I’m at day 30 from seeds in a cash crop 4.0 hydroponic system. Lighting has been at 18/6 with the grow lights. I did have an issue with root rot that was treated successfully with H202 and Hydroguard. Five plants all look good. But no flowering activity. With these being autoflower I have not switched to the bloom bulbs and didn’t plan to. Additionally, I’ve stayed with grow nutrients and didn’t plan on switching to bloom until I see pistils. Shall I maintain a holding pattern or is there something I could/should do to induce flowering?
sometimes changing light schedule for a week will trigger the auto genes
Thank you for the response. Should I do that or wait a little longer? And if I do, what light schedule to you suggest?
Treat them like a reg photo type switch to a 12/12
ok; switch to 12/12 for a week then switch back to 18/6? They are fairly bushy but only about 5 inches tall. Is it possible that the root rot delayed things?
that is quite possible if you want you can keep it on a 18/6 cycle and possibly it will start to flower on it’s own over time but usually auto’s flower early if stressed far more often the case than not starting flower they are a hybrid so genes can express themselves many ways. Let it grow 18/6 and see what happens
If you are 30 days out on autoflower, I would start flowering nutes if you want them to start flowering. They will be more productive flowering plants if you switch nutrients to bloom. It may be that you have to take them to 12/12 lights and see if they start flowering as Donaldj was saying. If they don’t flower on 12/12, may as well leave them on 18/6 and let them grow. Even on 18/6 they will finish sooner or later but your yield and quality may be compromised.
There have been a couple growers here that actually ended up with a plant that grew like a fem plant with photo-period required to flower. Sometimes the genetic crosses you use may take one genome more than others and will make it grow entirely different from the typical Auto flower plant you bought. No one’s fault, it may just be genetics !
There is also another possibility, seeds all look the same and it is possible that they got mixed up. Weird stuff happens. Good Luck with your grow and keep us advised on what is happening. We ALL learn when something new comes up ! Jerry
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Auto-flowering strains will automatically start budding after about 2-3 weeks regardless of the light schedule they’re given.
18/6 or 20/4 light schedule is used. 18/6 is the best.
Auto-flowers have a very short vegetative period, it is only about two or thee weeks, maybe 4, and this does include the time immediately following germination, however there is not a change in the photo-period from veg to bloom, or normally this is not needed nor desired. Most people seem to agree 18/6 or 20/4 are the best photo periods for autos, start to finish, and of course some people do believe in using 24/0 with autos, but whatever light cycle you choose, most agree keeping it the same throughout every day of the entire process is best. .
Will
Thank you for the information. Is there a downside to keeping them in the vegetative state longer? I wouldn’t mind their getting bigger before flowering starts. Or are there reasons that I need to induce flowering now?
Most try to keep them in veg as long as they can being auto’s they only veg so long before they start to flower on their own keep in mind the plant will get bigger in flower 2-4 times depending on strain a longer veg means a bushier plant since in flower they tend to stretch rather than produce lots more leaves. They need the leaves to produce energy to feed bud growth
No reason to start flowering, it is just a little unusual to not see signs of flowering after a month. Like Garrigan said, let em rock on 18/6 or 20/4 and they will finish eventually.
Auto flower usually has no options of how long to flower but some are being cross bred with different strains that alters the auto flower “program”. Auto flowers are, in theory, supposed to go from one stage to another without any outside help. Usually at a month, they are pretty close to flowering. They should run themselves and finish by themselves. The time to change nutrients is when you notice flowers starting.
In photo period MJ, the time you veg is only limited by how long you want to OR how much space you have. Generally for photo period, a month or two is a great veg time or you can even make it longer. I have never been lucky to have unlimited space to grow in. You have to remember that a plant will will get considerably bigger in flowering, with some sativa strains getting very tall. Some plants can grow many feet or more. I saw a Blueberry plant that was over 7 foot tall. Had buds on it that were HUGE ! !
Tex remember what I told you on how old my girls are going to be next month.
Donald and MxTex my girls are just starting their 4th week in flower and they will be:
ONE YEAR OLD !
Yup one year old which means they’ll finish around
Well March 19 2015 when started finish around first or 2nd week of April 2016 thats 13 months
Wills
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that’s your mainlining journal right?
Yes it is Donald
Will
Well Proud Daddy, did you post any Birthday Pictures ? lol
Oh… were real funny today aren’t we…lol
Well maye I do or will there birthday isn’t till the 19th of March 2016…lol
Will
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Update: I maintained a holding pattern and kept the girls in vegetation until day 40 at which time they had grown to half the height of the box. At this point I shifted to 12 - 12 and bloom nutes. Now on day 44 we’re showing pistils galore.
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