Group Grow - Autos Only - Seeds Must Be In Soil By The 25/07/2017 Latest

[newbiepower]

Okay so I've bought the nutrients,

It's recommended use lists it as 10g per 10litres of water.
Meaning I would be using half of the 10g per 10litres, right?

That gives us 5g/10l..
But I'll be mixing 5l at a time, so 2.5g/5litres.. right? Correct me if I'm wrong.


I'm using a 500ml spray bottle to water my babies, giving 125ml (approximately even amounts each) to each one which is around 150-160 sprays each.

I spray 50 right at the spot where the stem goes into soil, then spray the rest over the top soil (is it okay to get some of the spray on the leaves?)

I've still not had any runoff come from the pots, I'm afraid of overwatering. Might I have bad drainage or just not enough water to go all the way through the soil?

Gibs the spray route is great for new seedlings as it stops over watering, however when they get to the size they are now it's best to water with a measuring jug or even a big seringe and you should be watering all the soil evenly right upto the edges of the pot till max of 20% run off comes through (should be checking this run off for pH levels to make sure all is well), you can't over water them on one watering it's when people do this too often u will over water, this ensures the soil is wet where the roots need to grow - right down to the bottom of the pot, just wait till the soil is dry again before watering norm 3 days maybe 4 dependant on temps, don't get fertilised mixed water on any leaves! The ladies don't like like it and it will damage the leaf! Ps measurements are correct, some suggest starting nutes at a quarter dilution but as lion knows this make maybe he has the experience that half is good enjoying the grows every one, coming on great and interesting reading, Gibs I think your different training techniques will be a good follow keep up the good work.

 

[JGibs420]

Gibs the spray route is great for new seedlings as it stops over watering, however when they get to the size they are now it's best to water with a measuring jug or even a big seringe and you should be watering all the soil evenly right upto the edges of the pot till max of 20% run off comes through (should be checking this run off for pH levels to make sure all is well), you can't over water them on one watering it's when people do this too often u will over water, this ensures the soil is wet where the roots need to grow - right down to the bottom of the pot, just wait till the soil is dry again before watering norm 3 days maybe 4 dependant on temps, don't get fertilised mixed water on any leaves! The ladies don't like like it and it will damage the leaf! Ps measurements are correct, some suggest starting nutes at a quarter dilution but as lion knows this make maybe he has the experience that half is good enjoying the grows every one, coming on great and interesting reading, Gibs I think your different training techniques will be a good follow keep up the good work.

Thanks for the feedback, I was also thinking that the spray bottle might not be adequate for the size they're on now.

Will give them 3-4 days with the watering I gave now and then water with max 20% runoff.

I actually only used a third of the recommended amount for the first 5 litre batch just to get them used to the feeding. If they handle it well I will move it up to half.

I've actually never tested runoff for pH before.. cant seem to find a pH stick anywhere... Right now I'm using one of those moisture and pH meters (which I know are basically bollocks)

I'm really interested to see the difference between the training techniques, should be a fairly accurate study as they're the same strain.

 

[Preston9mm]

Disappointing morning...
Woke up today to find the OGK photo flopped over on the dirt. I guess it decided to grow 4" last night straight up. Totalling 8" tall with nothing but 2 tiny leaves on top. I stood her back up and shored up the stem with some soil at the base. Hope she recovers, nothing appears damaged, she just decided to lay down because she was too top-heavy to stand up anymore. LoL

 

[JGibs420]

Disappointing morning...
Woke up today to find the OGK photo flopped over on the dirt. I guess it decided to grow 4" last night straight up. Totalling 8" tall with nothing but 2 tiny leaves on top. I stood her back up and shored up the stem with some soil at the base. Hope she recovers, nothing appears damaged, she just decided to lay down because she was too top-heavy to stand up anymore. LoL

Pretty sure she'll be fine .


What do you think caused the sudden growth? Is it normal for OGK to be so lanky?

 

[JGibs420]

Is there any way for me to get more perlite in my soil at this stage?

I did mix it about 20-25% but I feel like my soil is keeping too much moisture at the bottom of the pot.

All of them have some visible roots at the drainage holes by the way, but not growing out.

 

[Preston9mm]

Pretty sure she'll be fine .


What do you think caused the sudden growth? Is it normal for OGK to be so lanky?

