Cannabis Low Season? Growing Autoflowers Outdoors

[0:09] What's up, you amazing listeners. I'm your host of this amazing podcast called the "Homegrown Podcast", brought to us by Homegrown Cannabis Co. Where you can head over to www.homegrowncannabisco.com and snag top-notch cannabis seeds like autoflowering strains, which we'll be discussing growing autoflowers outdoors in this amazing episode. If you don't know who I am, I go by Chronic, and I am from the Cannabis
 

[0:32] Chronicles on Instagram and YouTube. And every week, I'll be bringing you all amazing content on cannabis to help educate you cultivators to be the most successful growers you can be. So be sure to follow along on whichever platform you're listening from, and let's dive into this episode of growing autoflowers outdoors. Now, if you haven't heard the previous episodes I've done on autoflowers, I highly
 

[0:53] suggest listening to them. They're full of myth debunking and lots of ruderalis knowledge. Now be sure to pack a bowl of your favorite bud, grab the tastiest rosin around, and get to lighting up that fuego as you inhale some of that dank sticky icky as we set sail into a sea of cannabis content. Let's begin. In this first segment, I'm going to start with the process of getting your
 

[1:14] autoflowers outdoors, which always should begin indoors. You want to germinate your seeds in an indoor environment that is exactly the proper environmental parameters cannabis likes. Your 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit range with 45% to 55% relative humidity, with increased humidity and temperatures up to 82 degrees Fahrenheit and 70% relative humidity if you're using CO2. Be sure to check out episodes we have on setting up
 

[1:40] environments if you are starting your educational journey, as you'll want some background knowledge for this episode. If you're germinating autoflowers, just know they are 10 times more sensitive to stress than well-established and fully rooted autoflowers. So placing them outdoors from the start is extremely risky if you don't have a temperature-controlled greenhouse with shade spots and proper ventilation. 9 times out of 10, every grower I help having
 

[2:04] outdoor issues with autoflowers flowering early, dying fast, or overheating is due to the fact that they went outdoors within the first month of life. The key to being successful with growing autoflowers outdoors, utilizing transplants to make sure the root system doesn't become locked, but develops strong and creates large plants for you to place outdoors. I know many growers say to not transplant autoflowers, and that is because of how
 

[2:27] high stress it can be, and generally, you need to time your transplant right before the roots hit the edge of the container or begin root locking, as autoflowers will naturally begin to produce ethylene once roots are locked which is how the ruderalis genetics act in landrace strains. So to mimic making massive autoflowers, we can look at South African
 

[2:45] growers who start their autoflowers in shade tents or indoors in small cups, moving to solo cups, one gallons, three gallons, and then finally transitioning to large grow mounds outdoors to make massive autoflower trees the size of photoperiods. Now, many of you listeners are probably like, "Why don't they just grow photoperiods instead?" Well, in certain parts of the world, like most of South Africa, they get up to 18 hours of sunlight all
 

[3:09] year round, preventing photoperiods from ever flowering. This is why landrace strains like Durban Poison are actually ruderalis by genetics, which is why so many people don't realize why Durban Poison is such a hard plant to phenohunt through. Many of the female plants actually have a very, very high chance of becoming a hermaphrodite or self-preserving and producing pollen sacks.
 

[3:30] This is because in nature of where Durban Poison grows, many of the female plants are faced with 18 hours of light or even 16 hours of light all year round, rocky or drier and harder substrate, intense heat, and this forces them to try to keep themselves living on, which allows ruderalis plants like Durban Poison in nature to choose when to flower to begin the
 

[3:49] self-preservation process of producing male parts to seed itself out and keep its genetics surviving on in nature. So the reason we move from cup to cup or grow pot to grow pot to increase an autoflower in size is to mimic what happens actually in nature. As long as you're providing the ruderalis or autoflower ample root space to
 

[4:07] develop with no hard objects impacting growth like rocks or desert terrains, well, the autoflower will generally grow as big as it wants until its roots are locked up and it decides to produce ethylene and flower. So if you want a certain size autoflower outdoors, you need to make sure you at least establish roots for three to eight weeks before placing them
 

