New booty in search for tips.

Jlok619

Well-Known Member
Hey everyone, I’m J from Phoenix AZ. As you guys have probably seen a million of us here starting our grows, now that the recreational law passed. I recently started my research and decided to give it a shot, after having the general understanding of this plant’s needed care.

I Purchased 6 auto seeds from two different banks and farms, and got started (3 gorilla glue and 3 Neptune OG. I germinated the seeds using the paper towel method as recommended by sellers, and they started out great! After the tap roots were about 1/4” I planted the seeds in red dixie cups, 3 of the seeds with Ocean Forest soil, and the other 3 in regular organic potting soil and moustened the soil with distilled water. (I read conflicting arguments about OF being too hot for seedlings, so I didn’t want to burn all my seedlings if that was really the case).

The seedlings came up out of the soil in about 2 more days looking really healhty! The first 1 finger leaves came out the next day or two, and this is when I moved them from the window sill, into the grow tent to sit under CFL bulbs, so I could control the humidity and temp a lil easier. However, this is where my problems started.

I believe I made the common rookie mistake of overwatering the poor babies. and I did not have my fans on the first few days in the tent. This caused stagnant air and the soil to remain too damp, and fungus gnats emerged. This is also around the time I noticed the seedlings stop growing, they had also been really stretching their stems because I had the bulbs a lil too far away from them, because of the water bottle domes I put over them.

I turned on the fan and dried the soil to kill the gnats and it worked, I also carefully replanted the seedlings with the longest stems, in an attempt to prevent them from collapsing. The next two or three days, there was no significant improvement, but the cotyledons began to yellow, and the first finger leaves began to turn a bit pale green. I decided to give them a few more days in hopes the roots would improve and let these babies grow. Finally after day 12 from sprout, the seedlings were looking weak and the gorilla glue in particular were looking terrible. I wish I had pictures, but I was so frustrated, I just pulled them up, realized the tap roots only had a few millimeter long hairs on them, and decided to start all over after doing a bit more research.

I have now ordered rapid rooter plugs and also go a propagation tray and dome, to hopefully give the babies a more stable base to root in. I got 3 seeds of auto Money Maker, and 3 seeds of auto Master Yoda that I’m expecting later this week. I have already sown the 3 Money Makers into the Burpee propagation tray, using the coco seed started they provided. I will use the rapid rooters on the Master Yoda seeds, to see which works best for me. I will include pics of my set-up, nutes, equipment, and temp and relative humidity readings.

Please, any input, critizism, advice, anything helps, so let me know what you guys think. Thanks!

Equipment and set-up list:

4x2x5’ tent
4” exhaust fan with can filter
Vipar Spectra 400w LED
Feit Electric LED for seedlings
2 clip-on fans
Humidifier
Plastic pot risers
3 gallon nursery pots
2 in 1 thermometer and hygrometer
Inkbird hygrometer switch
Inkbird temperature switch
Light timer and programmer
General hydroponics Ph Up and Down
General Hydroponics FloraGro, FloraMicro, and FloraBloom
Down to Earth Bio Live
electronic Ph tester
Soil Ph tester
Water is usually tap water left out for 48 hours, Ph’d to 6.8.
 

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Imcamping86

Well-Known Member
I’m no pro , but you’re just starting . You’ve got for the most part your essentials and then some.
your light is on the weaker side in my opinion. You want power come flower. Veg doesn’t require as much. Can always add a light...for now Get your feet wet and keep it simple . Less is more..... and from one newb to another lol get on the pest prevention, broadmites suck. Good luck !
 

Jlok619

Well-Known Member
I’m no pro , but you’re just starting . You’ve got for the most part your essentials and then some.
your light is on the weaker side in my opinion. You want power come flower. Veg doesn’t require as much. Can always add a light...for now Get your feet wet and keep it simple . Less is more..... and from one newb to another lol get on the pest prevention, broadmites suck. Good luck !
I will most def look into either adding a light, or just doing maybe 3 plants instead. Loo for sure, I’ll start doing more pest control research as aell. Thanks for the help!
 

