Please Help Me! First Grow, Big Trouble!

So, here is a brief rundown of what I am working with:

I have made a stealth cabinet from an old Filing Cabinet (50"H, 15"W, 27"D) lined with mylar for reflectivity. I have an incoming fan close to the plants and an outgoing fan at the top of the cabinet with a carbon filter. I think I am good here.

Lights 42W 2700k bulbs (plenty for the plants)

I am trying to grow Autoflower strains (AK48 and White Dwarf).

My leaves are turning brown and dying and the leaves are pointing downward indicating over watering. The plants are now not getting any worse, but do not appear to be growing after I started waiting longer in between watering. I believe this is due to poor soil composition that is causing water to retain in the bottom of the pots and never drying out. It appears that I need to change to a better soil. (The soil I am using has no nutes at all)

I have a few questions if everyone doesn't mind helping.

1. Using Autoflower strains, should I be using 42W 2700K lights, or start with 23W 6500k lights for the first few weeks?
2. Are the plants salvageable? I don't know if plants can stall and rebound or not. Currently they are not getting any worse, but appear to not be growing either.
3. I am wanting to replant with new soil, possibly Fox Farms Ocean Forest and see if that helps.
4. Should I use veg nutes for the first few weeks and then move to Big Bloom after they grow for a few weeks?

I am sure this may raise more questions, so please let me know what I am leaving out if it will help.

Thanks.

You don't seem to have posted any pics, pics will help a lot in getting some answers.
Also mention what soil your using now, and if nutes were used during your troubles.
If your drainage is as bad you say, that needs to change. A wet bottom in the pot invites root rot.

I have now replanted with Fox Farms Ocean Forest with great drainage. When I transplanted, the root growth was very small and on the brown side. The soil was very wet at the bottom of the pot. I am now hoping for a rebound in growth. I would like to salvage them if possible since seeds are a little expensive. I also watered them after replanting and watered with water with a splash of peroxide to help with the root rot/poor root growth.

Is there anything else that I should do?

Thanks.

less is more, usually. sounds like you identified a major problem and corrected. see what happens over the next several days

Yeah, I am hoping for survival, but prepared to germ some seeds if not. I figure I should see some improvement in a week or so if they are going to rebound.

I think I rushed it a little bit and didn't take the time to find local shops that really have what I needed rather than making due with general gardening supplies. I am now set up with good nutes and good soil and have hopefully learned from these noob mistakes. It has set me back a few weeks, but hopefully I am on track now. Plus, I have a cool local shop with anything I would need along the way.

Not to mention this site which helps a lot!

Thanks for your input, growone!

I'll post pics if I start seeing improvements!

Thanks for the help, growone! That was obviously the issue I was having. They are growing like they should and have some real good color now. So, it looks like they are saved.

Appreciate the help!

thnx for updating! it's real good when a problem gets resolved AND a message that updates. big help to others out there that struggle with these problems for the 1st time

I'm also on my first cfl grow. In one of the stickies it mentions that 2700K is best for flowering and 6500K is best for the vegetative stage. That could be part of the problem.

Just got back from a 2 day trip and they are both looking incredible. They have doubled in growth in the past 2 days.

Yeah, I wasn't for sure about the lumens. I am growing 2 autoflower strains (AK48 and White Dwarf) and wasn't sure since they were autoflower, if they would do okay with the 2700k bulbs. I am happy now that things are growing like they should.

I'll keep you posted on how things are going.

Thanks for the input and advice.

Well, I thought I would put in an update to the progress being made...this time, even with pictures!!

Looks like the root rot is taken care of and they are growing great! Adding more light this week.

I have had to modify the cabinet for the time being to take the drawer above out of the picture so I can slide them out and water them. Trying to think of what exactly to do, I'll update when I figure it out. Trying to keep it stealth and it isn't right now, but in a locked closet in a locked room.

When I transplanted them, I had 1 set of leaves on both plants about a half dollar size leaves. Not much root and brown at that. The stalks look good and sturdy, TONS of growth, no stretching. Looking good.

plants look good, nice and compact! i have had the same issue with stealth to some extent. i've opted for ease of access instead of making it a pain to tend to my plant. if you create a stealth situation where your plants can't grow, what's the point.

Yeah, that is what I have ran into. I need to be able to tend to the plants, or what is the point? I have a few ideas for bringing the stealth back, but the plants are taking precedence right now.

The plants are growing at an incredible rate. I will post pics after while. I have a couple leaf burn spots where they grew into the lights overnight. All in all, things are going well. They started to flower this week and the buds are starting to grow. I have been feeding with FF Big Bloom every other watering, following their charts.

I am real happy with this grow to this point. I can't believe how well the plants have rebounded from the root rot, I thought they were gonna be goners!

I am also gonna start some seeds this week so I can get started on a harvest every month (using 8 week Autoflower strains). I'm tired of the hassle and cost of buying and am ready to start reaping the benefits.

Later,

Here are some pics of the progress. If you see any brown spots, it is because they grow faster than I can adjust the lights.

Buds look good, starting to get anxious!!!

progress indeed! for a cheap chamber you might make a 'tent' of aluminum foil - cheap but effective
will get a lot more effective light with the reflection - could paint it white for a less 'hot spot' reflection

sweet cabinet!!! nice grow too!

peace

I find it so funny folks will go so out of thier way to hide pot. Then take pics because they are proud of thier work. "proud of thier work", that right there says alot! Also one would think that if things went bad, and the fuzz though you were dealing. Then all these pics would just add problems. But really its all for a good cause and as always i love to see such creativity. The only time i bitch is when i see an obviuos fire hazard and nobody says shit. We are all smarter than that, and after trying to grow pot, you'll learn that vegetables are the same way. I gurantee you get far more education than the bean plant in grade school. If not a good refresher. Its not at all bad to undersrtand what you eat, and in this case, smoke.

i hear you loud and clear on fire hazard, that was my 1st priority
i made my grow chamber out of metal - all metal with some ceramic sockets
the extension cord is a first alert which can sense a breakdown in the cord insulation and shut off power in a millisecond or so

So much more than pot to learn here, it just happens to be a good motivator. Ha isn't that contradictory to common belief.

Witchadidja said:

Well, I thought I would put in an update to the progress being made...this time, even with pictures!!

Looks like the root rot is taken care of and they are growing great! Adding more light this week.

I have had to modify the cabinet for the time being to take the drawer above out of the picture so I can slide them out and water them. Trying to think of what exactly to do, I'll update when I figure it out. Trying to keep it stealth and it isn't right now, but in a locked closet in a locked room.

When I transplanted them, I had 1 set of leaves on both plants about a half dollar size leaves. Not much root and brown at that. The stalks look good and sturdy, TONS of growth, no stretching. Looking good.

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slick fucking grow box yo . only if you had an office they wouldnt even know just dont get caught smoking it lol

nellyatcha said:

slick fucking grow box yo . only if you had an office they wouldnt even know just dont get caught smoking it lol

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Are you going to flower in that box? Those plants will double in size when you go 12/12.