New Grower First Time Auto Grower | Journalling Progress Every Other Day or So

[WizP]

Hey guys, first time “serious” grower here, first time ever with autos. I am 9 days in, as in the germinated seed going into the soil 9 days ago. Everything was going fine until about day 6-7, then growth kind of just stalled. The plant grows about 1/4-1/2 inch vertically every 12 hours or so, but not so much from the canopy since the 3rd and 4th fan leaves appeared around day 7. They are surely growing, but for near 3 days it’s been very very minimal.

I use OF mixed 2:1 with Organic Perlite. So I haven’t done much PH testing at all yet, except for this morning finally with a garden meter, not sure how accurate it is, but it appeared to sit around 6.9 leaving it in the soil for about 10 min. I haven’t PHd any water, just tap that I let sit and dechlorinate for 24-48 hours. My light is 3 CFLs on the sides, and a 36w full spec LED about 13in away. Yes, I messed up and thought I purchased something much stronger than that bulb lol. Thankfully, this evening, I will be putting up the MarsHydro 600. I imagine leaving the CFLs can’t hurt anything? They’re all about 5-6 inches away atm, can’t really get them closer right now.

Being new to this, I didn’t want to go crazy with techniques and being a helicopter dad lol. So PH is something I neglected so far :/ bc I know some ppl claim to never worry about it, and to success.

Guess my input here is, along with what I stated above as far as my progress, is the stem does have that purple hue to it. But I haven’t taken it too much as a negative bc the canopy still looks nice and boldly green, the 2 original bigger fan leaves look to be healthy and strong with no signs of deficiencies. The other two new ones have grown very slow but appear to have turned nice and green as well.

Guess I’m just stressed as to why it visually appears healthy, but growth has slowed dramatically since the most important leaves for feeding itself have begun to establish.
Again, I am on day 9 right now, have done moderate watering as to not over do it for the seedlings. And plan on implementing the Trio of Nutes when the time is right in around 2 weeks.

I know this post is a bit vague compared to all the info most of the more established growers on here post, but if anyone has any insight to this info provided, it would be super appreciated.

My grow is just 1 Blueberry Ghost OG Auto, day 9:

 

[bushmasterar15]

Looking good, just establishing a root base and should start growth again.

 

[Proph]

Two factors that could be at play are pots size and genetics. As with regs, or most plants in general, you wont see much action up top, until the roots are established down below. The roots take longer to establish themselves in bigger pots. To determine a normal growth rate I use the avaerage of a new set of leaves a week. You're on day 9, so by day 14 or so you should have two sets of leaves, amd so on. Looks like you are about on track for that.

 

[WizP]

Okay well that is great news to hear. I am being patient with my actions, but was beginning to draw concern lol. Thanks for the timely input guys! I actually just went into my dark cylce about an hour ago, and hung up the MarsHydro 600 that I just got in this afternoon. So hopefully in 4 hours when that light kicks on for the first time, they really start to love it.

 

[MickJ]

They will indeed. Another week and you won't recognise them.

Sent from my comfy chair. Link to my grows.
[emoji16][emoji41] [emoji43][emoji848]
"https://www.autoflower.org/index.php?threads/63634/"

 

[WizP]

Okay, so here is a Day 11 update. Seems to be doing better since the light upgrade. The 2 new leaves that appeared this week, are now showing their 2nd and 3rd fans. I think the new light was also a blessing for temperature, bc I felt I was on the cooler side of where I wanted. Now that it’s a little warmer, I added in a 2nd smaller fan to exhaust, and my temp ranges around 75-80 most of the time.

So Day 11, no Nutes given at all yet, and have only watered moderately twice through this seedling stage. Any suggestions on going into this next week and the next few days? I’ll surely keep logging too from this point.

Still unsure of why my photos are only rotated when uploaded to this site.

 

[MickJ]

Okay, so here is a Day 11 update. Seems to be doing better since the light upgrade. The 2 new leaves that appeared this week, are now showing their 2nd and 3rd fans. I think the new light was also a blessing for temperature, bc I felt I was on the cooler side of where I wanted. Now that it’s a little warmer, I added in a 2nd smaller fan to exhaust, and my temp ranges around 75-80 most of the time.

So Day 11, no Nutes given at all yet, and have only watered moderately twice through this seedling stage. Any suggestions on going into this next week and the next few days? I’ll surely keep logging too from this point.

View attachment 873117

Still unsure of why my photos are only rotated when uploaded to this site.

Looking good, I start light nutes week 2, a 1/4 of the dose.

Sent from my comfy chair. Link to my grows. [emoji16][emoji41] [emoji43][emoji848]
"https://www.autoflower.org/index.php?threads/63634/"
"https://www.autoflower.org/index.php?threads/63746/"

 

[WizP]

Okay cool, I am doing the Trio, so I imagine you are saying go ahead and look to begin the Big Bloom around day 14 at 1/4 dose? That was actually my exact intention for getting near/to around week 3.

 

[WizP]

So things are looking good this morning, minor growth in the leaves, think there is a new set that is visible now. Believe I will water later this evening or tomorrow morning. I turned my fans up a tiny bit and cracked the door, sometimes I am noticing the temp hitting 84. Normally it seems to be in the low 80s during light, and low 70s during a little bit of the 4 hours of dark. Do any of these temps seem to be too extreme? I will post a new picture later or tomorrow morning, as there isn't a huge noticeable difference since the last, plant is looking healthy and green though.

 

[WizP]

Alrighty good morning everyone! Top of day 13 here, just logging a little bit, and including 2 photos. Still curious about my temperature concerns. Last night was around 81, and this morning 75. Plant looks to be doing fine, so I’m not fretting. Just wondering others thoughts on this, and what the ideal range for this kind of grow should be. Still no idea why they are importing sideways, sorry for that lol.

So it’s easy to see the second set of leaves has its 3 fans, does that mean those 2 really small new leaves in the center will be a set 3, a new set? I’ve read that set 2 should have 3 fans then set 3 should begin 5 fans, so that’s my assumption right now.

I still have yet to water. The pot seems to be getting lighter in weight, and the bottom is pretty dry to the touch (Using fabric Smart Pot). Can still feel a slight bit of moisture nearing around 1 inch under the top soil, so right about what I’m looking for. Everything seems okay, so I’m not ‘rushing’ to water.

This is where I would really like some others input and opinions though. So if not today, I will surely water tomorrow. Now, tomorrow will be day 14 on the dot, should I go ahead and begin 1/4 dose of Nutes, in this case my Big Bloom? I’ve read a lot about ppl beginning Nutes with autos around week 2-3, really around week 3 with the nute heavy OF soil, which is what I’m using. Again for reference, using 3 gallon pot, 2 parts OF soil and 1 part Organic Perlite. I know the Big Bloom is a very safe and not likely to burn anything Nute. I have also read that many people start this dosing when they see the 3rd node appear, is that what I am seeing in the center of my girl now? Would really like some extra thoughts on this before I proceed.

In my opinion, this is my first go at this kind of grow, and things seem quite stable atm. I started with a few trial and errors the first few days, fortunately got past safely, especially thanks to this awesome new light. But I do feel like my plant is a few days behind from it, and since this whole first grow is kind of a trial and error, I’m thinking maybe it would be smart to see how she reacts to beginning feed tomorrow. Thoughts??

Appreciate everything you guys, all of you are top notch and I trust what you have all been giving me insight to.