Imcamping86

Well-Known Member
I will most def look into either adding a light, or just doing maybe 3 plants instead. Loo for sure, I’ll start doing more pest control research as aell. Thanks for the help!
No problem . Once you get a harvest under your belt than you can upgrade and figure out what’s what for next time. My biggest regret is not gearing up for pest prevention . I could have easily avoided them had I taken precautions. Also height may be a challenge for you in that tent . Start reading about low stress training . Helps yield too !
 

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
Hey everyone, I’m J from Phoenix AZ. As you guys have probably seen a million of us here starting our grows, now that the recreational law passed. I recently started my research and decided to give it a shot, after having the general understanding of this plant’s needed care.

I Purchased 6 auto seeds from two different banks and farms, and got started (3 gorilla glue and 3 Neptune OG. I germinated the seeds using the paper towel method as recommended by sellers, and they started out great! After the tap roots were about 1/4” I planted the seeds in red dixie cups, 3 of the seeds with Ocean Forest soil, and the other 3 in regular organic potting soil and moustened the soil with distilled water. (I read conflicting arguments about OF being too hot for seedlings, so I didn’t want to burn all my seedlings if that was really the case).

The seedlings came up out of the soil in about 2 more days looking really healhty! The first 1 finger leaves came out the next day or two, and this is when I moved them from the window sill, into the grow tent to sit under CFL bulbs, so I could control the humidity and temp a lil easier. However, this is where my problems started.

I believe I made the common rookie mistake of overwatering the poor babies. and I did not have my fans on the first few days in the tent. This caused stagnant air and the soil to remain too damp, and fungus gnats emerged. This is also around the time I noticed the seedlings stop growing, they had also been really stretching their stems because I had the bulbs a lil too far away from them, because of the water bottle domes I put over them.

I turned on the fan and dried the soil to kill the gnats and it worked, I also carefully replanted the seedlings with the longest stems, in an attempt to prevent them from collapsing. The next two or three days, there was no significant improvement, but the cotyledons began to yellow, and the first finger leaves began to turn a bit pale green. I decided to give them a few more days in hopes the roots would improve and let these babies grow. Finally after day 12 from sprout, the seedlings were looking weak and the gorilla glue in particular were looking terrible. I wish I had pictures, but I was so frustrated, I just pulled them up, realized the tap roots only had a few millimeter long hairs on them, and decided to start all over after doing a bit more research.

I have now ordered rapid rooter plugs and also go a propagation tray and dome, to hopefully give the babies a more stable base to root in. I got 3 seeds of auto Money Maker, and 3 seeds of auto Master Yoda that I’m expecting later this week. I have already sown the 3 Money Makers into the Burpee propagation tray, using the coco seed started they provided. I will use the rapid rooters on the Master Yoda seeds, to see which works best for me. I will include pics of my set-up, nutes, equipment, and temp and relative humidity readings.

Please, any input, critizism, advice, anything helps, so let me know what you guys think. Thanks!

Equipment and set-up list:

4x2x5’ tent
4” exhaust fan with can filter
Vipar Spectra 400w LED
Feit Electric LED for seedlings
2 clip-on fans
Humidifier
Plastic pot risers
3 gallon nursery pots
2 in 1 thermometer and hygrometer
Inkbird hygrometer switch
Inkbird temperature switch
Light timer and programmer
General hydroponics Ph Up and Down
General Hydroponics FloraGro, FloraMicro, and FloraBloom
Down to Earth Bio Live
electronic Ph tester
Soil Ph tester
Water is usually tap water left out for 48 hours, Ph’d to 6.8.
Do yourself a favor and forget autos even exist. You say pots. Hard containers or bags? They’re too small either way for rookies. Buy 5 gallon fabric grow bags and photoperiod seeds.
 

