Advice required on growing autoflowering seeds in hydro

mad morph

Member
Hi all,

Please can anybody tell me if there are any advantages / disadvantages of growing autoflowering strains in a hydroponic sysytem? Reason i ask is i have had 2 successful grows in hydro and have been given some auto seeds (Little Cheese) and want to know do they have to be done in soil, or can i do them in hydro?

If they can, is there any pointers anybody can give me?

Many thanks,

A very curious Mad Morph.
 

Dobby

Well-Known Member
Oh sure you can do them in hydro, I got a couple 60 day wonders about two weeks from finishing right now. Can't say about advantages/disadvantages cause this is my first hydro grow but so far so good.
 

Give Me

Member
no exp just opinion- from what I have read autos in hydro would be a good match as you could get the max out of them. For example if height is an issue with regular plants once you sex and clone your all set but with autos they only get so big in set time frame so to me hydro would be a better option? Either way good luck and have fun :)
 

permit

Active Member
i have grown several auto strands in hydro and my only advise would be to start with about half strength on the nutrients at first until you see how your plants react. some autos can be a little sensative. if at half strength they do not react then move up until a little more each time until you find the perfect ratio. ak-47 for example had no problem with full strength doses where my hindu kush was happier with about 2/3 of a dose.
 

bmw626

Member
Yes! I went all out on my setup and seeds with no prior knowledge of what I was doing.

I am running some cream caramel autos in an aeroflo36 unit. I have made a few mistakes here and there, like not supplementing cal/mag (especially with using 900W LED!!!), too much nutes, air handler went out, and my hanna 98129 has failed me twice so far, requiring replacements both times and being left without a way to measure ec/ppm/ph/water temp.

It's def not how I planned everything out but now I've learned from it. It has cost me an additional 3 weeks time needed before chopping and def some bud weight, but I am happy to pay that price for the experience that I have acquired and will be able to apply to my next grow.

Sorry to rant, I'm blazed. Anyway, your question. There is no problem running autos in hydro that I myself, nor anyone that I know have encountered yet. Not sure what kind of setup you will be growing in, but my only issue is the spacing of plants with the aeroflo36 unit that im familiar with. If different phenos show up and grow at different rates, they get left behind by the others that tower over them, essentially blocking out light for growth, leaving you lost potential thats taking up space.

side note, I popped 36 cream caramel autos in rapid rooters and they were running in aero within 5 days in coco coir cups and hydrotron. Haven't lost any yet.

oh yea, and what was said regarding the nutes, be easy! I don't know your level of grow knowledge, but if you don't already, learn NPK and all of the micro nutes so that you know what they are and how they can work for and against your plant. Screw ups are less forgiving in hydro, I've learn first hand, and the whole time I was organizing and prepping my grow I was like "ah, this will be a piece of cake, add this, add that, stabilize, your good." Haha, was I wrong.

This is a generalization of what you can typically see from an autoflowering hydro grower in terms of his/her feeding dosages. Keyword - generalization. Different variables such as climate, strain, co2, water temp, personal preference, ect, can all affect the nutritional requirements of our ladies.

Week 2 - 200ppm
Week 3 - 350ppm
Week 4 - 500ppm
Week 5 - 650ppm
Week 6 - 700ppm
Week 7 - 800ppm
Week 8 - FLUSH


Again, sorry that my grammatical structure is lacking, causing my ideas to be thrown all over the place and questions to be answered indirectly, that OG got me stooooooned!
 

sporkd2

Member
i have grown several auto strands in hydro and my only advise would be to start with about half strength on the nutrients at first until you see how your plants react. some autos can be a little sensative. if at half strength they do not react then move up until a little more each time until you find the perfect ratio. ak-47 for example had no problem with full strength doses where my hindu kush was happier with about 2/3 of a dose.
I am in the process of my first auto grow (first grow ever) and I couldn't agree more with this comment!
 
Yeah a meter is a must. Autos are picky. My northern lights from royal queen got pretty toasted on half strength but my maxi gom liked half when they were young. I'd recommend the maxi for beginners. Good genetics behind it and is pretty resilient. Had mold on them for 2 weeks and didn't know what it was and didn't phase them. Suppose to be good yielder as well.
 

tekdc911

Well-Known Member
flood and drain might be a little tough some are very intolerant to irrigation even if its all the same strain they can vary greatly from pheno to pheno
 
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