1st attempt autoflower big fail

[Slipknot]

I know I messed this up but trying to improve. Ok got some AK-47 auto seeds. Soaked 2 in water (well) 24 hours then into small pot. I had them under some 13 watt CFL bulbs (3). Noticed quickly they were stretching. About 10 days in I moved them into 4 gallon buckets. Mixed 2 local organic potting soils Kellogg from Home Depot. Added 15% vermiculite and 15” perlite. Placed them under 100 watt from wall led fixture. Didn’t have a tent so made a 2’x2’x6’ frame and covered three sides with foil. 24/7 light . Plants wouldn’t grow much. A few days ago I got in some Fox Farm Ocean mixed that with 1/3 perlite and replanted it in a 3 gallon pot. At this point I’m at day 18-20 and this is what the surviving plant looks like. I’m well aware of multiple mistakes and don’t have any hopes to salvage it. Merely trying to figure out what likely caused the problem and what I need to do on my next attempt. I’ve read a lot but some things still confuse me.
I’m now using a Fox Farm Ocean Forrest mix with 1/3” perlite. 3 gallon pots, I have a grow tent on order and some Dr Earth Flower Girl Fertilizer. I have a ph meter but it appear to be a POS. I have a light meter app and can get readings later. I have a third seed I planted in a 3 gallon a few days ago, it broke the surface yesterday.


I’m

 

[armanidog]

Will you try again? What do you think happened?

 

[GreeninNY]

Ah man. That’s a bummer! Can you describe what you did and what the plant did as a response?
im super new myself, the help this forum can provide is awesome!

 

[Slipknot]

Will you try again? What do you think happened?

Absolutely trying again. I’m leaning towards maybe I stressed the plant too much. Initial inadequate lighting caused it to stretch, then I replanted it too late, didn’t know to let the soil almost dry out between watering and over watered them. I haven’t had my well water tested but we drink it and have dozens of indoor and outdoor plants plus an annual gardens that do great. No softener. I was prepared for not getting great yields at first but not for seedlings dying.

 

[Slipknot]

Ah man. That’s a bummer! Can you describe what you did and what the plant did as a response?
im super new myself, the help this forum can provide is awesome!

I added more information to op. I think only thing I did right was germination lol.

 

[Brownthumbs]

You got this. Next time thoroughly saturate the OF/Perlite mix. Drop your soaked seed right in-not too deep. Cover it w/a cut-off 1 or 2L water bottle, top or bottom of bottle it dont matter. Leave cap on if top. Mist is w/a spray bottle several times a day. You lightly mist underneath the bottle, but hit the exposed OF pretty good. She should spout in 2-4 days. I am not familiar w/your lighting set up.

Just an fyi, for me, AK was the only strain to show sensitivity to OF out of 20+ stains.

I top dress w/dr earth flower girl, every 3-4 weeks.

 

[Olderfart]

Sadly, I doubt that you will find out what the worst problem was because I am pretty sure that there is more than one of them. I'm new at this too, but I have a couple observations. First, the long skinny stem is likely from lack of enough light. Cannabis is a bit of a pig in that department, so your initial cfl's don't seem to have been enough light. How far from your plants were the lights?

Second, the light color of the leaves, coupled with the completely yellowed lower leaves suggests to me that the plant is hungry - either that or the mix of soil you used has an excess or imbalance that has locked out nutrients. I would recommend against assembling your own soil mix at this stage of your experience. You would be better off choosing a single soil product, preferably one that someone else here has done a successful grow thread on. Quite a few growers here use Fox Forest soils, so you should be able to find a few grows that worked out. Likely as not, you will need nutes later in the grow once the goodies get depleted, so you might want to see what others here find works well.

Third, it is still possible that your well water could be an issue. You might want to get a ppm/ec meter to check it out. High ppms in your water can cause issues. Cheap ppm/ec meters usually work fine, and would give you a head's up on your well water. Cheap pH meters are a different animal, and cheap doesn't usually turn out well. The Apera PH 60 is pretty much the best bang for your buck if you can afford it.

Finally, your soil in the pictured pot looks a bit dry to me, @Mañ'O'Green's posts will help you out with that as well. @Brownthumbs' advice on watering and covering with a transparent cover is good. The young seedlings need high humidity until they get their roots in order , but you don't want to apply water directly near the stem. Seedlings are easy to over water because they don't use much for quite a while.

Good luck with it. Fire away with any questions, there are lots of peeps here that will be glad to help out.

 

[Zer0]

I suggest collecting rainwater if you can and just using the 100w led at 30" away to start with on those seeds and see how the plant responds to that, if it gets leggy lower it some more.
Mistakes happen and we all make them now we must learn from them and try again, sorry your 1st try didn't go as planned but you learned some stuff.

 

[Zer0]

I know I messed this up but trying to improve. Ok got some AK-47 auto seeds. Soaked 2 in water (well) 24 hours then into small pot. I had them under some 13 watt CFL bulbs (3). Noticed quickly they were stretching. About 10 days in I moved them into 4 gallon buckets. Mixed 2 local organic potting soils Kellogg from Home Depot. Added 15% vermiculite and 15” perlite. Placed them under 100 watt from wall led fixture. Didn’t have a tent so made a 2’x2’x6’ frame and covered three sides with foil. 24/7 light . Plants wouldn’t grow much. A few days ago I got in some Fox Farm Ocean mixed that with 1/3 perlite and replanted it in a 3 gallon pot. At this point I’m at day 18-20 and this is what the surviving plant looks like. I’m well aware of multiple mistakes and don’t have any hopes to salvage it. Merely trying to figure out what likely caused the problem and what I need to do on my next attempt. I’ve read a lot but some things still confuse me.
I’m now using a Fox Farm Ocean Forrest mix with 1/3” perlite. 3 gallon pots, I have a grow tent on order and some Dr Earth Flower Girl Fertilizer. I have a ph meter but it appear to be a POS. I have a light meter app and can get readings later. I have a third seed I planted in a 3 gallon a few days ago, it broke the surface yesterday.


I’m View attachment 1370030

She looks like she can recover if done right, add some more soil around her stem to make up for her stretched look and get a good feel for how heavy the pot is when you water it and when it goes dry and gets lighter you will have an idea of when to water again.

 

[Slipknot]

Thanks for all of the great information.