Since weed legalization is in full swing across the USA, hundreds of people are embracing a new hobby – growing their weed at home. Luckily, it is no longer a criminal offense, at least in eligible jurisdictions. Thus, you may buy a pack of seeds, germinate them, put them into a pot, and watch your beautiful weed plants grow and thrive until the time of harvesting the weed buds comes.
Seed choice often comes in the way, with some users opting for feminized seeds and others preferring autoflower seed varieties. Both cultivator categories have valid reasons for their choices: those who grow feminized seeds strive for richer yields and maximize the THC content in the plants’ flowers, while fans of autoflower seeds enjoy a hassle-free growing experience that turns into a no-brainer even for complete newbies.
However, thinking that growing autoflower weed seeds requires no knowledge and care at all would be a huge exaggeration. In fact, autoflower plants also have a set of habits and preferences that determine your yields and make or break your cultivation process. And the most significant element on the list is the choice of soil. Surprisingly, autoflower seeds are even more demanding for the growing medium in which they stay than photoperiod plants are, so you should consider all ins and outs of growing medium selection to receive healthy, fertile weed plants.
Here we walk you through the process of soil selection and clarify which parameters you should always keep in mind for attaining a bountiful harvest from your autoflower plantation.
Growing Medium Recommendations for Autoflower Planting
Overall, autoflower plants are much simpler to manage than feminized seeds. So, they are the best choice for novice growers, and they promise easy cultivation and resistance to pests, mold, and diseases. You can get all these benefits by choosing (or making) the right substrate for your germinated seeds. Here are the main rules to follow.
Little Room for Error
The first thing to note is that you won’t have a second chance with autoflower plants. While photoperiod plants can be moved from one pot to another during their vegetation period, autoflowers don’t like such migration and can stop developing altogether. Besides, autoflowers have a much shorter life cycle; they start flowering in 4-5 weeks and don't live longer than 2-3 months. So, you choose substrate and a pot once and for all, meaning that your plant will live in that medium for the entire period of growth until harvesting.
Oxygenation Is Key
Soil aeration is vital for autoflower plants’ health, so you should add the components to your soil composite that will make it lighter. This way, the autoflower plants’ roots will be properly oxygenated, receiving the nutrients and energy for robust development. Some variants for providing such oxygenation are:
- Using pots with holes on the sides.
- Adding perlite or coco coir to the substrate.
This way, you can make the soil light, nutrient-rich, and not compacted. This texture is essential for the full-scale development of autoflower plants in the first month of their lives as they bloom in the second month. Thus, giving plants all the oxygen and nutrients for their flowering stage at the early stages of their development is essential.
Reasonable Watering
Light, not compacted soil is also important for avoiding excess water in the pots, which could lead to root rot and stop the plants' overall development. Thus, it is vital to keep irrigation under tight control; when it comes to autoflowers, it’s better to give them less water than needed instead of overwatering them.
Here is a pro tip for maximizing autoflower development with irrigation control: these plants benefit from occasional droughts that you may organize for them. The rule of nature is that plants spread out and grow healthier and stronger in search of water. If there’s plenty of water around, the roots remain small and underdeveloped, and so do the plants. So, a couple of dry days in a row will do your plants a favor, as their roots will absorb oxygen in dry soil and will develop better.
Recipe of Soil that Will Last for the Entire Life Cycle
As we’ve already mentioned, autoflowers spend their entire lifecycle in one pot, so it’s essential to make the soil substrate suitable for every stage of their development. Here is a unique recipe for benefitting your plants throughout their growth:
- Use super soil (a soil type including all needed nutrients in the quantity that covers your plants' needs from start to finish).
- Add worm castings to the soil. They serve as natural fertilizers as they decompose and release nutrients for the plants’ roots.
Let’s Prepare a Substrate with Super Soil for Your Gorilla Cake Seeds Autoflower
Here is another recipe for a fertile soil substrate specifically fitted for the autoflower type of weed seeds. Imagine you have purchased a pack of Gorilla Cake seeds https://askgrowers.com/seeds/gorilla-cake-seeds-autoflower, and now it’s time to prepare some soil for the germinated seeds to take root and start their active vegetation. Here is a recipe for super soil use to make your plants happy:
- Add around 20% of perlite or coco coir to the mix to ensure the soil will have proper aeration;
- Add 20% regular soil;
- The rest will be super soil (60% of the mix).
Here’s how to arrange the growing medium for your Gorilla Cake plants: start filling your pot with super soil. Make a well at the center of the soil and put the regular soil into that well. Place the germinated seed into basic soil. The reason for this arrangement is that once the seed only starts developing and its roots are small and weak enough, basic soil will be fine for them. Placing the seed into super soil at once may cause burning due to overfertilization, which is obviously not our goal. Thus, as the seed develops and its roots grow larger and stronger, they will reach the super soil layer and get more intense nutrition from it.
Final Word
As you can see, growing autoflower weed can indeed be a hassle-free process if you prepare well and organize the right growing medium for your germinated seeds. Mixing the soil properly is not rocket science; you can always seek advice at a local gardener's store or watch YouTube videos for proper soil preparation. Invest a bit of time into your plants' health; they will grow without your effort or intervention until harvesting.