Grow Mediums Roots getting too big for bucket

[komach]

She looks real nice in those pics Joe, however I don't see a main/top cola? Was she topped or supercropped or anything? That's a sure fire way to slow auto's down, could explain the slow development
Edit: roots look fine as well mate, it's easy to worry about them when you see they are not perfectly white. Chances are by the end of a grow, or even just a few weeks in, the roots higher up and around the netpot will start to change colour slightly depending on your nutes and due to their age.. It's nothing to worry about but had me scared on my first DWC run! Just watch out for slimes forming on any roots and strong discolouration, blacks reds pinks etc, those are your warning signs.

+++ to that and you always can do, as I did (made bigger bucket now plenty space for the roots )

 

[Surfer Joe]

She looks real nice in those pics Joe, however I don't see a main/top cola? Was she topped or supercropped or anything? That's a sure fire way to slow auto's down, could explain the slow development

Edit: roots look fine as well mate, it's easy to worry about them when you see they are not perfectly white. Chances are by the end of a grow, or even just a few weeks in, the roots higher up and around the netpot will start to change colour slightly depending on your nutes and due to their age.. It's nothing to worry about but had me scared on my first DWC run! Just watch out for slimes forming on any roots and strong discolouration, blacks reds pinks etc, those are your warning signs.

Thanks. The roots are lovely in the bottom where they seem to have formed a big inverted bowl shape to catch the air from the airstones. The only discoloration was right at the top on some of the older roots.
I never topped the plant, but when the main cola was getting too tall, I tied it over just to keep it at the same height as the rest of the plant. Then all of the other branches started shooting up to make all the tops seen in the photo.
Are those going to be colas now or just side branches with lesser bud development?
I was advised never to fim an auto since their life spans are too short to recover well from it.

 

[Pal23]

Thanks. The roots are lovely in the bottom where they seem to have formed a big inverted bowl shape to catch the air from the airstones. The only discoloration was right at the top on some of the older roots.
I never topped the plant, but when the main cola was getting too tall, I tied it over just to keep it at the same height as the rest of the plant. Then all of the other branches started shooting up to make all the tops seen in the photo.
Are those going to be colas now or just side branches with lesser bud development?
I was advised never to fim an auto since their life spans are too short to recover well from it.

When you tie the main cola down it causes the others to fight for dominance, which is why there are so many rising to the top. Because the canopy is so flat you can have your lights closer and in turn hopefully yield more..they all have the potential to be big thick colas like the main one if they are receiving the right amount of light, the bud sites further away from the light will be less quality than those sitting directly under.
and yeah most people advise against topping fimming or any high stress training for autos as it slows development down substantially. However I am seeing it more often these days, especially in hydro because of the extra growing power they can recover easier than soil/coco. I think it's a good idea for everyone to experiment with techniques on a few plants - really is the best way to wrap your head around it..for example I wasn't sure about how much topping an auto would slow it down so i topped one of my 32oz comp plants, she took almost three weeks longer than her sister and still wasn't fully matured when she got chopped.

 

[Budson420]

sorry for the off topic post but i do have to butt in here because WOW shes a beauty man congrates, that even canopy is some eye candy!
I'm all for a nice even canopys just looks "better" in a way, nice nice plant man i'd be stocked to have that grow under my belt :Sharing One:

 

[Surfer Joe]

When you tie the main cola down it causes the others to fight for dominance, which is why there are so many rising to the top. Because the canopy is so flat you can have your lights closer and in turn hopefully yield more..they all have the potential to be big thick colas like the main one if they are receiving the right amount of light, the bud sites further away from the light will be less quality than those sitting directly under.

Thanks, that's very encouraging to know. I figured that there would be one fat cola and the rest just branches with some buds on them. If I don't kill the plant, I could wind up with a nice harvest!
This is only my second grow, and I nearly killed my plants in my first grow using soil, so I'm not counting my chicken until they hatch.
I was reading a hydro grow where some poor guy found his plants all dead after 60 days and that was so sad.

How low can one keep the light? I have a 600W dual spectrum bulb in an air-cooled reflector and the reflector glass is about 8 or 9 inches above the tops, with the actual bulb about another 2 inches inside the reflector.
I notice that the pistils on the top buds are a bit more shrivelled than those further down the stems. Does that mean that they are burning?

 

[komach]

Thanks, that's very encouraging to know. I figured that there would be one fat cola and the rest just branches with some buds on them. If I don't kill the plant, I could wind up with a nice harvest!
This is only my second grow, and I nearly killed my plants in my first grow using soil, so I'm not counting my chicken until they hatch.
I was reading a hydro grow where some poor guy found his plants all dead after 60 days and that was so sad.

How low can one keep the light? I have a 600W dual spectrum bulb in an air-cooled reflector and the reflector glass is about 8 or 9 inches above the tops, with the actual bulb about another 2 inches inside the reflector.
I notice that the pistils on the top buds are a bit more shrivelled than those further down the stems. Does that mean that they are burning?

Measure the temp at the top and you know it for 100%

 

[Surfer Joe]

What temps at the flowering tops would be best to avoid burn? I put the back of my hand next to them and it feels ok, but there is a little warmth.
Also, is it worth to burn the tops a little to get more light to the lower parts?

 

[komach]

Read this

 

[pop22]

I think you'll be okay bro, the majority of dwc plants literally fill the bucket with their root mass so that root ball get even bigger yet, the odd root getting damaged shouldn't cause any problems but just watch for adverse affects above the net pot and monitor your ph and ec. Obviously be as careful as you can when performing res changes but there were a few times my root ball got bashed around due to limited space and everything worked out okay. The plant in the pic looks nice and healthy so don't worry TOO much. any chance you could remove the heater? Not sure if it's a necessity as the water temp should be around 20 degrees. :smokebuds:

p.s if you feel like the 20L buckets are gonna restrict growth you could try setting up a bigger tank, i've seen 50/60L tanks being used for one plant but most people get by with the buckets

I decided for my first grow, to use a bigger res. I'm using a 18 gallon tote with about 12 gallons ( 45 liters ) of water. Temps are actually easier to control as temps rise more slowly so you can adjust before it gets too hot. And as long as your res has lots of air, you can go longer between res changes. I learned from another site that if you leave an airspace of at least an inch between the bottom of the pots and the water level, your roots get more oxygen and will likely have less root infection problems. That's the way I'm trying it anyway. Good luck with this grow. seems like your doing fine so far!