No friggin' clue. LoL. This is my first photo plant and first time ever turning lights off. I always run 24 hour light on my autos for simplicity, but switched to a 16/8 light cycle to get the OGK to veg up good before moving it outside under the fall sun schedule. My only thought was maybe 16/8 isn't correct..... 12/12?

 

[JGibs420]

For photo definitely not.. 24 or 20/4 or 18/6 will be fine.

I do 24h for the first 4 weeks and then move down to 20/4 for a week and then 18/6 untill sex shows or I decide to flower.


12/12 would stretch that plant beyond belief

 

[LionFromZion]

Let me put this into perspective for u buddy .. If you put your lights on 12/12 you are basically turning your photo into an auto as it will start flowering on its own as the plants reach sexual maturity ! Usually around 4-6weeks old .. If you growing photos then this is the normal or standard light times , for photos veg light(18/6) and flower(12/12).
There is nothing wrong with having your lights on 12/12 from get go. The plant will just be smaller and yields not as big.

My autos and photos are all in the same tent running at 12/12 now .. And they thriving !!

 

[Preston9mm]

I just disconnected the timer for the lights. Gonna go back to 24 hour light for a couple weeks.
I figured that was the issue as soon as I saw her laid down like that.

 

[AKGrower907]

Finally back home and took care of all the plants, this one is at day 40. She should be flowering by now but her sex has shown so she should start in the next week or two, hello everybody, hope someone reads my comments lol

 

[JGibs420]

Finally back home and took care of all the plants, this one is at day 40. She should be flowering by now but her sex has shown so she should start in the next week or two, hello everybody, hope someone reads my comments lol

Where you been bud?

She's looking healthy! It's possible you'll harvest this plant before I can switch 12/12 on my photos lol

 

[AKGrower907]

Where you been bud?

She's looking healthy! It's possible you'll harvest this plant before I can switch 12/12 on my photos lol

Hi Gibs, ive been isolated at wainwright alaska for work, wifi sucks more than barrow does lol. Worked 7/10s. Hoping she flowers fast lol, first auto that vegged more than 35 days

 

[JGibs420]

I'm probably going to be vegging at least another 30 days... No where near maturity on this grow.

Not sure exactly what stunted, but plants are at about 4 inches total height right now (stem length).

Internodal spacing average about less than half an inch.. makes LST quite difficult, but the shoots starting to come out nicely.

 

[AKGrower907]

Looks like my plant, really short too, like 8 inches in length

 

[newbiepower]

Guys coming very close to harvest on my outdoor GH lady and been looking over the various drying technics the place I wanted to dry is too hot and has rapid drops in temp over night so not very suitable, I stumbled across a thread about drying in a fridge after 1 day hanging anyone had any experience with this?

 

[TorturedSoul]

WARNING: Lengthy Post (Playing Catch-Up, lol)

DirtBagg -
Howzit going buddy .. Its never too late to start jump in and join the crew Welcome !

I'm always glad to see statements like that. First, because it is an example of the great attitude(/etc.) that this forum is known for. Second... because I have been slacking, lol, and I feel much less bad about it now .

What do you think about turning this group into a community grow journal when our grows are finished ?

I thought that's what it already was, lol. I've seen a few others. There's one for people growing Dark Devil Auto, one for people growing exclusively in Solo cups (and did I see one for people growing all the way to harvest in a 1.5-ounce Solo cup, lol?!?), and I think there might be one for a small group of members that met up in Jamaica earlier this year. Probably several others.

BtW, I was sure I only stepped away for a minute, lol - and see that there have been dozens of new posts! Oops :rolleyes3 . Had some work, then home/family work, a few cannabis-oil brownies, more work... At some point I neglected the starters to death and disposed of them. My only real worry was assuaged by LionFromZion's comment to DirtBagg, above - because I was waiting on a seed or two of a few different strains... Which turned into something like 25 or 30 strains and perhaps 100 seeds, total (I haven't really had time to sit down and go through them yet) , These haven't vacationed in my hot attic, so are probably much more viable. I did take a couple minutes and pull the ones that were autos aside. I put some of those seeds into five or six cups of water (wasn't paying attention and dropped two into one cup). The next day, about half of them had rootlets emerged, so I planted three of them - two of which have come up. The rest may be sorely hurting, as I haven't even peeked at them. Will figure out just what I did plant later today and check to see if the others are still alive or have "drowned." First priority is to make a list of what seeds/strains I have now (and to get them into the refrigerator for long-term storage, I suppose).

