So as the title says, my last grow was a disaster, and im trying to make corrections before i start the next one. One major contributing factor to this failure is that it was my first autoflower, first indoor, first led grow. So basically ive only done outdoor photoperiods before. This first post will recount my last grow and highlight some problem areas. Ill update within the next week when i drop new seeds for the next grow. SEEDS: 00 seeds variety pack (2x auto bubblegum, and 2x auto chocolate skunk) LIGHT: topgrow 300w (180ish) led from ebay, and 2x 125w cfl grow lights to add in during flowering SOIL: last grow was miracle grow organic. dont laugh, i looked at no less than 10 stores and couldnt find anything better. To top the cake i added in about 10% extra MG perlite. i think about the pots are between 2/3 gallon. NUTES: biobizz try pack (biobloom, biogrow, and topmax) but i didnt get far enough to use them TENT: panda film, pvc, and duct tape. didnt really see a point in spending a lot of money here. what i built works just fine for 1/3 the cost. WATER: tap water (7.4PH) TEMP: between 75-90F (a little warm during the day, but nothing to cause this kind of problem) HUMIDITY: as high as 70% after watering, but usually between 30-50% This is my general setup. passive vent at the bottom for intake, and i have a modified computer fan at the top to create some sort of negative pressure. plan to upgrade exhaust fan and add a filter later on. They sprouted pretty fast. I think all four were up within 72 hours, I didnt germinate, straight into the soil with them i say. Chocolate skunk in the green pots and bubblegum in the red ones. At 8 days one of the chocolate skunk started to show problems, but the other one looked fine. This was about 12 hours after their first watering, which i think was the beginning of the end. Besides overwatering, i think this released a bunch of nutes from the MG soil and perlite. at 12 days the bubblegum started doing something very similar except the leaves were curling to the side instead of downward. and growth had pretty much stopped. here i straighten the leaves to show the subtle yellowing towards the tips, the second pic is the other chocolate skunk which still wasnt showing any signs (still 12 days) day 18 for the chocolate skunk. The second set is finally coming in, but its curved too. the first set it getting a blotchy purple tint to it. at this point i hadnt watered since the first time 10 days ago trying to dry out from the overwatering before. still day 18, this is the other chocolate skunk, who was practically thriving in comparison. it was all downhill from there. by day 27 they were practically skeletons, first is the one that hadnt previously shown any signs other than stunting, second is one of the bubblegum, and third is the skunk that originally started showing problems these are the last pics i took since they really hadnt grown between day 8 and day 27, but i did let them keep going just to see if they flowered. 3 of the 4 actually ended up budding, although all three of them wouldnt have made a gram together. needless to say, i chucked them instead of harvesting a few days ago. There are a LOT of problems with this grow, so let me have it easy guys. Of course i wont be using MG again for autoflowers, and ill probably use distilled and PHed water for starters, but other suggestions/corrections are welcome. Most importantly, theories on what exactly caused the stunted growth so early.
Sorry to hear about your babies! Those photos are a sad site. Best of luck with your next one! I'm on my first official one myself little over 3 weeks in 3 strains! Im using fox farm ocean forest for my soil. I dont water very often. Better under watered then over watered. Possibly root rot? Sent from my ALCATEL ONE TOUCH Fierce using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Yeah, very sad. I agree that it was probably root rot. When i dumped the pots the soil at the bottom was still wet after almost a month of not watering. I changed up my soil and perlite for my next one, im using plain old topsoil and plain no name perlite. I mixed the perlite in a much higher percentage to hopefully help with drainage, something like 40-50%. I always look for fox farm, and have gone well out of my way to try and find it, but miracle grow has a stranglehold on soil sales in my region. even at the smaller local shops there's nothing but MG and scotts, which is owned by MG. Thanks for checking my thread out though, i finally got the new pots mixed up, and flushed the mix, so as soon as it dries out a little ill be planting new seeds. ive got 2 auto cheeseberries, and an auto northern lights, both also from 00 Seed Bank. Im changing up a lot of factors this time around in the hopes that things will be very different. lol
Yes man that MG soil is def a no no... I'd say don't feed nutes at all for the first month/month and a half... Some MG soil have time release nutes that feed over time... Also don't turn on the LED light yet... Use the CFLs until the seedlings get bigger... And don't forget to keep a fair amount of distance from the LED and the tops of the plant... Depending on how intensity it can bleach your leaves and kill your grow... I always run my LEDs about 12-36 inches from the top of the tallest plant...
I would switch out the pots too for your next grow. Did you buy those at Walmart or a store like that? I was using the same ones and I swear they were the cause of most of my issues at first. There didn't seem to be any drainage which caused a nasty mg build up on one of my ladies. My autos have been so stunted but I refuse to toss them. I would try a smart pot or anything with better drainage. Good luck on your next grow! Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
i definitely think there were drainage problems, but for some reason i hadn't considered the pots as the culprit.(yeah, they're from walmart. lol) i might just cut more holes in the bottom since i already have them. i live in a colder climate and gardening stuff like pots and soil is a seasonal only thing unless you wanna pay big bucks for it, so i try to stock up in the spring.