Grow Mediums Newbie needing help :-(

[wushustyle]

First off hello to all on A.F.N :-D

Right, so a good friend of mine decided to start an autoflower grow (Berry Bomb), 2 days after germinating he had an unexpected call to go offshore and brought me what he had before rushing off. So now out of nowhere I have a stealth closet grow going on and really needed some expertise as he will be away for a few months now.

He has brought me a 150w UFO L.E.D light and a pot with 3 seedlings, they have been on the go for a week now but not really 100% if they're doing well, I myself am more of a chilli grower, never dealt with cheeba before.

I have uploaded a few pictures to take a look at from seedling to day 8 (08/07), also included a quick snap of the roots if that helps at all......

 

[namvet25]

They look fine to me except you should not have three in the same pot.I will move your post to our hydro sec and some one will help you there.

 

[wushustyle]

Yes this was one of my main concerns as well, I think they are going to struggle to get even lighting - Thanks for the reply anyway and I'll check out some of the other threads on the forum and do some reading

 

[Wienerwoods]

The leaf curling looks like stress to the roots in that a seedling I recently had got attacked by ants (or the soil did, not so much the plant itself), and developed the same symptom. But don't take my word for it.
Oh and three plants in one pot? Someone got a little lazy with studying there...

Overall they're looking just fine. Good luck!

 

[wushustyle]

I don't think the 3 in 1 pot was intentional, my friend who dropped them off didn't have any time, I should have moved them to seperate pots before I set everything up but I guess what's done is done now. I will be updating pics as things progress anyway so I can get the best help I can with these babies

 

[epenguin]

Welcome wushu, If it were I would attempt to separate them but other may disagree.
Enjoy your new hobby (even if it was forced upon you,lol) and don't be afraid to ask any question. We were all newbies once. I still am.
Keep in touch, eP.

 

[wushustyle]

Thanks epenguin, this had entered my head untill I took a look at the roots, don't think I would dare risk damaging them. I could try and maybe get at the smaller of the 3 as I feel that one may get overshadowed in weeks to come. What would be the best way to try and seperate them if I do decide to

 

[epenguin]

If you do decide, do it the sooner the better. Cut the pot away with strong scissors, dampen the soil, lay on a table top and gently start teasing apart and removing soil. You will probably loose a bit of root but if you are gentle and take your time (think of making love to a penguin) you will then be able to re-pot them. Do all three. Two in a pot will not work.
Good luck. If it does not work out, blame someone else. Got any pets ???

cheers, eP.

 

[wushustyle]

Not using soil, the pot is filled with clay pebbles which is even more worrying for me if the roots are tangled up with them. I will have to take out as many of the pebbles as I can from the pot and see what the damage is, really wasn't expecting this much growth in just a week.

Now I did have another question, I currently have the light on 24hr cycle, would it hurt it to switch to 18/6. There are no pets in my household penguin as well..

 

[Grey Bear]

Either kill the two smallest or try to separate them. Otherwise none of them will do well and you might end up with less than if you had done only one.
It isn't too late to separate them at this size.
This is what I would do.

Get a big bowl and fill with water.
Take net pot and gently place in water until the hydroton pebbles begin to float. (not all of them will, but many will)
You can slowly began to remove the ones that don't sink.
when you get most of the hydroton away from the roots, see if you can separate them with VERY gentle tugging of the roots.
If they wont separate, make a judgement and cut the root clustering each plant from each other.
Gently dip the separated "rootball" several times in fresh water or rinse gently under faucet to remove what broken or cut roots you can.
the put a few layers of hyroton down place the roots on it and gently add more hydroton on top until roots are covered and net pot is full.

This will probably mean a slight setback, maybe a few days.
But then they should grow like normal, each in their own pot.