I'm growing White Widow autoflower for the first time indoors in my closet. I have no issue germinating the seeds, and when I plant them, they also seem to sprout perfectly fine. My first two I came to the conclusion I stunted their growths bc a week later and they were still the same height (3"). I took fault bc I went away for the weekend and left them under 2 and half days of light and no water. Now I'm on my 3rd plant and it is about 3-4 inches tall (long stem which i've read is bad) with the 4 initial leaves and it doesn't seem to be thriving. I'm on day 6 and im convinced once again i did something wrong and it won't thrive. I'm using organic soil just a standard 30 watt soft white led light a few inches away and i try not to over water by simply sprinkling water around the base 1-2 times a day. When i plant them i put them around an inch deep and toss a little water on top. Small little pots. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I've spent time reading through the forum to find similar posts but no real luck.
I'm just confused / frustrated because back when I was 17 (13 years ago) I managed to grow a few plants in my side attic in my closet nice tall 3 feet totally makeshift. Random seeds, first time and no issues with the plants thriving and it was def less than ideal circumstances. Never reached the flowering stage because my parents discovered them. I will be up to 4 wasted seeds out of 20 and i really want to get this right! Thank you!!
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Welcome to the community. Looks good so far. Don’t beat yourself up.
You’ll upgrade your lighting eventually.
Is that an led light?
Welcome @rbartlett18. Looking good. Getting to that stage took me four seeds - killed the first two! Enjoy the journey of growing your own meds. I am still in my first grow and have learned so much for the next grow. In time, as @Covertgrower says, you will add better equipment to your growing needs.
I was told not to transplant autos. However, many here do it successfully. One thing you can do when you transplant is to bury the long stem more as you have some good stretch going. How is the drainage in that clay pot? They usually only have one center hole. Be careful with the watering.
Many amazing growers here willing to help.
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Thank you for your response @PP3121. Your correct about my clay pot, it has just the one hole in the center. I was a little worried about that but it was the only small pot Home Depot had at the time and i figured my watering was so limited it wouldn’t be an issue? I didn’t know that about the transferring of auto’s. I have medium and large black containers that have better drainage more holes. Should i try planting my next one in a bigger one? I read that you wanna start small for the sake of the root. Also i do have nicer LED growing lights but read that you don’t want to see them until a couples weeks into your grow. So much info!
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Hi @Covertgrower, thanks for the support. It is soft white LED 30 watt light bulb but i came across this one in a thread that i may swap it out with. I did initially purchase LED grow lights but discovered through my research that you shouldn’t use the grow lights until a couple weeks into your grow?
You’ll be good with that until you’re into vegging. No worries.
Go straight from germination to the final pot. Once it hits soil it sends a tap root straight down for the first few days. My first lesson was finding a twisted root at the bottom of the small seedling pots I used. The more stress autos endure early on the greater the chance of early flowering and stunted colas. Your lucky to get 8 weeks of veg and dont worry about 12/12 to force flowering or switching after it starts, it’s not a regular photoperiod that requires it. Do yourself a favor, get that girl out of that clay tonight, roots love to stick to that terracotta and you’ll stunt it trying to get it out later. Good luck and update please
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Thank you for the advice! I will let you know how it goes.
She’s just not getting enough light they stretch to try to get more .I recommend downloading the free lux meter app for phone or tablet and get a reading anything less then 7k is just to low . If your grow light is full spectrum I’d just put your girl under it and adjust the height till you hit 7k ( blurple you want their recommended par value of roughly 130-150 par)
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Good information to know, thank you! It’s been pretty much getting nothing but light and because of the stretch in the stem i moved the light closer but I will look into that app. Still learning so much. Thanks again.
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I think you may have just unlocked a big piece of the puzzle for me! My grow is only around 300 lum, a FAR cry from 7K!! I bought a bummy light i suppose.
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I was away for the weekend but i had my roomate manage the lights and water and i just got home to a dead plant. I think it’s the clay pot but huge bummer 
That’s a bummer! Might have been insufficient drainage and overwatering.
I would suggest reading some of the grow journals and seeing what folks did early on for the most success.