New Grower Talk to Lenny

[lenbayger]

Nowthen - newbie needs some pointers

Ok folks - this is my first post and my third attempt at this growing lark. I made the decision to try this a couple of months back. My labour of love has been the grow box I've designed and built.


The box now has an oscillating fan, but included is an oil filled radiator and humidifier. It also has an rvk 125 extraction fan connected to a carbon filter. My lighting is one 250w CFL.

My temps are pretty good when lights are on (anywhere between 70 and 80) however when lights are off the heater kicks in on full and temps have dropped at worst below 50.

I have purchased a reptile heat mat and plan to install that before my next attempt. I need to get the control of my environment spot on before my next attempt.

A couple of questions. Should I have the fans running when lights are off? This should retain some heat but I will need to purchase another timer. Also if I have the fans off should I keep the humidifier running? Humidity is a bit of a concern and because RH was dropping below 40 I had to purchase the humidifier. With lights on I can keep RH around 50 when the humidifier is running.

Secondly I think I've come to the conclusion autoflowers don't like transplanting. First time I used root riot and when I moved to big pots growth stopped. Same when I tried in small pots. As soon as I saw roots transferred into 6.5 litre pot and then no more growth.

My medium is coco and this time I'm germinating in paper towels and when popped I'm putting straight into the 6.5's.

Now from here on in I need some guidance. I'm planning to pre rinse the coco with water. I'm using rhizotonic with my water for the first week. Then Cana food if I get that far......

Can someone advise how much I should be watering and how often. I really want this to be third time lucky.

I'm germinating tonight and installing the heat mat. Hopefully get light off temps to 60 - 65 range.

I've previously used a propagator but can't this time as I'm going straight to 6.5's. Is there any thing I can do to help humidity to start with? I've seen some photos where young plants have been covered by an empty soda bottle? Any thoughts?

Also don't know if the 250w CFL is too intense for the early stage, again your advice would be appreciated. As you'll see my box doesn't have great height so limited to how far away I can have the light.

Here is a couple of pics from my first attempt. Like I say growth stopped when transferred into big pots.





Hopefully you guys can help me. Look forward to hearing from you.

Lenny

 

[Root]

Hi Lenny....:stylez rasta smoke:to AFN!

Third Time Is The Charm...You are not alone.

You are right....autos do not like to be transplanted...there are ways to up-pot without transplanting.

Here is some good information about growing Autos...FD's Guide to Growing Hefty Autos in Small Places.


And one of our growers that uses coco will be here to help.

Happy Growing:gthumb:

 

[Son of Hobbes]

Len, I merged your threads and deleted the duplicate posts. Please do not create multiple threads for the same topic; it's against forum policy and it actually makes it harder for members to try to help you because they won't know which thread to respond to or if you've been helped already. It also makes it harder for us to help other members when we have to wade through a bunch of duplicates.

You're not in trouble or anything; just wanted to bring it to your attention so it doesn't happen again bro :Sharing One:

Help on AFN comes very quickly, but it's not always immediate. If you ever feel like something is taking too long or you just need a quick answer, you're more than welcome to come check out the AFN Live Help thread and we can get you taken care of in a jiffy!

Thanks for understanding and appreciate your compliance; and if you have any questions, feel free to ask or PM myself or any of the High Team members. :hug:

 

[wwwillie]

Hey and Welcome!
You have come to the right place my friend! Lots of good and knowledgeable folk about the place and ready to lend a hand! Looks to me like a good start so far. I am not in the know about coco so I'll let someone else take it from here!
I will offer as much positive energy and some :karma Cloud: :karma Cloud: as you need!!
Peace and happy growing.

 

[Son of Hobbes]

My temps are pretty good when lights are on (anywhere between 70 and 80) however when lights are off the heater kicks in on full and temps have dropped at worst below 50.

How much lower than 50 do they get? That's the temperature even with the heater on? That's starting to get pretty cold; the temp range for growing is pretty wide (not talking about optimal temperature here,) but you might start to see some growth slowdown/shock if you start dipping into the 40's. Just something to maybe keep an eye on.

Are you growing in a grow tent? Do you have any ability to insulate the space a bit better to help maintain temperatures and retain heat when it's lights off?

A couple of questions. Should I have the fans running when lights are off? This should retain some heat but I will need to purchase another timer. Also if I have the fans off should I keep the humidifier running? Humidity is a bit of a concern and because RH was dropping below 40 I had to purchase the humidifier. With lights on I can keep RH around 50 when the humidifier is running.