[4:26] outdoors depending on how big of a plant you truly want. This methodology takes some experimenting with on how to read your autoflowers in their grow pots and to know when to transplant. Generally, with my transplant, I would do a transplant once every 10 to 14 days, and any time I transplant, I would always time it with a
 

[4:44] feeding day so that my plant knew it had plenty of food to bounce back from all this stress. Using mycorrhizae is a very big key component to establishing successful root systems very fast as well. Once you're in the final pot indoors that you're ready to move outdoors, your plant should be fairly decent in size. Established root system already, large enough fan leaves to help take in light,
 

[5:06] but also handle intense heat. And when transitioning outside, what I recommend doing is not going to the final home if it's in the ground off the start. Use about one week to slowly move your plant from a shady spot to a more direct sunlight for longer and longer, so it gets used to the intense light potency the sun can really have.
 

[5:25] This way you don't shock your plant, mother nature doesn't kill her, and she realizes, "Okay, I can handle this stuff." Once your girls acclimate to the outdoor conditions, transplant your autoflower to their final home and care for them like normal. Don't be alarmed if they start vegging for a while and grow big. They will eventually flower. You just gave them plenty of room to get big
 

[5:47] and put on quite a nice yield. Now, with this methodology, you can grow a small two to three-foot autoflower that flowers in 55 to 75 days, or you can grow a massive tree that is over six foot tall and flowers in over 100 days or more, and it will have massive yields the weight of a photoperiod plant.
 

[6:05] So it's completely up to you all. On my YouTube channel, the Cannabis Chronicles, I have a video called "How to Re-veg Ruderalis Plants," and in that video, I showcase Luna, my fiancée's blueberry autoflower that I re-vegged and made about six feet tall, and she lived for a total of 215 days, I believe. I documented her whole adventure,
 

[6:24] and I had lots of learning curves and mistakes, but lots of successes busting myths on autoflowers like transplanting. She was transplanted a total of six times, I believe, if my memory serves correct. And from that video, I had dozens of growers from all over the world tell me countless stories of plants they've cultivated with this method. One grower has even monster cropped his
 

[6:47] autoflower three times, which is way cool. So for those who don't believe transplanting autoflowers is possible, I promise with good genetics, it absolutely is, which is why I wholeheartedly stand behind Homegrown Cannabis Co. And why if you're seeking quality autoflower seeds, you should definitely head over to www.homegrowncannabisco.com to snag some. I've grown countless autoflowers from them with my fiancée, and we've
 

[7:12] never been anything but extremely happy with our plants, their resin production, their terpene profiles, and most importantly, we always get great weight pulls for the size plants we've grown. Now, we're going to take a short break to hear the latest updates from Homegrown Cannabis Co. with Parker, Kyle Kushman, or Nate Hammer. So throw together a random mix of bud or dabs, pack a fat bowl, or
 

[7:33] get that torch ready for when we come back from this short break. Stay tuned. Hey, Kyle Kushman here. Sorry to interrupt such an amazing podcast, but I gotta tell you about one of Homegrown's latest cultivars. We call her Purple Jazz. She's a cross of Granddaddy Purple and Dosido, so you know you're getting your hands on some genuine cannabis
 

[8:00] royalty. As blue-blooded and aristocratic as it gets. She's great for beginners and delivers anything up to 19 ounces per plant outdoors, the same per meter squared indoors. Great yield, sure, but what I love about Purple Jazz is the colors, the smells, and the flavor. It's a totally sensual plant, as in all your senses will be going wild.
 

