First time grower looking for perspective on plant progress

[AClizzle]

Working through first grow. I’m trying my hand at a couple of auto flowers. Specifics below. These plants have been a bit slow to get started so I wanted to check-in in the forum and get some opinions/perspective.

-What strain, Seed bank, or bag seed (photo or auto)

• Blue Dream Auto and Blue Cheese Auto, both from ILGM seeds

-Age of plant

• 12 days since germination

-Method: Soil w/salt, Organic soil, Hydroponics, Aquaponics, KNF

• Organic soil. I’m using a 2:1 mix of FoxFarms Ocean Forest:Happy Frog, with commercial Super Soil (for autoflower) mixed into the bottom third of the pots as directed. I am using a sub-irrigated planter.

-Vessels: Type and capacity of container (fabric, plastic, etc)

• 3 gallon Smart (fabric) pots

-PH and TDS of Water, Solution, runoff (if Applicable)
N/A

-PPM/TDS or EC of nutrient solution if applicable
N/A

-Method used to measure PH and TDS
Haven’t been measuring because the research I’ve done suggested using a super soil would manage the PH automagically

-Indoor or Outdoor if indoor, size of grow space

• Indoor. 2x2 tent (actually, it’s a two room 2x3 tent, but the plants are on one side and the heater is on the other)

-Light system List brand and wattage/spectrum

• FAMURSmTF-1200 - @75%

-Actual wattage draw of lights

• About 65W
  -Current Light Schedule
• 18/6
  -Temps; Day, Night
• Targeting 74 F Day/ 66 F Night

-Humidity; Day, Night

• Humidity control in the tent has been a bit of a challenge. I was using domes until 2 days ago. I find that when the lights turn off the humidity readings skyrocket. The ventilation fan triggers at 77% humidity (the sensor is way above the plants and reads higher than the sensor at plant level)

-Ventilation system; Yes, No, Size

• Yes, 4" inline ventilation fan

-AC, Humidifier, De-humidifier,

• No

-Co2; Yes, No
-No

Thanks for taking a look!

[OGIncognito]

Looking on par for 12 days above ground. It gets a little boring until about week 4 for autos, then it’s off to the races.

@AClizzle

super soil would manage the PH automagically

The super soil can be hot and damage young seedlings. The FFOF and HF are great mediums loaded with nutrients and fungi and bacteria which is also what you introduced with the living soil. Tagging @MeEasy a guru on this

[MidwestGuy]

Welcome to the forum.

I would pick one type of soil and stick with it. Mixing different soils can result in a grow that is more difficult to manage from a PPM and pH perspective.

@AClizzle

suggested using a super soil would manage the PH automagically

This is not true. There a a number of reasons pH can get off track. Among them are the pH of what you feed and water, as well as a salt buildup over time during the last half of the grow. There is no “supersoil” that manages pH automatically. pH must be actively managed in any type of grow including soil, coco, and hydro. That said, there is no need to worry about pH until after you start feeding, so long as the water you give the plant is in the range 6.3 to 6.8.

[GFDuke]

Perfect advice.

[MeEasy]

Im already out of my friend, thank you for the tag, hello @AClizzle I grow in living soil which some call super soil. The key to growing in living soil is that you are feeding and caring for the soil and the soil is literally communicating with the plants and the microbes adjusts the ph to provide the nutrient the plants are asking for at whatever stage of growth it is in. So as long as your soil has the nutrients available to the microbes there is absolutely no reason to ever test the ph. I cheat because I found a premixed product (earth dust) that has all the different organic ingredients all together in two bags it’s nice because I don’t have to buy 15 bags of different ingredients and measure it out but it’s the same thing in the end. I do recommend that you check your water initially this is from the co i buy my nutrients from it’s there recommendation for what water to use. I see you are using auto pots I don’t have any experience with them and don’t know if they keep the soil moist all the way to the top which is important for living soil. There’s a layer of fungi and bacteria that live about 3/4 of an inch from the top of your soil that has to stay moist to process the materials correctly to provide your plants food, as long as it does I don’t see a problem with using the auto system.
Sorry for the book I’m on my third cup of coffee and I get to babbling… @ me anytime if you have any questions and I’ll try to answer or point you to someone else who might be able to. Also you’re welcome to come by my place just click on Homer then again on my featured topic and you will be magically teleported over

