9 plants from seed to midgets: 2 strains and all same odd outcome

[Ruthless]

curious if this is normal or freak of nature.
my first grow, plants about 7 weeks.

I’m growing bubble Gum and Gold Leaf from seed. Not sure what caused my plants to be midgets with the stem being 5/8 to 3/4 thick on some short plants.. tallest is 12”. Would this be Genetics? Or it’s my odd mix of Coco on 3 plants, Ocean Forest on 3 and some other super soil I’m using. They all have the heavy thick stem other growers want a clone of.

The only odd thing I did was to have the soil in the bottom and coco on top. They all had half water and half nutes separately giving them a timed feeding of 1 1/2 cups of each.

I also growled them very slow giving them root boosters and diamond nectar. I’m a little nervous on what to do next.

 

[VetSmoke85]

Hmmm could be something to do with the soil bottom and coco on top I guess. Is it 50/50? How often do you water/feed? I'm just thinking that coco and soil have totally different watering techniques/cycles. So possibly the soil in the bottom isn't drying out enough and the roots at the bottom are sat in wet soil struggling to breathe. Could stunt the plants.

 

[VetSmoke85]

Also the pH will be different between soil and coco. Growing in coco requires a lower pH to growing in soil. Coco shouldn't dry out between feeds and is fed daily at least whilst soil should be allowed to fully dry (throughout the pot) between feeds.

 

[Ruthless]

I feed them every 2 days when need be, but 3 are in Coco, 3 are in COCO and super soil and 3 are in organic soil on top and super soil in the bottom 1/3.. Coco gets Nutes only and the others get 50/50 water and less Nutes. Its growing just fine but short and heavy. If growth is stunt shouldn't the stem, branches and so forth also be smaller?

 

[VetSmoke85]

If the bottoms of those pots are constantly wet the roots won't spread down to the bottom and they'll get unhappy. Your root ball may be short and wide which will reflect in the plant above the soil. They all look like their leaves are drooping down which is the plant telling you they're not happy about something in the root zone. Do you lift the pots to feel when they are dry (the ones in soil)? Usually plants at this stage in soil will go 3-5 days between watering if they have a well established rootball. That will be watering to run off so the soil is saturated and then leaving it until the pot is completely dried up all the way to the bottom.
I haven't grown in coco but I understand you need to water to run off at least daily and not let the medium dry out. Again with the correct pH adjustments for either soil or coco as they are different. When mixing the two I'm afraid I'm not sure how to approach that.

 

[VetSmoke85]

The ones on the left and at the front look quite pale too. Are those ones the same strain and in the same medium?

 

[SoGnotSOG321]

Looks like autoflowers you've gone way outside the box on and stunted badly. I see at least two repottings correct? Seed puck, small planter/cup and then big pot? Dont do that. Your daytime temp is to low, get it above 80f for more than half the time you are "lights on". Lights out keep those seedlings warm above 70f.
If these are photo period plants idk are you running this in a journal?

 

[VetSmoke85]

@Emilya any chance you have a moment to advise on this one? I suspect a combination of watering habits and mixing up mediums and treating them the same way. But you know a boat load more than me. Lol.

 

[VetSmoke85]

Looks like autoflowers you've gone way outside the box on and stunted badly. I see at least two repottings correct? Seed puck, small planter/cup and then big pot? Dont do that. Your daytime temp is to low, get it above 80f for more than half the time you are "lights on". Lights out keep those seedlings warm above 70f.
If these are photo period plants idk are you running this in a journal?

I assumed photoperiod as autos at 7 weeks would be well into flower normally.

 

[Emilya Green]

I feed them every 2 days when need be, but 3 are in Coco, 3 are in COCO and super soil and 3 are in organic soil on top and super soil in the bottom 1/3.. Coco gets Nutes only and the others get 50/50 water and less Nutes. Its growing just fine but short and heavy. If growth is stunt shouldn't the stem, branches and so forth also be smaller?

