Hi,
I’m not an experience grower but do a closet grow every winter. Based on time constraints this year I’m growing Autos, G13 Labs, Berry Auto. When I grew photoperiods i was a disciple of the Grasscity forums page and learned a lot. I was always told to “pot up” or add soil to small plants to basically help the exposed stalk develop roots, making bottom leaves closer to the surface of the pot.
Now I’ve got 5 autos about 2 weeks old under 600MH until they start to show sex and I’ll switch to HPS. Should I add dirt to the containers to accomplish what I thought was a good practice above? Basically, its about 3.5″ from soil surface to the cotyledons below the first leaf growth. I’m starting node 4 now.
Love the youtube. Love the page. Am now a Patreon supporter too. Thanks
So, there’s a lot of belief out there that you shouldn’t transplant autos because, with their ore-determined cycle duration, there’s no way to recover any progress from a setback. However, there ARE some methods that make up-potting 100% stress free. If you’re VERY careful and VERY gentle, you can transplant with a setback cut away the old container and gently transplant. Grass City is ok but if you’re going to grow autos, you NEED to join Autoflower.net. You’ll find MUCH better info on growing autos there!!! In particular, look for a grower/member named “AutoBeast” and check out some of his tutorials on growing autos for big yields. That guy has set records with his methods. For transplanting in particular, he has a method called the “instatransplant” pot – it’s a way to modify pots that results in a 100% shock-free up-pot EVERY time!
Also, AutoBeast discovered a formula that slows you to top autos without ANY setback and that means better yield. I learned a ton from him and so have a LOT of other successful auto growers. It’s well worth joining that community and it’s a very friendly and open community that’s been featured several times by the DGC. GrassCity isn’t what it used to be any more. Too many people have left and too many posers have joined and formed cliques. There’s even a sub forum over on the Bean Basement (Capulator’s newer forum that requires you to log an entire grow before gaining access to the full forum) that’s dedicated to GrassCity refugees that were looking for a new home – it’s a big group that have joined. There’s some discussion on autos there as well but Autoflower.net is hands-down the best place for info and support on growing autos!
Hope this helps!
-@dtom420
Thanks dood. Sorry if I didn’t explain my quandary well. I just meant adding soil to the pot around the stem, not transplanting.
But I’m good now. Thanks for the guidance on autos.
Hey man.
Also, ADHD and a big ole fatty of Ice Cream Cake this morning made me completely gloss over your reference to autoflower.net. I’ve been checking it out. I’ll look up the grower you referenced today.
I used Grasscity as an example because 8-9 years ago, when I first got interested in growing, the old growers on there were so helpful with everything. It was better moderated then without 1,0000 posts of seedlings every day from noobs who’d over watered asking what kind of yield they’d get using Miracle grow.
The incentive for me in coming to this site, and supporting via Patreon, is that there are adults in the room who help keep us focused on basics.
Thanks for replying to my poorly worded request. I’ll keep coming back for great advice.
You can add a little soil if your sprout is that elongated but you do run the risk of rotting the vulnerable stem. I probably wouldn’t but then I know how to transplant without a setback. I go search Autoflower.net and/or cut away tge current pot gently with a razor blade and either go to a instatransplant pot or to your final pot
DTOM420 is correct on all counts and it kinda depends pot size, media etc. but yes you can. Other than that one theory which I’ve never heard before why would you want to if your roots are covered and you’re not top dressing etc, it’s counterintuitive to what I have learned about growing Cannabis. Generally we want to keep as much free space for airflow as possible and dead vegetation, bugs, etc clear. Of course you will replenish and add soil over time as your plants grow otherwise your plants would prefer more air circulation.
In regards to autoflowers in general there’s more misinformation out there than on the whole of the rest of Cannabis. I was going to give you my take on autoflowers and growing keys but it turned into a novella so I will post it in Grow Hacks under something like Information and My Keys to Autoflowers or similar soon.
Like everyone else has said, you’re going to have great success growing in the future.