Jlok619

Well-Known Member
Do yourself a favor and forget autos even exist. You say pots. Hard containers or bags? They’re too small either way for rookies. Buy 5 gallon fabric grow bags and photoperiod seeds.
Cool, yea the autos just sounded easier for a first timer, but if these next 6 take a sh*t on me, I’ll grab some feminized seeds. I’ll also order some of those bigger grow bags, I was using regular nursery plastic pots. Thanks man!
 

Jlok619

Well-Known Member
No problem . Once you get a harvest under your belt than you can upgrade and figure out what’s what for next time. My biggest regret is not gearing up for pest prevention . I could have easily avoided them had I taken precautions. Also height may be a challenge for you in that tent . Start reading about low stress training . Helps yield too !

Ok i’ll look into a bigger tent in the next few months.. You think a 6 footer would be enough? I’ve been watching videos on stress training, you recommend using the tie down method to the edges of the pot, or using those lil plastic trainers?
 

drsaltzman

Well-Known Member
New booty?

The mistake my friends have made when they forayed into growing is one you may be about to make: too many plants in a small tent.
2X4 is perfect for 2 plants. Especially for a newbie.
In the end, under that light, you're going to get a finite weight whether it's collected from two plants, or 3 or 4.
Just gonna be less per plant if you stuff it. And too much vegetation in a small tent can lead to more problems.
The first grow is the hardest, as you have found out with just your seedlings.
Don't give yourself to much to learn all at once.

Never grew autos, can't help you there, but Hot Rod is right, photos are best.
Felt pots are also best.

Have fun.
 

Jlok619

Well-Known Member
New booty?

The mistake my friends have made when they forayed into growing is one you may be about to make: too many plants in a small tent.
2X4 is perfect for 2 plants. Especially for a newbie.
In the end, under that light, you're going to get a finite weight whether it's collected from two plants, or 3 or 4.
Just gonna be less per plant if you stuff it. And too much vegetation in a small tent can lead to more problems.
The first grow is the hardest, as you have found out with just your seedlings.
Don't give yourself to much to learn all at once.

Never grew autos, can't help you there, but Hot Rod is right, photos are best.
Felt pots are also best.

Have fun.
Hahaha that’s what we call newbies where I’m from. Ok cool man, I’ll also just try the two or three healthiest looking seedlings in felt pots in the tent this time. Next time, a bigger tent, and photos.
 

drsaltzman

Well-Known Member
You can get a QP out of that tent under LEDs without a lot of work.
I wouldn't go bigger until you master what you have. No need.
Photos are a good idea though. And since you control when they flower, you can start them before the autos finish and not miss a beat.
 

Jlok619

Well-Known Member
Update on new seedlings!

So I sowed another 3 Auto Money Maker seeds(2/7/2021), this time into a Burpee propagation tray, using the coco coir pellets they provide. The seedlings sprouted in 3 days, one a bit ahead of the others. However, by the 3rd day after sprout, the seedlings had already reached the rop of the dome. I went to the store and picked up a new tray with a 7” dome, like I should have from the start. Against my better judgement, I transplanted the seedling into the new tray, but the coco coir clump they were in, fell apart during transplant. :( I did see that the roots had developed much better this way than when I planted them straight into a solo cup after germinating in a paper towel. Seems like these trays are more forgiving for newbs, as the coco coir wicks up water from the tray, eliminating the need to water these fragile babies. What really sucked was that once I transplated them to the new tray, I found this tray had a leak in the water tray. I had to use plastic bags to keep the water in the tray.

I know these lil ones will most likely be stunted since I disturbed the roots, but I will give them a few more days in the tray and check for the roots to continue to develop and peek out of the bottom before transplanting to their final fabric pots. I will be skipping the solo cups this time, and going from the tray to their final home, since I already transplanted once.
 

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Gentlemencorpse

Well-Known Member
As soon as the seedling break the surface ditch the dome and get them into your planting medium. Domes are just for clones and cracking seeds.

I don't know if you ever did anything about your light, just getting caught up here, but it's more about square footage than number of plants. I've flowered 8 plants in a 2x4, I just kept them small. But you want at least 35w/sq ft for an optimal yield with LED. You should be shooting for 280w minimum in that tent.

