Autos in Veg not looking so good: Can anybody help?

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firsttimeauto

420 Member
Hello! So I’m new to growing and I keep getting yellow leaves on my plants. I’m growing Autoflowers in Fox farm potting soil with some organic composted living soil. I’ve also used a Roots Organics top dress (6-1-2). They’re in 2 gallon smart pots right now so I’m watering every 2 days or so when they dry out. I’m using filtered water pH’d at 6.3, 10% runoff everytime I water.. I’m doing everything as instructed, lifting each pot at least 3 times a day to check because I was told it had to do with my watering habits... I’m really at my whits end, I’ve been searching the internet for hours trying to figure out the problem and I’ve really gotten nowhere, so I’d appreciate if someone could shine a light on what I’m doing wrong/ how I can fix it.

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I would suspect that you might be starting to get a magnesium deficiency, and depending on how long they have been in the 2g pots, they might be starting to complain about being rootbound.
 
firsttimeauto said:
I’m using TPS Canopy Boost which is basically all Mg, so maybe rootbound? But I’ve seen people on the internet grow big healthy looking plants in tiny solo cups.. Also I LST’d most of my plants, will that keep me from being able to transplant?
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some LST methods will indeed make it very hard to transplant... but yes, it does sound like that is what is called for here. Yes, some very talented gardeners who have time to dedicate to a plant growing in a solo cup are able to judge by the plant exactly what it needs to feed on several times a day. A large plant growing in a solo cup could need water and nutes up to 5 times a day! You are not yet to that stage being in your first grow and don't need that hassle. I suggest sucking it up and transplanting, since you are already attempting training on an auto.
 
Is it foxfarms ocean forest soil? I could be off and @Emilya knows wayyyyyyyy more than me but could the soil be a bit hot too? I see very dark leaves and some clawing. How old is the plant and how many times have you top dressed? I say this, as on my previous grow I had very similar issues that people thought was a mag deficiency. Adding calmag just made it worse. I was in a mix of biobizz lightmix and worm castings (think I went too heavy on those in the mix) . Current grow started doing the same thing and what sorted it was doing 3 or 4 wet/dry cycles of plain ph'd water. Autos can be sensitive to nutrients. Feel free to blow me out of the water Emilya but I thought it might be worth mentioning.
 
VetSmoke85 said:
Is it foxfarms ocean forest soil? I could be off and @Emilya knows wayyyyyyyy more than me but could the soil be a bit hot too? I see very dark leaves and some clawing. How old is the plant and how many times have you top dressed? I say this, as on my previous grow I had very similar issues that people thought was a mag deficiency. Adding calmag just made it worse. I was in a mix of biobizz lightmix and worm castings (think I went too heavy on those in the mix) . Current grow started doing the same thing and what sorted it was doing 3 or 4 wet/dry cycles of plain ph'd water. Autos can be sensitive to nutrients. Feel free to blow me out of the water Emilya but I thought it might be worth mentioning.
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not sure I am seeing the very dark and shiny leaves that indicate too much nitrogen, but the twisting that is going on in the new growth is sending warning signals to me. I still need to see the whole plant and the lift it is showing us to determine if I think I see a pH problem or a watering problem. I know the OP has said they are trying not to overwater, but again, hearing that watering is happening like clockwork every 2 or 3 days, sends warning flags. My wet/dry cycle never stays at one point for very long.

Many people think that they are letting the planter get light and that they are letting the soil dry out between waterings, because of course they are checking it with their knuckles driven down into the soil from the top, or they think that just being lighter than a fully watered pot is ok. If you are lifting the pot up to see if it is time to water, and you can feel ANY water weight as compared to a similar container filled with dry soil, then it is NOT time to water. If the soil is not dry as the Sahara all the way down to the bottom, while in veg, it is not time to water.
I still think it is that it is rootbound in that 2gal though... 3gal is about the minimum I would ever recommend to try to finish out an auto in... I just don't think 2 gal is large enough.
 
