Indoor CFL grow, soil/coco, 3rd crop, 4 auto's

[comet79]

We've had such opposite experiences. I'm on my third grow too. I've never done photos, but my autos have all given me at least a couple dry ounces each @comet79 ...

Had I not done the photo..id think its me doing something consistently wrong..but the fact that that one grew great and these 4 auto's and the first 2..all different strains..are having same issues, makes me think that auto's are just not good for me. The first 2 got me half ounce each..figured I made mistakes and first grow and so on..but seeing as these are going the same way makes me wonder that maybe it doesn't like this soil I use or the water..i don't know. I just know the photo grew amazing in same mixture and feed without any issue at all, so I guess I wasn't doing it wrong..that one got close to 3 ounces dry.

 

[Waira]

Comet-- A lot went into this grow not doing well,... keep in mind different strains will respond differently to light, nute's, env. factors, etc.,... What breeders are the seeds, besides Visions Northern Lights auto? Quality of genetics most certainly plays a role in plant performance... but even the best ones can only do so much if other factors are limiting their potential. Auto's in general are more picky about their nutrients vs. photo's, but again, it's also linked to their photo parent heritage
-- the CFL's, are they horticultural type? What's the distance to tops of plants? that compressed structure happens when they're too close, and too blue in spectrum,... You likely already know, this light set-up is suboptimal and will limit what the plants can do,... for the $ spent on bulbs and power (loss of performance from them as they age; 16x23W=368W draw, enough to power a lighthouse of an LED or COB type LED), there are far better alternatives,... some of the inexpensive LED's do a respectable job from what we see here...
-- I know about the Lucas formula, and some can make it work, others have problems,.. I can say for sure that with a multi-part formulation, the complete overall nutritional profile comes from all of them being used, in whatever ratio the sched' was designed to accommodate,.. each individual part is incomplete nutritionally, and if you eliminate one part, you risk shorting certain nute element(s), usually something in the micronutrient family, but sometimes others,... BTW, epsoms are MgSo4, no Ca in there at all, worse, it's a pure salt; too much in the medium will contribute salt build-up; i don't think you're there, but it's no substitute for real Ca-Mg,... Ca plays many roles in plants and being low on that, even if there aren't actual defc. symptoms, can compromise plant performance especially in bloom,... with that added coco, you need more than usual because coco binds Ca preferentially to itself until sated, keeping it from the plant,...symptom-wise, I see mostly N defc, but overall, look a bit starved,... with the infrequent feeding, that makes sense,.. pots are too large for the plants and light set-up (any fluorescent type has lousy penetrations over distance), making dry-out slow, and that mix has nothing in it otherwise... try fabric pots next time, 2-3 gal,...better breathing, faster drying, so you can feed more often... look into other supplements like humic acids, seaweed, Ca-Mg,.. better yet, skip the Lucas formula which is a specialized method best suited for more advance growers who often are supplementing with other things to help cover the bases...
--- pH management doesn't end with the water and feeds, you must keep an eye on the actual in-pot pH as well,.. [HASHTAG]#1[/HASHTAG] problem I see here is off-pH in the medium! ...this affects everything nutritionally,... best tool for this is a decent pH probe, like the Accurate 8.. those skinny cheapie probes at garden centers are lousy inaccurate....

 

[comet79]

Thanks for the reply. Ya, I agree, the issue can be a few things, however since only the auto's seem affected by it and photos are great, that leads to believe that ph and feed and how I watered were fine, it's just auto's are very different and it seems actually are much harder to grow! I'll chalk up the auto's as a loss and focus on regular photo's for the future! All those things you mention..lights and fancy nutes are too expensive for me..lucas formula was the easiest and worked perfectly with the non-auto. The pro mix is an organic mix that contains addiditives like gypsum, lime, humic acid and 2 others. Lights are placed same as they were with that one..as suggested by everyone..about 3 inches away. Thanks for the advice, but way way too many things that can be wrong with auto's to attempt to fix for the little they produce. I'd rather grow a regular and take an extra onth and get 6+ times the amount with zero hassles Happy holidays everyone!

 

[comet79]

Watering them today..2 litres in and only drops are coming out. 2 were showing signs they needed water. I tied more branches down on the moneymaker and northern and also cut some leaves off northern again as I cant tie it since its so low and bushy..its just a massive amount of leaves growing into each other. The easy bud and bubble gum have started flowering with white pistils shooting out and easy bud stretched last week..the bubble gum the past 3 days..nothing to do with those as they're completely open and thinned out. Will post pics later tonight or tmr for the end of week 5.

 

[comet79]

End of week 5 today. Switched the lights over top of the bubble gum and easy bud as white pistils are shooting out for a couple of days now. They have both gone through most of their stretch..retied and added ties. The other two I clipped some more leaves off the other day, especially from the northern and tried to open them up as much as I can with more ties. Growth seems better now than throughout the grow. I know some leaves have marks on them..its when watered splashed on it during watering or lower leaf on northern and money were touching soil, so on one of them..that leaf has started to yellow a lot and brown.

 

[comet79]

Seems the drinking has picked up. Watered 3 days ago and wilting has started today. It wilts a bit before lights out at times..but today it started 7-8 hours before lights out and its more pronounced, also noticed less odor in the air today compared to Friday (watering day and Saturday) Heard the stomata closes more and longer to hang on to water when its getting dry. Will water tmr.
The one in the back left..that's the northern and still not flowering, may be hanging on to water a bit better as it seems I put more coco in that pot..it felt light from planting day compared to the other 3. Oddly..as shitty as it grew (being too compact)..it's also the only one that didn't yellow at all..and I cut quite a few leaves off that one alone! Day 37 today...front 2 are in flower (easy bud and bubble gum)..moneymaker in back right has shown its first pistil..northern still vegging.

 

[comet79]

Happy holidays to everyone and happy growing! I'll be back on the site in about a year. This thread can be closed as I cant update it...will not have internet access until then. Take care everyone, all the best in the new year!

 

[comet79]

Just to add to it..the money maker and northern may actually be regular seeds and non autoflower. Unfortunately since gorilla seeds is quite a bad company to deal with..i cant know for sure...but end of 6 weeks and neither has flowered..but they are female..so it looks as though they may be regulars afterall.

 

[bad dragon bzzz]

happy new year,take care.

 

[comet79]

happy new year,take care.

Thanks, you as well! I may be back in april. May have better updates on next grow, looking to order an led tonight or tmr before I lose my connection. Trying to figure out which one to get