Critical mass auto week 2 ( 1/2 ) soil / air circ / stagnant air experiment ??

I JUST DONT SEEM TO BE HAVING ANY SLOW GROWTH OR NUTE PROBLEMS SO FAR WITH GARDEN CENTRES BEST...... ??? BIZARRE !! THESE PLANT WERE ONLY MEANT TO BE IN THIS CLOSET FOR A WEEK TOPS. THEN WHEN CHECKED ON THEY WERE FLYING ?? SO LEFT LONE TO SEE THE END RESULT. NOW COMING UP WEEK 4 AND STILL GROWING NORMAL RATE AS MY WEEK 4 COCOAIR?? TEMPS ARE OVER 29 DEGREES ?? WATER ONCE A WEEK?? NO AIR CIRCULATION, NO FAN ??!! PICS FOF WEEK 4 ON WAY....

new to forums etc..... bit of a recluse
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Hi NT,

I've just posted a similar thread called Nirvana NL Auto's for dummies. I grew mine in Godwins compost that cost £10 for 3 bags from my local garden centre!! It just goes to show that you don't need to spend a fortune to get good results!

If you're asking opinions about watering and air exchange, as for watering I'd give them little and often especially at those temps as they are going to dry out quickly under that lamp. As for air exchange they are too small at the moment and you'll replace the air every time you open your door, you may get problems later on when the plants are bigger though. Have you considered one of those small clip on fans and some kind of vent for fresh air?

Neo.

hey Neo, thanks for comment. funny you should say that my lass just bought 2 clip ons from hydro shop this aft. we using an extractor through to attic and plenty nice drill holes in cupboard door bottom. still though. pretty basic stuff. just moved back in after a year in Australia......missed my cheese's to much to stay out there. reckon il get building treehouse grow again in roof when im back on sunday. how much shock can autos endure? need to fill buckets to top. week 4 and guess ive stunted or rootbound either way yields out window. jst have to hope they bounce back. the wonders of MASS. mite scrape half decent.
take it easy

They look ok to me? I wouldn't get too hung on the time that the seed house claim, and soil growing is a little slower anyway. Big Buddha seeds claim "From Seed = 65 - 80 Days" for their Critical Mass Auto's and I've seen some claim 45 days for other Auto's!! I'm not sure where they are getting their figures from, I'm not saying it's impossible but the plants must be tiny and I'd be very disappointed if they were and I'd spent all that time growing them for nothing! My NL's were vegging for 10-12 weeks from seed before they started showing signs of flowering at the end of Dec, I put a lot of that down to the cooler temps as they were growing quite slowly. I would imagine you've got at least another 4-5 weeks of vegging yet before they start to flower (strain dependent) and that will be 8 weeks which is 56 days, then you have to flower them!

I would be a bit wary of trying to re-pot them now as you may end up damaging the roots if you've only recently transferred them into those pots, and just learn from the lesson that you fill them to the top next time. It's impossible to comment on your yields until the plants are much further down the line, but I wouldn't worry as they look fine at the moment.

As for Hydroponic shops it can pay to shop around, I just had to buy a nutrient heater and a well known Hydroponic shop in the UK wanted £34.95 for the same one I bought from Amazon for £13.99 with free postage!!

getting leaf problems from top to bottom. just holding in. 24/7 light is not the way forward with this strain or any tbh I thinks... switched slowly over the week to 20/4 and they responded well to the 4hr down time. got a bit ofcolour back. what you said about the flowering I was expecting the same to be honest. showing sex nicely(WHAT A SHOCKER ALL FEMALES ) not sure if the light change sped them up. but yield wise im going for a oz a plant. me and my daft ideas really screwed this crop I rekon. still live and learn hey. still in the spirit of things ive not transplanted and there feeding on tomorite and pk13/... in weeks time... is truly amazing how jut a bottle of tomato food can still keep them happy. guess its an easy strain?? still I was alwas told in spain. if toms can grow, weed can flourish.


il smash pics up for week 4 ASAP

many thanks for support and advice

that's interesting about AMAZON. im always a little worried bout online details etc. guess that's the PARA kicking in still that's bloody tempting savings. especialy in the current economy

Updates on the critical mass autos (bb) still ticking along reasonably well allthough insufficient root space available doesnt seem to have kicked in the stunting yet. Still im sure yield will suffer in the long run......
Al good fun hey?! Not like its paying the mortgage off anytime soon

jUST BEFORE FANS WERE INTRODUCED..... YELLOWING FROM NUTE DEFF. AND LOW SOIL = ROOT BOUND? ( COCK UP )

It is probably worth investing in some proper nutes, they can grow well in cheap compost but what you put into them now will reap reward at the end.

Tomorite is N-4 P-1.3 K-6.6 and from the looks of your photo's you have a nitrogen deficiency, the bottom leaves are starting to yellow and die. It's best to get it treated now before it really sets in! Your soil also looks a little dry, and it's pulling away from the sides of the pots. You mentioned before that it was very hot in your grow room so you could possibly increase the amount of water you're giving them as you don't want them drying out too much.

They may not be root bound yet as those pots are pretty big and I can't see any roots on the surface yet?

Apart from that they are looking good!

