New Grower Disappointing harvest

[Surfer Joe]

I don't know if my experience is meaningful, but I don't think that the autos I grew are anywhere near as potent as the smoke I buy in Amsterdam.

My plants seemed to grow fine. One northern lights auto in a 20L bubble bucket grew a huge root ball and very lush leaf cover and was harvested after 10 weeks flowering and gave 225grams of dried bud and one soil white widow auto in a 6.5L pot gave a nice 35 grams of dried bud.
I dried them slowly and they have been curing for a bit over a week now, but the stone is mild and not very satisfying.

I grew two other autos in soil last fall and they were even worse, but that was my first time and I made a lot of mistakes throughout the whole grow.

It may be due to mistakes in feeding or other growing conditions or harvesting techniques, but none of the autos that I have grown are even close to the stone I get from store bought pot.

I am going to try a photoperiod grow next to see if regular seeds are stronger or if I am just a crap gardener.
I was hoping to be able to grow my own and save a ton of cash, but if this is the best I can do, then it's not worth the effort.
I don't really look forward to smoking over 250 grams of mediocre pot.

 

[Gloomshade]

I don't know if my experience is meaningful, but I don't think that the autos I grew are anywhere near as potent as the smoke I buy in Amsterdam.

My plants seemed to grow fine. One northern lights auto in a 20L bubble bucket grew a huge root ball and very lush leaf cover and was harvested after 10 weeks flowering and gave 225grams of dried bud and one soil white widow auto in a 6.5L pot gave a nice 35 grams of dried bud.
I dried them slowly and they have been curing for a bit over a week now, but the stone is mild and not very satisfying.

I grew two other autos in soil last fall and they were even worse, but that was my first time and I made a lot of mistakes throughout the whole grow.

It may be due to mistakes in feeding or other growing conditions or harvesting techniques, but none of the autos that I have grown are even close to the stone I get from store bought pot.

I am going to try a photoperiod grow next to see if regular seeds are stronger or if I am just a crap gardener.
I was hoping to be able to grow my own and save a ton of cash, but if this is the best I can do, then it's not worth the effort.
I don't really look forward to smoking over 250 grams of mediocre pot.

Just spitballin here dude, but if you're buying your pot in Amsterdam, I'd say your standards are probably pretty high...world class even. It's all from plants and everything you smoke was grown by someone so you should definately be able to grow smoke comparable to what you can buy...theoretically.

Round here people smoke what they can get. Sometimes you gotta take a bud out of the bag and give it a good squeeze to confirm that what you bought was even pot.

 

[Surfer Joe]

I don't think that the store bought pot in Amsterdam comes from autos though, so I am wondering if a photoperiod strain would be more potent.
It seems to me that if you have to cross a potent strain with a ruderalis, which is not potent, to get auto flowering, then the potency of the plant is going to suffer.
I like the convenience of autoflowering strains, but my experience with their potency has been disappointing.

 

[namvet25]

What are those plants in those big pots outside the house? What spectrum are your grow lights? What is the rated thc of the NL?.I would try some different strains like critical Jack.criticall +, bubble gum,bio diesel.These have been potent strains I have grown.When you look or seeds mke sure to get the ones with THC of 20 or higher.

 

[Gloomshade]

I don't think that the store bought pot in Amsterdam comes from autos though, so I am wondering if a photoperiod strain would be more potent.
It seems to me that if you have to cross a potent strain with a ruderalis, which is not potent, to get auto flowering, then the potency of the plant is going to suffer.
I like the convenience of autoflowering strains, but my experience with their potency has been disappointing.

I think if you're looking for absolutely the most potent weed man can grow, photoperiod strains are going to win the medal.

 

[omnious]

How was trichomes on those buds? I'd imagine the WW was pure snow.
About Amsterdam, I smoked two strains last visit; smiling (or something) Buddha and White Dolphin. Buddha was pretty weak but I passed out on Dolphin.
Comparing those my Betty Boo (AF) grown in cheap conditions was success. No passing out but energetic head/body buzz for 1.5 hours, still, close a year of nightly toking

 

[Grey Bear]

I have grown out a few variates that did not meet my expectations.
They tend to make fair hash.
So grab yourself some ISO or everclear and make some hash.

As for potency of autos vs photos, I find that average growers tend to produce around the same potency with every grow regardless of strain. In general you can expect it to take several grows to gain the experience to maximize a strains potential.
That doesn't mean that you won't get some strong smoke, but it may take awhile to grow topshelf.
Growing isn't for everyone, but give a strain you like a few grows.
The photo strain WOS Space that Muddy journaled here is a very fast finisher and a pretty strong smoke.
Good Luck!

 

[Magic]

Where were your seeds from, what breeder? I have a candy kush auto that is a lot nicer then the og kush I got from a buddy. Yea the og is more potent of course but I get a nicer cleaner high from my candy kush right now its my favorite strain. Its only been curing for a day also and the smoke is awesome. Mistake could be your problem but it also depends on genertics I know u buy something from stitch sweet seed or dp you won't go wrong you'll get a good smoke almost garenteed. Sorry your having this problem but also if you want to get a smoke like you buy from the store you need to find autos from top breeders and a strain know for its potency. Auto are not what you call comercial, most autos are bred for speed or heavier yeilds theirs only a handfull are known for their pure potency. Before you go to photos check out these strains, white widow or mazar from dp, red poison or cream caramel from sweets, mi5 or kvs from stitch. I like candy kush from auto seed because its yields good, nice potency and only 23 usd for 3 seeds very good deal! Hope you find something you like bro

 

[SkatterBrayne]

A poor craftsmen blames his tools. Why would you think you could compete with amsterdam quality despite being a novice? Hone your craft, and choose your strains more carefully. My advice would be to put in the time researching to improve, snd the results will follow
.
I just threw up some pics of my autoflowers, which certainly arent lackimg in potency or yield
.
https://www.autoflower.org/f10/autoflowers-not-imferior-photoperiods-period-31321.html#post593120

 

[Peteey010]

I'm totally new to indoor growing and auto's. I regularly get harvests of 300-500g per plant outside but as i'm still very much learning about auto's etc my expectations for the first grow are just to grow them and if I get a smoke then I've learnt something.
Like SkatterBrayne says hone your craft it's a learning curve for the first few grows it took me 5 years to get it right outside, at least inside if it goes wrong I don't have to wait until the next spring
My seeds arrived the other day so hopefully in a week or so I will start a journal and will definitely be open to advice and criticism.

- - - Updated - - -

I'm totally new to indoor growing and auto's. I regularly get harvests of 300-500g per plant outside but as i'm still very much learning about auto's etc my expectations for the first grow are just to grow them and if I get a smoke then I've learnt something.
Like SkatterBrayne says hone your craft it's a learning curve for the first few grows it took me 5 years to get it right outside, at least inside if it goes wrong I don't have to wait until the next spring
My seeds arrived the other day so hopefully in a week or so I will start a journal and will definitely be open to advice and criticism.