It works!
New Grower First Time Auto Growing Need Help!
- Thread starter bakEQuatorial
- Start date
It works!
Let me just say I love u guys SOO much! Thank you all so very much! I look forward to more mentoring from u all. But am traveling a little now. Let me get fixed somewhere and digest all these great info from even greater ppl!
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We could be neighbors, hecno! I'm at 15 too!
Looks like I could be right if you did it this way all the time and success rate is good overall. Cos your weather should be identical to mine!
Pls consider making a step by step guide for growing autos outdoor for newbies in the most simple but effective way. I thank you on behalf of all grow newbs from our region. I'll be sure to pass it on....
We could be neighbors, hecno! I'm at 15 too!
Looks like I could be right if you did it this way all the time and success rate is good overall. Cos your weather should be identical to mine!
Pls consider making a step by step guide for growing autos outdoor for newbies in the most simple but effective way. I thank you on behalf of all grow newbs from our region. I'll be sure to pass it on....
@Equatorial I am coastal tropics , are you north or south , coastal or high land . Things are different for both .
Is it essential to use small pots first? I would like to avoid having too many pots lying around. Can I start straight from the 5 gallon pots? I have thought of using perhaps rockwool to germinate and then just transplant the whole thing with rockwool on it to the 5gallon pots. But decided against it in the end. I do understand that watering in 5gallon pots may be difficult for a beginner but the hot weather + fabric pots should make things easier I guess.
I'm still undecided with soaking or not? My seeds are from seedsman and they seem to be good. Should be good fresh seeds all auto and feminized. Therefore, is the soaking still necessary? I read that it could result in mold if soaked and that's a REAL problem with our weather.
You probably guessed my neighbor country but you are right nevertheless. Safety is paramount. That's y I'm only considering autos and will make a little shed + some stealth tips. A greenhouse is probably an overkill in our climate but the idea is so cool. Some portable ones from China are so cheap that I'm tempted to buy one or three....lol
Thank you so much for helping out. I fully understand that no one here is obligated to help me. This makes me appreciate it even more, really!
Hmm...I moved to my new home only 3 years ago. And I was abroad most of the time till only 7 months back. Not really a geography guy to begin with.
I'm not even sure what coastal tropics mean. I am South for sure, that I know. Land is on the high side. Any tips? U local?
My potting soil says PH 6-7. I suppose a small variation should be fine? It's one of the most reputable brand here. No NPK info though but the 6 ingredients I listed, will they contain enough nutes for my purpose? How do I go to my local shop and ask for 255 or 522 ratio of NPK? I was told to just cut recommended amounts of any nutes to half for autos. True?Hola!
Greenskell just tagged me here, so I'll add a few thoughts.
As he said, I'm in a sub-tropical area, around 22N.
I've got some experience growing indoors under lights,
and now outdoors guerilla style in the sub-tropics.
I see you've been doing some study / reading, which is awesome!
But, remember that most stuff on the internet
is for people in Europe or North America, different climate from you and me.
For germinating the seeds, I'd suggest first soaking for maybe 12-24 hours,
and then either planting directly into soil in small pots,
or using the "paper towel" method for another 24+ hrs until seed sprouts.
Soaking for 10-20 minutes won't do much at all.
You can look up soaking and paper towel method online, or better yet, here at AFN.
Just putting the seed into the soil without prep may actually lead to more chance of problems.
I would not plant directly outside.
As mentioned above, I have found that starting in a 1 Liter pot works great.
Sprout it indoors in the pot, by a sunny window or under little lights (like CFL flouro).
A 1L pot will be enough for the first 2-3 weeks of life.
This is important, as you can then really look after the young seedling.
Avoid big changes in temps (you prob don't have that prob in tropics, though),
and maintain soil moisture levels well, i.e. neither too wet nor too dry.
Use the best potting mix you can.
A little perlite is nice, but ... maybe just 10%-20%, I wouldn't go to 30%.
But: make sure you check a couple of things on the potting mix:
What is the pH? Try to get pH around 5.8 to 6.5. No more, no less.
And for NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium), go with about 1-0.5-0.5.
Do not use something that has slow release fert in it already.
If the potting mix bag doesn't have any pH and NPK figures, don't buy it.
Otherwise, sounds ok. Similar to what they sell here.
(Though my pref is some imported brands, mainly German....)
Prob no need to add anything of your own.
If it's your first try, don't go mixing stuff up.
Just regular standard potting mix or seed raising mix. Perfect.
If you use the soak and / or paper towel method,
make sure you prepare your pots maybe 24 hrs before hand.
That includes getting the soil nice and wet, but a little time to drain.
Once the seed is sprouted, make a little hole about 1cm deep in the top of the soil,
and carefully (may want to gently use tweezers) to put the seed sprout in.
If you can (but don't worry about it too much), have the sprout tip pointing down.
Then very gently cover over the seed, add a few drops of water.
Do not press the soil over it.
Whether or not you need to cover with plastic film?
Depends on your local humidity and temperature.
Since you're tropical, prob the temperature is perfect.
