New Grower Auto Pounder - First Indoor Grow

[SiriusB]

So here we go as my first auto grow! Looking forward to anyone's advice, comments, suggestions and even support lol...may need it! Bare with me as I grow and prosper with the auto family! All ears.

Indoor - 3.5' x 3.5' x 6.5' Temp range 72F -78 / Humidity 40 - 50%, circulating fan
Soil - fox farm ocean forest with 30% perlite mix and 5% hydroton. Start PH 6.3
Light- 400W MH/HPS convertable digital ballast 50%, 75%, 100%. - 21" x 21" reflector with glass and 6" cool fan.
RO water
Nutrients - Great White , bloom (need help in this category)
11 Litre pots, no transplant


AutoSeeds - Auto Pounder - First Grow Journal

5-10-15 - Germination start date: Initial water RO with 10% run off appx 1 gal.
5-14-15 - Sprout surfaced leaves opened
5-15-15 - Official Day 1
*Light T5, 6500k, 24/0 - 3 days
5-18-15 - Moved to MH light @ 50% or 200w at 22" above plant for 24 hrs
5-19-15 - full 100% MH 400w at 18"
5-20-15 - added 5oz of 1/4 strength great white mychorizzea around inner edge root zone with appx 1/2 gal. RO water with pH of 6.5. Note this was first time watering since germ starting and soil was pretty dry from under pot.
5-21-15 drop light to 14" hardly any heat with my air flow...
5-22-15 - past 48 hrs she has taken great shape with giant leaves and growing fast. Light is 24/0, 14" from canopy to top plant...very impressed so far.

Let's go from here:

Am I headed in right direction?
Light schedule ? My plan was 24/0 during MH veg and 18/6 HPS flowering. Please advise.
Nutrient schedule and strengths ?

 

[armanidog]

Your direction is good. Autos do not need a particular darkness period in order to flower. If it gets too warm (above 90F0) in the tent you could go to a 20/4 schedule and make the 4 hours of dark take place during the hot part of the day.
As far as feeding I would wait another week since it has been only 8 days since sprouting. Then start off at 1/4 strength nutes. Right now it is better to underfeed than to risk burning the seedlings.
I feed with every other watering using half strength ( I'm at day 47 on the oldest plants).

 

[Dr Fluff]

Nice looking young lady

Great to see you listing everything nice and clearly, it really helps to see whats going on.

I noticed that you haven't mentioned a veg fertilizer, if you haven't got one you'll need to get some, I haven't used ferts, so maybe someone else could chime in.

I'm not sure if you have a PH pen , this will be very useful as would be soil ph probe, both are fairly cheap on the bay and will save a lot of hassle further into your grow with things like nutrient lock out.

It is advised to always PH your nutrient solution, allowing it range up and down a little between between 6.3 -6.8PH in soil, which will make sure all your nutrients are available to your plants.

I see your using RO water and I'm thinking you may get some cal/mag def as the minerals in the tap water are removed, buy yourself a bottle of calmag and follow the instructions, you will often notice mag def at 4 weeks.

Look forward to reading & seeing more of your grow.

 

[SiriusB]

Your direction is good. Autos do not need a particular darkness period in order to flower. If it gets too warm (above 90F0) in the tent you could go to a 20/4 schedule and make the 4 hours of dark take place during the hot part of the day.
As far as feeding I would wait another week since it has been only 8 days since sprouting. Then start off at 1/4 strength nutes. Right now it is better to underfeed than to risk burning the seedlings.
I feed with every other watering using half strength ( I'm at day 47 on the oldest plants).

Outstanding, thank you I will switch to 20/4 today. Underfeed makes sense, from what I'm seeing autos are sensitive?

 

[SiriusB]

Nice looking young lady

Great to see you listing everything nice and clearly, it really helps to see whats going on.

I noticed that you haven't mentioned a veg fertilizer, if you haven't got one you'll need to get some, I haven't used ferts, so maybe someone else could chime in.

I'm not sure if you have a PH pen , this will be very useful as would be soil ph probe, both are fairly cheap on the bay and will save a lot of hassle further into your grow with things like nutrient lock out.

It is advised to always PH your nutrient solution, allowing it range up and down a little between between 6.3 -6.8PH in soil, which will make sure all your nutrients are available to your plants.

