New Grower New grow, some feedback is greatly appreciated

[oldschool]

3 Northern Lights auto's and 3 Jack Herrer autos..the small pots are photoperiods, They are 2 white widow and 1 white mango. The white mango popped for me from a 2004 seed and has started out naturally with 2 tops. Hoping for a girl!

My set up:
5X5 Tent running 400W MH
Good venting 6" out through carbon filter, fresh air intake from outdoors
3.5 to 4 gallon DIY smart pots (fabric shopping bags.....doubled up makes them sturdy)
Soilless: Pro-mix PGX + Pro-mix HP with 25% additional perlite
R.O water at PH 6.4, and about 6 after adding nutrients
Nutrients: Holland Secret 3 part
Addition of SM-90
Temp: 72F
Humidity 44%

The grow: Day 19 in the attached pics
Started indoors and intend to move outdoors at some point soon. Introduced them to real sun bath for about 4 hours today.
QUESTIONS:
1) The first nutrients were given at day 12 at 1/2 strength micro/grow recommended for seedlings (about 1/2 litre each) Fed them 3/4 of a litre each on day 17 at 1/2 strength micro/grow recommended for early veg. (Day 19 now.) The leaves look a bit light to me but they have been growing daily and darkened slightly. They were light right from the start as young seedlings at about day 7-9. Do they look OK?

2) When will they be large enough or old enough for me to completely saturate the smart pots when I feed them? I was thinking I would saturate them with a 1/2 strength feeding when the thunderstorm weather passes in the next 2 or 3 days . They should have good sun for a solid week. Would saturating them be over watering at this size?

3) I am brand new to autos, soilless, and outdoors. I usually run regular seeds in DWC
Is it to early to put them outdoors right now? I can wait a couple weeks but before moving them outdoors if it is recommended.

Thanks and happy growing to all

 

[oldschool]

missed this one

 

[Chester]

Going outdoors I see no problem w/ saturating the pots but I wouldn't ... thirsty plants are happy plants ... I'd be sure I was training the roots by watering in a circle around the pot about 2" from the rim ... I would slowly pour enough water to reach the bottom of the pot ... even if you need to let a little run off in a spot or two .... this trains the roots to spread out and down in their search for water ... I'd wait about 10 days to saturate the pot ... they look good for their age ... Do you have a well ? I've seen good results w/ well water.... you've got the start of a small jungle there ... They are at a point where you need to ask yourself whether indoors or outdoors will make them grow faster ... unless you've got a real good light I'd say outdoors after the storm passes as long as you don't have anything that will eat them ... I hope you can use that porch it looks like they get lots of light there ... good luck w/ your grow

 

[KUDO]

your girls look very happy ,iv not use pro-mix soilles if its like coco you need your ph around 5.8 up too 6.3,if your using ro water look in to getting some cal/mag as girls lov the gear and ro water as anythink in it, tap water has loads,i be around to which the show

 

[oldschool]

Hey Chester,
Thanks so much for the feedback and the rep. May Bob Marley himself watch over you and all your grows!
I will continue with circle feeding for a while.
I have to say they loved the outdoors. A couple hours after I took the pictures they were all hands up to the sky as if they were worshiping it. Having said that, I forgot to mention in my post that I also have a 1000W MH/HPS switchable ballast in my tent that is not on yet. I can set it to 600w HPS and turn it on with the 400W MH for 1000w.

I have 7 more auto's that are now 3 days old, and another round of seven will follow a couple weeks after that. So far 100% germ rate. I am looking to take advantage of natural light for free. Power is expensive here @ more than 13 cents per KWH

My outdoor spot has shelter from strong wind but gets light for about 16 hours with full sun for about 9 hours.
The intention was always for outdoors as these ones get bigger they get moved out of the tent and replaced by the new babies.
I have never understood why seed banks usually say smaller outdoor harvests with autos? It is the opposite with photos. Why is that?

 

[oldschool]

Hi Kudo,
My water is surface water. I have a million plus gallon pond on our property that is our water supply. It has high ppm of around 950 and a ph of around 7.6 before I run it through the R.O system. Once through the R,O it is 6.3 to 6.4 before nutes and around 5.9 to 6 after nutes are added. PPM of the RO is 58.

 

[Chester]

You may want to consider adding CalMag starting soon ... If you can give them 9 hrs of full sun they'll do fine ... I predict big plants in your future ...

 

[KUDO]

Hi Kudo,
My water is surface water. I have a million plus gallon pond on our property that is our water supply. It has high ppm of around 950 and a ph of around 7.6 before I run it through the R.O system. Once through the R,O it is 6.3 to 6.4 before nutes and around 5.9 to 6 after nutes are added. PPM of the RO is 58.

wow my tap is ec 0.6 ones i run my water thought my ro it come back at ec0.0.why you getting a hight Ec still,

 

[oldschool]

Hi KUDO
I don't know but my pond is created by natural spring run off. It is surrounded by trees, has trout in it and also currently has a pesky beaver too. I have a 1/2 HP air pump bubbling in the bond 24/7 all year round. I have a very primitive DIY water treatment system. When the water enters the house it runs through a chlorinator and then a carbon filter tank. The tap water is slightly yellow in color from tannins like lake water. I installed the RO system for my wife and I to produce drinking water for us and our plants. I have been through two complete grows with photo's and my plants loved it. Do you think it might be an issue for my autos?

 

[Renaissance Redneck]

Looking great, oldscchool!

I have never understood why seed banks usually say smaller outdoor harvests with autos? It is the opposite with photos. Why is that?

With autos, the more light they get the bigger they grow. They go from veg to flower whether they get an hour of light or 24, so unlike a photo you can't hold them in veg to gain size.
Happy Growing!