Rookie grower

[Turtley26]

so I have a number of questions and things related to this hobby. Firstly I did grow some plants earlier this year, by this time last grow my plants wear 2-3xs bigger. They didn't do amazingly, though they started off better than this second attempt. I planted sour diesel and critical gorilla glue seeds on the 20th of September. It is currently week 5 of the grow. I have one sour diesel that is maybe 2 inches tall, maybe. have 2 "SD" that are about 4", while I have gorilla glue "GG" that are roughly the same height. Now I have uad some issues with pests, and I over watered as well. But these plants were small before that happened especially the "SD3" that sucker is tiny. But i have no idea what I have done to stunt these plants. Other than over watering. So firstly a description, the light I have is a blurple 1000w LED, that has been roughly 3ft from the plants (maybe too high), though i did research and most places said that was acceptable, on a 20 and 4 schedule. Potting medium is peatmoss with some slow release fertilizer, (its all i could get, not sure if that is the issue) in a 14l pot. Good drainage with perlite, and holes drilled, by me, to allow more air and water flow. I ph to around 6 to 7 most commonly 6. I have been having a time with humidity, (30% RH) since its winter and winter is dry where i live,(Saskatchewan canada). Now I've been fertilizing 1/2 strength ish, and up until I over watered the leaves were healthy with no signs of discolouration. These pictures were taken Monday, and the leaves have turned a bit yellow since then, I believe due to the water issue. But I have been drying these pots out for a while now. To counter the over watering issue. My first grow had peat moss with perlite no slow release fertilizer, unkown ph likely too acidic too much nutreints, higher humidity and smaller pots. Now that the stage is set the questions begin. Firstly at what height should that ligh be, some sites said 4ft as a seedling, then 3-2ft during veg? I did 30inches last time and this time. But i would like a definite answer. Secondly are these pots too big? Now again the sites I have looked at say 6-15l are fine. Thirdly, this one i can't find an answer any where, but does humidity matter all that much? Does it really need to be in the 45-50% range, or does accessible soil water matter more? Fourthly, this is more outbof curiosity for me. But do autoflowers really finish within 6-9 weeks, or can that number vary? My last one took 12 weeks but I chalked it up to being a beginner. Now lastly, (for this message at least) should i start over? Keep in mind that all these plants are 5 weeks old, all are less that six inches, one is mabye 2 inches tall. I am just lost at what to do. Like I said the first grow I did, was doing better much better by week 5.

sorry for the long post, I just have a lot of questions, and need advice from experienced people. But any advice regarding this would be very useful, and appreciated.
sincerely turtley26

 

[MesaBoogie]

Hey Welcome to AFN. You're in the right place for autoflowers. I'm from Saskatchewan as well so I know the humidity issues. 30% RH obviously isn't that great but you can grow in it. I've used humidifiers and got it to around 50% RH but that got rather old filling humidifiers every day. So I switched to a CoCo Coir medium that way I can water all the time without worry of over watering and it helps bring up the RH with constantly damp soil. CoCo is it's own chore in itself too mind you. If you ever want to try it out just send me a msg and I'll run you though the basics of growing in it.

As for you light, it probably isn't 1000w even though it was advertised as such. It's probably 100-300 watts. Sort of important to know the actual wattage your growing with. What brand is it ? You could probably drop that down to 28 inches right now without issue. Maybe do it in 2 steps and just watch the plants make sure the edges of the leaves dont start curling up. They are pretty small for their age but I can't see any sign of them showing sex yet. So that's good news. What sort of slow release nutes are you using ? I think a big part of why you plants are behind might be watering practices. It's also a bit of a big swing between 6-7 PH. I would keep it around 6.3 to 6.5 in peat. Sunshine mix or promix by chance ? What breeder did you get your seeds from ?

