Indoor Auto Euforia Seedling Issues

[GoodGrow]

Hi there fellow Canna-growers!

My first post here, so please tell me if I'm doing anything wrong by posting here directly (apologies in advance for any rookie mistakes)...

That being said, this is my 4th consecutive year growing cannabis (I do 1 indoor grow per year at the start/during winter - I'm in Cape Town South Africa, so the weather indoors isn't too terrible).

My first grow was 2x random bag seed photoperiod plants, they both came out fine - No pics of this grow unfortunately (laws were still a very grey area back then).

My 2nd grow was seeds from a nice plant a friend had grown - also flowered nicely and came out quite nicely (grown in a locally made super soil - BioBizz Grow & Bloom added - Home made Ghetto LED Lights of around 150W):

Then last year, I got hold of some Dutch-Passion Autoflower seeds and sprouted 1x Auto Daiquiri Lime which turned out great (grown in Atami High Porosity Coco - BioBizz Grow & Bloom added - 20/4 Light Schedule - LED Lights of around 200W):

So now, I germinated another one of my Dutch-Passion Autos, namely the Auto Euforia strain and I'm having some issues.

So firstly, I'm trying a full on 50/50 coco-perlite mix, which has nothing added to it (it comes pre- buffered, washed and pH balanced), I'm running the full line of BioBizz this season (Root Juice, Acti-Vera, Fix-Mix (for up end of 2nd week of veg, then switching to Grow), Grow, Bloom, Top-Max & Bio-Heaven).

I then thought it might be a good idea to give my 50/50 Coco-Perl mix a nice 5L or so of pH balanced filtered water (base PPM usually around 1 or 2) with BioBizz Root Juice (2.5ml per 5L), BioBizz Acti-Vera (1.25ml per 5L) + Cal-Mag (2.5ml per 5L), which ended up with a PPM of 260 (give or take), pH was at around 6.2.

I started with the paper towel method and the seed germinated without issue (tap root was healthy and around 5 cm long when I planted into a 20L/5gal fabric pot), helmet head popped up a few days later and I assisted with getting the shell off so the cotyledons could be free and my seedling could commence its happy life (or so I thought).

The seedling seemed to grow very slowly compared to my previous grows, and I suspected something is out with my growing medium, so I prepared around 15L of filtered water (pH of around 6.5) and flushed my medium to test run-off and pH (results were pH of 6.8 and PPM of 680+ [YIKES!]).

So I flushed and my final runoff was around 100PPM with a pH of around 6.6 and I thought I'd leave her to get well (obviously shock was induced by the flush and high PPM). I left fans on the medium to get it dried out as soon as possible and I started noticing some light yellowing of the first two serrated leaves and decided to give her a very small amount of BioBizz Root Juice, Acti-Vera and Fish-Mix (total was 500ml with a pH of 6.3 and PPM of 21) on day 4 of her life, around 180ml was fed with a syringe around her and the rest of the 500ml was added to the outside layers of the pot.

Now we're on day 6 and she looks healthy enough, but growth still isn't nearly where I expected it to be and I also found 2 fungus gnats (due to all the moisture in the pot, presumably), so I've ordered some sticky paper and neem oil (just in case it goes far South), I've also kept my tiny USB fan blowing on the soil and seedling to dry out the first 5cm/2inches of soil to help kill off the gnats, I also used my 40x jewelers loop with LED to check if I can see any maggots/eggs in the soil, thus far nothing, but will keep a close eye over the next few days.

So my question (as I'm new to autos), will this slow growth come right eventually, or should I just cut my loses and start over (I still have 2x Daiquiri Lime, 2x Auto Euforia & 3x Auto Blackberry Kush seeds I can use)?

Some more info surrounding my setup:

Tent: MarsHydro 2x2 (70x70x160cm)
Light: Custom Built Luminus CXM-32 Gen 4 120W COB with Meanwell XLG-150 driver (Same COB as used in the MIGRO 100, but without a lense).
Exhaust: For seedling stage - 140MM PC fan (39CFM) | For late veg & flower - 100mm Inline Fan (92CFM) with a Carbon Filter
Environment: Currently averaging between 21°C to 23°C at around 70% RH (Night time min = 19.5°C @ 75% RH).
Light Schedule: 20/4 from day 1
Current Light: +/- 7000Lux on Seedling level (measured using an el'cheapo LUX meter).

So here is what she looks like now (Morning of day 6 - 20/4 from day 1):

Compared to my Auto Daiquiri Lime from last year at the same stage (Morning of day 6 - 24/0 for the first couple of days):

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

 

[OregonBlackBear]

She looks fine to me. Not all seedlings progress at the same rate.

For gnats neem won't do much. Look into using BT in your soil to kill off the larva.

 

[GoodGrow]

She looks fine to me. Not all seedlings progress at the same rate.

For gnats neem won't do much. Look into using BT in your soil to kill off the larva.

Thanks for the reply, so I've also decided to just let things be and focus on a few other things for the next week or two (I'm not too bothered with losing some time, it's lockdown here anyway), so if need be I'll triple check everything and clean out the tent with some bleach + rubbing alcohol solution again (I always clean in between grows).

So I'll give her some time and see how it goes, my temps are good, RH is good and the soil should be fine now (also nice and dry, I haven't seen any other gnats other than the two I saw the other night nor anything strange under my little 45x pocket scope), but will keep an eye out for anything, so if she grows and she gets big over the next few weeks, I'll be a happy man, if not, I'll have to just reset and keep on growing.

