hi, i'm growing hydro with 2 strains of autoflowers (first time), GH sweet mango auto and white label white diesel haze auto, plus 2 bagseed plants just for fun/to fill up the rest of my pots (6pot RDWC). i'm on day 15 since sprouting and the autoflowers have been growing very slowly compared to what i expected.
started them in 1.5" rockwool in a humidity dome with a 150w CFL around 10 first then 6 inches away, rh was at 60-70% and temps were 75-85f. sprayed dome with pH 5.8 water for humidity and two small non-oscillating fans for light air flow
after a week the roots popped out so they went into the RDWC pots with hydroton (soaked overnight and rinsed with 5.5 ph water) which raised the water pH (already at 5.8 ) to 6.5 so i lowered it back to 5.8 and it only rose back up to 6.3 two times since. using MH at 600w (began at 36 inches, now down to 25 inches), rh is 50-65%, temps are still 70-82f, water temp is 68-75f, tapwater is 150 ppm (checked tapwater info online and mineral values are all fine). using 600ml/h ultrasonic fogger for rh and a 12' oscillating fan facing the tent wall. so far no nutrients yet
the issues I had were:
1) i overwatered them a bit the first 2 days as seedlings but when i saw drooping leaves i cut back until the leaves perked up
2) after the roots popped the hydroton wasn't prepped yet so i had to leave them in the humidity dome an extra day and the tips of a few roots ended up slightly brown, so i dipped them in 5.8 pH water with 1/4 strength canna rhizotonic. roots exploded, but leaves still grew slow. now the roots are about 4-6" below the net pots and the RDWC water level is about 1.5-2" below
3) like an idiot i used tap water in my ultrasonic fogger (never used before) for two days after moving to RDWC (laziness.... i know) and it left significant limescale/white mineral dust residue everywhere, on the seedlings, pots, etc. when i saw this i bought distilled water and wiped it all off, no issues since. only thing is the fogger leaves the top of the rockwool constantly slightly damp. should i pH the distilled water to 5.8?
btw my setup is 5' x 5' x 7' white mylar tent with carbon filter > 6" inline fan > 1000w dimmable w/ air cool reflector > outtake, and 12" total passive intake (vent filters over ducting bent to block light)
attached some pics, sorry i know the pots are dirty af, had to replace the outtake ducting today with a longer piece and fibreglass got everywhere now i'm just too tired to wipe everything down again right now lol
TL;DR autoflowers growing slow without obvious issues. thank you for any help!!
started them in 1.5" rockwool in a humidity dome with a 150w CFL around 10 first then 6 inches away, rh was at 60-70% and temps were 75-85f. sprayed dome with pH 5.8 water for humidity and two small non-oscillating fans for light air flow
after a week the roots popped out so they went into the RDWC pots with hydroton (soaked overnight and rinsed with 5.5 ph water) which raised the water pH (already at 5.8 ) to 6.5 so i lowered it back to 5.8 and it only rose back up to 6.3 two times since. using MH at 600w (began at 36 inches, now down to 25 inches), rh is 50-65%, temps are still 70-82f, water temp is 68-75f, tapwater is 150 ppm (checked tapwater info online and mineral values are all fine). using 600ml/h ultrasonic fogger for rh and a 12' oscillating fan facing the tent wall. so far no nutrients yet
the issues I had were:
1) i overwatered them a bit the first 2 days as seedlings but when i saw drooping leaves i cut back until the leaves perked up
2) after the roots popped the hydroton wasn't prepped yet so i had to leave them in the humidity dome an extra day and the tips of a few roots ended up slightly brown, so i dipped them in 5.8 pH water with 1/4 strength canna rhizotonic. roots exploded, but leaves still grew slow. now the roots are about 4-6" below the net pots and the RDWC water level is about 1.5-2" below
3) like an idiot i used tap water in my ultrasonic fogger (never used before) for two days after moving to RDWC (laziness.... i know) and it left significant limescale/white mineral dust residue everywhere, on the seedlings, pots, etc. when i saw this i bought distilled water and wiped it all off, no issues since. only thing is the fogger leaves the top of the rockwool constantly slightly damp. should i pH the distilled water to 5.8?
btw my setup is 5' x 5' x 7' white mylar tent with carbon filter > 6" inline fan > 1000w dimmable w/ air cool reflector > outtake, and 12" total passive intake (vent filters over ducting bent to block light)
attached some pics, sorry i know the pots are dirty af, had to replace the outtake ducting today with a longer piece and fibreglass got everywhere now i'm just too tired to wipe everything down again right now lol
TL;DR autoflowers growing slow without obvious issues. thank you for any help!!