[8:22] Her 22% THC is awesome for seasoned tokers, but newbies might want to wait a few minutes between rips. You know what I mean? Jump on Homegrown, type in Purple Jazz, and may your next few months be euphoric. I'm Kyle Kushman. Never stop growing. And we're back from that amazing break, and I hope you've readied that nice bowl or dropped those random assortment of dabs as we set
 

[8:47] sail into some smoky and sensational cannabis content. In that first segment, we discussed transplanting autoflowers for outdoors, germinating indoors to start, and the process of getting those autoflowers actually acclimated outdoors. So in this segment, we're going to talk about how you growers can be successful outdoors with pest prevention, how to train your girls to increase their weight, talk some more myth-busting on autoflowers, and we'll finish
 

[9:13] off the episode discussing mold prevention or mildew prevention for your lovely ladies. To start, let's discuss the best forms of pest prevention for your plants outdoors. Regardless of autoflowering or photoperiod genetics, these are really the best organic methods to treat your plants during all stages. Before I list my favorites, I want to make a note to anyone using neem
 

[9:35] oil that there are severe and detrimental repercussions for using neem oil on your plants full-time in veg and in flower especially. Neem oil should really only be used maybe once or twice if you have an outbreak during vegetative phase, or you're just preventing at the start, and after you use it, you should be flushing your plants out to make sure no residual oils stay within those plants.
 

[9:58] Neem oil is really not something I recommend using unless you use it as a preventative once or twice a year, or as a treatment with a severe outbreak. So now that I gave my little note on neem oil, let's get into my top pick for pest prevention for outdoor plants, and that is using partner plants or companion planting.
 

[10:16] This is literally the best thing you could do to prevent your crops from insect or pest infestation that's unwanted. Some of the best plants to use are chamomile, dill, basil, alfalfa, lemon balm, sunflower, lavender, yarrow, marigold, peppermint, red or white clover, borage, and there are more, but I figured that's a pretty good list to get you growers started. These plants all have various
 

[10:42] properties that prevent various pests based on oils they give off, smells they produce, or just the roots themselves being too entangled to allow the pest to properly breathe without suffocation. Now you need to make sure you don't overdo it on the companion planting, as you'll want to choose cover crop that doesn't compete heavily for nutrients. When the season ends, it can be reused or re-amended into the soil or
 

[11:03] compost piles, and it won't be harmful to anything in your garden. So choose wisely. Many growers love to use red and white clovers as they do really well with cannabis, along with basil or alfalfa works wonderful. Do some research and see which companion plants you would like to use most. Now, the next solution that would be the best and most ideal would be
 

[11:22] choosing predatory mites or insects. Nematodes, ladybugs, predatory mites, and praying mantis are all very great choices to help attack a serious outbreak of pests, or having nematodes in your soil can be very beneficial to protecting your soil from anything breeding within it. Just know with insects, nematodes, or predatory mites, you have the chances that they may fly away or die from starvation or
 

[11:45] environmental circumstances. So they aren't a 100% solution, but can be an additional aid in defense or add to a fight against an outbreak. Now, the next item I'm going to recommend really works great for your fungus gnats, flies, moths, or those pesky insects that just flock. Yellow gnat traps or sticky yellow traps. These are very simple and affordable and work amazing.
 

[12:06] These little traps really do great if you're working in soil and fungus gnats are an issue or you have flies. These traps will keep them at bay and sometimes completely take care of the problem. However, these mainly are just an additional line of defense or an aid in an infestation. They aren't a solution. The last thing I'm going to recommend outdoors is diatomaceous earth, and
 

[12:26] make sure it's the food-grade version. The reason DE or diatomaceous earth is last on my list is because you really do not want to use this in flower, and if you have to, you better make sure DE or diatomaceous earth Doesn't get on any of your buds. Whatever buds it gets on, you'll only be able to use those for
 

[12:47] consumption for edibles. DE is fiberglass shards, which is extremely dangerous to inhale. This is why you should always work with DE in a large, open, ventilated space and with a mask. Now, if you're vegging a plant still, diatomaceous earth is like the best solution ever to any pest in the soil, as they will literally die trying to climb through the
 

[13:10] DE, as it's fiberglass shards. DE plus using various other methods like sticky traps or whatever you choose can obliterate the infestation to be bare minimal or easily controlled, or completely not being an issue anymore. So I definitely recommend DE. It's just you have to be very cognizant of when using it and where it gets on your plant.
 

