Couldn't Resist A Christmas Auto Grow

[Carmen Ray]

Thursday 5th January Update​

Today my SK Auto was topped above the 4th node. Now both my plants can get on with vegging and building.

Here is my RR XXL Auto. She hasn't grown much taller but she is wider now. her diameter is 20 cm across. I'm pleased to say that it appears that quick action with the calmag stopped the leaf damage in its tracks.

Here is my SK Auto and her former top.

The most exciting part of the past week was the modification of my swick plate and wicking mechanism. The bottom cake cooler was not used. The Bato pot goes directly into the reservoir upside down with its feet holding the cake cooker and feeding the wicks. The fabric pots full of soil go on top and wick as much water as the plant desires. I started with five wicks on each and I have added five more each.

Thanks for being here and following my journey

 

[InTheShed]

Good work on the calmag and the extra felt! Did you test the water uptake with the house plant?

 

[Carmen Ray]

Good work on the calmag and the extra felt! Did you test the water uptake with the house plant?

Thank you for the suggestion. I checked the chard pots which are my grow bags in a different life. They were well watered already, so I decided 1) to keep vigilant and check on the swicking plant regularly to make sure that there isn't too much water in the soil. If it feels too heavy on the bottom I will take it off the swick and remove some felt wicks (in my case absorbant dishwashing cloths); 2) to go ahead and change the second pot from perlite to Bato pot. So now I have both plants on Bato pot swicks and the messy perlite is a thing of the past.

 

[Mr. Krip]

Hey Carm! Things are looking good!

Here are a couple of constructive comments/suggestions:

Are those spots all over the plant or just on that one leaf? It's hard to tell but it looks like other leaves are effected. Either way, I don't believe this would be caused by your lights unless some water/nutes got sprayed on the plant which can act like a magnifying glass and create burn spots (usually just on one or two leaves, unless you've been foliar feeding and not raising the lights when you do). If it's on multiple leaves and/or spreading, it's likely a nutrient deficiency, so you may want to up the nutes. But, that "lanky" look on your plants I'm pretty sure is them stretching trying to get more light.

Spots developing on new leaves. I have moved the light further away and fed the roots some calmag from the top. The light was at 650 PPFD and is now at 490 PPFD.

RR XXL Auto

SK Auto

You can see the "lankiness" of those stems in the below pics...More light, not less is the answer!

This is when my winter grow started showing signs of spotting. I am using the same soil but it is used soil which I have amended. I will be bloody furious if this happens again. I planted the sprouts in ordinary spent potting soil but now that they have been up-potted they are in the amended soil mix and their roots have in all likelihood ventured into the amended soil. The frustrating part is that the dude who makes the soil grows the most incredible plants in his soil.

The Lavender Best showed the leaves starting to crisp at 8 days old.

The Bruce Banner 2 at 17 days.

The Caramel King at 25 days

The Wedding Cake at 24 days

RR XXL Auto

SK Auto

You are correct on the below and this is pretty common for autos. Sometimes they go into flower very pre-maturely. While they will increase in size, they will be very low yielders. I had the same issue with two Dark Devil autos and got a combined under 2 oz. in a tent where I can usually yield 6-10+ oz. on photos.

Both little plants have shown pre-flower. They are tiny still, so should I be expecting them to remain tiny if they are showing first pistils already?

RR XXL Auto first pistils Day 16

SK Auto first pistils Day 16

Overall, nice job!

 

[Carmen Ray]

Hey Carm! Things are looking good!

Here are a couple of constructive comments/suggestions:

Are those spots all over the plant or just on that one leaf? It's hard to tell but it looks like other leaves are effected. Either way, I don't believe this would be caused by your lights unless some water/nutes got sprayed on the plant which can act like a magnifying glass and create burn spots (usually just on one or two leaves, unless you've been foliar feeding and not raising the lights when you do). If it's on multiple leaves and/or spreading, it's likely a nutrient deficiency, so you may want to up the nutes. But, that "lanky" look on your plants I'm pretty sure is them stretching trying to get more light.




You can see the "lankiness" of those stems in the below pics...More light, not less is the answer!



You are correct on the below and this is pretty common for autos. Sometimes they go into flower very pre-maturely. While they will increase in size, they will be very low yielders. I had the same issue with two Dark Devil autos and got a combined under 2 oz. in a tent where I can usually yield 6-10+ oz. on photos.



Overall, nice job!

