• Size of Pot

Even for dwarf autos you need to be using a 3 gallon pot to give the plant enough space to develop a good rootball.

• A good light mix

A nice light mix such as 50:50 coco:perlite is best as it makes sure you get a good wet-dry cycle.

• AVOID OVERWATERING AT ALL COSTS

• Give NO NUTRIENTS AT ALL until the autoflowering cannabis plant has developed 4 nodes. The dose should only be introduced gradually and in increments.
• Continue vegetative feed until ALL upward growth stops. The auto will have started flowering before this happens (in a 9-10 week auto, you would expect to continue using veg nutes until week 6)
• Ensure the genetic material (that’s technical talk for Cannabis Seeds guys!) that you start off with is of good, well bred and viable stock. Check what other growers are / have been growing and how well the strain did.
• For maximum grams (oz) / foot, make sure you have 16 dwarf/short autos in a 4 ft x 4 ft (1.2m x 1.2m) area
• Go easy on the nutes. Generally less is better in most cases.
• Don’t give them too much light to start with. Go for a low watt fixture for seedling growth, increasing the amount of light as the plant develops.

This kind of T5 light is great for giving seedlings and clones a great start in life.

• Quick View

  Propagation

  Hydrofarm JSV4 4-Foot Jump Start T5 Grow Light System

  $79.95 $52.53

  Add to Wishlist

  Product added! Browse Wishlist

  The product is already in the wishlist! Browse Wishlist

  Sale!

and that brings us to top tip no 10 in our how top grow autoflowering cannabis guide

• Autos don’t appreciate being transplanted. They just don’t have time to recover from transplant shock in their mad dash from seed to harvest. So don’t do it! Either sow the auto seed direct into their 3 gallon pot or better still, follow the direction below:
• 1. Cut the bottom off a “party cup” or 7-10cm pot.
  2. Place 2″ of damp coco:perlite in the bottom of a 3 gallon pot
  3. Fill the larger, 3 gallon pot with coco-perlite (dry)
  4. Bury the “party cup” or 7-10cm pot half way down in the 3 gallon pot. Fill this with coco-perlite too.
  5. Now plant your germinated seedling into the party cup and water in as usual.
  6. When you water your autoflowering seedling (and remember no.3 above!!) make sure you water ONLY in the small pot for the first 10-14 days. This will ensure that the seedling gets the water it requires (and depending on its age, the nutes too).
  7. In the meantime the auto’s tap root will hunt downwards with accelerated growth hunting out the damp layer of coco-perlite it just knows exists at the bottom of the 3 gallon pot. The tap root sends out a vast network of smaller fine root hairs also looking for this source of water.

  Result?

  This method of growing autos pushes your autoflowering plant to develop a highly developed root system that will accelerate root growth (and thereby maintain larger plant growth) during the first few weeks of its life.

  It also avoids transplant shock which, given an auto’s automatic race towards harvest, it cannot recover from naturally.