Why are my plants so small?

[Blewitt]

Hello There

I have just started growing a few months ago so still quite a newbie but have read as much as I can online regarding autoflowers.

My problem is plants that stay very small and compact, they appear very healthy and green (besides wind and insect damage). They are loaded with buds but yield is small since plants stay so small. They get LST but still only average around 15-20cm from base to tip of main cola. With LST I can get lower side branches to become as long as the main stem.

Plants are in plastic grow bags, 15liters in size, in soil. Soil from my veg garden that I have amended with compost, horse manure, wheat bran and small amounts of wood shavings that helps give me a nice airy texture. I further mulch the soil with sawdust to help keep soil temps down. The growbags are wrapped in shadecloth as well to help keep the roots cool.

I grow mostly with organic nutes and compost teas that I make myself but during flowering I feed monopotassium phosphate. I also give foilar feeds with kelp (hormones) from time to time.

Plants are growing outside under the African sun, they get average 11-12hours of direct sun and our days are currently around 14 hours long in total. (I have in the last week put plants under shadecloth as we are having very high temps and LOTS of wind)

Unfortunately I cannot do indoor grows in complete controlled environments.

I am growing some photoperiod plants in the same conditions and these are growing massive and quite out of control.

Below some pictures:

The larger plant is a Blue Cush (with a C not Kush), its about 45 days old and has come into flowering about two weeks ago. Insect and wind damaged leaves, one branch is also being sprayed with Colloidal silver to induce pollen sacks.

Seedling is a Critical Ogre at 7 days old (hoping I can do something to it to help it grow biiiiig)

The last picture is a photoperiod, it receives lots of LST to keep it out of view, hoping to get my autos into such health.

Blue Cush

Critical Ogre

Photoperiod (unknown strain, probably a Pondoland landrace)


Advice would be much appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Weed Warrior]

too bad you dont have access to an indoor setup even for 14-20 days....young seedlings do so much better in a controlled climate. There is a few short daylight hour heat outdoor guys that can likely help you. @hecno @thegreenbandit @Arthur,

 

[Weed Warrior]

strain choice is critical to success.....from my recollection critical ogre isnt a very large strain? Not sure on the blue cush. Consider some of the high producing autos from Dutch Passion, Mephisto, or Dinafem for future grows to maximize autop production. Nice plants!! Photo is looking great and digging the lengthening daylight hours....is it preflowering yet?

 

[the green bandit]

As @Weed Warrior says strain choices play a huge role as does the initial 3 weeks of life. I try start all my plants indoors. I also start feeding nutes from their first watering, I'm using biobizz which is very mild stuff and organic. Longer running strains are generally giving me larger plants/yields. Mephisto S.O.D.K has been great for me fugue state has also done well. Your plants look nice and healthy, I think it's just smaller plants genetically being most of your problems. What are your temps/humidity like?

 

[Blewitt]

Thank you all.

My photo period is showing sex at the moment , can see it's a female but no real preflowers yet, just some pistils here and there. It still has around 5 months to go I think.

This summer has been quite hot, most days are around 30 degrees C, night average around 20C. Humidity is OK as long as the wind is not blowing (which is ALMOST every day in the afternoons), hoping that the shadenet I have put over the plants will help with these two problems.

I chose all my strains with very careful consideration. According to breeders descriptions some of my plants should max at about 100 cm and produce around 70grams per plant. I average between 20 -30 grams (dried and cured) per plant and my plants only grow to about 20 cm tall.
When I compare my plants to others of the same age/days old my plants appear to slow down significantly around day 10 (in comparison to the ones I see in pictures online of same age). And this seems to happen with all my plants of all strains I have grown.

It is driving me nuts as I love growing things and everything else I grow ( heirloom veg and rare tropical vines) does so well with the care I give them but my auto cannabis just wont do as great as I want them to.
I will try source some better genetics from the breeders mentioned but might not be able to do so for a while, low on cash. I got my seeds from a reputable local South African seedbank that imports from the major breeders, though the descriptions of the seeds never actually stated from which breeders they came.

 

[Weed Warrior]

30c isnt bad for temps!

100cm and 70 grams per plant...are these indoor quotes?

 

[the green bandit]

These 2 plants were started on the same day, they have been fed the same nutes both
never had indoor lighting...only main difference is they are different genetics. 1 is about 9 inches tall the other is about 16 inches. The sativa leaning plant is nearly double the size of its indica sister. I take breeders estimates with a grain of salt...most only give info on strains grown in perfect conditions by seasoned growers!

 

[SeaTurtlesAreGreat2]

These 2 plants were started on the same day, they have been fed the same nutes both
never had indoor lighting...only main difference is they are different genetics. 1 is about 9 inches tall the other is about 16 inches. The sativa leaning plant is nearly double the size of its indica sister. I take breeders estimates with a grain of salt...most only give info on strains grown in perfect conditions by seasoned growers! View attachment 1001446 View attachment 1001447

Its you're soil. Can tell by looking at it . its needs to be airy. Roots make a big difference

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[the green bandit]

Nothing wrong with my soil bud....I've grown out 40 odd plants using this exact mix! All outdoors all autos...just an example of different genetics at play

Its you're soil. Can tell by looking at it . its needs to be airy. Roots make a big difference

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[SeaTurtlesAreGreat2]

No offence but look like u got grass cuttings for medium.. And if u knew it was genetics already why u asking people on here why its small? Makes no sense what so ever ?

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