So I’m almost ready to start my first auto grow, I’ve purchased a 32x32x63 tent with a mars hydro 300w LED and a Viparspectra reflector series 300w LED, along with some Happy frog soil and the Fox farm trio nutrients. I’m gonna be growing 3 plants at the most, probably a critical purple auto, a GG auto, and a Tangerine dream, all purchased from Growerschoiceseeds. The only problem I’m running into thus far is figuring out how much to water my plants throughout the entire grow, and also how use the Trio nutrients. It’s just all confusing to me because the schedule it comes with is for photo periods. I’ll be growing in 3 gallon pots, running a 20/4 light schedule. Any help would be much appreciated seeing as my tent and soil should be here tomorrow. Thanks!
New Grower Please help needed. Autoflower watering and fox farm trio nutes.
- Thread starter GreenMersh
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You definitely wanna go light with the water at the beginning. I'm still kinda new and constantly working on my routines...but, I like to start mine in Root Riots. They are like little sponges but, they only hold the perfect amount of water(sorta...they don't just soak it up like normal sponges). For the first week or so, I only water 10-20mL around the plant. Then, as the plant grows, I will up the water by 10mL every few days. You definitely do NOT need to worry about watering to runoff until the 2nd week(end of) or the 3rd week. You will know when it is time to start giving them cups of water at the time....they will start drying your soil out.
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GreenMersh
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@firsttimegrower12 Thanks! The info was actually pretty helpful, now if I can just get the Trio nutrients figured out I should be in good shape.
AutoWonders
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That kind of falls under the 50/50 heading of "some do some don't".
I water mine in 3 gallon pots every 2 days 1/2 gallon each. Sometimes I get runnoff sometimes I dont it may have to do with smart pots?. I feel my soil and usually in about 2 days I have 2" of dry soil on top. I use my nutes at full strength now.. Fox Farm trio... I did start at 1/4 strength....as far as runoff I dont see doing it when feeding nutes a benefit...waste of nutes?? But I am going to start flushing nutes from my soil around every 4th watering with plain water....maybe 2 gallons in each 3 gallon pot to get rid of salt build up.
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Illini4life
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Cant believe no one tagged this yet..
Not mine but a great post for
https://www.autoflower.org/threads/the-way-of-the-fox.52860/
Not mine but a great post for
https://www.autoflower.org/threads/the-way-of-the-fox.52860/
good luck with the fox farms. After 3 grows of using a 50/50 blend of happy frog and ocean forest and fox farms trio I just csnt stand it. Not the same product as 10 years ago. Heavy salt build up and have a problem with the soil going acidic. Dont be surprised about 5 weeks in if monitoring your runoff youll need to start raising your ph or adding stuff to tour soil to prevent problems. My last grow with it I was putting water in at 7.5 ph. Coming out runoff at 4.6. Hopegully you got a better batch. Watch the tiger bloom. Start with 1/8th strength its some potent hot stuff.
Illini4life
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Also..... I am about to do my first grow and I made the same choice as you for OF and after further research I have found that plenty of people recommend adding lime, either calcitic lime or dolmite lime, to help buffer the soils ph. I would say go with the calcitic lime because of the ratios of calcium to magnesium. Dolmite lime is in a ratio closer to 3:1 calcium to magnesium. Calcitic lime is closer to 8:1 calcium to magnesium ratio which will be much better suited to your plants and will buffer the ph of the soil much better as the calcium carbonate is the main soil buffer not the magnesium carbonate. I have read plenty of grow journals that swear that this will even help with a hot soil like OF. Too much magnesium like in a ratio 3:1 can cause soil to compact restricting root growth so if you over do the dolmite lime it can actually hurt you more than help.
