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NEED ADVISE: Got 8 Autos and 3 Regulars. Growing conditions seem good. Have a grow heater in a 4ft x 4ft tent, temps are fine as it's cold down my way. Soil was mixed by myself by hand and PH'd to 5.5 from coco coir with perlite. No nutrients pre mixed in the coco. The seedlings seem healthy but growing slow. Not sure if it's the medium, but been PH'ing my water to around 6.0 to 6.5 and giving a 1/10 dose of very weak nutrients beggining now at the end of week 1. Been watering with a spray bottle and occasionallly a syringe. Trying not to disturb the roots too much as I've chosen to veg/finish them from seed in 5 gallon fabric pots. The plants seem to be growing very slow compared to what I'm used to. I'm guessing it's the choice of pot size, but I'm hoping they will form a stronger root base and shoot up in the next few weeks so I can LST. I've also been using a water res tank, Ph to 6.5 and airated using an air pump with low level nutes at 24 Celcius to get it absorbed better into the medium. Feel like the leaves have been getting slightly greener after adding the nutes to watering. Feel like the progress for 9 days growth from seed they could be a bit bigger/faster. They did stretch a bit and added more medium to stabilise the stem. Any ADVISE to get these girls thriving? Could I just feed water PhD to 6.5 only until bigger? Change the LED dimmer to 100 blue and 40 red spectrum instead of 60/30 to swing into full veg spectrum early? Should I not be adding any nutes till week 2? Also trying just to water around the seedling and not the whole medium.
At this stage I'm guessing around week 4 they will hopefully get some growth happening and fill out the tent.
Extremely slow growth. Im near week 2.
Water is Ph to 6 to 6.5 as I'm growing in coco, now using very light nutes to PPM 180. It's cold down here, so only using extraction once every hr. Heater in tent is set to 21c. I'm guessing could be my specific nute blend, PH or medium.
Coco should be phed from 5.5-6.0. Ive gone up to 6.1 without issues but once i hot 6.2 for multiple feedings i had slower growth and unhappy plants. You should also be feeding more than 180ppm at this point. I usually feed 250ppm at the start and week 2 i bump up to about 350-400ppm. Seeing as they are about the size of a 1 week old i would bump up to 300ppm. Also if you arent already you should be keeping the coco wet and not letting it dry out too much or your ph will go all crazy and other issues will occur. I water every 1-3 days depending on plant stage and how big its root system is. Your temps are also a bit low. You wanna be around 24C for optimal growth. Another thing that heavily affects growth is lighting. You dont say what kind of lighting you have but it looks like a blue/red led light. Those are very notorious for lying about their output. You could buy one that says its equivalent to 1000w hos when in reality it only draws 150w and is thus equivalent to a 150w hps. Always go by wattage draw for "cheap" leds. You want 50w/sqft for "cheap" leds and of you go with high-end leds you only need 30w/sqft.
I'm reaching day 12 and these girls seem as though they have not moved at all....
This is my 3rd grow and I would like to think that I'm learning something each and every time. I have made this my hobby and it's become my obsession. My last 2 grows were much faster. Growing in basically the same conditions, accept not PH ing my water at all, buying my coco mix solely from the grow shop .This time I mixed the medium myself from coco coir blocks from a plant shop and perlite. My wife has been crapping on about expenses so I tried to cut some corners without trying to hurt the grow.
Purchased a cheap PH meter and TDC meter to measure the ppm off ebay and have been PH'ing my solution to 6 to 6.5.
Also started the grow in 5 gallon pots, and had some other photoperiod seeds starting in paper cups at the same time. The seeds in the paper cup seem to be having the same problem with the slow growth.
Also only watering about 100ml every day or two depending on the conditions.
I need this run finsihed before December as my wifes family are visiting and it all needs to be packed down ;)
Seriously considering soil on the next grow or DWC. Dwc particularly seems to be getting some very fast results.
Update:
Thank you so much to all those who have reached out with your help on this one.
I have now set the PH to 5.7 and upped the nutrient mix to 280ppm, I'm hoping that will help.
The light I'm using is a Viperspectra TC900 LED running 400 true watts but apparently replaces a 1000watt HPS. Not sure how true exactly that is. Apparently full spectrum.
4ft x 4ft tent is running a 260watt grow candy tent heater, I run it with my vivosun thermostat.
Since turning up the light spectrum recently into full veg the tent has been running hotter, keep in mind my carbon exhaust filter only runs once every hr to keep the hot air from the heater in. I feel since ive set the thermostat to 23 celcius and the carbon filter runs so infrequently (with speed controller) the tent feels bit too hot. Still will give it a try for a while.
Will also use my heat matt under 4 x of the 3 gallon pots to see if I can stimulate faster root growth on some of these ladies (They are a mix of 4/5 gallons)
I'm tempted to run the light cycle to 24 on, but will make these changes for now.
Have taken on the helpful advice of fellow growers and it's still kind of slow going.
