Stunted Plants

[ys109]

Hello,

I'm new to growing. I had a relatively successful outdoor grow this year with one plant that was mostly hands off. However, this is my first indoor grow, and I've already learned a few lessons. I germinated four seeds, all germinated, and two survived until about day 7. One had bad helmet head, and I believe the other was planted too deep into the soil.

Now it's looking like these two, at day 20 are very stunted. They look almost identical, but I only have a picture of the one.

Here is what I'm currently using:

• Great Lakes Water Only living soil currently in .3 gallon (I believe) pots. I will be transplanting them into 5 gal Rain Science Bags.
• Under a 255 watt Budget LED Series 3+ Full Spec. in veg mode dimmed to about 50% (pulling 128 watts at the wall). The light meter from my Raspberry PI is showing about 11000 lux right next to the plant.
• Light is 30 inches above the canopy, as recommended by Budget LED.
• I'm currently watering once per day with a spray bottle.
• I haven't added any extra nutrients, and have not PH tested the water. I do let it sit to dechlorinate.
• Temperatures range from 68-74 degrees and the tent is at 46-53% humidity.
• Both are Fastbuds genetics. I'm running Mexican Airlines, and CBD 1:1 (CBD Crack)

Near day 14 or so the Mexican Airlines was bigger than the CBD Crack, but I think I got lazy with watering. The Mexican Airlines is a bit droopy and now about the same size as the CBD.

I have attached a picture. The picture is of the CBD Crack. Again, I'm at day 20.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[radguyjohn]

I would transplant them to their final pots asap and hope for the best. It sounds like the taproots have found the bottom of the smaller pots and have stunted accordingly.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

@ys109 Welcome to AFN Your plants do look a little behind but with a few corrections you are well on your way.


Are you running the Budget LED Series 3+ Full Spec. 330? If so this is the PPFD foot print at full power:

So perhaps you have misunderstood their instructions? Lux is not really meaningful in agriculture although there are some formulas that can give a guesstimate for PPFD but it makes too many assumptions.

The DLI (daylight integral) is the number of PPFD presented to the plant over a day. Cannabis performs best with 28 - 32 DLI as a minimum and will utilize up to 60 DLI but there is a diminishing return on the light over 50 DLI. You want your lights to be full spectrum. That used to mean PAR (photosynthetic active radiation) 400nm to 700nm wave length light but new science is extending that from 350nm to 750nm.

The green in the middle has now been proven to be used by the plant as well as ultra-violet 350nm to 400nm as well as far red 700nm to 750.

Most commercial lights do not include the ultra violet (or enough) but can be added with other sources later. Many lights do now include the far red.

This spectrum is Blue heavy and will be better for the vegetative cycle:

While this leans red heavy and is better for Flowering.

Many lights allow for different spectrum by turning on or off or otherwise adjusting the spectrum. Like your light does. It is accomplishing this by only running some of the diodes. That means you are not getting all of the PPFD listed on the map running in veg mode. At 36 inches the center is listed at 550 PPFD. Lets be generous and say you are getting 300 PPFD in veg. mode. I will assume you are running 18/6 (what I recommend).

As you can see this is not enough light and the main reason your plants are stunted. So drop your lights to 18 inches and turn it fully on. The plants in the 2 ft² area will be getting enough while the outside edges are still low but this will grow a plant.

Autoflowers have an accelerated life. They do everything on a genetic time clock. If you stress the plant at anytime during any phase they are in it may be stunted and this is especially true for early root development. It is highly recommended that you plant Autos directly in the pot they will mature in. A cannabis tap root can grow 9 inches in three days and the laterals are not far behind. Anything that inhibits that can stunt the plant.

Your night time temperatures are ok but they like it warmer during the day at 78°F , RH >40% <60%.

What you need to learn about watering will come with practice. Here are the basic rules: Never let the soil dry out. Soil and or coco can become hydrophobic if allowed to dry. This means it repels water. This in turn will create dry pockets in the soil and roots there will die. If your soil - coco have accidentally dried out use a surfactant to help re-wet it. I like yucca powder. Don't let soil remain soggy by watering too much too often. Root rot, damping off, molds, fungus gnats and other problems start in soggy soil. When you do water water the entire pot. How to learn when to water starts before you plant the seed. Fill your container with fresh soil/coco and weigh it (heft it) this is the lightest weight and consider it a dry pot. Now slowly water until the soil/coco will no longer absorb the water and run-off begins; weigh the pot (heft it) this is the maximum water, the wettest the pot can get. The difference between wettest and driest is the maximum water weight, for ease of explanation lets just say the water weighs 20 pounds. When the pot loses 10 pounds (half of the water weight) it is time to water again. There is an art to watering.

 

[ys109]

Thank you for the reply. This was very helpful. I think my next grow will be much better. I ended up riding it out with these little things. They’re still tiny, but I’ll definitely get some buds from them. I think my main issue was not lowering, and increasing the light intensity early enough.

I have another photoperiod plant someone gave me, but I can’t seem to get rid of powdery/gray mildew. It isn’t covering every leaf, but I’m worried about even very small amounts, which is where I’m at now. I have been using Lost Coast Plant Therapy and it seems to work, but after a few days of not using it I can see little spots that come back.

I have wiped the grow area with Hydrogen Peroxide. Is there something I can put in the soil? I’m waiting to flip this thing to 12/12 until I can finally eliminate all of it. Temps are around 73 when the light is on and 64-70 when the light is off. Humidity never goes over 45%.

Thanks again!