New Grower Stunted autos?

[Beerhunter CDN]

So if my moisture meter is critically low, you think I might have stunted them from underwatering?

I’m going to chime in on this but understand that I’m still on my first grow. I’ve learned the hard way of underwatering by trying not to over water. I’m also using coco and stunted my plants. They look much like yours and are almost the same age. Looking at your pics the coco is dry around the outside edges. You can probably water a larger volume and not let the coco get so dry. I’ve been taught by experienced members here to water from the outside edges when the plants are young to encourage roots to search for water. The coco should not dry out. You have lots of perlite mixed into your coco so overwatering at this stage isn’t likely. I am watering to 10% or so runoff. What volume of nutes are you watering with at this stage?

Take my advice for what it’s worth as a new grower but I will be watering much differently on the second round. I hope this helps and maybe someone else could offer up some advice. @slowandeasy

 

[bouillabaisse]

That actually makes a lot of sense, I was so worried the grow bag I was using was too big that I ignored the edges for too long. At the moment I'm running 5 ml of grow big and big bloom, and calmag per gallon of distilled water, with just about 2 ml of ph down. Thanks for the advice!

 

[the green bandit]

I'm only an outdoor grower and never used coco so take what i say with a grain of salt....at this stage of the plants life it's nearly impossible to over water coco in a well drained pot, you should be watering to runoff every time in coco from my understanding. It's a lot different from soil and should be treated as such, when watering/feeding. I think you're supposed to water until 15-20% run off every time with coco? Letting pot go dry is not good for your plants roots! @Waira will know more about the dos and don'ts better than I. Plants are looking good from what i can tell

So if my moisture meter is critically low, you think I might have stunted them from underwatering?

 

[slowandeasy]

So if my moisture meter is critically low, you think I might have stunted them from underwatering?

I don't use a meter....but Critically low is never good. And yes, you absolutely can stunt plants from underwatering. If you are in Coco and Perlite, your medium should never be dry really. What size pots are those? Water around the outside of the pots in Coco. I won't go through my talk about root Growth in depth. Just understand that watering around the OUTSIDE of the pot promotes faster root growth outwards. Watering right by the stem gives your roots ZERO reason to grow. They have what they need. But water outside and they will stretch for the moisture. Coco is like sponge. So practice my watering method, thank me later.

 

[slowandeasy]

A LOT of growers on this site water incorrectly early on mearly due to pictures. This is because many people see pictures of people watering the Opposite way. I am convinced for some it is actually for the actual Picture taking itself. A dry pot of medium looks different if you just water around the base of the stem. It contrasts more. Same way I am convinced some people take pictures immediatley after Foliar spraying, because it "looks cool". Then you read they sprayed it with straight water and it confirms your suspicion. If you grow in Coco...ALWAYS water around the outside of the pot. It doesn't look as cool on film, but your roots are in the pot...you can't see them. I know what roots do in Coco. Furthermore, if you are in Coco and are using a large pot...your plant will take longer to grow. 2 gal is plenty for any Auto in Coco.

 

[Beerhunter CDN]

A LOT of growers on this site water incorrectly early on mearly due to pictures. This is because many people see pictures of people watering the Opposite way. I am convinced for some it is actually for the actual Picture taking itself. A dry pot of medium looks different if you just water around the base of the stem. It contrasts more. Same way I am convinced some people take pictures immediatley after Foliar spraying, because it "looks cool". Then you read they sprayed it with straight water and it confirms your suspicion. If you grow in Coco...ALWAYS water around the outside of the pot. It doesn't look as cool on film, but your roots are in the pot...you can't see them. I know what roots do in Coco. Furthermore, if you are in Coco and are using a large pot...your plant will take longer to grow. 2 gal is plenty for any Auto in Coco.

I’ve taken Slow’s advice and used it. My plants are stunted from underwatering when they were much younger and I likely killed some roots; however, watering with this method has turned them around considerably. I’m a believer in this method and looking forward to what I can do with it from seed on my second grow. Best of luck @bouillabaisse and thanks again @slowandeasy for passing along some great advice.

 

[bouillabaisse]

Thanks all of you guys for the advice! This first grow is kinda just a test run so really glad I got that problem fixed, hopefully I can still save my plants and get a decent yield.

 

[Beerhunter CDN]

@bouillabaisse How is the grow going?

 

[bouillabaisse]

Just harvested the 2nd plant about a week ago, overall I'm pretty happy with the results. Got 2.5 oz off the amnesia haze and 3.2 off the northern lights. A little bit light but still a successful first grow! Here's some pictures before I cut them down.

 

[Beerhunter CDN]

Nice!!