Outdoor First time ever outdoor auto grow

[PhxRocker]

Hi all!

First time cannabis grower here.

I was given some feminized autoflower seeds of Himalayan Blue Diesel and also Russian Rocket Fuel.

Over the last few months I've read and learned a lot about autoflowering cannabis, and I'm just about ready to give it a go!

I don't have the space or funds right now for an indoor grow room, but I do want to try to grow about 5 or 6 plants in pots outdoors in my backyard.

I live here in the desert southwest and there is about a three month window where I could grow these outside in the direct sunlight, from about late Feb to about late May. Any earlier than that and it is still too cold for them at night, and any later than May and it gets FAR too hot here, as you know.

And three months would be just about the right length of time for an autoflower grow...correct?

So, I have about one month until grow-time and I'm trying to figure out exactly what I need for this.

I'm thinking about 5-8 gallon airpots or smartpots. Would that be about right?

I've read that an organic soil is best for seedlings, like a Sunshine Mix or something similar, then just add nutes later....would that be correct?

Also, what nutes would you recommend for an outdoor grow in pots?

I'm sure I would probably need a ph tester and probably some ph up/down....correct?

Any advice, tips, or recommendations would be greatly appreciated, since I'm a total noob at this...and I really don't want to waste these seeds!

Thanks again!


Btw- Just remembered that I read that autoflowers do best with 20/4 lighting, but that time of year here it's about 14/10 outdoors. Will this be enough hours of sunlight?

 

[evol]

sounds like you know what you're doing. 5 gallon pots will be good and the soil sounds good too. I like the fox farm trio for nutes but have never used them outdoors. you normally want a minimum of 18 hours light but you could grow under 12/12 if needed it will just not yield as much. you can use things like baking soda and lime to raise and lower ph so ph up/down isnt needed but it does make things easier

 

[Red eyed c]

Hey mate,welcome to AFN :smokebuds: those pots are a nice size,and as for nutrients have a browse through this section https://www.autoflower.org/f26/ or if you wanted you could mx your own organic soil that only requires water,no nutrients,you can find these recipes in the organic section here https://www.autoflower.org/f89/ if your only getting 14 hours sun,so be it they will still grow mate and autos are pretty hardy.you could save 1 bean to run in your summer as a test how they do in your hot climate :smokebuds:

 

[SmashedByHashish]

those are smaller auto's you've picked out and imo 5gal sm/pots would work just fine...Sunshine Advanced promix 4 is my favorite along w/ General Hydro's organic nutes including mycorrhizae...i would feed twice a week as you will need to a water at least 3x a week w/ that medium were you are at. also the sun is a much better lite and will be completely sufficient. hope the best for ya! welcome to our community!

 

[stoking]

With the pro mix you can use just about any nutrient. I successfully ran ionic, fox and Gh thru it. I have yet to try any other products. Fox farm in my opinion leaves alot of salts so flushing may be a concern. if pot has a nice drain hole you can tell real fast. If a crusty build up shows, you should flush.

If I were running an outdoor auto grow, (which I will be, this summer), the links given have some real great water no touch nutes. As for meter, many out there. Just be sure to ph water going in, and catching some runoff of the water coming out of the soil. Then you have an idea how the soil is working with the plant and nutes.

As RedEye C said, try a seed through the summer, may surprize you what the climate can provide. Mexico is a large ass desert region, and seems alot of schwagg crosses the borders. Afghanistan as well.

Good Luck and welcome to AFN.