First Grow Fumbles: A Grower’s Diary

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Hey fellow growers—whether you're a newbie, experienced, god-level, universe-level, or multiverse-level grower!
This is my first planting diary. I'm growing autoflower strains: Mimosa and Sour Jealousy.

Disclaimer:
1. This is discreet growing (illegal in my country), so I’m only sharing details about the plants, equipment, and environment.
2. Due to high temps and humidity, I couldn’t do much for my first grow. I’ll upgrade my equipment for the next one.
3. I’m not expecting much—just here to learn and finish what I (probably) started wrong.

Equipment:
80x80x160cm grow tent
300W Full Spectrum LED
5-gallon pots
Fan
Humidifier
Dehumidifier
TDS/EC and pH meter
Soil pH meter and water tester

Growing Medium:
Dark Phase: Just bad soil.
After Learning Phase: Mixed organic soil. I combined two types of soil. The first is a mix of compost, beneficial bacteria, and fermented coco peat. The second is a mix of kokudo, kanuma, coco husk, pine bark, perlite, lava rock, pumice, charcoal, and slow-release organic fertilizer. I also added worm castings. The ratio of the three is 1:0.75:0.75.

Progress:
1. Germination (Wet Paper Towel)
Days 1-2: Germination process.
Day 3: Planted in the medium.
Day 4: Sprouts appeared.
Key Lesson: This stage just needs moisture. I handled it pretty well.

2. Seedling
This is where my mistakes started. I got impatient and kept comparing my plants to the pros on Reddit and YouTube. Overwatering, over-fertilizing (I might’ve given them 20-20-20 right after sprouting), light burn, and more. I posted on Reddit on Days 9 and 13, and eventually decided to change the soil.
Key Lesson: I need to chill and give the plants time at this stage. What kind of crazy growth do we expect from seedlings anyway?

3. Early Vegetative (After Re-potting/Changing Soil)
I still don’t know if changing the soil on Day 27 was the right call. I made a huge mistake by damaging more than half of Mimosa’s roots and over three-quarters of Sour Jealousy’s roots. In the picture, I wrote Day 1 and Day 5, meaning since re-potting.
Key Lesson: I made a decision that might’ve been good but was poorly executed. For my next grow, I’ll probably use two pot sizes (small for seedlings/early veg, larger for later) and think more about transplanting. Above all, preparing every stage before starting to grow is crucial, especially choosing soil with enough nutrients and good aeration.

Right now, it’s Day 37 (10 days after re-potting), and I’m committed to going 100% organic. I’ve got worm castings, kelp meal, bone meal, mycorrhizae (on the way), trichoderma (on the way), local organic root and growth boosters, and Ionic Cal-Mag from Growth Technology. My next watering is in about 2-3 days (depending on soil condition and pot weight).

For my last watering, the pH was 5.5 (I now have pH up and down). I’m still using non-organic 30-10-10 NPK, mixed with root booster, growth booster, and Cal-Mag since the worm castings, kelp meal, and bone meal haven’t arrived yet. I’m also switching to water with a PPM of 9 for the next round. My light is currently at 35-40 DLI.

I’d really appreciate any feedback, opinions, or advice, especially about my next watering. I’m planning to top-dress with 4 tbsp of worm castings and 4 tbsp of kelp meal, and mix the water with organic root and growth boosters.

I’ll try to update every week, maybe every 3-7 days.

Thanks a ton in advance!​

 

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Questions:
1. Has anyone experienced growing autoflowers this slowly?
2. Is topping still possible? Or should I just let them grow as they are?​

 

[Smokie08]

Questions:
1. Has anyone experienced growing autoflowers this slowly?
2. Is topping still possible? Or should I just let them grow as they are?​

I’m just now growing autos my self.. through my information I research and leaned on here is don’t mess with them unless u wanna do some light low stress training… I’ve seen multiple people do different things but I’m just going to let mine grow and just move leaves and branches that are blocking the bud sites…

 

[Smokie08]

Questions:
1. Has anyone experienced growing autoflowers this slowly?
2. Is topping still possible? Or should I just let them grow as they are?​

They do seem kinda slow growing… temp humidity how far is your light away

 

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I’m just now growing autos my self.. through my information I research and leaned on here is don’t mess with them unless u wanna do some light low stress training… I’ve seen multiple people do different things but I’m just going to let mine grow and just move leaves and branches that are blocking the bud sites…

They do seem kinda slow growing… temp humidity how far is your light away

Got it, first advice on not topping and/or lst. Light is 18 inch from top canopy.

 

[Smokie08]

Got it, first advice on not topping and/or lst. Light is 18 inch from top canopy.

Could have just stunned them a little with the nute burn and also when transplanted… autos suppose to end in the same spot they start… let me add again this is just from the information I’ve been learning… just remember they are weeds they will grow and most plants die from to much love then not enough

 

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Could have just stunned them a little with the nute burn and also when transplanted… autos suppose to end in the same spot they start… let me add again this is just from the information I’ve been learning… just remember they are weeds they will grow and most plants die from to much love then not enough

Well said brother. Hope they pull through.