Still planning on some hempy and some soil/perlite mix. About half of each will get Osmocote Plus prills mixed into the media and just watered unless/until they appear to need something else. I'm unclear on what amount of the O+ I should add for auto-flowering plants. All will be in smaller pots, I think, both because I lack space and because I'll be trying to grow several (a-f) plants instead of only one to four phototrophic ones.

Installed a diy carbon filter in my flower cab last night, seems to be working quite well... Will see when the smell goes away which has taken over most of the room. Seems less smelly already though.

Is it still performing well? Got a link to the thread you got your DiY information from (or the thread you posted your DiY information TO, if you created the filter setup on your own)? I'll need such a critter, and I can already tell my choices will be limited to homebuilt or... none.

I disconnected both smaller fans to see how the temperature would react (how hot it would really get in there).

And voilà!

Well it's fixed now... Mostly by accident and I really can't explain how/why... But now I only have my extraction fan with filter attached and my temperature went down to 69F.

As soon as I connected either of the two fans, temperature went up (especially for the intake)..

I've never figured out why people add an intake fan to their grow rooms. To be honest, I doubt I ever will. A properly-sized exhaust fan along with passive intake vent(s) is the way to go. Otherwise, whichever fan is strongest will be doing most (all?) of the work - and if that happens to be the intake fan, it could be pushing odors through any tiny air-leaks the grow space/tent may have.

BtW, computer-type fans are NOT meant to operate against a restriction. A good carbon filter is a sizable restriction, lol.

Allot of the nutes and fertz we use in SA come from your local hardware, nursery, agri mark etc.

That's how I got started. Cheap little bottles of miscellenous nutrients from a 100-year old hardware store and "sold by the pound" dry fertilizer (10-10-10, 12-12-12, 34-0-0 (ammonium nitrate, lol), and the other types that you see farmers scratching into the soil around their plants). It all works if it plus what is already in the soil happens to match the plant's nutritional requirements (and if they end up in a form that the plant can actually use).

AS the propper nutes and fertz that get sold in the hydro stores here are rediculously priced cos they know you cant get it anywhere else.

I may have already asked, but can you get General Hydroponics' Maxi series? There are two:

Easy and Economical

Comprising two powdered, mineral-based options that support your plants from beginning to bloom, the Maxi Series is our most cost-effective choice when it comes to nutrients.

The one-two nutritional punch includes MaxiGro and MaxiBloom, a duo of standalone, water-soluble formulas with primary, secondary and micronutrients. Both are pH-buffered, which means the pH will hold its value once your pH target is met.

MaxiGro and MaxiBloom are highly concentrated and dissolve rapidly in water. Their dry form means they are portable and can be easily stored, which makes them a popular choice for outdoor gardeners.

From Start to Harvest
The Maxi Series is specifically designed for particular growth stages:

MaxiGro encourages growth of seedlings and cuttings, giving your plant starts vital nutrition for that crucial vegetative growth stage early in development.
MaxiBloom increases yields and crop quality by promoting prolific flowering and fruiting in a wide diversity of plant types.

With a low cost-per-usage level and easy transportability, MaxiGro and MaxiBloom can be used for all types of plants and in a variety of water qualities. Whether you're working in coco coir, hydroponics, soilless or soil, the Maxi Series gives you all the flexibility you need

Without taking any seller markup into account, these are probably the cheapest nutrients I've ever found that actually work well for "the average cannabis plant." IIRC, they're available in 2.2-, 16-, and 50-pound containers. And, since they're dry nutrients, they could probably be stored for a geologic age and still work fine afterwards, lol. I'm no longer a fan of General Hydroponics since the Scotts Miracle-Gro monster purchased it, but will still recommend the MaxiSeries to those who are in need of a CHEAP nutrient (that doesn't deliver cheap performance ). Maybe you can find these at a local grow shop at a reasonable price (or via the Internet). IDK what GH Europe's names for this pair of nutrients are, but they probably have something similar. And IDK if there's a "GH Africa" or not.

I'm using a 500ml spray bottle to water my babies, giving 125ml (approximately even amounts each) to each one which is around 150-160 sprays each.

