I’m new to this online forum, but have been growing autoflower for about 30 months. I live along the N. coast of the Gulf of Alaska.
I am a physicist, father and grower. (BTW growing autoflower and making beer w/ my 22-year old son are wonderful family activities) I have gardened something most of my 60 yrs of life– tomatoes, peppers, cactus and the like. But after relocating to Alaska 20-odd years ago, I have had to let that go. We get tons of light– up to 20 h per day near the summer solstice– but many summers we have substantial cloud cover, and coolish temperatures. I grew autoflowers outside last summer, in pots right on my deck. (yea for legal!), Candy Kush, Dark Devil and Biodiesel Mass. Not sure this would work most summers though. Even with an exceptionally warm, dry summer the plants performed OK, but yields were only 7-10 grams per plant.
I have also done numerous grows inside. Just harvested 4 AK49s. Got about 121 g dried. Tasty, if somewhat stemmy. Powerful strong! Five stars out of five.
This AK49 top cola dried to about 11 g of fine weed
Ak49 close up. Even green leaves are covered w/ trichomes.
I use a organic soil of my own composition. Not because I’m big into the organic concept, it just works best for me. I mix up about 75 lb at a time– real hot soil nute wise. I have never added any nutes to a grow, or messed with the PH. The only amendment once growth commences is a little bone-meal emulsion (0-6-0, phosphorous) in the watering can when flowering commences. That is why I like my home-cooked soil. Everything that is needed for the entire grow is there from the git-go. No fuss during the grow, don.cha know! I am on my ninth grow with this soil composition.
Light wise, I use LED panels for a host of reasons. I have gone with the advice of several of my colleagues (they grow tundra and small birch species for research purposes) and use 12-band lamps from PlatinumLED (platinumgrowlights.com). These lights are hardly mentioned on this site, probably because they are quite spendy. But, they are the real deal IMO. Can’t say enough good things about these highly efficient, cool-running lights.
I grow in a 2 m x 2 m x 1.25 m (height) underground location.
Grow room complete w/ a couple of party benches. Groovin' w/ the grow
It is cool enough that I use a heater to keep the temperature near 65 F. (The LEDs run so cool, they hardly contribute to the heat budget.) I am definitely limited by height (1.25 m), so I dug a trench my girls could sit in, just like they were growing directly from the ground. Works well w/ autos.
Pakistani Rider three weeks into flower
We are currently flowering 1 each of Pakistan Ryder, Candy Kush, Northern Lights, and Jota Mayascula (sp?) Seedlings under cultivation include: Auto Kush, (3) Girl Scout Cookies and (2) Northern Lights. Also have some seedlings going for photoperiod Panama Red and Columbian Gold. IA retro nostalgic thing for sure.) I doubt if they will ever come to flower, unless I dedicate my grow room for that purpose. If these grow like other leafy plants do here in the summer, thy should top out near 3 m in height.
I am a physicist, father and grower. (BTW growing autoflower and making beer w/ my 22-year old son are wonderful family activities) I have gardened something most of my 60 yrs of life– tomatoes, peppers, cactus and the like. But after relocating to Alaska 20-odd years ago, I have had to let that go. We get tons of light– up to 20 h per day near the summer solstice– but many summers we have substantial cloud cover, and coolish temperatures. I grew autoflowers outside last summer, in pots right on my deck. (yea for legal!), Candy Kush, Dark Devil and Biodiesel Mass. Not sure this would work most summers though. Even with an exceptionally warm, dry summer the plants performed OK, but yields were only 7-10 grams per plant.
I have also done numerous grows inside. Just harvested 4 AK49s. Got about 121 g dried. Tasty, if somewhat stemmy. Powerful strong! Five stars out of five.
This AK49 top cola dried to about 11 g of fine weed
Ak49 close up. Even green leaves are covered w/ trichomes.
I use a organic soil of my own composition. Not because I’m big into the organic concept, it just works best for me. I mix up about 75 lb at a time– real hot soil nute wise. I have never added any nutes to a grow, or messed with the PH. The only amendment once growth commences is a little bone-meal emulsion (0-6-0, phosphorous) in the watering can when flowering commences. That is why I like my home-cooked soil. Everything that is needed for the entire grow is there from the git-go. No fuss during the grow, don.cha know! I am on my ninth grow with this soil composition.
Light wise, I use LED panels for a host of reasons. I have gone with the advice of several of my colleagues (they grow tundra and small birch species for research purposes) and use 12-band lamps from PlatinumLED (platinumgrowlights.com). These lights are hardly mentioned on this site, probably because they are quite spendy. But, they are the real deal IMO. Can’t say enough good things about these highly efficient, cool-running lights.
I grow in a 2 m x 2 m x 1.25 m (height) underground location.
Grow room complete w/ a couple of party benches. Groovin' w/ the grow
It is cool enough that I use a heater to keep the temperature near 65 F. (The LEDs run so cool, they hardly contribute to the heat budget.) I am definitely limited by height (1.25 m), so I dug a trench my girls could sit in, just like they were growing directly from the ground. Works well w/ autos.
Pakistani Rider three weeks into flower
We are currently flowering 1 each of Pakistan Ryder, Candy Kush, Northern Lights, and Jota Mayascula (sp?) Seedlings under cultivation include: Auto Kush, (3) Girl Scout Cookies and (2) Northern Lights. Also have some seedlings going for photoperiod Panama Red and Columbian Gold. IA retro nostalgic thing for sure.) I doubt if they will ever come to flower, unless I dedicate my grow room for that purpose. If these grow like other leafy plants do here in the summer, thy should top out near 3 m in height.