 

[figolus]

Hi, I have the same growbox as you.and using a led panel of 250w which I use at 70% of its power .300w seems too powerful to me , my opinion... do you dim your LED panel or is it at maximum power?

 

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Hi, I have the same growbox as you.and using a led panel of 250w which I use at 70% of its power .300w seems too powerful to me , my opinion... do you dim your LED panel or is it at maximum power?

My current light isn’t dimmable, so I calculate PPFD and DLI using Photone, and it’s been working for me so far. I’ve already ordered a dimmable light with a better spectrum, though, to prepare for the flowering stage.​

 

[figolus]

My current light isn’t dimmable, so I calculate PPFD and DLI using Photone, and it’s been working for me so far. I’ve already ordered a dimmable light with a better spectrum, though, to prepare for the flowering stage.​

and you manage the heat?

 

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and you manage the heat?

Not yet. Right now, I have a 4-inch fan for intake and a 5-inch fan for exhaust. But I’ve ordered a 1/2 PK window AC. In my experience with those two, high temps haven’t been a big issue from seedling to vegetative stages—just slightly slower growth, maybe because I also have high humidity here. I’m preparing better lighting and AC for flowering, though, because I really don’t want high temps during flowering (slow bud growth, loose buds, and more issues). My first grow was a mess from day one, so I want to make things better for the rest of their stages and for my next grow.​

 

[figolus]

When growing, they like humidity; it's in the flow that humidity will pose a problem.
I'm thinking more of an excess of light that would slow growth and too much water during watering.

When you can manage the intensity of the light, they will be less hot.

 

[RoadKillSkunkHunt]

Questions:
1. Has anyone experienced growing autoflowers this slowly?
2. Is topping still possible? Or should I just let them grow as they are?​

Autoflowers are not for topping, especially yours as slow as they are growing. You would certainly decrease your yield.

You should be experiencing faster growth. Something is off/out of parameter. They should be bigger than that. What's your soil pH? Your light? Your environmental numbers?

 

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When growing, they like humidity; it's in the flow that humidity will pose a problem.
I'm thinking more of an excess of light that would slow growth and too much water during watering.

When you can manage the intensity of the light, they will be less hot.

This is so true. In fact, they need light intensity to be gradually adjusted based on their growth phase—maybe 50% for seedlings, 75% for vegetative, and gradually increasing to 100% in the first week of flowering.​

 

[figolus]

Autoflowers are not for topping, especially yours as slow as they are growing. You would certainly decrease your yield.

You should be experiencing faster growth. Something is off/out of parameter. They should be bigger than that. What's your soil pH? Your light? Your environmental numbers?

I'm not an auto flow pro, but I've seen some who cut the apex at 15 days of growth with auto seeds from Fastbud....it was really nice

 

[RoadKillSkunkHunt]

I'm not an auto flow pro, but I've seen some who cut the apex at 15 days of growth with auto seeds from Fastbud....it was really nice

I've grown more than a few. The ones I have grown go straight through their growth cycles rather quickly. You top them, you lose yield. The plant doesn't replace the cut vegetation. It's simply gone. Now think how much more those plants on Fastbud would have been if they left the mainstem intact and instead used LST to even out the branches? Those plants you're calling nice would have had an even larger yield.

 

[figolus]

I've grown more than a few. The ones I have grown go straight through their growth cycles rather quickly. You top them, you lose yield. The plant doesn't replace the cut vegetation. It's simply gone. Now think how much more those plants on Fastbud would have been if they left the mainstem intact and instead used LST to even out the branches? Those plants you're calling nice would have had an even larger yield.

Like I said, I'm not a autoflow pro, when I tried... I messed up It was the biggest failure of my grower life.

 

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Autoflowers are not for topping, especially yours as slow as they are growing. You would certainly decrease your yield.

You should be experiencing faster growth. Something is off/out of parameter. They should be bigger than that. What's your soil pH? Your light? Your environmental numbers?

The second piece of advice is not to top, so I think I won’t top her. I believe their slow growth is due to me damaging their roots when changing the soil. Right now, their growth is pretty good with healthy physical characteristics, especially the Mimosa. As for Sour Jealousy, with so many damaged roots, it’s probably not growing as fast as the Mimosa. I’ll update their condition in this thread in 2-3 days. The light is now at 35 DLI and 18 inches from the canopy. Soil pH is 7.0, temp is 91°F, and RH is 67%.​

 

[RoadKillSkunkHunt]

Like I said, I'm not a autoflow pro, when I tried... I messed up

I will say this about autoflowers. Once upon a time, I wouldn't touch them. Inferior yield. Inferior bud strength. They have come a long ways since then and some are extremely high yielding and extremely potent.

 

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I've grown more than a few. The ones I have grown go straight through their growth cycles rather quickly. You top them, you lose yield. The plant doesn't replace the cut vegetation. It's simply gone. Now think how much more those plants on Fastbud would have been if they left the mainstem intact and instead used LST to even out the branches? Those plants you're calling nice would have had an even larger yield.

Couldn’t agree more. So, with autos, it’s more about considering how much time they have left before we try experimenting with them, right?​