Auto flower Fluffy buds

@Nugzilla Yea try amending a little more of a fuller spectrum feed the whole grow, autos aren’t like photos where you wanna give a heavier Nitrogen and cal/mag feed early on versus PK late. Autos like to have a full spectrum feed the whole grow to build up those nutrients for flowering. Also CO2 is a massive impact on how dense autoflowers get. I highly recommend getting a CO2 canister whether its your own creation of DIY CO2 or TNB Naturals. This will help with density and the amount of LST or training you do to strengthen the branches is going to help :slight_smile: You can also try 20 hours on 4 hours off to see if that specific strain of autoflower prefers a short sleep period to calvin bond.

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Hey kronic nice to have a reply from you man love your podcast!!

See woth the feeds I’m using pre made stuff (shogun) line to be precise and following there feed chart at half dose and working up when she looks more hungry. With regards to the co2 which I did here you recommend on the podcast but wanted to ask where is best to place it as I’m sure co2 is heavier than air so if I have it high the extracting in-line fan will just suck it out and if i put it on the floor it’s just going to sit on the floor?

Thanks

Nugz

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Do they get you high?

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the tsl 2k is a 300 watt light if i read correctly,not 2,000 watts. Two of them should be enough for a 4x4. Go from there my friend. Water,nutes,ph,the list goes on and on.

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Not the highest seems to of lost a lot of potency

They are 2000w but only draw 309w from the wall

Genetics my friend some cure out a little more dense and some don’t It’s the strange world of breeders and the seeds they produce.

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@Nugzilla 1) genetics 2) nutrients 3) proper lighting are the main factors for getting denser buds. I’ll list how I do it down below.

First get a cultivar that naturally has denser buds. Feed appropriately. High nitrogen and phosphorus with the right micros (generally calcium and magnesium) will increase branching and give you more “fruiting sites” in veg. Maintain a decent amount of potassium. They don’t need much early on but it is still essential. Just enough to maintain healthy growth.

As you get into flower you really don’t need to increase potassium until about week 2 or 3 of flower. So top dress with a potassium or flower feed at the first sign of preflower with autos so that they’ll get the extra potassium when they need it. If growing organic that is, because top dressing takes roughly a week or two to work down to the roots. If using chemical salts just feed at week 2/3 of flower or as soon as you see some signs of potassium deficiency. At this stage the biggest culprit for fluffy flowers is not enough potassium.

Keep your lighting in range. Around 500ppfd for veg and around 700 for flower is generally optimal. Not enough light your plants will stretch and have longer stems which equates to less dense bud sites. Too much light will stunt them too and decrease your yield. Make sure you do some light lst and just enough defoliation to allow for maximum light penetration. The second biggest cause for light fluffy buds is light stress or not enough light.

The last most common cause for fluffy buds or stretched out plants is heat stress. So try to keep your temps in range and make sure that if it’s too hot feed some silica and extra potassium and use some liquid kelp. Potassium is essential for stress recovery and your plants will need more if it is too hot. Silica helps stress recovery too and increases water retention in soil and circulation in the plant. Liquid kelp helps with both.

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Switch over to CMH. End of most problems.

How hot it too hot? I try to run at 78 or so but often it gets up to 82. That’s directly under lights. Ambient in the room is about 75.

?? CMH – what is it?

@GrnyGrows Ceramic Metal Halide lights. Big hot bulb with better spectrum than LED lights but don’t last as long (20,000 hours vs 50,000). Better spectrum than HPS (high pressure sodium) bulbs.

I ran a 1000watt HPS 30+ years ago. My room was about 6’x7’ with 6’ ceiling. Had 2 rows of plants in a U shape around the door, could get 20 plants in there. Watering the ones in the back row from the door meant contorting under the light, around the 1st row, just to reach the back buckets. Have a few burn scars on my back from that damn light!

No, I do not like the smell of burning flesh in the morning!

But check out cmh lights - Google Search for more learning!

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@GrnyGrows 90+ without c02 is too hot.

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OK. I’m using all LEDs. My room is pretty similar to your 30+ year old room. 8x10 with 8 ft ceiling. But, I’ve got a table in there, full sink, a few shelves… so 20 or so would be my max, if I chose. I make sure to place lights/plants so I have walkways. I also bought a tool stool on wheels, I can sit down and wheel around under the lights. :rofl:

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Cool. I should be OK then. I do bring in air from outside daily so the forest can take care of my CO2. Or I try to breathe heavy when talking to my babies.

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I’m working through the learning curve myself. With autos, every day and every move matters. I stunted one with sloppy handling during the seeding stage. It got stressed, produced about 2/3 what it’s sister did potted right beside her. Another got a hair dry during the first three days, the rh in the tent too low. It was slow shucking the shell, and again, behind its sister,
This round I lost one seed that simply didn’t pop, and the other I fed fox farms liquid trio at half strength into FFOF soil, ran 18/6 light and kept good track of temp and rh. It stretched like crazy. Had to tie it back to prevent light burn, but looks good for yield so far, even with all that. Trying to keep temp in the 75-80 range, rh 55-60,and plenty of air flow. Also not culling any live leaves. At 8 weeks I’ve only culled five leaves. Tuck em if needed, but not wasting the nutes stored in them, or the photosynthesis factories. Stay tuned.
Also, if your frame of reference is commercial weed that’s vacuum dried and machine trimmed, I’ve never seen hg that isn’t over aged that looked anything like that. The scale matters, not bag density. awesome aroma and taste, and a nice buzz are all I care about.
Think in terms of homegrown tomatoes vs those polyester make believe things in the market……

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I’ve had my share of challenges but I’m pleased with my grows. I’ve learned a ton – much that is helping in the vegetable garden too. I defol like a crazy person. My 8 weekers are followed up by my 4 weekers.

There’s no comparison between polyester and homegrown tomatos :rofl:

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I’m of the generation who, as a youngster growing up in town before we moved to the country, didn’t know the difference between grocery store fresh and garden fresh. My dad railed about the tomatoes then sold in plastic “tube” cages, covered with cellophane. They sliced like baloney, had as much flavor as styrofoam. A few short years later, I would be picking tomatoes and eating them out of hand, fresh from the garden. Then I understood. Fresh or “cured” produce has a definite deterioration curve, and a peak ripeness curve.

. I try to grow small crops of weed harvested at peak flavor, knowing full well time will take the good stuff, even as we delay deterioration.

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Depends on what stage the plant is in. In vegetation I will let it get hot hot hot… And the tivas love it. For flower 65-80 works for me. As it gets hotter you are usually running the cen fan higher so CO2 is not a problem. In small tent with an air exchange of 5-6 minutes youre wasting time and money on C02 set up’s.

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I’m new to auto flowers too but I’ve been watching Hella Mega grow vids for the past 2 weeks now!!

  1. Genetics are everything! Fire In, Fire Out! Start with quality seeds from a reputable company. Every strain is different so your outcome will always be different.
  2. LST’ing your autos is SO IMPORTANT for yield because you need to open up the bud sites on the bottom of your plant to enable more bud sites to grow. Also, plants grow in a Christmas tree form naturally so you HAVE to LST in order to be able to get any real yield out of autoflower plants.
  3. FloraFlex nutrients are THE bomb diggity for fat, dense, trichome filled buds. Peep Highigan on youtube for their auto runs with FloraFlex nutes!