Autos are okay but their big flaw is you can't control their size, which in a tent as short as yours it can be hard to keep them out of the lights if they stretch too much (ask me how I know...) so I'd recommend a little LST. I know autos are marketed as easier, but they're actually the opposite. That aforementioned lack of control over the size and when they flower actually makes them more challenging for small spaces, since many of them actually get quite large these days. Also, feed them light doses to start. They are often very nute sensitive, and it's easier to add more than try to flush your medium all the time.
 

Jlok619

Well-Known Member
As soon as the seedling break the surface ditch the dome and get them into your planting medium. Domes are just for clones and cracking seeds.

I don't know if you ever did anything about your light, just getting caught up here, but it's more about square footage than number of plants. I've flowered 8 plants in a 2x4, I just kept them small. But you want at least 35w/sq ft for an optimal yield with LED. You should be shooting for 280w minimum in that tent.

Autos are okay but their big flaw is you can't control their size, which in a tent as short as yours it can be hard to keep them out of the lights if they stretch too much (ask me how I know...) so I'd recommend a little LST. I know autos are marketed as easier, but they're actually the opposite. That aforementioned lack of control over the size and when they flower actually makes them more challenging for small spaces, since many of them actually get quite large these days. Also, feed them light doses to start. They are often very nute sensitive, and it's easier to add more than try to flush your medium all the time.

Ok cool, I’ll take them off the water tray, and in a day or two when the medium is a bit more dry, i’ll transplant to their final 5 gal fabric bags. Or you think I should still put them in solo’s and let them get a lil bigger before their final home?
 

Gentlemencorpse

Well-Known Member
Ok cool, I’ll take them off the water tray, and in a day or two when the medium is a bit more dry, i’ll transplant to their final 5 gal fabric bags. Or you think I should still put them in solo’s and let them get a lil bigger before their final home?
I find it easier to water them in the solos to start, and I've transplanted a dozen autos now without an issue. Just can't leave them in the starter cup for too long. Usually a week or two at most. Your better off getting them into the solos soon rather than leaving them in the tray for too long. They can dry out without the dome but damp off with it. I try to have my seedlings planted within a day or two of sprouting
 

whaler007

Active Member
Ok cool, I’ll take them off the water tray, and in a day or two when the medium is a bit more dry, i’ll transplant to their final 5 gal fabric bags. Or you think I should still put them in solo’s and let them get a lil bigger before their final home?
put the seedlings in clear solos inside of a colored solo. It allows you to watch the root development without burning the roots.
 

Jlok619

Well-Known Member
Transplanted the babies last night into red solos. I don’t think any roots broke during the transplant, and I was as gentle as possible, eventhough once again, the coco clump they were in, broke up during the transfer. I moved them into my grow tent, with one fan on, the humidifier, and a LED full spectrum grow light from Feit Electric. Light is about 6 inches away, and the leaves have already leveled out, instead of poitning upwards towards the sunlight they were getting.

I have a humidity switch and a temp switch controlling the tent, as well as a light timer. The fans will be on 24/7, but I’m only running one for the seedlings so I wont drop the temp in the tent too far during night. Once they go into veg, I’ll switch out this light, for the Vipar Spectra 400W LED. I was also thinking of just leaving this Feit Electric LED grow light in, to supplement the 200W light, which everyone said won’t be enough for this 4x2 tent. Not sure if adding in a lower wattage LED light as a supplement, would actually be detrimental to the plants.

Temp inside the tent is staying a bit low for seedlings, at about 76F during the day and 72 at nights. Hoping this wont be too much of an issue, since I know the babies like it a bit warmer than that. I’m not feeding any nutes. I just made a potting mix of 65% FFOF, 20% FFHF, and 10% Vermiculite and 5% Down to Earth Bio Live. This might already be too hot og a mix for seedlings, but I thought i’d give it a shot. I watered with 6.5 PH’d tap water left out for 48 hours. Soil PH is at 6.7.
 

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