Finding good soil here without bugs has been a chore. Canadian tire, rona, home depot ect don't even bother. All the smaller bags they sell have small little holes down the side of the bags for aeration, and because at some point they will be stored outside they all seem to have bugs. The big bales of Sunshine mix#4 and PRo Mix HP are 100% sealed and I've never had issue. I go to early's seed and feed for mine (S'toon). As I've mentioned I've now switched to coco though.

 

[Arthur]

I second sunshine #4.

Temps and rH can play a very big part in size of plant. I no longer bother planting autos outside here as temps are too high, and rH too low... I'll end up with 6 to 8 inch plants... give them 2 weeks inside, then move out, and no issues...

I grew photos for a long time, and now have run autos for about 4 yrs, autos are the harder plant to grow well... photos you can let vegitate until the size is reached you'd like to begin flower, then flip the lights.

Autos need a really smooth first 2 to 3 weeks if larger plants are the goal. That means temps under LED 75 to 82* and a comparable rH for the stage of growth of the plant.

Low light levels normally will have plants stretching for light, so while not a fan of blurple, it doesn't seem to play a significant role here.

 

[Arthur]

A correlation of temps & rH. Best growth you'll find under LED 75 to 82. HPS 68 to 75 would be my target due to the higher levels of infrared.

 

[Turtley26]

Nice to see a saskatchewanian reply to this. I didnt expect that. I bought multiple bags of promix peat. So whatever the slow release they put in those bags. As for watering how dry should the soil be? Completely bone dry, or dry 1" below surface? I didn't expect magic with this grow, but i did hope that it would be "better" than my haphazard first grow. Its definitely not.

 

[MesaBoogie]

I'm in a bit over my head here with the promix and the slow release. I'll do my best though. I tried promix HP (no nutrients in that one) and it was a pretty big fail trying to grow autoflowers in it. It would hold moisture way to long and I had a terrible time trying to water it. It wasn't a big problem with photo period plants where you can start in small pots and work your way up as the plant grows and roots take up the water faster. I ended up with really stunted plants looking like yours. If I was to try it again I would stuff a ton of perlite into the mix to help with aeration. Your next issue is you're using a slow release nutrient that wasn't designed for cannabis and autoflowers. It will be feeding the wrong nutrients at the wrong time for your plant.

One big thing to remember as a new grower and I'm sure you are researching a ton of information is always make sure you're comparing apples to apples. Your going to get a ton of great information from experienced to novice growers. But a lot of it wont apply to you unless they are specifically talking peat and autoflowers. Stick with AFN here , a lot of smart guys here that will help and really know the autoflower scene like no other.

@Garage_Grower maybe you can help ? Pretty sure I saw you rocking some nice Auto's in promix. He grows in a similar environment as well.

 

[Garage_Grower]

Hey @Turtley26 Welcome to AFN!

Im from Northern Alberta, so I’m dealing with the cold temps and low humidity as well, it can be pretty extreme at times but we make do! I have been growing in Promix HP for about a year now, and find it pretty easy to work with. The “fertilizer” it has mixed in it, is only enough for the first 5-7 days of the plants life. I usually precharge/presoak my pots with about 200ppm of fertilizer, then let the pots drain/warm up for a couple days in the grow cabinet before I will pop a seed into them. You will need to add nutrients of your choice though, not sure what you have available to you. I keep a humidifier going for the first couple weeks in the cabinet, plugged into an Inkbird controller set at 65-70%. Just turn the exhaust fan off for the first week and it’s easy to keep the humidity up. Then Ill just keep my exhaust fan on low until the plants start transpiring enough on their own to keep the humidity up without the need of the humidifier. Highly recommend trying to keep the temps and humidity up for the first few weeks if you can (24°c+, 60-70%rh).

Answers to your questions:
1: Start the light at 30-36”, if plants get too lanky then you need to lower it. 24-30” veg, 18-24” flower.
2: I’ve grown in 4-20L pots with no issues with any of the sizes. Just need to be more wary with early waterings in larger pots.
3. Humidity does matter, stay in line with a VPD chart if you can.
4. Fastest seed to harvest for me was 63 days, longest was 15.7 weeks.