[13:32] Now, the next thing we're going to discuss is training your plants, specifically your autoflowers outdoors to get bigger yields. I always use bamboo stakes for my plants, and I think it's a really good practice to give each individual branch extra support as it will absolutely increase the plant's overall weight. Also, having your plant in a windier part is always a great way to help
 

[13:51] increase density or thickness of the branches which will increase the overall weight. If you don't have too much wind, using Kushman chiropractic, super cropping, or cropping can always be very helpful to mimic that wind damage in nature to help strengthen those branches. Now, many growers who transplant their autoflowers will also top their autoflowers to help increase the amount of available tops to put on bud.
 

[14:13] This is also a great technique to implement into training for your outdoor autoflowers, and it is another big myth that people think they can't do with autoflowers. Along with that, feeding proper feeds like simple sugars, carbs, and proper NPK blends will make your plant very happy. CO2 being very available outdoors is a huge bonus for outdoor plants to pack on weight, as CO2 is really what's responsible
 

[14:36] for cell wall structures and calyxes and bud to develop, which creates that density we're seeking. So there isn't too much to outdoor training other than choosing a trellis net-type method or staking your branches. The next training techniques we'll discuss will help create bigger yields, but mainly to prevent mold or mildew. The first one is using bamboo stakes
 

[14:54] like we talked about to widen the canopy and open it up as much as you can. You want as much airflow through your canopy outdoor to prevent any stagnant water spots, which is how mold or mildew forms. The second technique is to lollipop your plants, which skirts your cannabis to prevent any moisture forming in all that lower canopy that doesn't get as
 

[15:14] much light. As well as that, it pushes all the weight up top to the top of the canopy and really helps create nice thick top colas. This also allows airflow through the bottom of the canopy, along with helping be somewhat of a pest prevention, as you won't have so much leaf or plant material for insects to hang out on and breed on, as the bottom half of the plant will be
 

[15:32] skirted from the lollipop training. Now, if you do get powdery mildew or a mold outbreak, you can use high pH water, anything 8.0 pH or higher to spray your plants with, and that high pH water will kill most spores that are developing. If you have a severe outbreak of mold or botrytis, you should chop the area, look for the problem whether it's caterpillars or humidity, and you can use a
 

[15:53] sulfur burner to help kill any additional mold spores or mildew spores. However, you'll need to put your plant in a tent or small indoor area to make sure the sulfur burner actually works as intended. Now, with all of that knowledge, you growers should be fairly successful cultivating some beautiful autoflowers outdoors. Be sure to follow along on whichever platform you are listening from so you never
 

[16:13] miss out on any episode that we post. If you're seeking top-notch cannabis seeds like an autoflowering strain, go ahead and check out www.homegrowncannabisco.com and browse their wide selection of top-notch seeds. If you'd like to learn more about the strains on another podcast Homegrown Cannabis Co. puts out with the help of the host, OrganicGrower0624 from Instagram, be sure to
 

[16:35] check out "Get to the Roots with Homegrown Cannabis Co." on all major streaming platforms. OrganicGrower0624 is my mentor, and he's crushing it with the background knowledge on many fan-favorite strains. I definitely recommend giving his podcast a listen. If you want to join in Homegrown Cannabis Co.'s free seed giveaways, be sure to like Homegrown Cannabis Co.'s Facebook page and follow
 

[16:56] @homegrownworld on Instagram to stay up to date with our daily posts. I am Chronic from the Cannabis Chronicles on Instagram and YouTube, and I'll be back every Wednesday to teach you amazing listeners all about cannabis cultivation. Remember, you can ask me any questions or have a chat with me at www.homegrowncannabisco.community by signing up for free and tagging @chronic, that's K-R-O-N-I-C, and I'll be
 

[17:19] happy to have a chat with you or answer your question. You can share your grow with all of us growing Homegrown Cannabis Co. strains by using their amazing site they built for us growers at www.homegrowndiary.com. We hope you cultivators have an amazing day. Much love, happy growing, and peace. If you enjoyed this video and want to learn more about growing your own cannabis at
 

[17:47] home, hit that like button, subscribe, and turn those notifications on to keep up to date with the amazing marijuana content Homegrown Cannabis Co. has to offer. See you next time.