First Post Auto-flower

[ducky777]

I am new to the site and have not grown in years. I used to do aeroponics / dwc, I am doing aero again / dwc. I have a 1000w ( actually 400-600 according to info) king plus led, 6 inch ac infinity fan, 6" inline booster fan, intermittent timer for pump ( 1 minute on 3 minutes off), vivosun 6" oscillating fan, 48"x48"x80 grow tent, vivosun 6" air carbon filter, hydroton, flora series general hydroponics, ph testing kit, rapid rooters, 3" net pots, 360 degree misters, 400 gph pump. 1 gallon ultrasonic cool mist humidifier, and 4 inch air stone with pump. My temperature runs around 80-81 constantly, and my humidity is around 40-45 with lights on and 50-70 with lights off. I am currently running 18/6. Lights off during the day for those 6 hours. I germinated and planted straight into rapid rooters and put into system ( i know i should have got a dome and let roots come out first but I did not). They are around 1-1/2 weeks old but they are completely different in sizes, there roots are growing through the rapid rooters so they are growing. They are Auto-flowers Northern lights x cream. I have not seen any reviews where anyone grew this strain. I'm wondering why the size difference and if any possible nutrient deficiency because some of the leaves on the little ones are down ( possibly cal mag deficiency ?). This is my first run doing auto-flowers. Got 5 seeds, 6 germinated, one started then stopped and one did not germinate at all. So 5 plants total, 18 gallon tote, I have an extra 18 gallon and a 27 gallon if needed. Nutes are 1/4 strength since it is auto ( i know some people recommend no nutes).

Thank you!

 

[ducky777]

Light is 24" above the top of the plants I started with 30" and moved down a couple days ago to 24" (2ft).

 

[BurnzYzBudZz]

Welcome. Happy grows. Be careful over feeding auto flowers. They tend to be light feeders. Start with a low ppm and read your plants. Once you see no signs of stress, slowly up the ppms.
Burnz

*edited
I say this because I see signs of stress already. It may have been from when you moved your light closer. Farther away is better in veg, work the lights closer as they flower.

 

[LittleDabbie]

Welcme to the farm!

 

[ducky777]

Welcome. Happy grows. Be careful over feeding auto flowers. They tend to be light feeders. Start with a low ppm and read your plants. Once you see no signs of stress, slowly up the ppms.
Burnz

*edited
I say this because I see signs of stress already. It may have been from when you moved your light closer. Farther away is better in veg, work the lights closer as they flower.

Thank you. I went ahead and moved the light back to 30" away. Will see if that helps. Using general hydroponics flora series i used 1/4 tsp micro per gallon, 1/4 tsp gro per gallon, and 1/2 tsp bloom per gallon. I found this schedule for autoflowers on a site. I do not have a ppm reader or exact ph meter. Im going to get one soon though.

 

[Moshmen]

Thank you. I went ahead and moved the light back to 30" away. Will see if that helps. Using general hydroponics flora series i used 1/4 tsp micro per gallon, 1/4 tsp gro per gallon, and 1/2 tsp bloom per gallon. I found this schedule for autoflowers on a site. I do not have a ppm reader or exact ph meter. Im going to get one soon though.

Your gonna want the meters ASAP! Sounds like ur feeding a lot but without numbers it’s hard to tell but plants look stressed for sure I’d lighten up on the feed

 

[ducky777]

Since I moved the lights up 3 have continued growing nicely, for some reason the other two are at a standstill with growing leaves but there roots are still growing through the rapid rooter and towards the dwc water. Any ideas on why the two would be growing so differently? I read about genetics and seeds causing plants to grow differently even if they are the same strain. They are all supposed to be the same strain, at least the roots are white and growing and maybe just the leaves will come later with these two. Thank you!

 

[One drop]

G'day welcome to the farm enjoy the site happy growing regards OD.

 

[ducky777]

Your gonna want the meters ASAP! Sounds like ur feeding a lot but without numbers it’s hard to tell but plants look stressed for sure I’d lighten up on the feed

Went and got a ppm and ph meter. PPM is around 515 and ph is 6.2. Thank you for the help.

 

[todoriri]

Went and got a ppm and ph meter. PPM is around 515 and ph is 6.2. Thank you for the help.

Nice setup :)

Your PH seems a bit on the upper end but I am not sure if that could cause the symptoms here.
What scale does your EC meter use? Can you convert PPM to EC for clarity?
Is your fan maybe blowing right into them?
Are they dark green? They look overfed but it might be from the light color on the photos.
In veg, I keep my humidity much higher, about 55% and around 60% at night.
From what I have read, with 40% RH, the plant can barely compensate for the evaporation. You might want to check that.

Good luck with it!

 

[Moshmen]

515 ppm-.5 on the ec scale.
Which is a little high I think but should be fine ph again a little high for your medium. Are those runoff numbers?

 

[todoriri]

515 ppm-.5 on the ec scale.
Which is a little high I think but should be fine ph again a little high for your medium. Are those runoff numbers?

That's why I asked the scale the meter uses.
If it's a 500 scale, it equals to 1 EC.
"To get an EC value, multiply the ppm reading by 2 and divide by 1000.
Thus, if your EC is 1:
1*1000/2= 500 ppm.
And if your ppm is 500:
500*2/1000= 1 EC

There is no runoff as far as I understand - DWC/aero

 

[ducky777]

I was reading the ph was supposed to be between 5.5 and 6.5. What do you recommend. These are the meters and solution that I am using. Thank you!

 

[todoriri]

I was reading the ph was supposed to be between 5.5 and 6.5. What do you recommend. These are the meters and solution that I am using. Thank you!

I am not the most experienced here and I have no experience with coco.
This is online


SEEDLING STAGE: The Next 6-10 Days

Day 4	Root Emerges, Jiffy Pellet transferred to seedling pot with pre-fertigated coco/perlite: Coco for Cannabis Seedling Blend: EC 400, pH 6.3
Day 5:	Fertigate once: EC 400, pH 6.3
Day 6:	Fertigate twice: #1 EC 459, pH 6.23; #2 EC 464, pH 6.3
Day 7:	Fertigate twice: #1 EC 544, pH 6.1; #2 EC 612, pH 6.0
Day 8:	Fertigate twice: #1 EC 702, pH 6.2; #2 EC 772, pH 5.9
Day 9:	Plant has two nodes working on third. Fertigate twice: #1 EC 851, pH 6.1; #2 EC 902, pH 6.1
Day 10:	Roots out from the bottom of seedling bag! Fertigate twice: #1 EC 976, pH 6.0; #2 EC 1012 (Full strength), pH 6.2
Day 11:	Plant has three nodes. Transplant to second container: End seedling stage.