Do my Autos look small and stunted for their age? 18-22 days old

[Rasterman]

First off , not all autos are created equal, as it seems to be a common misconception. Just because one auto began flower at week 2, does not mean the next cultivar will. Some begin to flower far along after others. I have raised autos that finish in 60 days , and others in 120+ days.

Genetics are

I will respectfully agree to disagree then, because this has not been my experience in the many years that I have raised , and breed autos. An undisturbed root mass in a proper sized aerated pot , has simply produced the best results in my organic approach of growing autos since the early 2000's.

I'm inclined to agree. I used to successively up-pot but now I try to get it into its final living soil container as soon as possible. Usually that's as a sprout. I'm growing bigger plants than I used to, so I'm going to keep doing it.

 

[cbdhemp808]

Great discussion everyone!

 

[jokerlola]

I think I posted about this last year but has anyone here familiar with Dr. Carl Whitcomb and his Root Builder pots. His application is for trees but according to him it involves all plants. It’s along the lines of what Emilya is talking about.

 

[jokerlola]

So my latest issue is one of my bigger auto plants laid down on it’s side. The plant is still healthy looking but it’s like it has no stability in the soil. I stuck a bamboo skewer next to it to stabilize it but I’m wondering is this a sign of over or under watering or that the roots aren’t filling the pot. It seem completely stable before this. Just noticed it today. I could see part of the upper root exposed.

 

[Phytoplankton]

Can’t say for certain if it’s lack of water, but the plant looks like it’s starting to stretch. It’s very small for its age, and its root system can’t support the additional weight. In most of your pictures the pots look very dry. They also look a bit hungry. I may have missed it, what is your grow media?

 

[Emilya Green]

I know you didn't fill the bag with soil, but did you pack down what is in there?

 

[jokerlola]

Can’t say for certain if it’s lack of water, but the plant looks like it’s starting to stretch. It’s very small for its age, and its root system can’t support the additional weight. In most of your pictures the pots look very dry. They also look a bit hungry. I may have missed it, what is your grow media?

It might be stretching because we’ve had nothing but heavy rain and hail for the last 3 days. I’ve had to keep on a covered porch. When the sun has come out, they’ve only gotten limited morning sun.

I’m growing in a peat and perlite soil mix. It’s a very airy soil with 45% perlite. I’m using Geoflora nutes. I’ve started the wet/dry cycle with this plant but with this soil, the first 3 inches of the soil seems to dry out fast even though the pot still has quite a bit of weight with the water at the bottom 3 inches according to my moisture meter. I last watered 3 days ago.

 

[jokerlola]

I know you didn't fill the bag with soil, but did you pack down what is in there?

I did pack it down when I filled the pot but not super hard. These are 5 gallon “Smart Pot” brand fabric pots but they are several years old and kind of stretched out and misshapen. As the soil settles the sides bulge out and cause the pots to kind of squish. I don’t know if there is a way to tell their exact size but by now I think they could hold the equivalent of 6 gallons of soil. I have one 1.5 cubic ft bag of soil divided between 2 pots. Each pot has approximately .75 cubic ft of soil per pot. Several charts I’ve looked at and the soil bag label says that a 1.5 cubic ft bag of soil should fill two 5 gallon pots.

 

[Emilya Green]

It might be stretching because we’ve had nothing but heavy rain and hail for the last 3 days. I’ve had to keep on a covered porch. When the sun has come out, they’ve only gotten limited morning sun.

I’m growing in a peat and perlite soil mix. It’s a very airy soil with 45% perlite. I’m using Geoflora nutes. I’ve started the wet/dry cycle with this plant but with this soil, the first 3 inches of the soil seems to dry out fast even though the pot still has quite a bit of weight with the water at the bottom 3 inches according to my moisture meter. I last watered 3 days ago.

You should not be concerned at all about the top 3 inches of your container. What matters is getting oxygen to the very lowest roots. Keep the faith... she will drain that pot and become more stable in doing so. I think though, it is time for some new quad stitched @GeoPot s.

 

[jokerlola]

You should not be concerned at all about the top 3 inches of your container. What matters is getting oxygen to the very lowest roots. Keep the faith... she will drain that pot and become more stable in doing so. I think though, it is time for some new quad stitched @GeoPot s.

They will probably be ready their next full watering today depending on their weight. They felt almost there yesterday so they should be ready today or tomorrow. The plants look like they have stalled to me. I hope they haven’t stunted. This soil does seem to dry out in the upper half faster than the other soils I’ve used. I don’t know if that’s good or bad or doesn’t make a difference.

I am very interested in checking out Geo Pots. These Smart Pots are an old design. They are actually “Black Magic” pots made by “Smart Pots”. They don’t really have a well defined rim because the handles are part of the whole pot instead of sewn onto the sides. They also are more wide than they are tall. Black Magic were those cannabis growing products sold at Home Depot a few years ago.

 

[NAGreengo]

So my latest issue is one of my bigger auto plants laid down on it’s side. The plant is still healthy looking but it’s like it has no stability in the soil. I stuck a bamboo skewer next to it to stabilize it but I’m wondering is this a sign of over or under watering or that the roots aren’t filling the pot. It seem completely stable before this. Just noticed it today. I could see part of the upper root exposed.

'Upper Roots' peeking out of the topsoil are Feeder Roots searching for food.....

 

[Phytoplankton]

It might be stretching because we’ve had nothing but heavy rain and hail for the last 3 days. I’ve had to keep on a covered porch. When the sun has come out, they’ve only gotten limited morning sun.

