New Grower Noob - soil question for seeds

[muchacho]

Hey all,

Absolute newb here. Have been growing super hot chillis under lights (Naga Vipers & Bhut Jolokia) and thought I'd try and grow something a little more exciting. I bought 5 x Pineapple Express seeds & 5 x auto AK47 seeds, when (if) they arrive I was thinking of planting them straight into their 4gal tubs once I get them to germinate.

I've read auto's don't do well with transplating and the shock slows them down, but the dilemma here is that I know I shouldn't use a soil mix with nutes in it as it will prolly burn the seeds/seedlings, yet a juvenile plant would probably do well with some better soil. So do I just use a seed raising mix (gentle/no nutes) in the 4gals? or do I sow the seeds into party cups with seed raising mix, then chop the bottom off the cups once they gain a little strength and drop them (still in the cups) into the 4gal pots with high quality, nutrient rich soil?

 

[Renaissance Redneck]

Welcome to AFN!
Hola, muchacho! :tiphat:
It's true, autos are a bit on the sensitive side :
I'm finishing my first grow, (well, part of it), and will happily say that wg saved my bacon.
A very forgiving soil, not too hot, and in my case has minimized pH mistakes.
https://www.autoflower.org/f44/new-growers-guide-grow-@-lowes-[easy-dirt-guide-]-16495.html

 

[late]

I've done a couple of things (on my 2 grows). On my first (successful) grow
I used a biodegradable start pot. So the pot goes right in thegrow pot with the seedling.

Second time, I make a cone shaped hole 4 or 5 inches deep and fill it with potting soil that
has no nutes. I soaked the seed in water for a couple hours, put it in the pot, added just
a tiny bit of water, and covered it over with dry unfertilised soil. That worked great.
Keep it warm.

 

[spellbound]

Hey welcome to the site. One other thing to mention is sometimes the seeds dont all pop at the same time and some will even be really late to pop. Some will pop within a few days and others my take up to a couple weeks. This Ive learned on my very first attempt to grow. I tossed out 2 Auto Pounders due to my ignorance and impatience. Costly mistake.

 

[kryptogreen]

You are 100% correct, autos need to be planted in their final homes, secondly go easy on the nutes, and most importantly watch the pH.

 

[JBRONCFAN]

When u make organic soil you have to do it and then let it marinate for a few weeks. Those natual nutes need to be released into the soil. You have absolutely zero chance of burning anything when you do it this way. You also don't ever have to waste your time worrrying about nutes cause its all in the soil.

What sounds better? A soil where the plant can take what it needs or a grow where YOU force feed it nutes it MIGHT need?