I spray 50 right at the spot where the stem goes into soil, then spray the rest over the top soil (is it okay to get some of the spray on the leaves?)

I cannot imagine having the patience to count how many sprays it takes to empty one of those bottles. My poor hands/fingers cannot imagine spraying more than a few at a time... I'd end up throwing the sprayhead away and just pouring the stuff, lol. Your way is probably much more scientific. But I'm starting to feel like "the old man body" arrived early :rolleyes3 . And... well... I am a bit lazy .

I've still not had any runoff come from the pots, I'm afraid of overwatering. Might I have bad drainage or just not enough water to go all the way through the soil?

Well, water weighs something like 8.5 pounds per gallon - and waterlogged soil probably isn't much lighter. Are your containers that heavy? If not, I'm guessing you aren't over-watering.

You can always slowly add water until you see it reach the point where it cannot "go into the soil," then quickly add a quantity more. At that point, you'll either see water pouring out of your drainage holes... or those holes are blocked, too small, or two few and you'll know to fix the issue. I've had to do that before, because I've been known to make the holes WAY TOO BIG, lol, and ended up washing soil out of the container - so I sometimes start with holes that I feel are too small, knowing I can always easily enlarge them if the need is there.

The best thing iv found for autos is just to let them do their own thing.. And trim away fan leaves so that bud sites get most light.
And with my photos I top and LST.. Autos don't like being messed with but if u really want to do something LST will be your best bet

I've never been a fan of "topping" in general, and have always trained for bushiness (if required), knowing that the plant will redistribute its auxins from what was formerly the top of the plant to the new tops, causing them to grow vigorously. Plus there's that whole "removing healthy mass from a cannabis plant" thing, lol.

But I actually have several of one auto-flowering strain. It's actually a "child series" of a selfed auto-flowering plant. I may take advantage of the opportunity by trying a couple of different things in order to see if there's any noticeable difference at harvest time.

Woke up today to find the OGK photo flopped over on the dirt. I guess it decided to grow 4" last night straight up. Totalling 8" tall with nothing but 2 tiny leaves on top.

That's a classic "lack of light" symptom. Especially at that early stage of development - plant is stretching "in hopes of getting enough light onto its tiny set of leaves, in order that it might have enough light-energy to... grow more leaves," lol.

I stood her back up and shored up the stem with some soil at the base. Hope she recovers

They almost always do. I've had seedlings hang down over the cup like vines that recovered fully - when I increased the light and/or brought it closer to the plant.

I just disconnected the timer for the lights. Gonna go back to 24 hour light for a couple weeks.
I figured that was the issue as soon as I saw her laid down like that.

That would probably work, I suppose. But you'd be better off adding light instead of adding hours of light, IMHO. While cannabis can function as a "no darkness" plant, it really evolved to perform certain functions and chemistry during the "dark of night." With other things being equal, and assuming the plant is receiving sufficient light-energy, cannabis plants grown in the vegetative phase with four to six hours of darkness per 24 seem to produce a higher yield at harvest time.

Is there any way for me to get more perlite in my soil at this stage?

I did mix it about 20-25% but I feel like my soil is keeping too much moisture at the bottom of the pot.

I've been known to keep "mini-mothers" in small containers, so I could keep the plant's genetics available without needing a large space (or a dedicated one). About once a year I'd remove the plant from the container and cut away an inch (more or less, and depending somewhat on the container size) from each side and the bottom of the soil/root mass. Then I'd "re-pot" it back into the same pot, using fresh soil/perlite mix to make up the difference. Then, knowing that I'd just removed a good bit of the root mass, I'd trim the mother plant accordingly.

IDK how this would work with an active plant (as opposed to a mother plant that I was keeping around for future use). The alternative is always to pot up to a larger container. Either way, the "heart" of your root mass will still be the original mixture unless you get drastic and try something like soaking the entire root mass in a much larger container of water, spending the day "swishing" the plant around in hopes of loosening the soil from the roots, then spending time trying to repot into a completely new mixture without damaging the roots. But my guess is that'll damage the roots :icon_roll . I've done this, but never with an auto-flowering plant; any stress-related delays didn't bother me - but they'd probably be a yield-killer to an auto.

