Advice please newbie

FIRST GROW ATTEMPT Grown from seeds in total these are around 6 week old, I was expecting bigger plants for this time ?? What does everyone think..... if they got off to a slow start will they catch up that standing a about 4/4 inch high.. these are auto flowering BTW does that mean I have no control of when to flower them ? Thanks in advance guys all advice and tips will be appreciated

Auto-flowering plants don't require any changes to light schedule, and they will flower with no intervention.

Tell us about your grow. What lights are you using? Medium? Temperature/Humidity? Water pH? Nutrients in use?

Hard to tell why your plants are growing slowly without knowing anything about your environment.

Temp is always around 22, I'm using 600w LED light that I thought would give off plenty of heat and I was wrong the LEDs dont give any heat off lol so I had to get 2 tube heaters so perhaps the low temperature caused a slow start? That's the only thing I can think of water PH is around 6, and I'm growing in soil canna coco

Your 600W LED is probably pulling only 60W or even less. Those cheap LED lights use marketing bullshit to inflate the wattage numbers.

The slow growth is likely caused by not enough light. 22C isn't too bad at all, but getting it up to ~26C would be better. That could be a part of the slow growth, but usually it has to be cooler than that to inhibit growth.

Also, dial in your pH for going forward. "Around 6 pH" isn't a good idea. Each point on the pH scale is an exponential order of magnitude than the numbers next to it. For example... a pH of 6 is 10 times more acidic than a pH of 7. A pH of 5 is 100 times more acidic than a pH of 7.

When doing pH, it is much better to have a digital pH meter so you can get as accurate as possible. A pH of 6 is where you want to be with your medium, as it's a non-soil-based medium (coco is considered hydroponics, not a soil grow).

What’s the real wattz that thing is pulling. I’m not an LED guy but that’s the first question I see asked.

Yes that’s really small for 6 weeks. Is that a typo? Honestly it’s small for two weeks.

How many days since it popped out of the ground? Instead of adding heater have you thought using HPS since it adds more wattz and heat? Just a thought

When you say low temps can you give numbers so we know what too low is?

Also pic of main stalk would be nice so we can see if it’s stretching

Did you repot them at anytime or did you start in that pot?

After the disappointment from this first grow I have considered changing to a hps bulb, I havnt really seen any positive feedback from LEDs, started of in a small pot once the taproot came through waited until first leafs arrived then straight into the bigger pot, the temps I was getting before the heaters were a disappointing 12 and 15 max, using loft space, like I say I was expecting some heat from the led lights, I'd say the stems are stretching towards the light but on the fragile side of things. It's more of a practice run but if I can fix were I'm going wrong I'll be more than grateful.. enjoying it so far though

I don’t usually suggest buying more things. But if you need heat and more wattz it’s the perfect match.

I think that's what its gonna have to be, would these be worth keep growing until flower or scrap and start again lol

That’s going to be up to you. Get some other opinions before doing anything.

Alright bro will do thanks again, like I say it's just a project at the minute,trial and error and all that

SolarSystem® 550 Specifications






This is the LED you want to use if that is what you want to use. I have them and Never looked back at HPS They work Great and You might spend a bit more but mine have more than paid off with the much cheaper power bill every month. I really don't think you plants look that small for 2 weeks either. Your temps could be a bit warmer, and that CC your using is going to need nutrients soon and you will have to watch them closely.
I recommend ProMix HP at least you get a little buffer with that.
After the seed sprouts it takes a bit of time, but 2 weeks in my opinion isn't that long for how they look. They are now in the state to where they will take off.
Good luck I certainly would not toss them. Keep up the good work. It will pay off, time is all you need.

Welcome To RIU Bear420

RootDoktor said:

After the disappointment from this first grow I have considered changing to a hps bulb, I havnt really seen any positive feedback from LEDs, started of in a small pot once the taproot came through waited until first leafs arrived then straight into the bigger pot, the temps I was getting before the heaters were a disappointing 12 and 15 max, using loft space, like I say I was expecting some heat from the led lights, I'd say the stems are stretching towards the light but on the fragile side of things. It's more of a practice run but if I can fix were I'm going wrong I'll be more than grateful.. enjoying it so far though

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Don't dismiss LEDs, your just using the wrong one. HPS might be cheaper but less efficient. There are many good LED lights out there, but stay away from the Chinese ones posting fake wattage. If you want a good LED for the money check out HLG.

I was a little worried about the whole LED wattage rating. I have a 1200w led and a 600w they draw 235w and 120w and i paid $160 for both. Mine are going great. But some ive heard just wont cut it.

Cheers chaps, I think I'll stay with the LEDs then a nd purchase a decent one, thank you for replies I'll keep the plants iv started and see what happends with them. As they have grown quite abit in the last week alone so I still have hope yet lol . Thanks again

RootDoktor said:

Cheers chaps, I think I'll stay with the LEDs then a nd purchase a decent one, thank you for replies I'll keep the plants iv started and see what happends with them. As they have grown quite abit in the last week alone so I still have hope yet lol . Thanks again

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The HLG V1's are an awesome deal right now, especially after I used the "RIU10" coupon code. I've already went a bit overboard on ordering more than I need, lol. The 260's come with the new XLG driver that I was surprised to see. With the included potentiometer, I can adjust the wattage from like 28-250.

When it comes to starting over, i wouldnt. Ive done a lot of gardening work back home. This is different but i have seen from a few of my plants so far that they can often pull through some really rough stuff and come back to suprise ya. Mice got into 4 of 6 of mine and chewed them completely in half. I just buried them up to the first node and waited. They grew fine.

This is how my LEDs do.

So like ebcrew say's don' t give up on LED lights they work very well.

Just do the Research on which ones are the best for your situation.

That's 2 550s on a 6 x 10 foot bench. They are doing just as good as my HPS or better.