Excuse my ignorance, but what is BT by the way (relating to the gnats)?

 

[OregonBlackBear]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus_thuringiensis

BT is a naturally occurring bacteria that will kill soft body larva like fungus gnat larva. It's organic and completely harmless to anything besides larva. If you've ever seen a mosquito dunk, that's what they are.

 

[GoodGrow]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus_thuringiensis

BT is a naturally occurring bacteria that will kill soft body larva like fungus gnat larva. It's organic and completely harmless to anything besides larva. If you've ever seen a mosquito dunk, that's what they are.

Thanks a million for the useful info, I've made note of it.

I think I should be in the clear though, I haven't seen any other bugs, nor anything suspicious in the soil, etc. - So I'm hopeful on that front I'm good.

That being said... I've given myself (or rather the seedling) up until next week Friday to show me what she's got... or I'll be starting with a new seed.

She seems okay, everything seems to be in check, but I'm really a bit worried - according to the breeder this is a 10 week strain, so not sure.... not looking too great.

We're on Day 11:

She is in a 20L/5gal pot

Compared to last year at Day 11 (I know it's a different strain, but surely it can't be this much of a difference?):

If this were a photoperiod plant, I'd be more than chilled, but since we're on the clock in terms of it being an Autoflower... I'm really a bit worried here... but yeah... let's see, she's got a week to shape up or I'll be growing her out in the window. lol

 

[OregonBlackBear]

That is some oddball runt growth for an auto. I'd be itching to pop something with more vigor as well.

 

[GoodGrow]

That is some oddball runt growth for an auto. I'd be itching to pop something with more vigor as well.

Indeed it is frustrating hey, but I'm looking at this as a learning experience... new medium (first time doing pure coco/perl @ 50/50 mix)... new light (so had to get her dialed in, etc)... definitely learned a lot (as with every grow - which is why I LOVE growing ganja).

So it seems she is definitely picking up the pace a little... my light intensity is currently at around 10k LUX on seedling level (I saw some conflicting info that it needs to be between 5000 yo 7000 LUX, some other guys say up to 14 000 LUX is fine) - so playing around and she seems very happy this morning.

I think I'll give her until next Friday and see how she progresses, I may just end up getting another tent as I still have my Blurple LED lights I built for last year's grow and spare pots, etc, then I can start up a fresh seed in my main tent and let this one run her course and see what happens.

Will see how it goes... nice thing (yet unfortunate for the sick people) about COVID-19 Lockdown/work from home situation... I can spend some more time with my wife and 6 month old baby as well as my plants.

How she is looking this morning (Day 12):

Looks to be a bit more happy today:

 

[SooCali]

I’m on my first grow as well and also using autoflower strain. I have two runts and two that are going pretty well. I’d be curious to know how things are going. Curious if my runt can recover and produce. Like you. I am treating this like an experiment and will not be worried about yield. Best of luck. ✌

 

[Waira]

:smoking: might as well let her run for a bit and see if she turns the corner! Some seedling are just not very good, part of the normal deal with seeds, each is a little gamble,... Breeders will germ' and toss a small (relative) fortune in seedlings to select out the best performers..
Coco is a challenging medium, very bitchy frankly due to it's peculiar CEC properties... There's a good amount of info on coco in the Coco section here, explaining it's various do's and don't's.... Keep in mind it's "intended" use is as a form of hydro' medium, because of it's excellent draining and "breathing", that spongy texture it has.... frequent feeding, mild dosing keeps fresh balanced nutes going in and as it drains, it pulls fresh air in with it...

 

[GoodGrow]

Greetings all, so after a lot of change in the world, and a lot of change in myself as a human being, I am happy to report she finally picked up a bit and is doing quite well, albeit very tiny, I am letting her do her thing and I'm sure she'll produce some bud for me to enjoy, the growing in itself is a blessing and calming experience... I forgot how nice it is to work with cannabis on a daily basis.

As with all life, in God's Almighty hands, I could've tried whatever I wanted to try, if not in His plan...

Anyhow, some details on what transpired since last post and a few pics:

1. I was so paranoid and suspected something fishy with my coco, so I ripped her out (literally as a last ditch effort) roots and all (I took a risk and said: If she makes it, it's good and by the Almighty's will, if not, I have my answer on what to and move on) and replanted her in a smaller 10L fabric pot which was filled around 65% or around 7L of soil, of which the bottom 3/4 is a decent organic potting soil I had left from a previous grow and the top section I used some seedling mix (I also suspected the 50/50 coco/perlite mix was giving the seedling's roots a hard time).

2. I let things be, checked pH is in range for soil (6.8 to 7.0), amended my BioBizz and started using store bought water instead of the RO water I used to buy.

3. I never had any gnats or pest, my sticky paper was perfectly clean the entire grow.

So essentially, I let her do her thing after a few paranoia checks and here she is now, 1st week of flower (the hue on the photos are off due to the 3500k spectrum on the COB, she is nice and green (maybe even a bit strong on the nitrogen side, but I'm keeping an eye on her tips, they're okay for now):

She has a very short and bushy structure, the tops are almost all at the same height, without any form of LST (other than bending down some bigger fan leaves to allow for more light to hit the lower sites).

Doing very well and she is quite a smelly girl, had to connect up the proper inline fan and carbon filter last night.

Anyhow friends and family... Have a Blessed weekend, may the Almighty Creator guide and protect one and all.

Blessings!