That looks like a container I have around here somewhere. Is it approximately three times as wide as it is front-to-back, and about as deep as it is front-to-back? I never used mine for a cannabis plant, because I tend to favor deep containers over shallow but larger (in area) ones. Now... I find myself hurting for containers, lol, and am reconsidering. IF I can find an onion bulb or two in the sack out in the shed that I forgot about this past Spring, I could plant one on each end.

BtW, speaking of containers, why do the makers of those fancy cloth(?) and plastic "air-pruning" pots... always seem to make them in black? I'd think that white would reflect more heat from the lights (or sun) than black would.

Guys coming very close to harvest on my outdoor GH lady

Congratulations! I hope it ends well, so to speak.

and been looking over the various drying technics the place I wanted to dry is too hot and has rapid drops in temp over night so not very suitable, I stumbled across a thread about drying in a fridge after 1 day hanging anyone had any experience with this?

That was a new one on me when I found that thread. I had always understood the curing process to stop if the temperature dropped below a certain point. If it were me (and it could be, in the future ), I'd probably do some each way. Not because I don't trust the information in the thread, but instead simply so that I could try two different approaches to the same thing (IOW, a finished ready-to-use product) and decide which one I personally liked the best.

 

[LionFromZion]

hahahaha Torture you crack me up man !
Good to have you home bud
Life happens to the best of us .. Atleast you had some time to medicate inbetween haha ! Send us a pic of the new collection of beans.. Ordered some Fem Northern Light seeds this morning (7 week flowering - not auto)

 

[JGibs420]

Re: WARNING: Lengthy Post (Playing Catch-Up, lol)

Is it still performing well? Got a link to the thread you got your DiY information from (or the thread you posted your DiY information TO, if you created the filter setup on your own)? I'll need such a critter, and I can already tell my choices will be limited to homebuilt or... none

It's still working beautifully! Performance is much better than I expected. I wouldn't say the smell is 100% gone, but definitely not an obvious scent hanging around the room (then again, my Vegging cannabis have recently developed a smell as well, so might consider doing another filter for that cab as well).

Here's a link to the post of how I made mine for a pc fan.
JGibs420 First Grow - LST 4ft² CFL Melamine Cabinet

And here's the link to the tutorial I based my design off of (very basic, recommends securing it to fan with duct tape... Thus my alterations past the very basic idea)

Then there's Pat's rendition which I must say looks like it will do the job fairly well, he's very satisfied with the outcome, but uses a stronger fan than I do so his would probably not work that well for my setup.
Pat Gets Hairy With A Gorilla

I've never figured out why people add an intake fan to their grow rooms. To be honest, I doubt I ever will. A properly-sized exhaust fan along with passive intake vent(s) is the way to go. Otherwise, whichever fan is strongest will be doing most (all?) of the work - and if that happens to be the intake fan, it could be pushing odors through any tiny air-leaks the grow space/tent may have.

BtW, computer-type fans are NOT meant to operate against a restriction. A good carbon filter is a sizable restriction, lol.

I... was under the impression... that an intake fan... was a requirement.. haha I don't know why.. I don't know where I read it or saw it... But in my mind the more fresh air I could pump in there the better... But seems that screwed up my temps completely. I've disabled all my intake fans. Passive intake ftw.

PC fans aren't supposed to work against a restriction, I agree with that fully... However, for my small grow area it would be a waste installing an extraction fan or inline fan.. 70cfm is enough for my 2x2x3(or extended 4) grow. And surprisingly, the fan speed hasn't changed after installing the filter, doesn't seem to be working all that much harder than without it.

I cannot imagine having the patience to count how many sprays it takes to empty one of those bottles. My poor hands/fingers cannot imagine spraying more than a few at a time... I'd end up throwing the sprayhead away and just pouring the stuff, lol. Your way is probably much more scientific. But I'm starting to feel like "the old man body" arrived early :rolleyes3 . And... well... I am a bit lazy .


Well, water weighs something like 8.5 pounds per gallon - and waterlogged soil probably isn't much lighter. Are your containers that heavy? If not, I'm guessing you aren't over-watering.

You can always slowly add water until you see it reach the point where it cannot "go into the soil," then quickly add a quantity more. At that point, you'll either see water pouring out of your drainage holes... or those holes are blocked, too small, or two few and you'll know to fix the issue. I've had to do that before, because I've been known to make the holes WAY TOO BIG, lol, and ended up washing soil out of the container - so I sometimes start with holes that I feel are too small, knowing I can always easily enlarge them if the need is there.

