1st Time Growing - Autoflower Strain - Tutankhamon In Soil - 240W LED

[IndyRacerNick]

So as I said I seem to have water issues.

I watered 4-5 days ago 500ml each. Top soil is dry when I stick my finger in there, when I lift the pot is it not heavy because I never did a full watering since my error on day 1.

Now when I put my meter in, it still says wet. I have lots of holes for drainage so that is not the issue.

I think the problem is with Fox Farm Ocean Forest. Whatever is in there don't like to dry out, its almost like it just compacts and stays wet at the bottom. I took a long skewer and stuck it in the soil for a few minutes. When I pulled it out you could see the moisture soaking into the stick.

I cannot transplant
Temps are between 22 - 27 C
Humidity between 40 - 60

I could drill larger holes on the side of my pot towards the bottom and cover them with mesh on the outside for this grow if this could help getting air into the soil to dry it out. I think I will be passing on FFOF on the next grow, it just doesn't seem to dry up at all. I picked it because it was recommended to me and I am not one for mixing soils, I want one ready to use out of the bag.

22 days and the soil at the bottom is still wet...it don't make sense! I am far from overwatering these girls, I just dont understand why the soil will not dry.

Are the plants really not growing a solid root system to take that water, or am I looking at a bigger problem?

Not that I want my soil to dry out all the time, it would be nice to have control over my soil and my watering especially when I start Advanced Nutrients, and if I have to wait for my soil to dry out every time I feed, I could be looking at up to 2 weeks between watering and feedings.

Day 5 from last water of 500ml and still moist? Something don't seem right!

Fans are blowing on the soil above the plants.

But if I decide to add a liter of water, she runs right out of the pot into my trays without any issues.

I was told to just let it dry, but I can't just leave it for 2 weeks to dry out without any water, that just don't seem healthy for the plant.

500ml seems like small talk when looking at the size of my plants.

I am more concerned about root rot happening in the future if I can't get this resolved right away

I have LED lights as you know, and this is not giving off heat. Should I invest in CFL outlets and add some to my tent to help increase that light and perhaps temp so the soil dries out faster?

I feel lost here with this issue

Any advise from anyone is appreciated

 

[IndyRacerNick]

Your girls are looking great. Don't worry about that lighter green color you are seeing, it's caused by rapid growth. As those areas grow out they will become darker in color.
Here's 2 pictures of plants in different stages of life showing the same color.
Keep up the great work.

Oh I am not worried about that color, I actually like it lol Looks kinda sexy on those girls...the rapid growth will probably kick in gear soon. The cheese plant never did fall back down after I released the supports, and she is now the plant that has the largest wingspan of leaves. King slowed down after the topping and used energy to start 2 stems which were visible today. I hope the Cheese is coming along shortly and starts her growth.

Very nice looking plants there MsSinful! I love them pots, I am thinking of making those airpots my next go to when I do another batch. Planning on a 4 plant grow of tut once I do this one and finish it...got 9 of those autoflower seeds left

 

[IndyRacerNick]

Topping looks good! I had one that started growing again from the topping location and I trimmed it again. Your plants look great! Keep up the good work!

Thanks Mariwannna I been watching your grow and it is coming along very nice! One of my plants already shows signs of growth after the topping, waiting on the slow poke Cheese to catch up, she has built a good stem now so she is supporting herself at least for now

 

[golfer420]

I hate giving advice like I'm some kind of expert but here are my thoughts (have a hit of this while reading)

I'm not going to claim those moisture meters are perfect, but I do know mine seems to work. I can push it down an inch and see that its dry. I can push it down 4" and see it has more moisture and sometimes I can see it wet at the bottom.

It's going to take a few more weeks until her roots develop and grow deeper and can really soak up the water faster. If the moisture meter shows near dry at 4-6" down, I'd water her again.

Another thing to consider is if you haven't watered in 5 days, but she looks fine, she probably doesn't need water. Over watering and under watering can show very similar symptoms, droopy leaves. You could let her go until you see a change in the leaves and then water. They are resilient and can go dry (and show it) but quickly recover in 3-6 hours after adding water.

I've also read often that over-watering is a typical error that is made. The soil should dry to drive the roots deeper to get to the moisture. If you keep it too wet, the root systems doesn't develop as well.

 

[golfer420]

It's worth noting that almost all my grows were in fabric pots

 

[IndyRacerNick]

I hate giving advice like I'm some kind of expert but here are my thoughts (have a hit of this while reading)

I'm not going to claim those moisture meters are perfect, but I do know mine seems to work. I can push it down an inch and see that its dry. I can push it down 4" and see it has more moisture and sometimes I can see it wet at the bottom.