I see your using RO water and I'm thinking you may get some cal/mag defas the minerals in the tap water are removed, buy yourself a bottle of calmag and follow the instructions, you will often notice mag def at 4 weeks.

Look forward to reading & seeing more of your grow.

Arty, awesome info. Thanks
- Ferts, I have some flora nova series grow, micro, and bloom from and old dwc I used to run, will this work? Fox farm just seems popular but by no means am I locked in using ff. I have a local organic and hydroponic store close that has everything, any suggestions?
- yes I have a cheap rapid starter 3 way digital prob, it does pH, temp and ppm I also have a tds meter and pH drops from when I do dwc...will this work?
PH if the soil is low or high how to adjust...I know dwc was just add drops of pH up and pH down which I have 2 big bottles. ?

That CHART is being printed and taped to inside of my grow room! Thank you!
RO water- I had no idea about the cal /mag for soil to. So this is great news because I usually buy my water botttled from a local market. I can use just tap water and may not have to buy Cal/Mag ??? My current tap water has a reading of 350-400 ppm straight from faucet...please advise??? I just took this reading here is pic of 400+

 

[SiriusB]

DAY- 8 -(Is this correct counting of day?)

So this morning I did my normal morning routine before heading off to work. I learned with the MH light if i stay around grow area to long looking at light my eyes hurt & slight headaches, not looking directly into light but rather the light around bouncing off walls. Solution: Sun glasses indoor...and my wife thinks I look stupid.

Temp: 77F
Hum: 43%
Soil PH: 6.8 after leaving probe in for 5 minutes about 3/4 down in pot...will there be different ph levels at various layers of soil?
I took some measurements and maybe this will help assist with watching the grow. See attached photos

Plugged in timer and set to 20/4 starting at 12 AM tonight!?

QCC (quality control check): No signs of pest or bugs, fan speed low with slight foliage movement, no signs of leaves with distress, wilting or discoloration.Thinking about putting a screen, hydroton or 100% perlite on top layer of soil to help maintain moisture below, light hitting direct soil (mold?), bugs, etc... What is your take???

See my area photos *note disregard plant on left this is a DWC to soil rescue mission non-auto WW, just using this indoor light and area to help promote roots after 80% trim off from root rot. If all goes well i may keep inside! (Upper chamber is for germ and clones...i read earlier we can NOT clone autos, so it will be primarily storage area) Let me know your thoughts. Thx

 

[Dr Fluff]

Arty, awesome info. Thanks
- Ferts, I have some flora nova series grow, micro, and bloom from and old dwc I used to run, will this work? Fox farm just seems popular but by no means am I locked in using ff. I have a local organic and hydroponic store close that has everything, any suggestions?
- yes I have a cheap rapid starter 3 way digital prob, it does pH, temp and ppm I also have a tds meter and pH drops from when I do dwc...will this work?
PH if the soil is low or high how to adjust...I know dwc was just add drops of pH up and pH down which I have 2 big bottles. ?

That CHART is being printed and taped to inside of my grow room! Thank you!
RO water- I had no idea about the cal /mag for soil to. So this is great news because I usually buy my water botttled from a local market. I can use just tap water and may not have to buy Cal/Mag ??? My current tap water has a reading of 350-400 ppm straight from faucet...please advise??? I just took this reading here is pic of 400+ View attachment 452042

The flora nova wiill be ok for veg.

Your water is hard or in fact very hard, a large proportion of that is likely to made up of minerals such as - Calcium Carbonate, Magnesium Hydroxide and Calcium Sulphates It may be possible to find out whats in it from the web page of your local water supplier.

I would imagine you will have a good amount of calcium but is a good idea to have some Cal/Mag or Epsome salts (Magnesium Sulphate) on stand by as it is one of the most common deficiencies to arise.
Cal/mag often will show up at week 4. A foliar application will be the fastest remedy if it does show up and then you can add some to future feeds.

Your PH pen will certainly do the job, make sure it is calibrated correctly or you'll be getting out of whack reading , which will lead to lock out of nutrients.There are some great videos on how to calibrate on youtube.
I like using PH calibration powders but liquids are just as good. It is good to have some ionised water to rinse your probe after use and dry with a clean piece of paper towel.

Always check check PH after you have mixed you nutes and correct with either PHup or PH down.

