Need troubleshooting help

[bongtastic]

Ok, here's the story:

Have three shortstuff autoflowering strains growing. On day 53. All of them showed preflowers on or around day 36. One is 11" tall. The other two are over 18" tall. The preflowers have barely developed. I would have expected tiny buds by now.

pH is measuring at 7-7.1. I am using Fox Farms nutes. All three have received two feedings of tiger bloom, and I water every two to three days. Every other watering I give them full strength big bloom.

I was on an 18/6 light cycle until just the other day when I switched to 16/8 in an attempt to make them flower.

It should be noted that I started with 6 plants, 1 was male and the other two have already FINISHED. They started flowering on day 17 and I pulled them down around day 47.

It should also be noted that the two plants on the left and right are the SAME STRAIN. (SS #1)

Here are pictures of the final three:

This one ALWAYS droops! What gives?

Found some spotting like this on the droopy plant.

Ok, so I have theorized a few solutions.

A) Rootbound. I never expected the plants to get this big. Roots are showing through the bottom drain holes. The only problem I have with this theory is that both of the taller plants actually grew about 6 inches since they showed preflowers.

B) pH messed up. it's very possible that my pH meter sucks ass.

C) Too much nitrogen. I'm thinking these dwarves don't need as much N as full grown plants, so my FF nutes npk ratio may not be suitable for dwarves.

D) Too hot in the grow cab. Temp can get up to 86 degrees and I have seen it spike to 90-91-92 in the past few days with the heat wave.


Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Diemand Edge]

Hmm...that's a bit of a predicament, but I have heard that more mature plants can give a tastier more potent smoke (opinion not fact), so this isn't the worst problem in the world. As to your theories...

A. Rootbound- This could be a problem, especially since you described them coming out of the bottom. This should not stop the plant from flowering, but it would probably appreciate a little more room to grow. From the picture I'm thinking you have 1 1/2 gallon pots. Since they have not begun to flower, you can get away with transplanting (which will inevitably add a few days to your timeframe).

B. PH- I haven't had any real PH problems in my experiences. You might try to calibrate your PH meter, but since its not a widespread problem you are describing (its only two plants having real issues, right?) this may not be an issue.

C. Too much Nitrogen- Akin to nute burn, and in looking at your pictures a lot of the lower leaves seem yellowed, so this might be a problem. Try backing of the concentration of your nutes or the frequency you feed them.

D. Too much Heat- Doubtful this is posing any real issues. In soil the preferred temperature is between 75 and 85. Higher temps tend to make the plant thirstier, but temps peaking in the early 90s won't expose the plant to any conditions it would not encounter in nature.

Oh, one thing I have heard about autoflowering plants is that since they are a unique cross breed sometimes the seeds will not always carry over the AF trait completely or at all. Also depending on where the seeds came from you might have ended up with a second or third generation strain from the original. I heard of someone having a problem similar to yours with a couple of AF Lowryder #2. They just refused to flower on their own, so they had to switch to 12/12 to induce flowering.

Best of luck!!!

 

[bongtastic]

Thanks for the input! +reps

 

[gromper]

I have grown Short Stuff #1 and Short Stuff Blue Himalayan and they started flowering at about the second set of 5-petaled leaves (3-4") under 20/4. They usually finished at around a foot.

The autoflower gene from C.ruderalis essentially turns Sativas or indicas into a spring flowering plant that is not photo-period sensitive with a shortened lifespan which is generally done in 2 months. But since it is a cross, it should still respond to the 12/12. So if these don't go pretty soon by themselves, do the 12/12 and they should at least flower for ya.

 

[Jasonlee247]

^^^ with the combination of the above posts and what I was thinking, you might wanna just say F***K IT and go 11/13, but I'm glad your trying cutting back by a few hours first (like I was saying before). Be sure to wait a week to see if they initiate flowering first!!!

Diemand Edge was talking about 'rootbound, pH, and Heat'. those are usually minimal factors in flowering initiation, but your pH should be lower! 6-6.8 soil, 5.5-6 hydro/soiless. He does have a valid point about autoflowering strains genetics being diluted in further generations. In the past I bred a Lowryder1 x Earlybud and came up with NO autoflower seed. I would immagine that other Autoflowering/Photoperiod crosses once back crossed with the autoflowering parent (although autoflowering in the first generation) would become unstable at the least in later generations.

do you follow?

 

[Jasonlee247]

i canhowever ALMOST guarentee you that these last plants will be alot better in yield and potency than your smaller girls. Are you going to do auto's next time, or go for gold with Photoperiod strains? Personally I don't like Autos much after my experiments with such.

 

[gromper]

The AFs were freebies with my seed purchases. They are fun but not anywhere near the fun of the Big Buddha Cheese in my flower room right now. I think the AFs are a waste of my time but I know a little valley with a small creek running through the middle of it that might be ideal to sow a couple of seeds and come back in a year or two to see if they took hold. Probly stick to regulars.

 

[Jasonlee247]

The AFs were freebies with my seed purchases. They are fun but not anywhere near the fun of the Big Buddha Cheese in my flower room right now. I think the AFs are a waste of my time but I know a little valley with a small creek running through the middle of it that might be ideal to sow a couple of seeds and come back in a year or two to see if they took hold. Probly stick to regulars.

Just dont put them too close to the water. I made that mistake lst year, and they washed away. I was downstream from a burn Zone, and thought that it would increase the nutrients, but forgot that it also increases the size of floodpaths. lol Live and learn right?

 

[bongtastic]

AFs are too much of an experimental deal for me. No one knows how to care for them, what nutes to use, etc.

I've heard everything and gotten every bit of advice possible, all of it conflicting.

I think it might be worth it for me to come back to AFs once I have a ton more experience, and then maybe they can serve a different roll.

The small time frame required to grow these dwarf strains doesn't make up for the dismal yields. And then, when the AFs don't flower in a timely matter, it just makes the whole grow worthless.

How tall would say... a Big Buddha Cheese get during 60 days of veg? I bet it would be taller than my largest one, at 19".

All in all, it was a nice introduction to indoor stealth grows but damn, they need to figure out the genetics in these strains before I grow anymore!

 

[bongtastic]

Well, I am going to finish out these seeds, but I'm in the process of building a DIY aero bubbler. I want to see what these girls will do in that kind of system. Then on to "normal" strains.

 

[gromper]

My cheese grows 1/2" to 1" per day vegging, but after 1 topping it grows out a lot faster than up and they tend to be really bushy but not so tall. 6' to 8' would easily be possible but ya gotta have enuff room for the lights and a darn big plant. I'm preparing for my summer run now. Should start getting nice in a couple weeks.

 

[Calimann]

my guess would be lower your temp, lower your ph about half a notch, and put them in bigger pots. Rootbound plants droop except right after watering, if that is happening...
First Grow Journal-Mystery Clones