[OGIncognito]

Appreciate that educational class again Brother

[MeEasy]

yes sir, any time i can help I try to

[TomServo]

You can compare your’s to my Blue Dream they are all in ocean forest. Doesn’t look much smaller that I saw in that timeframe.https://ilgmforum.com/t/blue-dream-autoflower-indoor-grow/83033/11

[AClizzle]

Thanks for response @MeEasy! I’ll do some more reading today I’ve been misting the top layer of soil twice day and top watering about once a week around the outside edges of the pots. I’m hoping that eventually the roots will get deep enough in the pot that they’ll have plenty of water from the sub-irrigation, but really good to know that the top layer needs to stay damp for the fungi and bacteria to play their role.

[AClizzle]

Thanks @MidwestGuy! I’m putting my faith in urban tap water for this first grow, I’m sure lessons will be learned

[AClizzle]

Thanks @OGIncognito. The super/living soil is only in the bottom of the pots. My hope is that the plants will get what they need while young from the Fox Farms soil mix and as they age, and the roots reach the bottom of the pot the plant will get a boost from the super soil.

@TomServo - Thanks for tagging in! It was surprisingly helpful for me to just post the pics to the forum because my plants look more like the pics I’m seeing from other growers when posted here than they do when I look at the pics in my grow journal. I thought mine may have been a bit stunted. Super helpful to have your grow running a bit ahead of mine to track comparative growth. I think my first rookie mistake was starting my journal the day I dropped my seeds in water; I realized too late that I didn’t understand what the right starting point was for communicating growth timelines. I appreciate the way you’ve communicated the timing with “in the dirt” and “above ground”. I said 12 days since germination, but it would have been more accurate to say 12 days above ground.

Apologies to all for the many responses…just learning how to use the forums

[MeEasy]

@AClizzle

super/living soil is only in the bottom of the pots

This is the right way to do this in some cases, it’s done like this like you said to allow the little plant to eat from the top until it’s ready to flower. While the plant is eating from the top the microbes in the bottom super soil are working on turning the nutrient rich material into usable food (called cooking) for the flowering plant.
The stuff I use can be made up that way to by mixing in the “boost” nutrients into the bottom 1/3 of the soil only creating a super soil. I haven’t tried this yet but the co is saying that it would work great for autoflowers but that it might be necessary to do a top dressing for the second half of flower on photoperiod plants. I use earth dust the original way where I mix the “base” mix into the soil cook it for two weeks then one week before the switch to flower top dress the “boost” and finally another top dressing of boost one month later… the second top dressing is not necessary for autoflowers

[OGIncognito]

Anytime Grow Bro, you should check out @MeEasy grows.

[beachglass]

Welcome to your new happy place

[AClizzle]

Updated pics, day 15 above ground. Still some yellowing on the lower leaves, but it looks like maybe the new growth is pretty healthy?

I added a circulation fan to the tent today and realized as part of that process that I have no idea how to place the fan. It’s a 6" fan that clips to the tent poles; fixed position. Should the fan be at plant level? above? does it matter?

Thanks!

[OGIncognito]

Looking good, no worries on the lower leaves and the lime green uppers are a sign of new growth. At their age I would not have the fan blowing directly on them but more moving the air around them

[TomServo]

Looks good to me. I’d say it’s a couple days behind my biggest one at that point. I started to see big growth at day 23 about ground

[AClizzle]

Noticed a little bit of green something growing on the soil near the base of Blue Dream. Anything to worry about?

Other than that, looks like the plants are finally starting to do something.

[TomServo]

Algae maybe

[AClizzle]

Haven’t had time to be on the forums the last few weeks…been spending WAY too much time at my job.

May have had a pretty serious set-back this week, but hoping the plants will recover. Both plants have been getting taller so I attempted to raise the lamp and in the process the hook holding the lamp up broke and the lamp fell on the plants

I used blue painters tape to strengthen the damaged stems.

This happened the night before I left for a small vacation. Made it home yesterday and the plants seem okay. I did some pruning and LST today, but I’m worried I may have over-pruned. I was trying to remove the damaged and lower leaves, but I fear I may have taken too many. I guess we’ll see how these continue to develop (or fail to develop)

If anyone has any advice I’m all ears.

Thanks!