White Dwarf Autoflowering 125W CFL Grow

[Kilco]

Day 15:

Thanks for the help BT, after what you said I think I will feed them this BabyBio (veg fert N-P-K of 10-4-2) on my next watering and then wait a week to see if they flower. If not then another dose of veg nutes but if they do flower I will use BioBizz Bloom (N-P-K of 2-6-4)...sound good?

Anyway back to the good stuff :] The 6 new leaves have developed well and are getting much bigger in size. Also now another new 6 set are coming through which is looking great. Original spikey leave still drooped, will they stay like this?

Also, I think she may be showing her sex...hopefully. Unfortunately you cannot see because of my bad camera but in the branches of the second pair of leaves I can see two small green stick type things poking out on either side. These are pistils right or is it too early and i'm just dreaming?

Anyway here are the pics:

Here is another pic of my setup, as you can see the second plant is still under soil after being placed in after germination on monday. And by the way, I do realise that this grow space is no where near big enough for both plants but hopefully I will have a bigger grow box before the end so there will be more space (by the way plants have been raised dont worry :] There is about 14" height overall):

Thanks!

 

[Kilco]

Day 16:

Hi Guys,
just a brief update today as i'm posting at 12:00a.m. and i'm knackered! Its basically the same but with leaves bulking up a bit more, will feed with veg nutes on the next watering. Enjoy the pics:

Thanks!

 

[bongtastic]

The green things you see are called stipules and they grow on both sex. From what I am learning, AF strains show their sex a little later than the breeder suggests if you aren't growing hydroponicaly and under HID lighting.

It probably won't show sex until after the 5th or 6th set of leaves come in. But if it is a girl you won't mistake it as you will see bright white pistils shooting out of little, pear-shaped growths. A boy will literally show little balls on stalks. You probably won't see the stalks, however.

 

[dohmixer]

There is a gentleman on my thread who said that he fed his lowryders full strength fox farm nutes from day 1 and his plants are loving it. Although, I don't think i would recommend this.

That's me with the lowryder and I'm also a newby to this CFL growing. Do you have a fan going on those girls Kilco. I've pretty much turned on a fan for at least 6 hours daily. I will try doing a journal on my next grow utilizing some of the valuable info I've gained from this site. Heres a link to my girl at 6 weeks.
- 420 Magazine Photo Gallery

 

[Kilco]

Hi BT and Dohmixer,

Yes I now can see that the things I thought were pistils are actually just new leaves coming through, but are still looking wicked :]

I do have a fan going at the moment. It is a full size oscillating fan on 24/7 (excluding the dark hours so there isnt too much of a temp spike), and is about 1/2' away from the little girl. This may not be a permanant fixture though, because at the moment stealth is my main priority and this is slightly more conspicuous than I wanted. I have however ordered a small USB desk fan with a flexible neck which I can put inside the box.

This should be enough to keep her cool when the box is closed and move enough air.

Thanks!

 

[Kilco]

Day 17:

Not too much change today, leaves still steadily getting bigger and now the centre leaves are growing strongly upwards as well. Stem is getting thicker and thicker which is good, as I plan to make some stalk tea :] The leaves that I thought were pistils have developed, and I fed her some veg nutes today at around 1/4 - 1/3 strength. Hopefully she will be grateful:

Thanks!

 

[bongtastic]

Hey dude, just wondering how often do you water?

 

[Kilco]

Day 18:

Hi guys, sorry I missed a day so will post for two days now (I was getting baked )

To answer your question BT, I basically water about once every 4 days. After overwatering I got a bit paranoid so started paying much more attention and have a pretty good system now: Basically after I have watered I wait for about 3-4 days for the top part of the soil to dry out. After this I then wait some more until my plant begins to droop only slightly which is basically her asking for a watering. Then I water until it drains out the bottom and she perks up straightaway. Cannabis likes a wet and dry cycle of watering I think, so I try to leave it dry for as long as possible. Hope this helps!

On day 18 nothing much happened except I fed her about 1/4 - 1/2 stength nutes, here are the pics:

Thanks!

 

[Kilco]

Day 19:

Oh maaaaaaan!!! Today she absolutely exploded with growth...must have been the nutes taking effect which is awesome :] All leaves are getting bigger and better and still new ones developing. The leaves in the branch joints are now developing into 8 leaves in little set and are looking good. Stem is now around 1/2 cm thick and looking sturdy. It is peeling a bit...is this anything to worry about?