It's going to take a few more weeks until her roots develop and grow deeper and can really soak up the water faster. If the moisture meter shows near dry at 4-6" down, I'd water her again.

Another thing to consider is if you haven't watered in 5 days, but she looks fine, she probably doesn't need water. Over watering and under watering can show very similar symptoms, droopy leaves. You could let her go until you see a change in the leaves and then water. They are resilient and can go dry (and show it) but quickly recover in 3-6 hours after adding water.

I've also read often that over-watering is a typical error that is made. The soil should dry to drive the roots deeper to get to the moisture. If you keep it too wet, the root systems doesn't develop as well.

I totally agree with you, I cant have a hit while reading, going to work shortly, night shift again..but filling my shatter pen up with some Kosher Kush shatter for my lunch break at 3AM lol

I have no problem waiting it out, I am very patient with these girls and will only feed when needed. I am just concerned about the moist soil at the bottom that doesn't seem to want to dry. I guess where I am watering 250 - 500ml it still has to go down to the bottom and if the roots are not there then that's why it remains moist.

Just trying to avoid any issues of root rot or fungus issues. I know I can wait until the plant tells me when to water and this can have cut down on yield later down the road.

With your meter do you let it sit for a few minutes to get an accurate reading or go by what it says right away?

 

[Mariwannna]

Patience is the hardest part for me. Just remember that your plants can only use what they can reach. I've been erring on the side of underwatering - but I'm using smart pots and a fan across the base, so they dry pretty evenly.

You mentioned drilling more holes - that seems like a not bad idea. Let some oxygen in and let the water run out - just pay more attention so they don't dry out.

 

[IndyRacerNick]

Oh attention to detail is my name lol If I wasn't paying attention I wouldn't be worried about my soil now

I don't think water will cone out until I water..there is no water to leave the pots now it's just moist from my meter readings.

Thanks for your input..i will perhaps add some holes on the side of the pot at the base so it's not full of holes along the side to to bottom. Never seen anyone do that so I was curious if it's a bad idea.

 

[EastCoastGhost]

Thanks Tom! I am hoping they will explode as well.

Question for you...at what day did you start your LST? I am at day 22 and I see no need to do it yet because they are not very tall, was told earlier the better and was wondering if I should start training the main stem down or leave it be for a week or two when she is much bigger.

I see no point in training yet, just curious when you started your training

I started training one on day 23 i think and then started training the rest about 5 days later if i remember correctly. It wouldnt hurt to wait another week or so. They will surprise you at how much you can do with them. One thing about your girls, imo topped plants are alot easier to lst, at least mine was. I didn't have to bend the main stem on my topped girls, i just let the shoots grow out and then tie them down to even everything out and let more light down to rhe lower shoots. You will develop your own style, i was scared to death until i said screw it i am going to try and it was easier than i thought lol. Im sure you will do just fine.✌

 

[Jurf]

I'm only on day 19 above ground and I've already been training and ponytailing for a couple days. So far I think I've made the right choice. The undergrowth I've been trying to target ever since fimming has been explosive enough. Inexperienced here, but I think targeting undergrowth asap pretty much means making a stronger plant, as the shoots below your main leaves will are likely to be in great numbers right? so in early stages, getting light to hit 2-6 sets of new leaves is only gonna do good, especially when you probably already only have 3-5 sets of fan leaves so far anyway.

 

[Jurf]

About your watering issue dude. I got 2 things to say. 1, drilling the holes couldnt hurt. Extra airflow is always just gonna be good. And 2, you dont needa stress about underwatering. It seems like you're keeping a close eye on your plants. So you really can wait it out. Once the plant droops and tells you it wants water, then you'll know for sure that the root system doesn't have enough access to water. Any there isnt really a whole lot of damage done by a very temporary drought. As long as your plant looks healthy and springy, you can rest assured thay it has enough water dude

 

[IndyRacerNick]

It has been a few days since I posted. Not a whole lot was happening other than slow growing,

The topping turned out great on the Cheese plant, and is showing good growth

Cheese plant & King Tut overall are doing very well, the leaves 2 leaves are sort of just no longer pointing up as of earlier today, touching the soil, will leave it for tonight but it may be time to water her.

I have also been doing some ponytailing on them to get that extra light in under her

So far so good!

Smoke em if ya got em!

 

[Mariwannna]

It has been a few days since I posted. Not a whole lot was happening other than slow growing,

The topping turned out great on the Cheese plant, and is showing good growth

Cheese plant & King Tut overall are doing very well, the leaves 2 leaves are sort of just no longer pointing up as of earlier today, touching the soil, will leave it for tonight but it may be time to water her.