I wouldn't worry too much about Amazon, there are probably millions of people ordering stuff for hydroponics and the can't arrest everyone!! The nutrient heater is just an aquarium heater that you put in tropical fish tanks anyway, hydro shops call it a nutrient heater and charge 3 times as much!!

thanks all great info. been a little slow on wanting to nute. truly was left just o'natural.... but its deffo time to start. was worried that levingtons soil would over do them when introduced with tomorite or biobizz grow ..... but I guess the soils used up most of its goodness? or with lack of watering hasn't maybe activated the nutes. so on that basis , would It make sense to give them a good drenching an see over next few days If it starts to correct or at least stop the spread. also can you start a course of nutes for veg then switch to bloom equivelent in quick period of time if needed with autos or can you expect problems?
many thanks

It's always a bit difficult trying to diagnose things on the internet, when you can't really see what's going on. It could be from when you had the plants in the smaller pots, so like you say I'd start with a good watering and give it a few days. That's the only problem with compost you never know how it's going to react and the amount of nutes contained in it already. After a week or so you could add some veg nutes but go very slowly to start with. I found that I didn't use any for the first 4-5 weeks then I tried a 1/4 strength for 2 weeks and moved up to 1/2 strength with just a very slight nute burn on the tips of 1 of my plants, she obviously didn't like it but the others were fine. Typical woman, you always get on moody one in a group of them!!

By that time they were switching over to start flowering I used a 50/50 mix of veg and bloom but still at half strength for the next two weeks, then I swapped over completely to bloom for the next 4 weeks slowly increasing it to full strength and I'll continue to use it at that until the end now which will be a few weeks yet.

Other people may do it differently and switch straight to bloom nutes when the flowers start appearing, but that's just the way I did it. I just bought Biobizz veg and bloom as it was £20 for the pair and will last you for a few grows, I'm normally a hydro man when it comes to weed so maybe someone else might know better but they seem to be doing pretty well on it so far.

im fully listening with both ears. I rekon getting some veg nutes in while no flowers is the way forward. adding bloom too would only speed them up and result in a fast transition and loss of quality I guess. thanks for all your info lad. been a great voice in my ear. stopped the stupid voices from taking over haha. you will have to add some photos.... still I better let the cat out now. there in the tent now finally and ive quit fucking bout with cupboards and bedrooms. time to pile on the magic.

PEACE,LOVE A CHEEESE

The plants will start flowering regardless of the nutes you give them, they will just start when they are ready.

Don't make the classic mistake of just switching straight to bloom nutes, as you will find your plants leaves will go yellow and start dropping a few weeks into flower. They still need plenty of nitrogen in the start of flowering to grow, and most bloom feed is quite low in it. That's why I continue with the veg feed, as it keeps them green and healthy. You'll find lot's of posts on here that say 'help, my leaves are yellowing and dropping off a few weeks into flower' and that is why!

It's easy to listen to those voices in your head, and reading too much info on here will overload your brain and make it work overtime. It's all about reading your individual plants, and you will make mistakes and get it wrong sometimes the first few times but it's all part of the experience. Hopefully you'll get a reasonable result.

just bought biobizz veg and bloom. thanks neo. sound advice

Glad to be of assistance. Go very very slowly to start, I'd use 0.5 per litre of water to start if you are going to. How have they responded to the good watering, has that been enough to perk them up?

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Still got 3-4 weeks to go yet, as you can see the middle plant has a slight nitrogen deficiency but they all get fed the same. You can feed yours individually to give them anything they require, but I just can't be bothered! lol

WOW !! happy days they look like beauts... yeah there perking up thanks. no advance on the yellowing so all is good. guess its just a wait till the dry period and then 0.5 it is. what seeds ? these the Northen? bit surprised by Big Buddah.... had to chop a hermie this evening :/ they weren't stressed etc..... balls to it lol!

Yes these are the Northern Lights Auto's from Nirvana Seeds, I've used a lot of their seeds and have always done ok with them.

I've always been a little worried when it comes to Auto's as it seems the genetics can be a bit hit and miss, at least you spotted that one early enough and got rid of it! I don't think auto's are the best for beginners personally, for that reason for a start. Plus the fact if you get it wrong in veg there is no time to recover usually as they switch to flowering on their own, and then you have to stick with it. At least with photo seeds you can recover them a bit in veg and switch to flower when you are ready. I can see the big attraction though when they claim you can get a crop in 60-80 days but it doesn't always work out like that, and if they are a cock up then you've wasted all that time for nothing.

I'm currently vegging some Big Bud by Vision Seeds to be my first crop of the year in my hydro system, they are a cross between Northern Lights #1 and Super Skunk #1. They should be ready to transplant any day now, so i'm looking forward to getting them going. They may be oldies but they are goodies, they are both hard to get wrong and deliver a very satisfactory result. I too made the mistake as a newbie at the time by buying some super duper seeds that were quite difficult to grow and I ended up messing them up, and it cost me a fair bit in time and money. You live and learn though!

Sorry you lost one, so I'm sending you some good karma for the remaining 4 and hope they do ok!!

Forgot to say, If they have perked up a bit I'd be very wary of giving them any feed just yet as they are still quite small and should still be taking nutrients from that soil which is probably what they are doing now. I used a very weak solution on mine when they were much bigger and still managed to burn one slightly, that compost should be plenty for them for a few weeks yet until they have fully grown into those pots. Have you got any more pics?

Interesting aside: I've got an auto NL x Big Bud (the old version of critical mass), from World of Seeds - and during veg it really looked like a shitty dumb plant; but after the 3rd week of flower it really has taken off and looks super dank and has a lot more time to go. So; I think this is to say that these strains are pretty resistant and perhaps start off a bit slowly. I don't buy auto seeds but this freebie has impressed me.. if the smoke is amazing I'll look into getting her again.