Autoflower going over 'life expectancy' - first time 450w cfl & soil

First post here and first proper auto grow. It has been a learning experience for sure, but i had a couple of questions....
1) when does the life of an auto actually start and will they keep going once they go over there estimated life. Ive not found the answers on here yet. Is it from germination? First proper leaves? Reason for asking, my auto didnt show pistils for a good 6 weeks, and 12 weeks from germination we're stll flowering (start to harvest should be 10-12 weeks)

2) leaves are yellowing at the bottom, its not nute defficiency so is this a sign of the end? The pistills are still mainly white and although the yields looking average for cfl, its still putting on noticeable weight each day.

Couple of pics below

Looks like shes gonna be another 3-4 weeks
some autos have an extended veg period.
Most people think autos only veg until the start to preflower (around 3 weeks) but the truth is autos veg while preflowering and you shouldn't stog veg nutes until around week 6 or when all upwars growth stops.
But in your case u got an extended veg. Im guessing you stopped having upward growth around week 9.

This is usually a good thing in terms of yeild with autos though

I took one of my auto's too 100 days because it didn't show a pistols till day 43

BionicΩChronic said:

Looks like shes gonna be another 3-4 weeks
some autos have an extended veg period.
Most people think autos only veg until the start to preflower (around 3 weeks) but the truth is autos veg while preflowering and you shouldn't stog veg nutes until around week 6 or when all upwars growth stops.
But in your case u got an extended veg. Im guessing you stopped having upward growth around week 9.

This is usually a good thing in terms of yeild with autos though

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Okay thats good to know. Should i start flushing now then if we're looking at 3 weeks or so left? I assume the bottom leaves will continue to yellow and drop off as time goes on. Thanks for the help

mikegkush said:

Okay thats good to know. Should i start flushing now then if we're looking at 3 weeks or so left? I assume the bottom leaves will continue to yellow and drop off as time goes on. Thanks for the help

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Wait until your last two weeks
If your trying to harvest in 3 weeks
Start flushing in 1
If you want to harest in 4 weeks
Start flushing in 2

With autos I recently started feeding veg nutes until all upward stretch has finished. In DWC hydro using AD nutrients I have 2 supposedly 45 day from seed Kush Fromage autos go 90 days before they started getting amber trichs. The buds really don't look that much bigger but they are certainly heavier because only in the last 2 weeks have the branches started to sag.

I think with most autos we should use the breeders harvest times as bare minimums depending on the growing medium you are using and rely on letting the plant tell you when it is ready to be chopped.

So 1 week on and things are back on track...yellowing has stopped and density is increasing. For a £2.50 seed shes doing well for a first timer!

HemiSync said:

With autos I recently started feeding veg nutes until all upward stretch has finished. In DWC hydro using AD nutrients I have 2 supposedly 45 day from seed Kush Fromage autos go 90 days before they started getting amber trichs. The buds really don't look that much bigger but they are certainly heavier because only in the last 2 weeks have the branches started to sag.

I think with most autos we should use the breeders harvest times as bare minimums depending on the growing medium you are using and rely on letting the plant tell you when it is ready to be chopped.

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Regardless to what you feed it bloom or veg it will still grow tall... I really don't think switching nutrients will affect stretching that much or at all.

mypassion said:

Regardless to what you feed it bloom or veg it will still grow tall... I really don't think switching nutrients will affect stretching that much or at all.

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I wasn't saying it would affect stretch, just that I use the end of the stretch as a sign it's time to switch to bloom nutes. I do this rather that switch when you first get preflowers as many do. For several strains of autos I have seen deficiencies when switching too early.

HemiSync said:

I wasn't saying it would affect stretch, just that I use the end of the stretch as a sign it's time to switch to bloom nutes. I do this rather that switch when you first get preflowers as many do. For several strains of autos I have seen deficiencies when switching too early.

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True. Sorry for misunderstanding

So for those that are interested, I chopped today. She seemed ready so I took the main tops off, the lower mini buds i will leave a bit longer. She ended up pretty tasty, just up of 80gs wet. Pics attached.

Now the dilemma. I have 2 plants still going so i have made a cardboard box to hang the buds in. It has a few holes either side to allow airflow from the fan, but not enough to let heaps of light in. The box os sitting in the grown tent which has cfl bulbs and a fluctuating temp. I will check daily but is this a likely mold magnet?

Advice appreciated as they need to stay in the tent for 'smell purposes'

That should be fine as long as you have an exhaust fan in your tent for circulation. I would be sure to open that box all the way a couple times a day. Good job on the harvest!

mikegkush said:

So for those that are interested, I chopped today. She seemed ready so I took the main tops off, the lower mini buds i will leave a bit longer. She ended up pretty tasty, just up of 80gs wet. Pics attached.

Now the dilemma. I have 2 plants still going so i have made a cardboard box to hang the buds in. It has a few holes either side to allow airflow from the fan, but not enough to let heaps of light in. The box os sitting in the grown tent which has cfl bulbs and a fluctuating temp. I will check daily but is this a likely mold magnet?

Advice appreciated as they need to stay in the tent for 'smell purposes'

Click to expand...