Need Help With My Autos - Flowering Issues

[TylrDurdN]

Strain: dark devil autos
3 plants
Medium - soil & coco mix ( top half of 5 gallon bucket 80/20 soil
to coco mix / bottom half is subcools soil w/ coco mix (premixed with azomite, bone and blood meal, rock phosphorus, lime)
1 600w air cooled HPS & 300w mars hydro led. Lights are about 12 inches from plants. The pic I posted is an old pic. Since the picture I have added more duct hose to help air flow.
1 - 4 inch exhausted fan, 1 6 in exhaust fan, portable ac unit and large floor fan
PH - just started ph'ing water last week to 6.0 - before I had been using store bought distilled water. When I checked my soil pre grow and last week it was 7.0
Nutrients - calm ah since week 2 or 3, last week starting using big bud flowering nutrients
Temps - now are steady 70 - 84
Have had tons of problems throughout the grow with heat. Temps have varied from low 60s to up in the 90s at times. Grow is in an outdoor building so getting it dialed in was tough due to summer weather.
Humidity- has ranged from 30 to high 50s through out the grow. Now is usually 40-50 because of ac unit. I know that's high but I have good ventilation and tons of air moving
Time - week 8. They have been flowering for about 3 weeks

Here's the deal. Buds have basically not grown. I didn't expect much from this grow. I have had temp problems and over and under watering issues. That being said, they have been completely stagnant for almost a week. I had a friend tell me that trimming some of my big fan leaves could be the problem but I was hoping for some other opinions and maybe some advice for a solution. I have recently flushed with water ph'd to 6.0 with molasses. Been watering 3/4 gallon - 1 gallon every 1.5 - 2 days for the last week.

Please help. Thanks!

 

[Dota2]

Cutting leaves won't do any good if you have problems with all the buds... I mean if the top dosen't fatten up no use for cutting and stressing... If you have problems with heat take down the mars, 600hps is enough...

 

[TylrDurdN]

I already cut all the big fan leaves about a week ago. I was told that it might have been a bad idea. The plants reacted well afterward and I've seen people trim plants way more than I did and get monster buds so I don't know if that is what's slowed the flowering process or not. I am gonna cut the LED. Not sure why I didn't think of that! Thanks for the input bud! Still just using ph'd water and molasses too. Gonna see if maybe just flushing the soil helps

 

[Antics]

I see no nute burn, not sure a flush will help.

PH should be 5.8 for coco, and 6.5 for soil.

I'd let her chill and do her thing. Just keep an eye on the watering and be patient. 5 gallon pot with a plant like that, one watering should last over a week in an average soil. Most autos seems to take longer than the breeder claims.

 

[TylrDurdN]

Thanks antics! I'm definitely getting antsy because the breeder claims that 8.5-9 weeks is time to harvest. I've saw grows where guys stretched their autos to 11 weeks with awesome results so hopefully I can have some of that luck myself. Like I said before, I know this isn't gonna be much a harvest but I'm hoping for the best!

 

[Antics]

Oh bro.. ignore breeder times. Just think of it more or less as a time when you start looking at trichomes under a scope.

If conditions are less than perfect, it can slow things down a little as well. Just get your hands on a 40x-60 scope, and wait for trichomes. Ignore pistil color too, that is no indication of a plant being ready for harvest.

 

[EARTHWALKER]

As Antics said, ignore breeder claims. My 2nd to last grow was an 8-9 week auto and I harvested at week 14. Go figure..lol

 

[Antics]

As Antics said, ignore breeder claims. My 2nd to last grow was an 8-9 week auto and I harvested at week 14. Go figure..lol

On my first grow, I did Autos, they went 73 days and 83 days when I harvested, and I honestly think I harvested them a little too early.

The breeder said 60-65 days

 

[TylrDurdN]

I think the fact that I severely over watered might have slowed their growth. After what u said antics I'm sure that played a part in the slowed time line. For now I'm just gonna let em ride! Great advice on here by the way. U guys have been a huge help. Since antics pointed out that there was no nute burn I believe I'm gonna go back to flowering nutes full force for a bit! Thanks for the bit of info about the pistils. I didn't know that. My plan was actually to watch them because I don't have a microscope. Looks like it's time I quit being a cheap ass and buy one!

 

[Antics]

They're tough plants and can put up with a lot of stress, but they still slow down when things aren't perfect. The biggest causes I've seen were: Not enough light, too much water, and bad PH.
And I experienced all 3 of those problems first hand

Start your nutes at 50% or 75% strength to make sure she's happy with them. And slowly increase form there. It'll also help you get a real good feel for how to watch a plant closely and see if she wants more nutes, or less nutes.

There's some bad information online about harvesting according to pistils, and I almost made the same mistake until I started looking around here at 420.

If you watch the pistils closely, you'll see them slowly die off and turn brown/orange or whatever color. A short time after, the plant will start growing all new pistils. And I've seen this cycle continue as much as 3x on a single plant so far. If you harvest according to mostly brown on the first cycle, you'd be harvesting way too early.

As for the microscopes, you can find them online on auction sites and such for $5-$8 USD. I have one with an LED light, and although it works well, it also requires the scope to be right on top of the buds to see anything, so I'll be replacing that with a good jewelers loupe when I can find one. Just something to keep in mind when you buy one. I also suggest a 40x-60x, it'll get you really close, and make it easier to tell the difference between clear, cloudy, and amber.

 

[James dBong]

What strain is that ?

 

[TylrDurdN]

James - they are dark devil autos from sweet seeds

 

[TylrDurdN]

Watered them today and saw some substantial changes. Buds are growing. Here's some pics of the progress. Hit them today with water and big bud flowering nutes ph'd to 6

 

[TylrDurdN]

And antics - I ordered a microscope online today. Thanks for the advice my brother!

 

[PTSD 4 ME]

That looks like some dope...... well dope. Auto's are definetly something that I will be getting into on my next grow.

 

[Antics]

Go with 6.5 if possible, you'll get the best range of nutes there.

 

[TylrDurdN]

10-4 antics. I've wondered about the range where it is a coco & soil mix. I'll kick it up a notch and try that! Let me ask u this.... I've been watering when my moisture meter shows in the dry range but the medium is not completely bone dry. Should I wait longer between watering and let them dry out more?

 

[Antics]

I'd say it would depend on the ratio of soil to coco. I mixed a little coco into my soil, but it's mostly soil, so I just run it at 6.5. I would imagine thhe safe bet is to PH according to what medium you have the most of.

The moisture meter won't be accurate enough in my experience.

I've found the best method for me is to wait until the top layer of soil is bone dry. I don't poke my fingers in or anything, Just completely dry to my hand. After that I was a few days, lifting the pot each day until it starts feeling real light, and that's when I water.

 

[Delboy420]

If you want more, you need more wattage. Stick 600watt under those and a bit of canna boost asserlerator will work wonders and you see the difference within 2 days.

 

[TylrDurdN]

Still progressing. Getting a little frosty