Temps have been raised to 24 celcius and ph to 5.7.
I have deffinately noticed an improvement.
Day 1 of week 4.
It's been a learning curve this grow, as I've been learning to use my PH and EC meter, and getting to know the ins and outs of the nutrients I've been using.
One thing I noticed that when I upped the nutrients to half strength and added the addition of Go Roots, I have noticed a difference.
Also been making sure the temps have been around 24 Celsius inside the tent, and the PH is set to 5.7 to 5.8. Plants are 32 inches away from the LED, feels like the right distance for now, but tempted to lower a little in coming days.
Also got a large heat matt under the 4 Autos, and I'm just trying to encourage the coco temps to raise and thus promote healthier root growth.
Growth is starting nicely now, I need to have these 4 Autos harvested in 11 weeks time, that's looking likely at this stage. I have family coming to stay with me in December, and I don't want them to accidentally stumble upon a full tent in the middle of flower :)
One issue I have:
Getting concerned about the 3 x Blue Dream Feminized plants, they are free seeds I got with my order and are photoperiods growing on my 20hr schedule with my Autos. I will monitor their growth over the coming weeks, will either flip them to flower early if they can grow enough over the next 3 weeks, but the next option will be letting them veg until December, then storing them outside untill the guests leave and then flip them to flower. I can hide them if ever in the back of my property, and it will then be summer.
In short, the main thing I've learnt this week is the importance of Ph and nutrients and temps.
I'm looking to build a bubble bucket this week to start experimenting with dwc. Its been all I can think about, the possibility of discovering a new method and what will work for me, considering it's a fairly cold climate where I grow.
That will be another grow journal entirely.
Day 1 of week 5.
The girls are filling out already. I've got max 2 weeks before I need them to begin flowering, in order to allow 8 full weeks to mature, and a day or two of darkness before harvest.
About to begin LST these ladies. Not sure if it's too early, but you gotta start somewhere.
Confused about one issue: I'm growing autos and photos together.
Can I run a 20 hrs on schedule, switch to 12/12 for a week to flip the photos and autos to flower, and then bring it up to 18/6? Or must I separate the photos and flip to 12/12?
My wife doesn't want me setting up a second space to grow and I'm just trying to fill this tent to the brim. I saved a pineapple kush from my last grow and it's a deffinately a female. Added it to this mix... 4 photos and 4 autos.
Day 1 of week 6.
I've been low stress training these ladies, and trying to get them bushing out as much as possible.
I need to harvest exactly 64 days from now., or approx 9 weeks from now.
Still feels slow going compared with my last few grows. It has been cold here this time of year and I'm running a tent heater with my extraction running for 15 minutes every hour to keep the tent warmer during the veg stage. Humidity is averaging around 70% which I think is too high.
Maybe will double the extraction to 30 minutes on per hour to try to lower the humidity, and then again lower it closer to switching to flower next week. Just been running a battle with low temps, and it seems like a temp vs humidity trade off for this moment.
Now my delema:
Growing 4 Autos and 4 Photos together.
Originally I wanted to make a makeshift area to separate them and finish them off sepately but my wife won't let me. So since it all has to be harvested soon, I'm thinking to run it all on a 12/12 cycle, and flip it a few days from now. I'm hoping that the plants will keep vegging it out a bit and getting taller in size during the initial flower stage, and that exactly 8 weeks from the time I flip them will be enough to get a decent yield from these girls. Ideally I would veg them out for at least another 2 weeks, but I'm having guests around this Christmas, family will be staying over and it all needs to be packed away and concealed by then.
I'm also concerned about the 4 Autos running on 12/12, that the yield might suffer a little and was thinking that I could run 13/11 light cycle instead? I can add some additional side lighting during flower to try to get more out of the light cycle.
Switched to 13/11 light cycle in order to begin flowering the photos, and hopefully it will allow enough time for the Autos to finish together with them in 9 weeks time. I chose 13/11 as I wanted to give the Autos another hour of light per day, to pump them up a bit.
Also defoliated for the final time and LST the remaining branches to allow better light penetration to the canopy.
Accidentally almost snapped 2 x blue dream main colas stems during LST, taped them up and prayed, they seem to have recovered ok overnight, so I'm going to keep a close eye on them.
They tent is filling out, but still slow going. I'm anxious that I'm leaving it a little late to flower and harvest but 9 weeks total is all I got, since I have visitors coming for X-mas.
Been experimenting with DWC. Pretty impressive growth! Still so new to DWC so this is all an experiment...
Hey guys.
I have 4 Autos and 4 Photos Flowering exactly at the same time (long story) I have 8 weeks till I HAVE to harvest. I've just gone from 20/4 to 13hr on and 11hrs off for 5 days. Should I now go 12/12 or should I stay on 13/11 to give the Autos an extra he of light?
