1st time grow, I have a six station DWC box and used bag seeds. Started with six and all did well through veg. Changing to flowering showed 3 out of six to be male. I culled these but cutting the stem, but I left the root ball in the net pot instead of pulling it. My reason being that I thought the plants roots might have intertwined and I didn't want to damage the good female roots. QUESTION. Should I have pulled those roots? Will leaving those roots promote a root rot environment? If so, What should I do to mitigate this now? I have two surviving females (the 3rd one flowered but showed a extremely poor maturation rate) One is more Indica type, the other is more sativa and Im about halfway into the 3rd week of flower. Lighting: I see numerous posts across the web indicating that allowing any light in the "dark" cycle (12 off) is detrimental. They all stress creating a pitch black environment. Is this absolutely critical? It seems almost counter intuitive as in the natural (outdoor) environment wouldn't the plant be subject to ambient light from the moon and other celestial bodies? I have a closet grow which vents into a crawl space in the ceiling. Until absolute nightfall I have a very small amount of indirect light that makes its way into the grow space. Cause for concern? Thanks for any responses in advance.
It's not just the lighting cycle for outside grows. There's more to it then that. But yes. When ur in flower room needs to be black. No light leaks!' Do the hand test. When lights are off in the text or grow space see if u can see ur hand. If u can. Needs to be darker I'm sure leaving the Roots there is fine. If u can get them out great....but in the future. Take the whole thing out. Post some photos bro.
Thanks for your response. I will definitely be removing the entire net pots with the old roots from the system. Then I will cover the open holes to keep light off the remaining plants roots. The roots themselves don't look entirely compromised, they are dingy but not brown. I intend to change water entirely and treat with hydrogen peroxide for 3-4 days before adding nutes. I really don't want to lose these plants now as I only have (according to my calcs) 4-5 wks left til harvest. I understood from the start that my "yield" would not be great, but I wanted walk through all procedures before ordering "real seeds."