Help

[Tman101]

Hi Guys, I’m in my 2nd run of white widow autos and I’m a. It surprised at the lack of progress. I’m subfloor in a 60x120 tent running a spider farmer SF2000. 180w heater, humidifier and I’ve an average of 22c and 60% RH with little fluctuation. Inline fan, running organic soil. Root roids x 2 doses. Went in 3 weeks ago. So 21 days from seed.

I have trained early, but they are just no moving much, compared to last grow. Ones already showing hairs.

Any thoughts?

 

[Tman101]

Am I just impatient? The one on the left went in 3 days later so behind and smalller.

Sitting at about 450ppfd 20/4 schedule

 

[Goonie Goat]

They definitely look a bit behind. Not trying to offend but if you have preflowers / pistils showing already well those plants are not going to yield diddly squat.

First things first, that soil looks very dense. Its not ideal for little autoflowers they need a fluffier lighter mix, predominantly coco or peat and a real good amount of perlite.

I always start them in solo cups and transplant to final containers around week 2, reason being is I can't trust myself to not overwater a big pot with such a small plant. In those earlier stages autos need some good drybacks, it encourages the roots to spread out and once established and when transplanted they will explode with growth.

You only get to screw things up once or maybe twice if lucky, that's why a lot of people hate them, because photoperiods will bounce back from errors, autos will kick up a stink and go to flower if you fail to correct issues

So in a nutshell :
Start in a cup or 0.8ml pot.
Less watering - get those drybacks happening (think I feed maybe 4 times in those first 2 weeks).
Coco and peat probably better to begin with just way more forgiving.
Humidity 55-60% good, 70-80% bad you want that dryback in those first 3 weeks they cannot sit in dense sogged up soil

 

[Tman101]

Thanks, thought I had everything sorted and under control. Frustrating

I had just watered hence the wet soil. They needed it. I did the same last time but it was summer, that’s the only difference

 

[Goonie Goat]

Thanks, thought I had everything sorted and under control. Frustrating

I had just watered hence the wet soil. They needed it. I did the same last time but it was summer, that’s the only difference

I'd get some more started in smaller pots, is your soil homemade or you running that turbo dirt stuff??

Did you get any seeds from the comps at all? I've sent in a bunch of different autos, maybe those white widows are a bit on the smaller side regardless too??

 

[Tman101]

Turbo dirt. I have some mimosa photos I might gem.

Disappointing to say the least. Thought the environment was dialled. Too much water you think, in short ?

 

[Goonie Goat]

Turbo dirt. I have some mimosa photos I might gem.

Disappointing to say the least. Thought the environment was dialled. Too much water you think, in short ?

I've never grown with it but from what ive seen I have just never really seen decent sized autos grown in it. Perhaps if you mixed in some coco coir and more perlite it would help but yeah I think it's too dense for the beginning stages. You look like you've done everything right besides that so ya cant be too hard on yourself.

 

[Tman101]

I’m sub floor under the house and the gas heater unit is a few meters away. It gives good ambient warmth but I wonder if the air is off that’s being pulled into the tent.

 

[Goonie Goat]

Feb 16



That's 2 weeks from sprout to final pots for comparison, in just a mix of coco coir, bit of manure and 20% perlite I'd say.

They just started throwing pistils at week 4-6

Fast forward to flower and this was the result in a 6 litre pot, all the others got supercropped because they outgrew the smaller spiderfarner 60×120, this one was in my taller mars 60×120

 

[HomeBound_Hound]

Turbo dirt. I have some mimosa photos I might gem.

Disappointing to say the least. Thought the environment was dialled. Too much water you think, in short ?

Ditch the dirt get some peat or coco go at least 35% perlite
Start ya autos in smaller pots then up pot later
Getting water consistency in larger pots is a nightmare and autos hate it
If ya find ya water alot go a high percentage of perlite or go coco over peat
Don't worry about trying to train an auto till ya can successfully grow an auto
Every piece of training puts stress on the plant every bit of stress add recovery time and autos give very little grace for mistakes.