out my girls. Keep in mind that I only grow outdoor from april to october. Milage may vary depending on location and environment.

 

[jreffa456]

with Promix being considered a Semi Soil-less medium, it is recommended to use a ph more towards hydro which is around 5.9.

so ~5.9 for all three soil, water and nutrient solution?

 

[Mr Piggy]

I'd check out the native soil before just filling a hole with promix. Why bother with trying to ph a soiless mix when you can just amend the native soil and plant in that? The whole point of guerrilla is to make it as set and forget as possible, so why fuss with a soiless mix?

 

[The Squid]

I agree with you there. I just know it's been done and was just going with what he wanted to do. But set it and forget is better. Still have to ph your feeds though.

 

[Mr Piggy]

Not if you amend the soil with all the nutes a plant needs.

Then it's just water.