Live Stoner Chat I'm thinking about cultivating AF instead of Photos, questions.

[braxx75]

Hi everyone,
My history with growing was 20yrs ago with photos in rockwool slabs. Pulling 10 oz per plant but half the time I was pulling down 14-16 oz per plant dry weight. I totally got away from marijuana for 17+ years. Now i find my self with a desire to get back into it. I have a family member with incurable (but in remission somewhat) cancer that I would like to convince to try mm for the bone pain and help with appetite. Another with anxiety and ptsd type symptoms. I'm sure i can find strains to help that's not the issue.
I'm torn between the quickness of AF and the yield of Photos.
I'm reading about AF people being super happy with 2-3oz yields. Some "monster" 6-8oz yields that were the abnormal result of a mutant plant that had everything go right.
I'm having a hard time swallowing such small (relative to my photo experience) yields.
I know what i can yield with photos but is it really that uncommon to get solid / consistent 6-8oz yields per plant?

My grow area would be 8ftx4ft with 7ft height. If I were doing photos I would flower 6 plants in 5or6ftx4ft with vegging 6 plants in the remaining 2ftx4ft. In a semi perpetual grow. I'm sure i could get 70-90oz every 10 weeks. Over a year I could yield 350-450oz

If I went with AF I would run 6-8 plants every 30+ days or so. So i technically would have 12-16 plants in the 8ftx4ft room. Say 15 plants producing 3oz each would be 45oz in about 70+ days. Over a year that would be about 225oz

So after that long winded explanation of my "thoughts" what are some real world expectations for a 8ftx4ft room with unlimited (within realistic wattage) mh/hps lights (I'm eady to run 2x1000w lights) ?

How many AF plants in that space?
What kind of yields per plant with nearly unlimited watts?
Heat and electrical usage isn't an issue.

Thanks

 

[BigSm0]

Welcome to afn. A very simple solution to maximizing yields when comparing to photos is to drop an extra seed or two. A pound of photos takes up the same space as a pound of autos. If your looking for the maximum amount of weed per year it's definitely in favor of autos. Faster growing plants means more crops and more crops equals more weed. Allot of photo growers I know find this hard to swallow but its absolutely the truth. I'm personally running both right now and I have 2 photos in a 5x5 where I would normally have 4 autos. My yields are always over 6oz per plant and I only achieve this since I gave autos a fair chance.
@slowandeasy is a 20yr photo grower on a new journey with autos as well. It's a bit of s struggle at first. But the benefits are endless. Risk is lower with shorter crops. Bugs, mold theft. Selection is as good but more crops per year allow you to try more things. Seeds are cheap, no mothers, clones or cloning equipment. No stress of light leak or timers. While I do run lights 18hours a day I also veg in the same room which is under 24hours of light. I can type for hours. Best advice for a photo grower which I once was. Forget everything you know and give it a shot.

 

[BigSm0]

I also use a similar space for some autos. One of my rooms is 8x20 but I have 1350 watts of cobs above a 4x10 spot and pull anywhere from 2.75-3.5 lbs from each crop. Perpetual as well, I drop new seeds every 45 days. Always some drying, some growing and some vegging. For a 4x8 I would do 6 plants max.

 

[A-Train]

It's all about strain choice my friend. Yes I'm happy with 3 Oz in 62 days off a Mephisto sour blues or 2.5 in 60 days off a sour crack.

But if I got 2.5 or 3 Oz off a Dutch Passion think big or auto ultimate it would be an embarrassing grow.

You need to choose the strain that suits your need. Kinda hard to swallow your buddy needing 450 Oz of MM a year if they have never tried it. That's a ton of MM.

And who knows. A big ass sativa might not be the best for them. A smaller indica with better medicinal qualities may be the one that helps the bone pain. It's gonna take a lot and researching. But I can promise doing autos right will out run pbotos.

Quick question how long did 1 plant to run that yielded 16zips dry and what kind of space did it take up?

 

[slowandeasy]

Welcome to afn. A very simple solution to maximizing yields when comparing to photos is to drop an extra seed or two. A pound of photos takes up the same space as a pound of autos. If your looking for the maximum amount of weed per year it's definitely in favor of autos. Faster growing plants means more crops and more crops equals more weed. Allot of photo growers I know find this hard to swallow but its absolutely the truth. I'm personally running both right now and I have 2 photos in a 5x5 where I would normally have 4 autos. My yields are always over 6oz per plant and I only achieve this since I gave autos a fair chance.
@slowandeasy is a 20yr photo grower on a new journey with autos as well. It's a bit of s struggle at first. But the benefits are endless. Risk is lower with shorter crops. Bugs, mold theft. Selection is as good but more crops per year allow you to try more things. Seeds are cheap, no mothers, clones or cloning equipment. No stress of light leak or timers. While I do run lights 18hours a day I also veg in the same room which is under 24hours of light. I can type for hours. Best advice for a photo grower which I once was. Forget everything you know and give it a shot.

I agree with Big, except 1 thing. Don't forget everything you know. 20 years of experience will help you if you allow yourself to adapt to the changes Autos require. But if you are stubborn and unwilling to experiment, stick with Photos. Most old school growers don't like change. Let's face it, change can be hard. Most growers of 20 years have a system that works for them, hence 20 years. Personally I would do what Big and I do. Do both. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. I can honestly see why a lot of photo growers don't stick with Autos. They need more attention, eat differently, and grow differently. They can change overnight. I have plenty of Photos and Autos going, and I am about to harvest my first Auto Crop. The quality looks great, and I learned a ton about Autos in the process. Don't expect your first round of Autos to be flawless, that is the most frustrating part. I could leave my photos for 10-14 days and come back with perfect plants. Autos change so rapidly that they require more attention. Dont switch to Autos if you are not willing to put a little extra time in than you do with Photos. Good luck

 

[Micron Creek]

I believe that the largest yielder I've seen was Short Stuff's tha shiznit, dwc and led produced over 12 oz with one lady, I'm sure someone around here has grown it and could fill ya in with exact numbers. Perhaps locate something with higher cbd like dinafems industrial plant cbd, there's a thread on it. CBD does wonders for pain and appetite.

 

[woody]

Im sure if you were easily hitting 14oz in hydro set up with photos 20 years ago youll easily hit 6-8oz+ every 80 days with autos.
Once you get your set up dialed in again

 

[BigSm0]

Im sure if you were easily hitting 14oz in hydro set up with photos 20 years ago youll easily hit 6-8oz+ every 80 days with autos.
Once you get your set up dialed in again

That's a great point.

 

[braxx75]

You need to choose the strain that suits your need. Kinda hard to swallow your buddy needing 450 Oz of MM a year if they have never tried it. That's a ton of MM.

Quick question how long did 1 plant to run that yielded 16zips dry and what kind of space did it take up?

The yield will need to support the MM needs for 2-4 patients (I'm already the care giver for 3) at zero cost to them. They are family in need of help. I need the rest of the yield to be take by a dispensary at a donation amount that supports the grow. That is why I was hoping for a 300+ oz yield for a 4x8 room. Pretty much a 50/50 split .

My 16oz photos were veg for around 6 weeks with training and then about 10 weeks of flower and we're almost 6ft tall. I had a 10x12 room (used about 8x6 of the room) with 8ft ceiling.

 

[G.Leave]

If you could grow fine plants back then, you'll be able to grow some fines ones today I bet! I am a 25year photo grower(outdoor). Once you get the early phase of autos mastered you will not only "come close" to the yields of photos, but you will surpass yields of photos when taking into account space and time. Yes autos are smaller yield per plant, but profuse compact plants waste no space and produce large amounts of bud with little wasted branching.