New Grower To auto or not to auto that is the question

[perceptivejoe]

Good day to everyone, nice to be accepted into the forum and am interested in learning more. So, I’ve started my first grow, in my homemade grow tent (trying to cut costs) that’s made out of Mylar. In the tent I currently have 1 Critical Purple from growers choice and 1 clone of a Photo Blue Dream. If any would like to comment I thank you for your time. Now on the Critical I realized I over watered since I didn’t need to water again for 12 days, yeah I know lol, saturated the pot on the first watering , and the blue dream was planted about 2 weeks after the Autoflower.
Currently the Critical Purple is on week 5 and does seem stunted, the blue dream clone is doing well and on week 3 . Grown in Foxfarm Ocean Forest with added worm castings and pearlite to help the soil dry and help the plant roots to breathe. Now at this stage I am giving nutes (the foxfarm top 3) and both are getting about 1Qt water ph’d at usually 6.5. The Temp is around 75 deg and RH is between 58-70 (I’ve ordered a sensor switch to normalize things) and that’s where I am to date. For light I’m using a Samsung diode LED full spectrum 600w panel and currently sits at 14” above the canopy (I’ve read during the Veg stage the light needs to be 24” or below so they don’t stretch so much in veg. I’ve also lollipoped (three fan leaves) and have topped her successfully. I’m curious about the size of the auto and if there’s anything I can do about the size, when it goes to flower will it double in size? I’ve seen really tiny autos and it’s sad , just hope I haven’t hurt the plants chances of being all it could be. How much is due to the genetics of the seed company? If that’s the case we can’t do ANYTHING right? Again first time grower and I feel like I’m in the forest with a flash lite and don’t have a compass. Thank you for any help and I’ll post pics of the girls at the time of this post. Will also document the grow to harvest so I’m looking forward to see the end result. Cheers.

 

[BombSeeds]

Welcome to AFN, i hope you find it as much fun as I do! Just having a very quick look at this; i am presuming the that critical purple auto is the shorter of the two? Either way it seems to be doing fine. Its not massive, but neither is is "stunted" as you put it. What light schedule are they under at the moment?

 

[perceptivejoe]

Welcome to AFN, i hope you find it as much fun as I do! Just having a very quick look at this; i am presuming the that critical purple auto is the shorter of the two? Either way it seems to be doing fine. Its not massive, but neither is is "stunted" as you put it. What light schedule are they under at the moment?

Their currently on 18/6 but I think I’ve figured (hope) that the auto will flower to harvest about the time the BD has to go into flower. Then of course it will be 12/12 until tri combs become cloudy, if I have this right lol, it’s stressful and fun at the same time . But glad to hear you don’t think anything is a miss. The Critical is the indica and auto and the BD is the photo. Will the auto double in size when it starts to flower?

 

[CannabisMingus]

Will the auto double in size when it starts to flower?

I don't have any specific experience with that strain but all the autos I have grown have at least doubled during stretch, sometimes more. HTH, IMHO, YMMV, etc.

 

[automan2]

Every plant will stretch...some more than others.
Since I run autos alongside photos, I run 12/12 on everything and never have to worry about flowering. They all do their thing. 12/12 doesn't seem to change genetics of the autos...IMO....
Give'm light, feed'm right, keep temps in spec and burn all evidence.

 

[perceptivejoe]

Every plant will stretch...some more than others.
Since I run autos alongside photos, I run 12/12 on everything and never have to worry about flowering. They all do their thing. 12/12 doesn't seem to change genetics of the autos...IMO....
Give'm light, feed'm right, keep temps in spec and burn all evidence.

What is this recharge I keep hearing some people use for any issue? Is this something good to have on hand? Would it help the plant in veg?

 

[BombSeeds]

don't overcomplicate my man, if this is your first grow keep it simple. if you start trying to use new additives/nutes all the time it will make the learning curve much steeper. So far you seem on track, be happy with that and try not to tinker too much. Make notes as you go along and get your first grow under your belt. Then when you start the next grow, ask yourself "what was i happy with and what can i improve?" Small steps make it easier to identify the successes and failures.
No one gets it perfect on their first go (or really ever, even us "porfessionals" are learning all the time)!

 

[Bill.de.Cat]

What is this recharge I keep hearing some people use for any issue? Is this something good to have on hand? Would it help the plant in veg?

It's a microbial for the root system.Think it also has sugars n suck to help feed what may already be there.
I just dose with mycos wp every once in awhile. Plenty of other mycorrhizae types out there but recharge seems to be a favorite.

 

[perceptivejoe]

Well third day of 12/12 and no sign of flower as of yet and now 8 1/2 weeks in with this critical purple auto grow Growers Choice seeds. With their seeds only one germinated out of 5 and am having issues with this one. I have leaves on the plant that are weird in their growth and shape. Poor genetics at growers choice as far as I’m concerned. It was a fist time purchase and again I fell to the “You get what you pay for” group who thought 110.00 at some sites Was too much and spent 40. So, beware of growers choice seeds peddling poor genetics. But here’s a pic after 3 days trying to make her go to flower with my blue dream clone. The Critical Purple Autoflower is on the left and the Blue dream photo is on the right. But STILL…..no sign of flower…..ughh. Growers Choice seeds is the cousin of Clark grizwald, Eddie to other reputable seed Co. , anyway here’s a pic to date.

 

[Jpkindbud]

Your plants look real healthy! Since you have photo and auto in the same tent, 12/12 is the best option. 3 days on 12/12 won’t show you anything as of yet. My photos didn’t show for about 2 weeks after switch. You should be good though… is your Mylar semi transparent? If so you may want to check for light leaks… light getting into grow space when lights are off. It won’t affect autos much but it’ll screw photos up! Peace!