Haha, once again... I was silly trying to spray bigger plants... My fingers and forearms were aching after every water session... Will be using a measurement cup from now on. Took me a good few minutes counting 650 sprays to empty it... Hahaha silly goose.

Will check the drainage of my soil on next watering, and take the above into consideration thank you as always TS!

 

[JGibs420]

About to harvest my first grow! Exciiiiited

 

[TorturedSoul]

Atleast you had some time to medicate inbetween haha !

Yeah, but next time I find myself with a plateful of brownies, I'm getting the mowing out of the way first. What should have taken me three hours or so, ended up taking half the day.

Send us a pic of the new collection of beans.

No picture, because they were all gifts from the same person, in their packaging, with their writing on all the little labels (and IDK if they'd want that picture posted). But I just dumped the container out and typed the names/amounts as I returned each little package to the larger container. I think I got them all. If not, I'll surely find the escapees when I spend another four or five hours looking for my @%^# wallet (doggone it!). I still need to retype a list of the seeds I already had, then consolidate the two lists. So this is just what I recently received:
White Widow Auto (Soul Breeders) - In cup.
Train Wreck Auto (Crop King Seeds) - 1, +1 in cup
Northern Lights Auto (Crop King Seeds) - 1, +1 in cup
Auto Jock Horror x Auto Amnesia (Private Cross) - 1, +1 in cup
Dark Devil Auto (Sweet Seeds) - 1, +1 in cup
Dark Devil Auto (Private S₁ of above) - 28, +2 in cup
707 Truthband (Humboldt Seed Organisation) - 1
Afghan Cow (Dr. Krippling) - 1
Afghani =R= (???) - 5
Azura Haze (Crop King Seeds) - 1
Blue Cheese (Barney's Farm) - 1
CBD Critical Cure (Barney's Farm???) - 1
Candy Cane (???) - 1
Christmas Cookies (???) - 1
Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies (???) - 1
Delahaze (Paradise Seeds) - 1
Nebula (Paradise Seeds) - 1
Mango Haze =R= (Mr. Nice) - 2
Alien OG (???) - 1
Blue Dream S₁ (private selfing of... ???) - 5
Ultimate Lavender (Exotic Genetix) - 2
Buddha Tahoe OG (?) - 2
African Buzz =R= (Seedsman) - 1
Blueberry x White Widow =R= (???) - 5
Bubba Kush (Crop King???) - 1
Blueberry (Seedsman) - 1
Devil's Carnival (Private Cross, I think) - 2
SSDC Devil's Crack Female? (Private Cross) - 20
Ultra Dawg F₂ (Private Creation) - 10
Ultra Dawg F₃ (Private Creation) - 5
AK47 x Durban Poison =R= (Private Jamaican Cross) - 15, but some might be damaged
Unknown Jamiacan "bagseed" (assuming =R=) - 2

=R= denotes regular (non-feminized) seeds.

Ordered some Fem Northern Light seeds this morning (7 week flowering - not auto)

Lol, you started this "autos only" thread and ordered NON-auto Northern Lights. I mostly denigrated auto-flowering strains (and have only grown three in all the time I've been chucking seeds)... and have an auto-flowering Northern Lights. Ironic, eh?

I grew some Northern Lights back in the early- or mid-1990s. The memories are a little vague, but I seem to recall three distinct types - one that smelled okay, one that smelled like... air, and one that began flowering on its own in the vegetative phase (all five(?) plants!) that I terminated with cause (I really didn't like auto-flowering anything in the past). I don't remember the breeder, but I think they all came from the same one; each was labeled with a number, like NL#2, NL#5, NL#9 (numbers might be incorrect due to a few brain cells having gone barking).

Still have two tiny little sprouts in the usual red plastic cups. Will post a picture sometime this evening. I'm kind of waiting to see if I can get three tiny little sprouts, but the third cup is currently only showing "bare earth" on top. That reminds me... I wonder if the others I dropped in water a couple... four days ago are still alive, lol? Anyone know how long a germinated seed can survive in a couple ounces of water? I hate to waste the cup/soil/time planting them if I've already allowed them to die :icon_roll .