Soil/Nutrients - I purchased one of the aPotforpot 5gal setups that is supposed to have everything a beginner needs to grow. (yes, I was taking the easy way out the first time)
Seed: ILGM GG4 Autflower
Light: Mars Hydro TS600 Watt Light (I have been giving her 18-20 hours a day from about 18-22 inches)
The seed began the germination process on July 24th and broke ground about 3 days later. Today, September 22 is about day 60 into the process.
I started to train the plant about day 30, topped it (maybe a rookie mistake) around day 40 and a few days later I think I began to see the beginning of the flowering stage. Again, first time grow, not sure about anything really.
The plant was green and lush until about a week ago when I started to notice some yellowing in the leaves near the top of the plant. It has spread to lower levels and now I fear for her life!
I have yet to do anything to the plant other than give it tap water (possibly too much at times). I believe I need to begin testing the ph levels in the plant.
Does anyone have a gear recommendation for the tools needed to manage this aspect of the process?
My research on this forum leads me to believe that I may have an iron issue?
Am I on the right track?
Am I too late to save her?
Does she otherwise look ok for an autoflower around 60 days in?
Did I hurt it by training and topping?
Thank you all in advance for your assistance. I look forward to learning more about the process and graduating to the next level of growing!
Wooooo saaaaa buddy she’s not even close to gone. Wait for some pros to drop by and help you out but a good start would be to order some ph up/down and ph tester. Tap water usually is no bueno
No worries. Also, tap water usually has fluoride And chlorine in it. Most people let it sit for a day or two to react with the air and evaporate. Your girl sure would appreciate that lol
I sent an email with my questions and perceived issue to the APotforPot folks and received this response:
Hi Rob,
Thanks for this update! Your plant is beautiful! Ideal example of LST-- well done! It looks like she did not appreciate the late topping however. Autoflowers in general are not fans of being topped especially so late into a lifecycle. That being said, the yellowing and losing of fan leaves is a totally normal and natural part of her aging process. Now that she’s flowering, she is focusing energy and nutrients to building buds and letting go of older leaves that are now, by this point, usually shaded by taller parts of the plant and no longer properly photosynthesizing and not benefiting her growth. Cannabis is a smart plant! These leaves will not return to green. You may remove the yellow leaves if you wish but it is really not necessary. Removing some leaves to expose buds that are shaded is a common practice for professional growers. Buds grow in response to light exposure.
I am attaching a screenshot of the comparable outputs of both lights. Looks to be similar so it doesn’t matter too much. I would wonder what the spectrum is of the Mars light compared to the 3,500K of the a Pot for Pot light.
Having a pH meter is helpful. If you are using a bottled water, most of those pH’s are listed on the bottle or can be found with a quick google search. Ideal water pH range is 6.5 - 7.0 for cannabis growing in soil.
Your plant looks great!
Highest regards,
Taylor
I am learning more and more every day.
Note: This is the second time that the https://apotforpot.com/ folks got back to me quickly. For a beginner, their product seems to the perfect way to get into the game. I am going to order a couple more setups to get the next couple of plants going.
Now it’s back to the ILGM forum and learning center to try and get a handle on the next step of the process. Thanks again to ILGM, aPotForPot, and the users here who have created an excellent database of discussions that are extremely helpful to a new grower.
