NorthernCosmos' First Indoor Soil Auto Grow: 2019

NorthernCosmos

Well-Known Member
So here it is - my very first grow!

Having just signed up here at 420, I'm two weeks into this one, and I'll do a little recap and a situation report. This grow involves 2 pots as a learner grow, and with a little luck there'll be some produce eventually...

- The setup is a 2 x 4 x 6 feet Mars hydro tent, a Mars Hydro TSL 2000 light, a 100mm inline fan and carbon filter, a small clip on fan and an atomizing humidifier.
- The buckets are 3 gallons each, drilled drain holes at the bottom and drilled LST tie holes along the top.
- The medium is the typical cheap peat based soil that came with some NPK, mixed with compost from the garden in a ca. 3:1 mix, with a few handfuls of crushed clay pebbles mixed in. There's also some whole clay pebbles at the bottom around the drain holes.
- The seeds are auto feminized from Seeds Stockers, one Amnesia and one White Widow.

After soaking in water for a day, the seeds were planted 1/2 inch deep, pointed end up, at 2019.09.11 after the soil had been soaked and let to drain for a while. I had them covered with some glass jars, i.e. "micro greenhouses" . On 2019.09.14 I had tiny little plants greeting me on day 4 :)

The tap water here is from my own well, with a pH of 7. I believe it's a bit hard, with plenty of calcium - enough that my atomizer makes a thin white coating where the mist hits. The water and soil has a pH of just below 7 using my el cheapo passive pH meters (I have two of them and they're in agreement if nothing else...).

The environment is at 24°C (75°F) and a little above 40% RH. I'm prepared to raise the RH as needed. The TSL 2000 light is set to 75% power - I figured it has to be enough for now and will save some LED wear, but I'm prepared to crank it to 100% if needed.

I ran 24 hour light the first week or so, and then switched down to 19/5, then 18/6 where I am now.

Today, on day 15, they got the first feeding as I thought the soil was suitably dry for that. I uses the Advanced Nutrients Grow/Bloom/Micro set and Vitalink Root Stim. The mix was 1.5ml Grow, 1ml Bloom, 1ml Micro and 1.5ml Root Stim in 1l of water for each of the plants. That's not much, but to my understanding the autos should have a fairly small amount of nutrients. The watering was just enough to get a tiny amount of rub off in the trays.

Things have been progressing fairly satisfactory, but today I got a little worried as the plants seem to be a little low and have some twists on the leaves. There is a little purplish colour on the branches close to the bigger leaves. One of them has some brown spots at the tips of the very lower tiny leaves. Detail pictures below (the images below may be a little light due to the exposure, the actual plants are a little darker green).

This is the setup:

setup.JPG


These are the plants over 3 days, from 2019.09.19 to 2019.09.21, days 9,10 and 11:

Ada_og_Wren_days 9_10_11.jpg


These are the plants as of today, day 15, first Ada (Amnesia), then Wren (White Widow) (yes, they have names, very silly :p):

Ada_6.JPG


Wren_6.JPG


Here's a closeup ow Wren, showing the lower leaves with the brown spots:

Wren_6b.JPG


That's it for now. I hope the format is OK. I'll try to update this now and then until it's done.

Any comments are welcome! :)
 
Autos are great little plants when grown correctly. They do not like stress so it's good you got them in your final home as soon as possible.
Try not to get the leaves wet under the lights. The water droplets act as a magnifying glass and could burn the leaves.
My suggestion for nutes is to wait for the third node before introducing them or if your plant gives you signs it's hungry. Typically the little cotlyedons turn yellow when it's looking for food.

Check this link out for Autos tips:
 
Thank you for the comments!

I noticed the droplets after the water spraying (first time they got a litlle rain) and realized that they'd formed "lenses" so I shook and blew off those - hopefully in time. BTW, should I spray them with water sometimes or is it best to not do that?

OK, so I was a bit early with the nutes - noted!. Should I have given them some plain water first perhaps? Would they benefit from a flushing now that I was early with the nutes, or can I let it slide this time considering that the amount of nutes was fairly low?

Oh, and is there anything to worry about there, w.r.t. the twisted leaves and brown tips at the bottom of the one plant?

I know that I have a tendency to overthink things and as a fresh "parent" I may be worring too much... :hmmmm:
 
...What's your soil?
It' some generic "Plant soil" of "Garden Basics" brand, that I buy in 50l bags for the garden, mixed with ca. 25% of my own compost from the garden and a little crushed clay pebbles.

The declaration for the the soil says:
- light and dark peat, sand, lime (just very small amounts of the last two, I take it)
- NPK 11-5-18, 1kg pr cubic meter (ca. 2 pounds per 35 cubic feet)
- pH = 6
- EC = 25 mS/m (just reading off the bag, I've not taken this into account...)