I would keep the fans running with lights off. Air movement is great for the plants; the resistance helps strengthen limbs and branches and promotes healthier plant growth. It also reduces the chance of mold and other pathogens when you've got that humidifier running.

Secondly I think I've come to the conclusion autoflowers don't like transplanting. First time I used root riot and when I moved to big pots growth stopped. Same when I tried in small pots. As soon as I saw roots transferred into 6.5 litre pot and then no more growth.

Correct, auto's don't like to be transplanted. It's generally recommended that you sow your seed in your final pot and do not transplant. One of the disadvantages autos have versus photo's is that with a photo, you have a chance to veg longer to make up for mistakes when the plant is younger. With an auto, you're on a time-line and you have have a limited amount of time to fix mistakes. Common mistake bro; I've stunted more than my fair share by doing the same thing :hug:

As for the coco questions, I don't grow in coco so I'll have to leave that up to one of my comrades; but have you check out this section before?

Forum: Coco

This would be a great place to ask specific coco-related questions! I know RebelRoy and Bromeo are both avid coco users (and mods in that section,) they would be great go-to's for asking your questions to! They're also both very nice guys and would be more than happy to help you get setup!

Hope that helps a bit bro!

 

[Eekman]

Woohoooo

New Boxes, cabs and such. Glad to have you here Len. Hopefully we will get to see some good green growin' here.

If you need anything, just ask.

:Sharing One:

Peace

Eek

 

[lenbayger]

Len, I merged your threads and deleted the duplicate posts. Please do not create multiple threads for the same topic; it's against forum policy and it actually makes it harder for members to try to help you because they won't know which thread to respond to or if you've been helped already. It also makes it harder for us to help other members when we have to wade through a bunch of duplicates.

You're not in trouble or anything; just wanted to bring it to your attention so it doesn't happen again bro :Sharing One:

Help on AFN comes very quickly, but it's not always immediate. If you ever feel like something is taking too long or you just need a quick answer, you're more than welcome to come check out the AFN Live Help thread and we can get you taken care of in a jiffy!

Thanks for understanding and appreciate your compliance; and if you have any questions, feel free to ask or PM myself or any of the High Team members. :hug:

Son of Hobbes ~ sorry dude being using the forum via tapatalk app on my phone and I'm having issues. When I tried to post I was getting an error message and I didn't realise the posts were created.

Anyways think I know the score so no more duplicate postings I promise

Okay well thanks everyone for the pointers so far. I'm going to do a bit of testing with my environment over the next couple of days. May go for double insulation just conscious we're coming into nicer weather. Got the heat matt as well so need to test temps with that installed.

Much appreciate the welcomes and advice from you all. I've come to the right place. Will keep you posted with updates.

Peace.

Lenny

 

[cocolopez]

what happened on the first grows that they failed?

I germed my two autos so far in jiffy pellets and just put that right in the soil after they got to the third true leaf set. Didn't notice ill effects, but don't know if that counts as transplanting. I've dealt with cold temps in my grow space. The strain I have seems very tolerant though.

Start training early to grow horizontal instead of vertical if vertical space is an issue.

 

[lenbayger]

I germed my two autos so far in jiffy pellets and just put that right in the soil after they got to the third true leaf set. Didn't notice ill effects, but don't know if that counts as transplanting. I've dealt with cold temps in my grow space. The strain I have seems very tolerant though.

Start training early to grow horizontal instead of vertical if vertical space is an issue.[/QUOTE]

I don't know if I transplanted too early. My first attempt with the root riot cubes I had long tap roots showing so I moved them. The second set of leaves had only just started to show. Anyway once transplanted no real growth after that.

How do you train horizontal?

Peace.

Lenny

 

[lenbayger]

I germed my two autos so far in jiffy pellets and just put that right in the soil after they got to the third true leaf set. Didn't notice ill effects, but don't know if that counts as transplanting. I've dealt with cold temps in my grow space. The strain I have seems very tolerant though.

Start training early to grow horizontal instead of vertical if vertical space is an issue.[/QUOTE]

I don't know if I transplanted too early. My first attempt with the root riot cubes I had long tap roots showing so I moved them. The second set of leaves had only just started to show. Anyway once transplanted no real growth after that.

How do you train horizontal?

Peace.

Lenny