Planning my 1st auto flower grow

[Meriwether]

Fair enough, I know the LED-lit pics I've been putting up are crap. So here's some better ones.

Lewis side view:

Lewis top:

Here's the leaf showing a bit of droop. I think it's probably from having the light too close:

And Clark, who seems to be coming on strong from behind. Top view:

side:

 

[Meriwether]

Bloom mode?

Another piece of the puzzle here, so far I haven't been using the "Bloom" mode on the 96x3 Reflector, it's been in "Growth" only since the beginning. I just asked about this in the FAQ section, and decided to flip on the Bloom switch just in case. I think with Autos it shouldn't cause any harm.

 

[b.real]

they look good. since it's not progressing and there's new growth I wouldn't worry about it. more light = more growth.

 

[wildwelshman]

The extra light will do them good mate.

 

[Meriwether]

As if to confirm that turning on the Bloom mode was a good idea, both plants are showing pistils!

Drooping Lewis, however, has now developed what looks suspiciously like nute-burn on the outer edges of the drooping leaves in yesterday's pics. I've never added nutes, and have only used purchased R/O water, but I planted in FF Ocean Forest, which many people describe as "hot." It could be that somehow the soil in Lewis' pot has more or less of some ingredient, and the roots found a pocket of something that didn't agree with them. After the last watering, Lewis' runoff tray has a lot more salt-like residue than Clark's after evaporation. I'm not going to sweat it for now.

Vertical growth seems to have stalled with both plants, new leaves are coming in right on top of the older ones. Clark in particular seems a good candidate for LST, as I've already had to manipulate new leaf growth to sit on top of the old.

The more I look at it, the more the "inter-node" growth in the pics above look like giraffe horns.

 

[wildwelshman]

I think that maybe if its the leaves that were drooping onto the soil that show those burns marks that it might have a bit off water on them and the light shinning on them caused it to burn a bit..i hope you understand what in trying to say lol

 

[Meriwether]

Mini-SCROG!!

21 days since I put the seeds into soil. The Clark plant is growing vigorously, so much so that new inter-node growth is crowded for space with the larger fan leaves. It hasn't gotten very tall, and today I decided to do some LST. I drilled some holes in the pot, and used garden wire to make a kind of mini-SCROG, to hold things down so that the main stalk of the plant gets more light.

Here it is:

One thing kind of led to another as I was doing this: originally my plan was to only hold down the two largest fan leaves, but I ended up doing a bit more than just that. Here's a detail shot of the newest leaves I'm holding down. I hope it's not too much stress on the branches:

Here's one instance where the LED lighting is actually useful for pics, I think the contrast shows more clearly where I've run the garden wire:

Lewis, my other plant, is still suffering from something, but new growth looks healthy enough. The whole plant is decidedly more delicate than Clark, from stem to leaf. I'll address it a bit later in a separate post.

 

[wildwelshman]

Looking good my friend. Keep it green

 

[Meriwether]

Day 22

The Lewis plant isn't looking too happy. I just asked for help with it in the FAQ section: Trouble on Day 22, but the low down is that some leaves are shriveling at the edges and turning yellow:

Clark doesn't seem to be showing any signs of dismay from the LST-ing from yesterday, so I'm leaving everything in place as they go dark for the next 6 hours. Here's another pic of Clark from last night, showing the LST in more detail, and the way all the new leaves seem to be growing very slowly right on top of each other:

 

[Meriwether]

Day 23

Well, as I was messing around with the "mini-scrog" on my healthy plant, I managed to break off a fan leaf. So now I've got one plant with nute-burn, and one I've just injured. I guess the playing field had to be leveled. I gave the sickly plant a flush earlier today, and I'm really going to try to leave things along for a little while. Both plants seem a little stunted to my inexperienced eye, maybe I'm going to end up with little cannabis bonsai plants?

 

[b.real]

don't worry too much. make sure the light is 14-16" away and let them grow.

 

[Meriwether]

Day 25

Lewis seems to have hardly grown at all over the past few days. I did a flush, hoping to help what I think is nute-burn, and at least what newer growth there is doesn't look burned yet. The plant is smaller in all respects than its twin: a much thinner stalk, smaller, more delicate looking leaves, and now, long stringy white pistils. I couldn't help clipping some of the dying fan leaves, even though I'd previously decided not to. Here she is:

Long pistils:

Clark seems much healthier, even though I accidentally broke off a fan leaf the other day. It might be one of those happy accidents, since it looks like there's more light getting into better places now. I clipped a couple of the first fan leaves because they were pressing into the inside edges of the pot and the tips seemed to be dying. Even though she seems super-healthy compared to Lewis, she's still pretty small:

New leaves look so close together that I wonder if she'll end up becoming one big kola in the middle:

Since I've got my doubts about Lewis, I'm starting to think about getting my remaining Dark Devil seed going. I could buy a bag of Happy Frog soil and do a 50/50 with the FFOF I already have, I feel like I should change something since 1 plant out of 2 seems to be suffering.

 

[b.real]

you could buy a bag of peat moss or coco and make a 50/50 mixture with your FFOF. it's cheaper and will work just as well.

 

[Meriwether]

Gave Clark 2 Cups R/O water. Nothing for Lewis, since I flushed a couple days ago. Played around with the garden wire a little more, trying to keep the fan leaves out of the way of the more productive-looking growth.

For the next seed, I think I'll give 50/50 coco/FFOF a shot (thanks b), the local hydro/organic shop probably has some. If they have an "air" or "smart" pot I might try one of those, too.

Otherwise, I hope everyone is 420-land is having a good Holiday season. I've been having a lot of fun this time around with my soon-to-be 4 year-old.

 

[wildwelshman]

Hi buddy, just a quick one. I have tried doing autos in airpots with bad results..i find that the air pots keep the auto small and not produce much bud..check out my completed journal as I tried them in there hope this helps a little..

 

[Meriwether]

Good to know, thanks!

 

[wildwelshman]

Good to know, thanks!

just glad to he able to share the info mate..happy growing..

 

[Meriwether]

Now my healthy plant is starting to show signs of the same nute-burn problem afflicting my other plant. Some of the edges of the fan leaves are starting to yellow and droop. In both cases the problem appeared after watering. Bummer.

After looking at a chart, I'm starting to wonder if the yellowing/dying leaves I'm seeing could possibly be a Zinc deficiency?

 

[TonySmile]

Great expedition so far. More to learn for me. Cheers to Lewis and Clark's great start. I've got my buffalo moccasins on for the journey. Lead the way to the finish line...

 

[Meriwether]

Day 27

Clark seems to be doing well. I've gotten rid of the garden wire I was playing around with, not sure it helped anything, and it may have been holding her back somehow. A couple hours after lights-on today, she looks perky and happy, aside from the worrying yellow tip problem appearing. You can see it on the lower fan leaves in the pic below:

Here's a close-up of the dying leaf issue on Clark, the healthy one:

Lewis is still alive, but obviously struggling. The nute-burn (or whatever it is) is taking a grim toll on her fan leaves, and she seems like a miniature version of Clark. The new growth seems so small and delicate that I'm really wondering if it's worth keeping her going. I'm not one to throw in the towel prematurely, but at the same time I don't want to waste the growing space with something non-viable. Here she is:

I think I'm going to get a third pot going before long, with my last DD seed. I'm pretty sure I won't use 100% FFOF next time.