Watch those red stems

 

[IndyRacerNick]

Watch those red stems

I searched and seen so many things that can cause red stems. I would not be able to tell you what would be causing it.

If it's from stress it could be from where it was topped a few days ago.

The plant is growing healthy from what I can tell. Could be a genetic thing..if it's anything other than that I'm at a loss cause I have no idea what it could be or how to fix it.

Hopefully it's nothing

 

[IndyRacerNick]

So I was looking closer at the red stems you have mentioned.

The main stock out of the soil is not red or purple. It's green.

The red is only coming off the main branch..leaf stem is what I call it.

It's not fully red only on top. There are no signs of red leaf veins on top it all looks good. Under the red it's sort of green or light colored. Almost looks like it's either going away..not too sure.

All other branches under her has a little red tint it's not visible much..fading away perhaps as it gets stronger and grows?

I'm hoping it's really nothing to be worried about. I think it's genetics..again I have no idea..just gonna leave it be and see what happens.

 

[IndyRacerNick]

Also on the same plant...the very 1st peddle leaf that shows from germination is now yellow. Both of them on that plant are yellow.

Does this mean they are ready to fall off and it has provided the plant with what it needed and is no longer necessary going forward as the plant soaks up nutes from the soil or feeding?

I am thinking I will be starting nutes on my next watering at 1/4 of full dosage

 

[golfer420]

Not seeing anything to be too alarmed at Those first leaves will turn yellow and fall off, not sure it's indicative anything specific.

I think you'll be fine with some low nutes. You can increase a bit each time to see the response.

 

[IndyRacerNick]

DAY 29 - Week 5

Today is Day 29 of the grow and things are going pretty well I do like to think so myself

During week 4 I started the ponytail method on the tops of the plants. I have done this for about 6 hours each time, and have performed the ponytail 5 days so far. I have noticed good growth underneath the fan leaves, and I will continue to do this as she gets bigger

Today I watered each plant 1 Liter
Nutrients were introduced. The recommended feeding is 4ML/Liter. I fed them both 2ML of AN Micro, Grow, Bloom

LST Training
I would like to be able to start the LST training but it seems my soil keeps sinking on me. If you look at the very first post where I had my pots filled, the soils have decreased in height. Funny thing, there is no soil traces that are noticeable to what was lost in mass inside my grow tent. I think this is just bad soil, and the soil has compacted as it gets watered bringing the true soil level lower than it actually was.

There are branches there I could start to tie down, but to do that I have to make some changes to my pots, add holes, or just stick a pipecleaner in the soil and make a hook to hold them down until more height is established.

Something strange appeared during watering today
When I was watering the plants today, I did like I always did, water a little, leave it, water some more to give the water a chance to go through the soil and so all the water is not being held in one area.

When I watered the Cheese plant, I nearly died...with the dry soil on top and by adding water, I am assuming the soil was again pushed or compacted into the pots. This time when I was turning the pot to get all areas covered I noticed the bottom of the stem was...white and sticking out of the soil. Not a root, it is almost like the main stem is mutated or deformed. I hope nothing funky is happening under that soil that is gonna cause me issues.

I did cover that back up with soil, but before I did that I had to take a photo to show you. I have seen something small like that earlier in the grow, and this was the stem that was falling over on us at the beginning, so I am just hoping thats the way the stem was growing when she was laying on the soil and now that she is taller and able to hold herself that this shape or visibility will not cause us any problems down the road.

Even though this was exposed, I had covered it up with a lot of soil. It is just an odd shape and even more strange why it has shown up after I watered.

The cheese plant has surprised me. Even though that stem was all odd looking, she is doing the most growing so far. I guess King Tut is a shorter plant, and it could be where one is more Indica than the other.

Here is how they look now

CHEESE​

King Tut​

I do not understand why my soil seems to be shrinking when there is no soil anywhere..I have lost quite a bit of mass from what I can tell, hope this doesnt damper the amount of yield, I planted in 5G buckets for a reason.

Anyways, got me some Blue Dream im about to spark up...

puff puff pass

 

[Jurf]

With about your soil, well once your plant grows and stretches into flower, you wont need to worry, but for now, the surrounding wall your plants are in may be pretty obstructive to airflow man. Your plants all catching a good breeze?

 

[EastCoastGhost]

I didnt fill my pots all the way to top, i was used to growing outdoor and they stretch alot more so i was gonna add more soil after they stretched some but i didn't know that with the led it wouldn't hardly stretch much, so i cut the top off of the buckets that way they would get better airflow and i noticed a difference, they seemed to take off better.✌