Hi Ruthless and welcome to the forum!

The shortness has nothing to do with anything being questioned here... that is determined mostly genetics and the placement of the lights that determines this.

Wow, what a situation you have here! The yellowing is what mostly concerns me... along with the various methods all being used in the same garden. Organic soil on top and super soil in the bottom should not need anything but clean water and no additional nutes and no need to adjust pH. If this is being done, that grow should be self sustaining, and if it is suffering it probably needs microbes and better water.

So, further explanation please... in the coco plants with supersoil, is the supersoil in the bottom third as traditionally done, or mixed in? If it is done with the supersoil as the bottom third, it can probably be run as a traditional supersoil grow, without worrying about pH and using clean water only -- no nutes. Microbial inoculations will probably be necessary to keep the organic feeding cycle going since there is no soil up top to support them. I would be worried most about this particular grow.

The three in coco only need to be watered and fed at hydro pH levels of 5.5-6.1, I would suggest 5.8 pH and letting it drift up to 6.1. This grow should be watered twice a day with oxygenated water with 50% nutes every time.

 

[The Phantom]

For 7 weeks old those are pretty normal sized stems. How heavy have you been pruning and training? It looks like you are low stress training them, correct?

 

[Ruthless]

Hi Ruthless and welcome to the forum!

The shortness has nothing to do with anything being questioned here... that is determined mostly genetics and the placement of the lights that determines this.

Wow, what a situation you have here! The yellowing is what mostly concerns me... along with the various methods all being used in the same garden. Organic soil on top and super soil in the bottom should not need anything but clean water and no additional nutes and no need to adjust pH. If this is being done, that grow should be self sustaining, and if it is suffering it probably needs microbes and better water.

So, further explanation please... in the coco plants with supersoil, is the supersoil in the bottom third as traditionally done, or mixed in? If it is done with the supersoil as the bottom third, it can probably be run as a traditional supersoil grow, without worrying about pH and using clean water only -- no nutes. Microbial inoculations will probably be necessary to keep the organic feeding cycle going since there is no soil up top to support them. I would be worried most about this particular grow.

The three in coco only need to be watered and fed at hydro pH levels of 5.5-6.1, I would suggest 5.8 pH and letting it drift up to 6.1. This grow should be watered twice a day with oxygenated water with 50% nutes every time.

Thank you!! It's my first grow and I wanted to test everything.. what's odd is the 4 Gold Leaf plants are light green regardless of what I do..I'm thinking its the genetics? will follow your directions for a couple of weeks and see what happens..

In the Coco, super soil in the bottom 1.3rd of 5-gallon pot. 2 out of the 4 plants but they are all growing the same. I don adjust PH and give the other root enhancers. Thank you

 

[Ruthless]

For 7 weeks old those are pretty normal sized stems. How heavy have you been pruning and training? It looks like you are low stress training them, correct?

I do train weekly and daily watch them and adjust, actually haven't pruned much yet but took some clones yesterday and should prune any day now.

 

[Ruthless]

The ones on the left and at the front look quite pale too. Are those ones the same strain and in the same medium?

based on my notes, 1 is in super soil and Coco top. 2. is organic soil on top and super soil in the bottom 3 and 4 is all Coco. Ones on the left are gold Leaf strain.. again its odd they are all growing the same but are fed differently

 

[Ruthless]

Looks like autoflowers you've gone way outside the box on and stunted badly. I see at least two repottings correct? Seed puck, small planter/cup and then big pot? Dont do that. Your daytime temp is to low, get it above 80f for more than half the time you are "lights on". Lights out keep those seedlings warm above 70f.
If these are photo period plants idk are you running this in a journal?

No Autos, Yes 2 repotting into a the 5 Gallon.. yes in Journal.. Is it good to have short fat plants? I will keep everyone updated when ready to flower. Agree on Temp..doing my best

Thank you