Hm... is that soil a little NPK rich to start with, I wonder? The soil pH in the watered buckets appears to be roughly 6.8. The compost was very much alive with beetles and earth worms - I had to throw out a couple of big scary root eating beetles :eek:
 
It' some generic "Plant soil" that I buy in 50l bags for the garden, mixed with ca. 25% of my own compost from the garden and a little crushed clay pebbles.

The declaration for the the soil says:
- light and dark peat, sand, lime (just very small amounts of the last two, I take it)
- NPK 11-5-18, 1kg pr cubic meter (ca. 2 pounds per 35 cubic feet)
- pH = 6
- EC = 25 mS/m (just reading off the bag, I've not taken this into account...)

Hm... is that soil a little NPK rich to start with, I wonder? The soil pH in the watered buckets appears to be roughly 6.8. The compost was very much alive with beetles and earth worms - I had to throw out a couple of big scary root eating beetles :eek:
It sounds like there's plenty in it for a while with the additions you made. I'm not familiar with this soil and I can't answer your question. Hopefully someone from your part of the world uses it and answers. @CraZysWeeD have you used soil like this?
 
Well the N content is high, but still well within a good NPK ratio of 2-1-3. The soil would be considered hot so as otter mentioned just hold off on the nutes. I wouldn't flush them. Straight pH'd water will be fine.

BTW, should I spray them with water sometimes or is it best to not do that?
Spraying is OK if you do it before lights on, which isn't the easiest to do. If your lights are high enough it wont be affected. I personally don't spray mine at all in the tent. Mother Nature dictates otherwise on my outdoor plants.
Oh, and is there anything to worry about there, w.r.t. the twisted leaves and brown tips at the bottom of the one plant?

I know that I have a tendency to overthink things and as a fresh "parent" I may be worring too much... :hmmmm:
Most likely the high N content and the early feeding.
 
Great stuff everybody - really appreciate the mentoring! I'm already learning and will factor it all into my next grow, as well as trying to keep this one on the rails.

Only water for Ada and Wren (when dry enough) for the next few weeks then. Hopefully there's no fatal damage and the plants will be happier in a while(?)
 
Hello!

Like previous growing gurus I agree the soil is a little hot to start with but if the compost wasn't doped with any manure it will be fine! I done it in that kind of soil plenty of times and still do I just mix it out with 25% Perlite. But this will work fine for u. I don't know why you put compost in it as well but that will give it even more time before u have to start nuting.

My opinion about the compost is simple I have problems with pests so I want to keep anything decaying away from my grow. I have full respect for people trying to grow organic, that's the future.
 
Hi CraZysWeeD!

I chose to mix in some compost after reading about soil mix recommendations. There's no manure in it, just food and plant matter that has has many years to become fine soil. As I mentioned, the compost is very lively - I dearly hope there'll be no pests... I'm a little bit scared by those beetles I found. Couldn't get any perlite locally so I went with the crushed clay pebbles this time.

BTW, from your nick I suspect we grow in the same country ;) so you'll most likely find that same basic peat soil in every garden center.
 
Jo det är nog så sant om du kan läsa det här. Ibland möts vi här nordbor jag har stött på två svenskar och en dansk. Tysk finns oxå så det är väl bara norrmannen och Bellman kvar. :rofl: <--- very Swedish joke.

I bet its from the same heap of dirt here. I now only let my seeds sprout and grow a week or two in soil then its a air-hydro fed system with a mix of clay pebbles or as u might now them Leca with more Perlite mixed in to it. It's easier for me to recycle the medium this way. I live in an apartment one floor up so I cant carry that much dirt I require for my growup. Pure hydro is too wet in my opinion. :p

I wouldn't worry too much about those plants u got they seem to like it. You have given them the condition now they just need time. :nervous-guy:

:welcome:
 
So here it is - my very first grow!

Having just signed up here at 420, I'm two weeks into this one, and I'll do a little recap and a situation report. This grow involves 2 pots as a learner grow, and with a little luck there'll be some produce eventually...

- The setup is a 2 x 4 x 6 feet Mars hydro tent, a Mars Hydro TSL 2000 light, a 100mm inline fan and carbon filter, a small clip on fan and an atomizing humidifier.
- The buckets are 3 gallons each, drilled drain holes at the bottom and drilled LST tie holes along the top.
- The medium is the typical cheap peat based soil that came with some NPK, mixed with compost from the garden in a ca. 3:1 mix, with a few handfuls of crushed clay pebbles mixed in. There's also some whole clay pebbles at the bottom around the drain holes.
- The seeds are auto feminized from Seeds Stockers, one Amnesia and one White Widow.

