Outdoor grower in Vermont, so plants can’t go out until Memorial Day. No pics to show yet, but I started auto seeds indoors in April, thinking I’d get an early start on the season. After 7 - 8 weeks they are only 2 inches tall & have started to pre-flower! Little white pistils are poking out of the top. They never got past the seedling stage!
Varieties are ILGM White Widow & Fast Buds Original AK.
Is starting too early the cause? Seeds started in May are about the same size & seem ok so far. Anyone else have any knowledge or experience with this? It’s my 4th season, and as an outdoor grower I’ve lost my chance for this year.
When you started them in April, did you have them under a light or just natural light from a window? What medium did you plant them in? Wondering if the soil was too hot for seedlings, I started my Bruce Banner AF end of Feb under a small T5 light for the first few weeks. This was mine at about the same time as yours is now (mid-April)…she was starting to flower too, and now only has a couple left.
There’s not enough information here for me to give any kind of definitive answer, but autos should be in full flower by 8 weeks. Mine typically went into flower by 4 weeks - one at 16 days old.
I’m going to guess they aren’t getting any artificial light, or if they are it’s low quality light. Autos will react to stress by going into flower. (My 16 day flowering plant was begging to be transplanted from her solo cup into her 5 gallon pot.) They want to finish their life cycle quickly and flowering is how they start the “beginning of the end”.
If you’re starting plants inside to put out, you should probably have some kind of LED lighting to give them the best start you can, and don’t start them too soon - they won’t be happy being 2 - 3 months old then transplanted.
It sounds as if you have a bunch of runts to raise. But if you have the space/inclination, I’d go ahead and plant them, they can surprise you. My 16 day baby went on to grow to 20 inches tall and gave 2 oz of high quality bud.
@Happy_Herb fellow VT here you still have time to start some autos outside actually you could start them outside once we have high 50s and 60s for night temps they will grow great and could be ready around Septemberish I run autos and I grow indica autos out doors happy growing
Thanks for the comments.
I didn’t have any artificial lights so that is probably a factor. The soil was just Agway brand potting soil.
I transplanted them out this weekend in Happy Frog potting soil, so we’ll see what happens. I’m trying to be low-tech (i.e. cheap) but I guess lights are a needed investment (or I could practice patience in April - yeah, right).