Hey friend if you have a mandatory 8 weeks until harvest, I wouldn't wait...i don't think an hour will make too much difference for the autos but kicking in that 12/12 will at least ensure the photos get going. Is there any other place the autos could go for a few hours each day for some extra light? It would be a pain moving them everyday but just a thought. ✌️
It's coming along now...
De-foliated some more to allow better light penetration to the top canopy.
Removed small vegetation from lower branches and lollipopped, as I need it finished in under 8 weeks. From my experience from my last grow, the top canopy will bloom much faster then the lower canopy, and since time is an issue I'm pretty confident I will have reasonable buds on all 8 plants harvest time. The photoperiods seem to be lagging behind the autos a little... My feeling is they will keep stretching a bit, can't LST much more as the tent is getting pretty full....
Also upped the nutrients to the max, nearing 1000ppm.
Coming along nicely, although time right now time feels like my worst enemy. I'm growing Autos and Photos together and prioritising the light cycle of the photos in order to attempt to finish them together. (Long story)
At this stage Im unsure what my harvest will be like. Got around 6.5 weeks untill I have to chop these ladies regardless of how mature they are, and I was advised by other growers of my options to finish this run. I chose to try and finish them all together on 12/12 cycle allowing practically 9 full weeks of 12/12 before harvest. Seems like enough time right? Time will tell if I made the right decision but this round will be a learning lesson.
From my past grows I've always given the plants enough time to finish up to my standard before harvesting, and sometimes that means leaving them to swell up for another week or more. These ladies will not have that luxury...
I've done everything I can to increase the lighting, adding a 130watt flowering CFL and a 50watt led above the blue dreams. It's getting like a forest in there, and the plants seem to be loving the extra light. Tempted to add more supplemental lighting as I have extras sitting around.
Been watering every 2 days 1.5 liters per plant, mixing a fresh batch of nutrients each time, PH'ing to 5.8 and airating the nutrients with an aquatic pump to oxygenate the solution.
Feel as though theres not much more to do at this stage but rotate the plants every few days and to be on top of nutrient changes over the coming weeks. If anyone has any suggestions, particularly in regards to promoting heavy budset, I'm open for ideas. ;)
Buds are starting to develop. Realised I haven't flushed the plants since I've begun this round, and I felt they really needed it. Next week I'm about to stop flower boost and start using extreme boost instead.
Hey Guys, two or my plants seem to have a few yellow tips and some brown spots on the leaves. The problem is minor but I think it might be lacking Calcium? I think it needs some Cal Mag added to the next watering. Any advice would be appreciated. See pics. Thanks
hey there grovie, you have nitrogen toxicity which is cause the ever so slight nutrient burn on the leaf tips, you can tell from the plant being a bit "too green" and shiny. i'm only mentioning that because sometimes calmag contains N in it, so beware ! keep doing what you're doing, it's pretty much on point ! Congrats ! Hope this helps ! 🚀
Got 2 more weeks of nutrients before flushing, and allowing approx 1 week for the plants to detox with water before harvest.
Everything seems to be going fine. I've had a few leaf issues, with what looks like some kind of deffeciency, but it seems to have stabilized and doesn't seem to be spreading.
I've had to defoliate to allow better light to potential budsites, and it's working well. Just always a balance between not removing too much.
Had to adjust the nutrient ratios in order to introduce my bulking nutrient. It's only used in the last few weeks of flower and contains high levels of PK.
Photos are deffinately lagging behind the autos but I'm training them a little and trying to get them there to harvest in 3 weeks. Adding the extra lights during flower this round have deffinately helped over just the 400 watt LED alone. Having the CFL hung this way extra light penetrates horizontally into the canopy rather then simply down.
Tent is beginning to smell, the Bubblegum Autos from MNSL rock... growing very nice buds with a sweet smelling tang.
Status update - was going to flush the plants due to suspected nitrogen toxicity, but once the plant was outside I saw it in the sun, I don't think the problem is too bad, and I've decided to just water them for now with plain PhD water. Will keep a close eye on them, I feel like flushing them will be too stressful.
Its coming along. Around 2 weeks untill I have to chop them down.
I've been feeding them plain PhD water and now introducing only potassium silicate, potassium and phosphorus into the mix and a moderate dose for the next watering or two, then only PhD water from then on...
My main concern was that it wasn't worth germinating the photos and adding them to the mix.. would they be done in time? My thoughts now is that although maybe not as mature as the autos I will still get some decent smokeable bud from them, and if I had to do it again I would, but this next round I'm deffinately running Autos only on 20/4 cycle. Will be so much quicker...
Despite everything I'm happy with this grow so far, it's come along way from week 4 to 6, and the sweet sweet buds are just around the corner... Nothing like that feeling of a good harvest, and stocking up on some dank weed..
Looking to harvest in 1 week or less.
Last feeding was water only for the Autos but had some leaf issues for the blue dream photos.
Not sure if it's just the cooler weather at lights off since my thermostat is broken, but nonetheless if anyone has any idea I'm totally curios for learning purposes.
SION420