After soaking in water for a day, the seeds were planted 1/2 inch deep, pointed end up, at 2019.09.11 after the soil had been soaked and let to drain for a while. I had them covered with some glass jars, i.e. "micro greenhouses" . On 2019.09.14 I had tiny little plants greeting me on day 4 :)

The tap water here is from my own well, with a pH of 7. I believe it's a bit hard, with plenty of calcium - enough that my atomizer makes a thin white coating where the mist hits. The water and soil has a pH of just below 7 using my el cheapo passive pH meters (I have two of them and they're in agreement if nothing else...).

The environment is at 24°C (75°F) and a little above 40% RH. I'm prepared to raise the RH as needed. The TSL 2000 light is set to 75% power - I figured it has to be enough for now and will save some LED wear, but I'm prepared to crank it to 100% if needed.

I ran 24 hour light the first week or so, and then switched down to 19/5, then 18/6 where I am now.

Today, on day 15, they got the first feeding as I thought the soil was suitably dry for that. I uses the Advanced Nutrients Grow/Bloom/Micro set and Vitalink Root Stim. The mix was 1.5ml Grow, 1ml Bloom, 1ml Micro and 1.5ml Root Stim in 1l of water for each of the plants. That's not much, but to my understanding the autos should have a fairly small amount of nutrients. The watering was just enough to get a tiny amount of rub off in the trays.

Things have been progressing fairly satisfactory, but today I got a little worried as the plants seem to be a little low and have some twists on the leaves. There is a little purplish colour on the branches close to the bigger leaves. One of them has some brown spots at the tips of the very lower tiny leaves. Detail pictures below (the images below may be a little light due to the exposure, the actual plants are a little darker green).

This is the setup:

setup.JPG


These are the plants over 3 days, from 2019.09.19 to 2019.09.21, days 9,10 and 11:

Ada_og_Wren_days 9_10_11.jpg


These are the plants as of today, day 15, first Ada (Amnesia), then Wren (White Widow) (yes, they have names, very silly :p):

Ada_6.JPG


Wren_6.JPG


Here's a closeup ow Wren, showing the lower leaves with the brown spots:

Wren_6b.JPG


That's it for now. I hope the format is OK. I'll try to update this now and then until it's done.

Any comments are welcome! :)

Looking good so far!

If you raise your light up about 6 inches ... they will stretch out a bit ... right now they are too short.

Make sure you understand Watering and Feeding at this early stage ... you are trying to grow roots.

So ... please read @Emilya 's thread ... The Proper Way To Water A Potted Plant

And then pop by her latest journal for more tips and tricks (strongly recommended!) ... Emmie's Berry D'licious 2019 True Living Organic: No AACT, SCROG, COB, SuperSoil Production Grow & Seed Run

You will want to choose a training technique for your plant because you are growing indoors ... the Quadlining technique is popular here at 420 magazine ... The Quadsquad Thread, A Community For Quadlining

In about two weeks you can transplant into 5 gallon fabric pots which are ideal for soil and autoflowers.

Alright ... you have watering, feeding, training, light, temperature and humidity ... that will get you off to a good start for sure!

Lots of good people are monitoring your grow ... so keep reading and posting ... success is on the way :)
 
Okay ... I deleted that comment ... but why are the leaves such a light green then?

Does the soil pH need to be brought up to about 6.8?

I'm guessing maybe because of the lights and the white balance. New growth will always be lighter in color and at this point it's too soon to have a nutrient deficiencies.
His soil is fine. It's hot for seedlings but when she gets her feet set it wont bother her.
 
I'm guessing maybe because of the lights and the white balance. New growth will always be lighter in color and at this point it's too soon to have a nutrient deficiencies.
His soil is fine. It's hot for seedlings but when she gets her feet set it wont bother her.

I'm sure the soil is "fine" ... and I respect your knowledge ... but the generic soil at pH 6.0 is a real concern to me ...

It looks like he has a really nice setup and I'm sure it should not be a huge burden for @NorthernCosmos to go out and get some high quality soil for his expensive plants ... soil designed specifically for cannabis ... like Fox Farm Ocean Forest.

He is going to use this soil for the next two months to support his roots and microlife ... if it's already too hot then it's already an issue ...

For $30 ... get top quality soil and some perlite for expensive cannabis plants ... some things just shouldn't be compromised ...

Maybe I'm wrong ... but if it's in your budget ... upgrade your soil ... add some perlite ... and get those autoflowers into 5 gallon fabric pots ... they will appreciate it.

Sorry my opinion and advice is different from yours @MrSauga ... I'm not trying to be confrontational... :)
 
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