Hey Mr K, thanks for coming by
The other leaves are fine. I gave them a dose of calmag immediately, and straight down the tap root from the top. I haven't seen any spread since I dosed them and I gave them each a second dose a few days later for good measure. The lankiness happened in the early days. As soon as the plants were up-potted they were a lot closer to the light and the nodes three and four are quite tight.
I hope these autos will veg for me for longer.

 

[iamhim]

Carmen I love that wicking technique!!! And ooo I didn’t know that autos could be topped! Everything is looking nice I hope you’re gonna have a great Friday

 

[Carmen Ray]

Carmen I love that wicking technique!!! And ooo I didn’t know that autos could be topped! Everything is looking nice I hope you’re gonna have a great Friday

Hey I am him, nice to see you. Yes I believe topping and training are encouraged for our autos

 

[Weffalo]

Looking good Carmen! My autos did the exact same thing with super early pistils (Like day 21 or so) but they definitely got way bigger/more leafy for weeks still before flowering so fingers crossed for you <3

Hope you have a lovely weekend.

 

[Carmen Ray]

Thank you Wef, that helps put my mind at ease. You have a good weekend too

 

[Nev]

Here is my SK Auto and her former top.

Nice on the topping. Your well on your way now. The joy of LST is my most enjoyable part of a grow.
It’s unfortunate that she went into flower so quickly. I’ve had a couple of my plants do the same thing. It’s just one of the downfalls of growing autos but I still enjoy their challenges.

 

[Carmen Ray]

Nice on the topping. Your well on your way now. The joy of LST is my most enjoyable part of a grow.
It’s unfortunate that she went into flower so quickly. I’ve had a couple of my plants do the same thing. It’s just one of the downfalls of growing autos but I still enjoy their challenges.

Oh no, do you think mine are in flower?

 

[Nev]

Oh no, do you think mine are in flower?

By the looks of your pictures I would say yes.

SK Auto first pistils Day 16

 

[Carmen Ray]

By the looks of your pictures I would say yes.

but they are babies... they haven't even got any secondary branches, just tufts... this can't be

 

[bluter]

but they are babies... they haven't even got any secondary branches, just tufts... this can't be

how many nodes did they have before topping ?

you want autos in big pots by node 3. they'll flower on node five with little help. if they get bottled they can trigger early as node 3.

 

[Carmen Ray]

how many nodes did they have before topping ?

you want autos in big pots by node 3. they'll flower on node five with little help. if they get bottled they can trigger early as node 3.

Hey Bluter. I took off the fifth nodes and then stripped one and two, to leave three and four.

 

[bluter]

Hey Bluter. I took off the fifth nodes and then stripped one and two, to leave three and four.

they hit the sides of the cup by node 5 and triggered probably. transplant by node 3 on autos usually. if your cup was bigger it might have run with it longer. they go as soon as the roots feel the sides after node five on a hard side. fabric lets them sit longer.

there's a chance they're just showing. but autos usually go at show.

 

[Carmen Ray]

they hit the sides of the cup by node 5 and triggered probably. transplant by node 3 on autos usually. if your cup was bigger it might have run with it longer. they go as soon as the roots feel the sides after node five on a hard side. fabric lets them sit longer.

there's a chance they're just showing. but autos usually go at show.

On Page 12 of this journal are photos of the plants the day they got their up pot. They were 12 days old and they were on node 3. Bluter I hope like crazy that these aren't ready to burst into flower. I can't have such shitty luck surely...

 

[InTheShed]

they go as soon as the roots feel the sides after node five on a hard side

Is this an actual fact or just something you've observed? Might have nothing to do with the roots on a hard side, just that the timing makes it seem that way. 5 nodes seems like it might be an old enough plant to show flowers regardless of what size/type pot it's in.

@BeezLuiz grows his autos with loads of roots at the sides of the solo cups without them flowering. Here is one of his autos on transplant day:

No pistils and 5 nodes:

P9 said:

I've pulled multiple autos from 1 gal pots that were nearly root bound and weren't flowering yet.

No idea of how many nodes there were though.

And @flytier grew in homemade tall pots and his taps never touched the bottom (to disprove that whole autos flower when the tap hits the bottom myth).

I can't have such shitty luck surely...

Such is the gamble of autoflower plants. Many times they work out perfectly but sometimes they don't.

 

[Grand Daddy Black]

Carmen, autos are subject to the "fickle finger of fate."

Try to enjoy the grow anyway! You are not alone.

 

[Carmen Ray]

Carmen, autos are subject to the "fickle finger of fate."

Try to enjoy the grow anyway! You are not alone.

Oh GDB lmao! I even bought one described as XXL. Oh well, no Carhooks required for this lot then