Indoor Fast and Vast Auto grow in coco\scrog

[Transmatic]

I have a big problem.....my plants simply haven't grown. My seedlings broke the surface on Jan 31st and now, after nearly 4 weeks, they are only about 2 inches tall with their 2nd set of branches appearing. They were looking pretty bad, the first set of leaves were a bit yellowish. Then I think because I'm 100% coco the soil hasn't been able to drain properly and thus has been starving the roots of air....I believe that is the main problem. I didn't give them nutes the first 2 weeks after sprouting, but when I did all the leaves turned a lush green and they finally grew a second set of branches, but even as of today, they are VERY small. It has also been a challenge to control the temps inside of my modified refrigerator. Also, I may have gone wrong by keeping the CFL's on too early in the plants life.....I have kept them on a 18/6 schedule since sprout popped through the soil. Other than that I don't know what mistakes I could have made. pH has always been under control as well as humidity. Temps have fluctuated but nothing detrimental to the plant or for long periods of time.
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I'm going to keep these going for now but I'm ordering a grow tent which will allow for easier regulation of temps (grow room stays cool in basement room with no windows) and more room for my fan and lights.
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I'm also going to only grow one plant, instead of 2, and bump up to a 5 gallon container. I'm also ordering some perlite to fix the drainage issues.
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But, this is exactly why I started out with a CFL auto grow, to learn. So I'll keep this grow going and start a new one as soon as all the new supplies come in, in about a week.

 

[hippy]

did you give them full nutes? I grow mine in 100 percent cocoa so I don't believe that's the problem but no harm in adding to it. I think its likely the temp issue your having. also I start giving them very very weak nutes when thay are 1 week old and I mean WEAK. like 10 percent and increase till they are 4 weeks old. that also could be an issue. I bumped my containers with this next 2 plant grow as well. give more info and maybe we can help ya out. whats your actual ph both in and out of the container?

 

[xcessive]

same here, 100% coco no drainage issues. Sounds like PH problem or your temperature fluctuations. What are you setting your PH at? Have you checked the PH of your run off yet?


Hippy, the 189 grams turned into 50 grams dry haha. I chopped the 5 big colas off the other plant and was about 10 oz wet and drying now. Still have lots of buds left on the two plants that are going for a bit longer

 

[Transmatic]

I'm rt at a pH of 6.0 going in and 6.5ish coming out. I think you are correct in it being a heat issue. I believe I may have shocked them early on, possibly from the beginning. I've always had an intake fan blowing a nice breeze of fresh air but didn't add a fan to blow the stagnant heat off the bulbs until a week go. The intake fan offers a breeze but it's not concentrated on the plants or bulbs. When I measured the heat by placing the digital thermometer directly beside my planting pot and for the most part have maintained temps of 75 to 79. However I once placed the theromometer directly beside my seedling and temps were above 90. I then started researching an reading about radiant vs ambient heat and thought I might not have shocked them....I now realize I probably did.

My grow room is in an unfinished part of my basement, no windows, concrete walls, floor and ceiling but does have 2 6" holes for venelation. I am going to order a grow tent because I won't be able to keep it cool enough in the fridge. Should I continue the CFL route in the grow tent with proper ventilation or should I consider a different setup? I want to grow 1-2 plants at a time for personal use. I don't want to invest much more $ but if that's what it takes to avoid wasting 2 more seeds than that's fine, I've got the $.

Open to criticism and suggestions. I wanna get this rt

 

[Transmatic]

Sorry, forgot you asked about nutes. Started nutes at 1/4 recommended dosage (fox farms trio) just over 2 wks after sprouts became seedlings. Gave them nutes every other wstering and have been watering ever 2.5 to 3 days. After giving nutes the first time the looked very green and healthy, as they do now, but they've literally grown the length of my thumb in height.

 

[hippy]

your nute regiment seems good, I just like to baby mine. but I think by wek 4 you should be full on, just what I do and it works. I do somwetimes get a wee bit of burn but I generally expect that. you have to get them use to it. the ph out seems high to me tho. I go in at around 5.8 and out is usually under 6.2. not saing 6.5 is high but I wont let it get that hi for more then 1 reading. I try to adjust the in to get the out better into what I have my limits at. ya 90 degrees is to high for sure unless your always about there. try to keep the temps within 10 degres. I know I know easier said then done. lol. somewere here there is a page about minimum watts per square foot for a decent yield so look that up. mthat should help you with your lights. personally tho I would suggest you go out and get a t5 8 buld fixture. they cost about 225 with blue or veg bulbs and put out 432 watts with the 54 watt bulbs and would be perfect for 2 or 3 plants. you should get about 3 or 4 ounces with 3 plants in a 12 week period but no guarentees and the bulbs for you would last a lot of grows and use like 10 bucks of power a month. were I live anyway. I feed mine nutes 1 day then 2 days later water only. I start with the veg nutes for 4 weeks and switch to bud nutes after that.so basically just when I have mine on full veg nutes I switch to bud nutes. a lot of ppl just go thte bud nutes route and it works for them. keep in mind tho this is my first auto gro so by no means am I saing this will work for you. I done all photos till now but this is what works for me using old info from the photos and what I did different for the autos.

 

[hippy]

don't give up on them. so long as they are good and green your good to go. as you said your just learning like we are.

 

[AndyBotwin]

I don't grow coco but in a soilless medium you definitely don't want to be watering with 6.0 and getting runoff of 6.5. Your actual pH is probably 6.7 or more & that's on the high side even for soil. But I've had some pretty bad pH issues in the past and it stunted the plants but never froze them in their tracks like yours. :dunno:

 

[hippy]

excess, that aint bad at all. that's about what I got so and SOOOOOOOOO much plant left. LOL.

 

[Transmatic]

I am looking at grow tents right now and also contemplating a different light source. Until my new equipment comes in I will continue the grow and see what happens. I'll also try to get some more accurate readings on pH in and out and look closer at some other variables that could be causing this. Thanks for the feedback....i'll get this dialed in.