TDS and PPM aren't the same with all meters, so it is good to check which measuring scal you are using and to quote that scale if you post TDS or PPM so others know.

ere is a chart to show you what I mean

EC is the way forwards for me, it is the only universal measurement out of TDS,PPM & EC.
EC meter aren't expensive on the bay, if you want something a little nicer Go with a Bluelab truncheon, it is also great for mixing nutes with too.

Protective eye wear is no bad thing with HID or LED if there is any chance your eyes might get direct light shining into them.
Metal Halides give out a lot of UV radiation so make sure your sunglasses are UV filtering.
It is also not a bad idea to keep your arms covered, whats a little UV light you might say but if you grow with MH for lets say, twenty years then all that UV light adds up.

Cannabis love to have a wet and dry cycle, so I like to let it dry out a bit before I feed again, with your Supersoil containing a lot of organic matter it shouldn't be overly fast to dry out.
If you find that it is drying out too quickly it would be then that I would try to correct it with clay pebbles.

Yup no cloning with autos but you can start your next set of beans as the main crop is drawing near harvest day, that way you get a head start on your next crop.

Nice look young plants and a nice crisp set up, looking good bro


.

 

[akreso]

Looking good! I had the same issue with my LEDs.. Made my eyeballs hurt!!

 

[elsamurai]

using the OF soil you shouldn't feed anything but ph water for the first 2-3 weeks, maybe 4 has been my experience with that soil. watch the cotyl...cotlld? oh hell, those little round things near the bottom of the stem. when those yellow a little is when I start feeding. start at 1/4 strength at first and if no nute burn, up it a little at a time. what ff bloom booster are you talking about. I can help with th ff beastie bloom and cha-ching. set up looks good and it looks like you did your research.
a little and grow to get your first auto's.

 

[SiriusB]

The flora nova wiill be ok for veg.

Your water is hard or in fact very hard, a large proportion of that is likely to made up of minerals such as - Calcium Carbonate, Magnesium Hydroxide and Calcium Sulphates It may be possible to find out whats in it from the web page of your local water supplier.

I would imagine you will have a good amount of calcium but is a good idea to have some Cal/Mag or Epsome salts (Magnesium Sulphate) on stand by as it is one of the most common deficiencies to arise.
Cal/mag often will show up at week 4. A foliar application will be the fastest remedy if it does show up and then you can add some to future feeds.

Your PH pen will certainly do the job, make sure it is calibrated correctly or you'll be getting out of whack reading , which will lead to lock out of nutrients.There are some great videos on how to calibrate on youtube.
I like using PH calibration powders but liquids are just as good. It is good to have some ionised water to rinse your probe after use and dry with a clean piece of paper towel.

Always check check PH after you have mixed you nutes and correct with either PHup or PH down.

TDS and PPM aren't the same with all meters, so it is good to check which measuring scal you are using and to quote that scale if you post TDS or PPM so others know.

ere is a chart to show you what I mean

EC is the way forwards for me, it is the only universal measurement out of TDS,PPM & EC.
EC meter aren't expensive on the bay, if you want something a little nicer Go with a Bluelab truncheon, it is also great for mixing nutes with too.

Protective eye wear is no bad thing with HID or LED if there is any chance your eyes might get direct light shining into them.
Metal Halides give out a lot of UV radiation so make sure your sunglasses are UV filtering.
It is also not a bad idea to keep your arms covered, whats a little UV light you might say but if you grow with MH for lets say, twenty years then all that UV light adds up.

Cannabis love to have a wet and dry cycle, so I like to let it dry out a bit before I feed again, with your Supersoil containing a lot of organic matter it shouldn't be overly fast to dry out.
If you find that it is drying out too quickly it would be then that I would try to correct it with clay pebbles.

Yup no cloning with autos but you can start your next set of beans as the main crop is drawing near harvest day, that way you get a head start on your next crop.

Nice look young plants and a nice crisp set up, looking good bro


.

OK great i just reviewed the current water quality consumer report which i had no idea you could access!!! So is fluoride good for the plants...heck i didn't know we drink it at such high amounts. Anyways i will pick up some Cal/mg + epson salt and use Ph adjusters accordingly with tap water. Im not sure i understand all the levels just yet but with time i will get it down! Another chart on the wall. thx