Its a mix of the two i am thinking , small pot hot soil , couple of nutes starting to lock up < Yes i agree with Emiyla a full pic of plant in pot thankyou:ganjamon:
welcome by the way :ciao: , I'm sure one of us will sort you out :thumb:
I am at my whits end is what my gran use to say , :cheesygrinsmiley:
 
Emilya said:
not sure I am seeing the very dark and shiny leaves that indicate too much nitrogen, but the twisting that is going on in the new growth is sending warning signals to me. I still need to see the whole plant and the lift it is showing us to determine if I think I see a pH problem or a watering problem. I know the OP has said they are trying not to overwater, but again, hearing that watering is happening like clockwork every 2 or 3 days, sends warning flags. My wet/dry cycle never stays at one point for very long.

Many people think that they are letting the planter get light and that they are letting the soil dry out between waterings, because of course they are checking it with their knuckles driven down into the soil from the top, or they think that just being lighter than a fully watered pot is ok. If you are lifting the pot up to see if it is time to water, and you can feel ANY water weight as compared to a similar container filled with dry soil, then it is NOT time to water. If the soil is not dry as the Sahara all the way down to the bottom, while in veg, it is not time to water.
I still think it is that it is rootbound in that 2gal though... 3gal is about the minimum I would ever recommend to try to finish out an auto in... I just don't think 2 gal is large enough.
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100% on the watering. Think I overwatered a little early on in my current grow. Lost the feel after a short break but got it back now. When I think the pot is dry I tend to wait another day now. Will be light as a feather then. I'd agree on the pot size apart from I've never used anything bigger than around 1.5 gallon. But then I grow small plants. Did one auto start to finish in a 5" pot and it grew beautifully.
 
Oh wow thanks to everyone that responded.. Sounds like a few things are wrong atm, I’m buying 5 gallon pots today and will transplant as soon as I get them. Maybe that, waiting longer between watering and less nutrients is the answer.. But to answer some questions I used a mixture of happy frog and ocean forest mix about 70:30, I’ve top dressed once, plants are about 29 days old, lights are about 2 feet away. I can add more pics of the whole plant later today if necessary.
 
Yeah whole plant pics will help these fine ladies and gents get you back on track. Under white lighting if possible.
 
I agree your soil is hot, if you put a match to it it would go on fire :cheesygrinsmiley: the O,F soil is hot , ive seen loads of plants burnt , then adding the top dress to a small pot with a tight root ball was just the icing on the cake, lucky enough you could run a flush through her before repotting into the 5 Gallon, but your auto COULD stall and flower tiny , , when you do repot go 50/50 on the soil mix , and add some perlite so your water can run of better, now more than ever :) , flush the pot in the 2 gallon but keep the new pot soil damp not soaked just around the middle so the roots can breath again ,
Hope this helps
:thumb:
 
Growingbimbos said:
Ocean forest comes high in nutrients and supplements as it is. These grower on here will get you right.
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Actually, it does not have as much in it as is popularly believed. It has hardly any potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, calcium and all the rest... it does have a lot of free Nitrogen in it, and vegging plants can go 3 or 4 weeks in it because of that. Ocean Forest has a lot of raw organics in it however, and if you add microbes to the soil, you can get the organic feeding soil to go a little longer, but still the base soil lacks vital minerals that will be needed for the rest of the grow.

I have the best luck with FF soils by using each as intended, and not mixing them together. I use ocean forest in the bottom half of my containers so the roots can move into it on their own and not get freaked by all the high pH organics breaking down in there. I use the very inert Happy Frog in the tops of my containers as I transplant, and in my starting containers so as to promote strong root growth. I would never mix the two together into a frankenstein sphagnum moss/high organic soil mix... it just wouldn't act right. It can be made to work that way, and I did it for years, but these days, I would notice the difference in my grow if I tried to take that shortcut.
 
firsttimeauto said:
Oh wow thanks to everyone that responded.. Sounds like a few things are wrong atm, I’m buying 5 gallon pots today and will transplant as soon as I get them. Maybe that, waiting longer between watering and less nutrients is the answer.. But to answer some questions I used a mixture of happy frog and ocean forest mix about 70:30, I’ve top dressed once, plants are about 29 days old, lights are about 2 feet away. I can add more pics of the whole plant later today if necessary.
Click to expand...
it is impossible to accurately diagnose your deficiency without seeing the entire plant and where on the plant the problem is occurring. The pictures will be very helpful.
 

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