I’m growing in a peat and perlite soil mix. It’s a very airy soil with 45% perlite. I’m using Geoflora nutes. I’ve started the wet/dry cycle with this plant but with this soil, the first 3 inches of the soil seems to dry out fast even though the pot still has quite a bit of weight with the water at the bottom 3 inches according to my moisture meter. I last watered 3 days ago.

To me, it looks like preflower stretch, they’re autos and 4 weeks old.

 

[jokerlola]

'Upper Roots' peeking out of top of the soil are Feeder Roots searching for food.....

To me, it looks like preflower stretch, they’re autos and 4 weeks old.

Ok. So it other words they are likely to be stunted or at least small? Or will they still grow quite a bit in flower?

 

[jokerlola]

To me, it looks like preflower stretch, they’re autos and 4 weeks old.

So I’m seeing white hairs already on this plant! But net yet on the other ones.

 

[NAGreengo]

as an added benefit, I get to add @DYNOMYCO on every transplant to make the roots even stronger.

Personally I like to know the exact strains of Fungi in my innoculants. Rhizophagus Irregularis mycorrhizae is the Gold standard for cannabis.

So I’m seeing white hairs already on this plant! But net yet on the other ones.

She is sexing, which is followed by stretch, and is the proper time to start Bloom Amendments. She looks hungry, and thirsty my friend. Geo Flora Topsoil amendments need water to activate, otherwise they'll just lay dormant in the top layers of the soil.

 

[jokerlola]

Personally I like to know the exact strains of Fungi in my innoculants. Rhizophagus Irregularis mycorrhizae is the Gold standard for cannabis.



She is sexing, which is followed by stretch, and is the proper time to start Bloom Amendments. She looks hungry, and thirsty my friend. Geo Flora Topsoil amendments need water to activate, otherwise they'll just lay dormant in the top layers of the soil.

I think I’m keeping them properly watered and trying resist the temptation of overwatering . I’m trying to follow Emilya’s watering protocol for plants in their final pot. Being outside, the top 3 inches dries out very quickly but the pots are still heavy and I got a moisture meter that shows there’s still plenty of moisture in the bottom half of the pot. I go by the weight of the pot and when the moisture is down to about the last inch to water to saturation again. Since starting the wet/dry cycle, I’ve been watering to saturation about every 5 days so far, and in between those 5 days, I spray the top of the soil with about 8 to 12 oz of water to try to keep the top layer a little moist but the sun just dries out that top soil by the next day after watering. I’m not used to watering a small plant in it's large final container. I’m used to starting seeds or clones in Solo cups and up potting at least twice to the final pot. But since my autos that I started in Solos last year stunted so bad, I thought I would try going straight into their final pot.

The soil I’m using is from a local organic garden center and is similar to FFOF but it says it has up to 45% perlite on the bag. I don’t know if that’s considered too much but the soil is very airy and drains very well.

 

[Phytoplankton]

Ok. So it other words they are likely to be stunted or at least small? Or will they still grow quite a bit in flower?

Yeah, unfortunately, more than likely they’ll be small.
And just a hint, if that's one of those one or two prong moisture meters (some also do PH), they are notoriously inaccurate, stick with @Emilya Green treatise on watering for best results.

 

[NAGreengo]

Yeah, unfortunately, more than likely they’ll be small.
And just a hint, if that's one of those one or two prong moisture meters (some also do PH), they are notoriously inaccurate, stick with @Emilya Green treatise on watering for best results.

Jokerlola stated that is what he/she stuck to so far......and, well you see the results.


Conditions do vary per location, and media. And also, not every autoflower is the same.

I have an auto at about day 50 ATM that happily drinks a gallon a day and has done so since about day 30.

 

[jokerlola]

Yeah, unfortunately, more than likely they’ll be small.
And just a hint, if that's one of those one or two prong moisture meters (some also do PH), they are notoriously inaccurate, stick with @Emilya Green treatise on watering for best results.

It’s just a single prong, very cheap moisture meter and I only use it to double check. I mainly rely on the weight of the pot and when I last watered. I know the feel and actually weighed the pots with the soil dry and then weighed them at fully saturated but I think I’m pretty good at the feel of the weight of the pots and when they feel light enough to water but I double check with the meter. I also triple check with a bamboo skewer as well to see where the moisture line is in the pot.

I do follow Emilya’s water routine and she recommended the moisture meter.

I’ll be bummed if this plant stunts but I guess I’ll know that last year’s plant probably didn’t stunt because I up potted it.

I think I’ve done really good growing photos from clones since starting growing in earnest in 2018 and have had no issues except for some late pest problems (spider mites, aphids, thrips, caterpillars) that were annoying but didn’t ruin the plants or the harvests. I did have problems starting seeds at first and lost several to damping off but I finally figured that out. Which was strange since back in the day, I used to fool around planting bag seed all the time just for the hell of it and could grow a plant from seed with no problem. I never let the plant mature because of the legal issues then. But because the seeds now are so expensive and in limited number, I guess I was just being too careful and overthinking it and over babying them. I didn’t really care if the bag seeds I planted grew or not because I was just fooling around and they always germinated and grew! But isn’t that always the way?

 

[NAGreengo]

This little piece of auto heaven here @ day 75 in a 5 Gallon fabric pot, has always been watered completely until runoff and repeated when dry as are all my autos. At the moment she requires about 1 gal per day, but will soon be requiring less. And when that happens, it will generally be an indication of nearing the end. Again , I firmly believe that in doing this, it helps the plants to self regulate their transpiration rate knowing full well that they will receive a full watering when required. Besides the plant itself, the Microbes are also depending on it . But conditions are different per location. Watering will of course vary per locale, is dependant on the grow media itself, genetics, and most importantly...will be affected by VPD .