Process
AUTOFLOWER GROW GUIDE
Your Complete Guide to Growing Healthy, Happy Plants
Step 1 - PLANT
- DROP 2-3 seeds into a shot glass half full of bottled water. Don’t worry if the seeds float.
- Note: we plant multiple seeds per pot to ensure we get at least one healthy vigorous sprout
- SOAK the seeds for 6-8 hours, no longer. Be sure that you will be available to plant at the end of this time because it is best if the seed does not sprout before planting.
- Tip: start a notepad to keep track of what you do and see during your grow, it will help you improve. Start by writing down the day you soak your seeds.
- POUR soil into the pot, making sure that it reaches into the feet; tap a few times to remove any large air pockets
- Tip: Do not pack down soil; plants enjoy a loose and fluffy medium.
- FILL the saucer with bottled water, place the pot on top and allow the water to wick to the surface. When the surface appears slightly moist, pour out any remaining water from the saucer, this ensures the soil is not overly wet while the seed sprouts.
- SET the seeds into the soil by making a shallow dimple for each seed about 1/4” deep. Drop in seed, close the hole with soil, and gently tamp the spot to ensure soil-seed contact without compacting it.
Step 2 - PLACE
- SITUATE pot in a bright location outdoors or inside under a grow light.
- Avoid hot or windy spots until week 2. Surface should remain slightly damp until seedling surfaces.
- For best results, you want the seeds to rise into bright light.
- If growing outdoors, warm seasons are best; prolonged cold weather may stunt plant’s growth.
- If growing indoors, use a light suitable for 2’x2’ area and get a small fan than gently blows air past the plant. Autoflower plants like these can perform well under 11 to 24 hours of light, from seed to harvest.
- Tip: Very powerful lights intended for 12 hour day cycles could hurt a plant if left on for 24 hours, while low powered lights may need to remain on all day. Consult with the manufacturer to determine the best light cycle for your equipment.
Step 3 - GROW
SPROUTING
- No additional water needed.
- Seeds should surface within 2-7 days.
- The soil will stay damp as the seedling grows; it may not be necessary to water for the first week or so. If the conditions are hot and dry, it is OK to mist the soil to keep it slightly damp while it is sprouting.
SEEDLING
- Very little water required.
- Note: It is best to start with bottled water, but we recommend plain tap water (not filtered water!) for the remainder of the grow. Tap water contains useful calcium and micro-nutrients that help the plant thrive.
- When surface of soil appears slightly dry, add just enough water to re-moisten by watering around the sides of the pot, about a cup.
- Tip: At this stage, do not leave water standing in the saucer.
- For best results, young roots should have to grow to find water by alternating wet/dry, but soil should never be bone-dry or soggy.
VEG
- After the seedlings have their first few leaves, choose the most healthy vigorous plant and use scissors to cut the base of the others, discarding them. Do not pull them up because that may damage the roots of the one you keep.
- After the first few leaves grow, the plant will enter a leafy phase called “veg” (short for “vegetative”).
- The plant will stay compact and bushy while it grows large wide leaves and short new branches.
- It will not drink much water when it is small, and eventually drink much more as the plant gets larger. Rather than increasing the amount of water each watering (which should be about 2-3 cups), increase the frequency that you water.
STRETCH
- At this stage, the plant will transition to flower by stretching much taller, getting large and requiring more frequent watering. While before it may have taken 4 days for the soil to dry, at the end of the “stretch” it may need to be watered up to every day.
EARLY FLOWER
- Trim and prune.
- Plant stretching slows and flower clusters with white hairs begin to form.
- To help the plant flourish, trim the lower 6 inches of leaves and remove any thin/weak lower branches.
- If the plant appears crowded, consider pruning off large leaves allowing air and light to reach every flower cluster.
MID FLOWER
- Grow time.
- Flower clusters quickly increase in size and look like balls of white hairs.
- This crucial period will determine how much bud you will produce.
LATE FLOWER
- Finishing up.
- Hairs will turn orange and start to shrink. The buds will swell and get firm. Resin glands will increase in number and size.
- As plants age and slow down, they eventually require less water: give them smaller drinks, more frequently. Never water wet soil!
- Depending on the strain, the plant may finish flowering at different times, some as early as week 8, some as late as week 15. If you are growing a strain that flowers exceptionally quickly, or exceptionally late, simply look for signs of harvest time: few or no white hairs left, growth stops (except perhaps at the very tips), and resin glands begin to turn from cloudy to amber.
Step 4 - HARVEST
- The plant is ready for harvest when flowers are plump and fragrant and the plant no longer appears to be growing. Some leaves may have begun to turn yellow or purple. Few if any white hairs will remain, and if viewed through a strong magnifying glass, the a small number of resin glands will turn from cloudy white to amber.
- Tip: Postponing harvest too far past maturity may result in less aromatic bud.
- CUT the base and hang the entire plant upside down in a cool dark area with gentle air movement. Ideally, dry between 60-70˚F and about 50–60% humidity. Slightly warmer and drier still works but may be less fragrant.
- DRY the plant for 1-2 weeks; check daily: stems should snap when bent, and bud should burn easily.
- Tip: to test if it’s done, try a joint! It should burn easily without going out.
- PLUCK buds from the stems and trim the leaves off with scissors.
- CURE the dried buds in a glass jar.
- For the first few days in the jar, open it to let in fresh air and gently fluff buds to make sure they are not soft/moist. If they soften in the jar, transfer to a paper bag for a couple days to continue drying, then return to jar.
- STORE dry buds in a cool dark place. Warmth and light will degrade your buds.
Step 5 - ENJOY
Once dry, your cannabis buds are ready to be used. SMOKE IT! Pack a pipe or roll a joint.EAT IT! Simmer briefly in cooking oil or butter then use oil in recipes.READY TO DO IT AGAIN? FOR MORE SEEDS, SOIL, OR GROWING TIPS, VISIT AUTOFLOWER.COM
A Note about Watering
- The water content of the soil & timing of watering are probably the most critical aspects of the growing process.
- While the plant is young, you want the roots to expand in search of moisture in the corners of the pot. So the after the sprout surfaces, allow the surface to dry while the soil just below the surface is damp but not wet/soggy.
- While the plant is still a seedling, you can add about a cup of water if the soil begins to dry so much that the pot feels light. Water in a wide circle so as to not disturb the roots of the young plant.
- When the plant is older and the roots have spread, the goal is simple: allow the soil to fluctuate between slightly dry and slightly wet. This fluctuation is what allows the roots to breathe!