One problem is that I can see one little bit of root poking through the bottom hole in the pot. The pot is 6.5" wide and 4" tall which I thought would be big enough but maybe not. I have already repotted twice (I know its baaaad) and I dont really want to again. Is it really bad for the root to come out the bottom or will it be ok?

Also my new one is germinating well but I may have to sacrafice it as there will be nowhere near enough room...we'll have to see :]

Thanks!

 

[bongtastic]

IMO, i would NOT transplant again. The pot you have is a little on the small side. For comparison, I use 10" x 10" rounds pots. I believe they are aprox 3.3 gallon or 12.5L.

In comparison, your pots are roughly .5 gallon or 1.9L

For dwarf species, you probably want at least 1.5 gallon containers (aprox 5.5L).


I would suggest, on your next grow, to plant directly into large containers and never ever transplant them. Because AF dwarves have such a limited life span, any stress is really going to limit their growth.

 

[Kilco]

Thanks for that BT, but I read somewhere that you should allow 1 gallon for every foot of growth and white dwarf supposedly grows about that height. When I transplanted here, she didnt seem to get at all stressed. All I did was basically move pot and add a little more soil and growth wasnt stunted or anything so i'm thinking it may be alright to transplant again if I have a decent pot.

But my main question is if growth will be stunted or stop completely with the roots showing through?

Thanks!

 

[dohmixer]

But my main question is if growth will be stunted or stop completely with the roots showing through? Thanks!

Reading some of the hydro and soilless it seems growers keep their roots in the dark. Here's an informative site and a quote.
Hydroponic Gardens | Plant roots, stems, and leaves
"A plant can function quite well with its roots exposed to light as long as they do not dry out. However, the light encourages alga growth, which causes odors, and the alga competes with the plant for nutrients in the light period and oxygen in the dark period."

 

[bongtastic]

I think it's also easier for the roots to rot in presence of light, or I could be wrong.

I think, generally speaking, if you take damn good care of the plant and her roots, you'll be ok.

Also, the 1sq gallon per foot is bunk. I PROMISE you that. If anything, that's a bare minimum. You want as MUCH space as possible for the roots.

 

[Kilco]

Ok thanks guys I think I get it now: Bigger pot means bigger roots means bigger plant means bigger yield means more

I will start looking for a bigger pot and I think I probably will have to transplant again. I'm thinking the stress of transplanting will be much less than the damage of not enough space.

Thanks for the help!

 

[eebytocs]

hi kilco. ive grew alot of auto's and you deffo need some bigger pots. but a lil advice. You need to repot before the roots have touched the edge, if you dont the roots seem to struggle to break threw the barrier that the roots have made against the edge of the pot. (if you get that)
Bigger pots deffo means bigger roots for the plant. ive always used a good bloom boost and root stimulator to help the lil auto's grow. Ive not had the chance to do the White Dwarf yet though so im looking foward to see how yours turn out. the size of the bulb is great btw. you will never have too much heat with a CFL. keep up the good work

 

[bongtastic]

you will never have too much heat with a CFL. keep up the good work

Unless you have a setup like mine, running 18 bulbs and 468 watts. It puts out some major heat =D

 

[Kilco]

Day 25:

Hi everyone (and hi eebytocs, welcome to the grow and thanks for your input!),

First off, I just realised that I have been counting day 1 from when I placed the seed in the soil whereas most people count day 1 as when the seed has popped out. In that case today will be around day 23 but i'll keep to the same system for now.

Its been a while since my last update (ive been busy ) and quite a bit has changed. The plant is looking really good and nice and bushy. Braches are coming out here and there and also I can now see the pistils. Changed the big bulb to the red spectrum and have also managed to add a 15W red spectrum CFL on one side and a 25W red spectrum CFL on the other.

Also my USB fan arrived today so when I have got my box completely sorted I will place that inside. There has been some slight yellowing on the tips of the newest leaf sets which I think is normall when starting flowering so i'm not too worried.

Think I will have to repot to a 5 litre pot ASAP. I read that you know its time to repot when you have to water more and more often, and now even though I watered on the morning of the 12th it could do with another watering now, just a day later! I will get a new pot tommorow and hopefully change then.

Here are the pics:

The current setup (the smaller plant is moving house today :]):

The plant:

Here is a picture of the bottom of the pot. There arent really many roots showing but I think its still worth repotting:

The new fan:

Thanks!

 

[bongtastic]

Take closer pics! I can't see any pistils.

 

[Kilco]

Can't, sorry BT! I only have my phone camera and what you see is as close as I can get without it goin blurry. But my mate is coming round tonight with a better camera so I will try and show you the good stuff then :]

 

[Siscokid]

Looking good there Kilco..