What I decided to try, being a little more conscientious of what I am putting into my plants, is adding more of the original buffer inOF which is ground oyster shells which are essentially almost 100% calcium carbonate and a natural alternative for buffering the soil ph level without adding any magnesium at all which you may not need right off the bat. You can still use a cal mag solution to introduce magnesium. From every report I am seeing the ratio to mix with soil for lime or oyster shells is 2 tbsp per gallon of soil. These are long lasting fixes that take time to work in the soil so hopefully when the original oyster shells have stopped effectively buffering the ph, the ones you have added will help out. Another recomendation would be to water once a week with a 2 tbsp per gallon ratio of lime or oyster shell ph water. I found a 4 pound bag of ground oyster shells on amazon, see link, for the cheap and I want to give this a go because if this works for up to 5 weeks before the soil starts getting acidic then it has to be working in the beginning and if I add a feeding once a week with 2 tbsp per gallon ratio I am hoping to keep the soil acidity to a minimum. Like I said I have not tried this but do some research on it and see if it works for you. I am going the oyster shell route and I will keep you updated if it does work. If you choose the lime or oyster route it is recommended to premix with soil before planting and to add it into regular feedings once a week, if ph seems to be dropping. At aforementioned ratio with your regular nute cycle, as this will have no effect on your feeding schedule.
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001B2W8BA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This is the oyster shell mix, $13+free shipping on prime for 6 pounds, I am going to mix 2 tbsp per gallon of soil with my 40/40/20 ratio ocean forest, happy frog, and perlite. The 6 pound bag will last me forever as well so it's not a regular purchase like nutes. I say maybe give one of these a try and hopefully all will work out well for you.
I hope this long post can help a bit because I am going to be right there with you in a week or so when I start my grow and I want to hit the ground running so it can never hurt to research solutions to potential issues that may arise. Hopefully some OGs can back me up and can attest to this as well.
OF and after further research I have found that plenty of people recommend adding lime, either calcitic lime or dolmite lime, to help buffer the soils ph. I would say go with the calcitic lime because of the ratios of calcium to magnesium. Dolmite lime is in a ratio closer to 3:1 calcium to magnesium. Calcitic lime is closer to 8:1 calcium to magnesium ratio which will be much better suited to your plants and will buffer the ph of the soil much better as the calcium carbonate is the main soil buffer not the magnesium carbonate. I have read plenty of grow journals that swear that this will even help with a hot soil like OF. Too much magnesium like in a ratio 3:1 can cause soil to compact restricting root growth so if you over do the dolmite lime it can actually hurt you more than help.What I decided to try, being a little more conscientious of what I am putting into my plants, is adding more of the original buffer in
OF which is ground oyster shells which are essentially almost 100% calcium carbonate and a natural alternative for buffering the soil ph level without adding any magnesium at all which you may not need right off the bat. You can still use a cal mag solution to introduce magnesium. From every report I am seeing the ratio to mix with soil for lime or oyster shells is 2 tbsp per gallon of soil. These are long lasting fixes that take time to work in the soil so hopefully when the original oyster shells have stopped effectively buffering the ph, the ones you have added will help out. Another recomendation would be to water once a week with a 2 tbsp per gallon ratio of lime or oyster shell ph water. I found a 4 pound bag of ground oyster shells on amazon, see link, for the cheap and I want to give this a go because if this works for up to 5 weeks before the soil starts getting acidic then it has to be working in the beginning and if I add a feeding once a week with 2 tbsp per gallon ratio I am hoping to keep the soil acidity to a minimum. Like I said I have not tried this but do some research on it and see if it works for you. I am going the oyster shell route and I will keep you updated if it does work. If you choose the lime or oyster route it is recommended to premix with soil before planting and to add it into regular feedings once a week, if ph seems to be dropping. At aforementioned ratio with your regular nute cycle, as this will have no effect on your feeding schedule.www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001B2W8BA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This is the oyster shell mix, $13+free shipping on prime for 6 pounds, I am going to mix 2 tbsp per gallon of soil with my 40/40/20 ratio ocean forest, happy frog, and perlite. The 6 pound bag will last me forever as well so it's not a regular purchase like nutes. I say maybe give one of these a try and hopefully all will work out well for you.
I hope this long post can help a bit because I am going to be right there with you in a week or so when I start my grow and I want to hit the ground running so it can never hurt to research solutions to potential issues that may arise. Hopefully some OGs can back me up and can attest to this as well.
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Love this idea, thanks! I'm definitely gonna give this a shot!Get you a meat injector from Wal-Mart or somewhere similar. It has mL measurements on it. I use it when my seedlings are small and water around the plant...it makes it easier to control how much youre watering. You can also take the needle off and use it to suck up your runoff when you water.
Also, I wouldn't recommend using
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