You want relative humidity RH about 70-80% for the sprout / seedling.
If that's what your local RH is, no need for the cover.
(I don't use a cover, and my local RH is about 70-80%.)
Too wet is not good, can cause fungus and "damping off",
or make the seedling grow very tall and skinny, which will fall over...
If all goes well, and it most likely will,
the seed will pop from the surface in about 2-7 days.
How much water to give it?
Again, depends on local humidity.
If you're quite humid / wet, then if the soil is soaked when the seed goes in,
may not need any water for the first few days.
If the surface of the soil is wet / damp, don't water it!
Over-watering is the most common beginner mistake.
But don't let it dry out either. Dry sprout is dead sprout.
Check it once a day, you'll be okay.
As above, do all this in maybe a 1L pot to start with,
for first 2-3 weeks of life of the seedling.
If you local soil is really top quality, you prob don't need much nutes.
But, probably you do need some.
Or, rather, you don't need it, but it will help and give a better result.
Epsom salts / mag sulph is good for magnesium, but it's not the main thing.
The main thing that the plants need is Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium - NPK.
And secondary nutrients, most important Calcium and Magnesium, then prob Iron. Ca Mg Fe.
What nutrients a plant needs changes during growth stage.
At first, a little more N as it builds up leaves and stems.
Something like 5-2-2 NPK, or similar ratio.
(Ratio most important, as can mix stronger or weaker...)
But into flowering, more like 2-5-5 NPK or something.
As for Ca and Mg, depends:
If you use tap water, and it's hard water = high Ca,
then prob not much need so supplement.
But if you use purified / RO water, then it's soft, low Ca.
You may need some nice Ca / Mg booster, like Epsom salts / lime.
If you have a few $$, there are some great commercial products.
Check out some of these:
http://www.autoflower.org/threads/n...r-packs-kits-info-and-links-2016-09-24.55182/
They're mainly designed for growing our kind of herb. ;-)
During first couple of weeks, the plant is vegetating, growing green.
Most good potting mix will be enough nutes.
But in flowering, once the flowers start to show until the harvest,
then the soil's nutrients may be used up already,
and only then need nutrients.
So one simple option is to just buy a "bloom" / "flowering" fert,
and only start to use it once your plant is flowering.
Most autos are bred for 20/4 or 24/0 light cycles.
But don't worry. Some of us growing outside in tropics,
just use natural 12/12, and they do just fine.
Canna is "heliophilic", meaning "loves the sun".
The best is full sun, as much as possible.
Unless your midday sun is maybe over 35 C hot,
in which case, may slow down or get a bit too hot.
Choose your strain to grow well,
can find a strain that likes the heat.
After doing 2-3 weeks inside / window then transplant out.
Transplanting is pretty easy, just look it up how to do it.
Give it the sunniest spot you can find, for your security situation.
More sun. They like the sun. Need the sun.
Not the heat, but the light.
Sun. Lots of light means happy plant.
If you can't get all day sun, usually morning better than evening.
(Sky is clearer, less human pollution...)
You've come to the right place.
Happy growing!
I'm also really confused about perlite amount? I saw YouTube vids of ppl using up to 50% by my calculations. Yet Mandalay seeds says not to add any! I thought 30% would be a good middle ground but you advised me to add 10% to 20%. If you were me, would you add 10% or 20%? And should they be counted when wet or dry? How do I best quantify perlite?
What do u suggest for seedling soil? My local shop has them but it's basically peat moss and humus.
Also I checked my weather app and it says humidity is 58% but it's a very hot day today. My mid day temp does exceed 35 at times. It always say lower like today it says 32 but says it feels like 41. Again, I'm confused so any help is appreciated. My local shop guy said pretty much the same as you. But no small pots or water soaking. Instead of by a window, the guy suggested car porch (behind house gate). And also mentioned the acclimating part. Suggested that I put a tent of black nettings just to give a little shade when put fully outdoors. But I told him I'm planting tomatoes and other similar stuff. LOL
I hope u guys can understand how confused I am. Once again, much appreciated!
Nope. I'm a little away from 15. More like 14.9
South East Asia, mate! Sorry if I was being a sook (spelling)! But you guys got lotsa school/unis around my place.
Can u share any tips on pots/ soil/ nutes? Maybe even details on how you plant the seed directly on soil. I've read quite a bit but many conflicting stuff
close enough , What I found with those temps with plants in pots the soil heats up and you will be in the wet season , First up , Keeping your soil cool , It helps to have some type of soil cover - like wood chip or straw , that type of thing , I also found watering at night was better , because if you water in the morning it will heat up and cook your roots , I have had up to 41 c a number of times , So if you are growing outside at this time of year you will run into problems with bud rot . due to humidity . I found May to October is best for outdoors . other than that indoor with aircon and dehumidifier . Perlite , depending on the make up of your soil to the amount you put in , Say you have 10 liter of soil add 1 liter of perlite . Nutrients , I blend my own , so I can't help you much there unless you want to blend your own . Planting seeds .
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