Live Stoner Chat First time grower, decided to go auto

[Amendment64]

I've partaken in the festivities for years and wanted to grow so bad for just as many.

...then Amendment 64 passed in CO! :check::clap::smoke:

...never did I think I would live to see my civil liberties being restored...but that's another story.

And now here I am. After doing a bunch of research on a different forum, I've decided to go with autos for my minimalist indoor grow. I'm just looking to become a self-sufficient toker while having some fun, nothing more.

I'm going to be asking some questions over the next few months I'm sure as I begin my grow. I hope to put a few notches in my belt so I can do a 180 an help others out...God knows this site will be flooded with people like me (from CO) sooner rather than later.

 

[GoAuto6]

"WELCOME"

YOUR
"New member's guide"
There's a few good link's in my sig.​

Any question's feel free to ask, If I don't know the answer's, I can tell yo who will​

 

[The Squid]

Welcome friend! You'll love it here and we love you being here. :smokebuds:

 

[stylez]

Welcome to the community everything you wanna know about autos is right here. Enjoy and as goauto says,don't hesitate to ask. Enjoy and congrats to your state for passing that law. Awesome stuff. Lots of luck to you and your growing

 

[Amendment64]

Thanks for all the hospitality :group:

So I just purchased a few beans online from Attitude...Dutch Passion Blueberry Auto and Dinafem Critical Jack Auto. I found them recommended on a different site and bit the bullet before I found this site (which would have changed my choices probably, but oh well).

So far I'm digging on this thread a bunch, what a great source:
https://www.autoflower.org/f5/fds-guide-growing-hefty-autos-small-places-206.html

...and have created a basic plan. Like I said, I'm trying to go minimalist/cheap simply because I don't have much time or money and when I'm traveling for work I want my girlfriend to be able to take care of things without having to write her an essay for reference. Let me know what you think (and if I should start a different thread for this). Obviously most of this is from FullDuplex's tutorial thread, with some info supplemented from other sources here and elsewhere:

-Germinate in Dixie cups with Jiffy seed starting mix.
-Cut the bottoms out around 1-2 weeks when the second set of flowers starts to pop, then transplant to 5 gallon Smart Pots with FullDuplex's soil mix (adjust pH as necessary)
-Grow under red and blue CFLs, 30 watts/2500 lumens per plant (just can't afford better lights at the moment)
-Aerate filtered tap water with air-stone/bubbler for 24 hours before watering (adjust pH as necessary).
-Fox Farm Trio for nutrients following FullDuplex's schedule and adjusting as I see fit.
-Use an oscillating fan and move it to different positions every so often to harden the plants from different angles (simulating real wind, essentially).
-I won't be using a box, this will be an open grow in a corner of my living room (small apartment).

Questions:
1. From what I recall, FullDuplex never revealed what his grow containers were but did mention cutting the bottom off his and replacing it with a mesh to air-prune the roots. He said this was a big part of his yield success because the roots would grow longer which would allow the plant to veg longer before flowering, hence bigger plants overall and therefore bigger yield. Won't using Smart Pots simulate this very same thing?

2. Is there any reason to cover the plants with a box or tent if I don't have to (100% legal so no need for stealth, minimal pests)?

 

[The Squid]

Hey there. You're really on a roll here and have done some research. I do see a couple things.
I wouldnt wait until their growing to go to cutting the bottoms of the cups out. Do what we all do which is go ahead and cup the bottoms out of the cups and place them.in another cup with sufficient drain holes.
So when you're ready to tier transplant into the bigger pots all ya gotta do is lift the first cup out and bam. Plant it in. No risk of cutting and disturbing the roots because thats no good.

A reason to cover would just be better light distribution and overall environmental controls. Sometimes tricky to control temp and humidity without an.enclosed space. Sweet that you're totally legal but they will get real stinky. Legal or not its something to think about.

I like your minimalist approach. Good luck. I'll be here and so will all the others if you need us.

 

[Amendment64]

Thanks for the reply! OK now I understand what people were getting at with the cup-in-cup transplant concept....and I'll definitely do that!

I've read that lower temps (within reason) will generally result in more trichomes. I keep my place around 70 degrees F but with our old-school floor electrical heater vents the temp fluctuates quite a bit especially when I'm opening outside doors a bunch. I understand that most indoor growers here probably control their grow temps within a certain range but my line of thinking is stick to/simulate au naturale, a la natural temps fluctuate a bunch of course so why not with my grow? And the same could said for humidity. In all honesty I think monitoring pH and soil humidity will consume more than enough of my time...so I'm just wondering if controlling temps and humidity is worth my time beyond keeping my apartment at a fairly consistent temp and humidity level...?

That being said, I can see where the reflectivity of something on the interior of a box would help with light efficiency. Now I'm thinking of setting up my grow in a closet, really just a big box!

Also I though I'd mention...I saw the supplies sticky and am going to pick up a pH meter, air ionizer (for the stink) and of course an air-stone/bubbler. And I'm only gonna be growing 6 plants at a time, 3 for me and 3 for my girlfriend! But just before harvest I'll get another 6 growing since the new law is 3 mature plants and 3 immature plants per adult.

 

[Duck Commander]

Welcome welcome hope you feel rite at home here :group:

@ Squid i was wondering what everyone does for the solo cups cheers dude +rep

 

[The Squid]

Yup that's it! The tier method. Great and easy.

Yes I say setup in closet for sure. Also, 6 plants are gonna reeeek dude. Not saying that ionizer won't do the trick bit just watch out. Haha
I am really looking forward to following along on this one. I cant ever follow too many and get lost sometimes so if I do just PM me and tell me to get my tentacled ass down here!

 

[Amendment64]

Damn now you got me worried. We recently moved into an apartment without doing much research and it turns out most of our neighbors are at least 55+ y/o with the majority being older...so we basically live in a retirement community! Now I'm thinking about the smell...YIKES! The good thing for the stink as far as I can tell is that we don't have AC or any vents/ventilation to speak of. In fact, we only have one window (in bedroom), one sliding glass door, and one main entrance door...that's it! So the smell would literally have to go through walls to reach the noses of my unsuspecting neighbors.