First time grow - Any help or advice welcome

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AutoflowerLED

New Member
Hi all, this is my first grow with an LED light, and only my third ever grow, first two grows failed due to heat and the over complicated-ness of ph levels, drip feeds, heat and moisture etc etc.
This time i thought id try a simple approach. I have used Royal Queen Seeds Autoflowering seeds, 1st two failed to grow, third one, Royal Kush Automatic, has started growing, but im not sure how well.
Anyones comments and advice are welcome, even criticism, as long is its constructive, is welcome!
I have kept a very simple setup, i have home made garden mulch compost that has been in a plastic bag rotting down for a couple of years, its just like forest soil, i water her with clean rainwater collected in a barrel, she is in an old wardrobe in my brick outhouse, its not tightly sealed so there is a small fresh air flow, helped by the fan on the LED mars hydro reflector 48 that is hanging above her. No fans, no complicated or fancy shit, just all natural and an LED light to keep heat and moisture problems low.
Ive hopefully attached a few pics below, there is a bottle of weed killer in one pic, ive only put it there to try and help with the scale of the plant pot, as im not sure its big enough and dont know what size it is! Haha i am very amateur, but im having a go!

It was exactly 3 weeks ago to the day of me taking these pics that she first poked her head above soil, her name is Katie by the way!
Any help is appreciated
 
All looks good for now. The pot size is fine, bigger pots= bigger plants but with autos you really want to put your seed/sprout in final pot and "do not transplant" due to there short life span, try and keep stress and shock to a minimum. Also no matter what the seed company says 56 days 70 days it will "should" go longer , myself and other auto growers have experimented with this and other things as well and I recommend you " DO NOT " run a 24hrlight schedule but at least a 20-4 to 18-6 u will get much better yields and a happier healthier plant. Your soil should work fine but nxt time maybe mix some perlite in for aeration and drainage , or just use a good bag mix with little to no nutrients in it, not to say u don't have good stuff but u don't know what your working with!! she maybe staying to wet/dry, try watering and letting her dry out in between it will build better root system and help out big time during flowering. . You should really try and invest in a bottle of cal/mag supplement if u haven't allready especially now because led=cal/mag defiences .botainacare makes a good product.c/m plus. It has other trace nutrients in it. U can use that at about 1ml per ltr at her size right now and watch her explode,because in order for the plant to get the c/m and other nutrients the product has a small amount of nitrogen witch is needed to carry the rest of the goodies to the plant ..Other then that advanced nutrients has some great products as well ,as does fox farm For base nutrients and others.
 
If your not really using any fertilizer right now or planning on using a lot of different types ?advanced nutrients also makes a calcium/magnesium supplement a swell. It's a lot "better" then the "botainacare" has a lot more trace elements and such its just a lot "hotter" .... Good luck ... Happy growing ..hope I helped you at least a little. We r all still learning and never stop there's a lot of good people in here ready to help. Just gotta find them and also try to help others when you can..:420::goodjob::goodjob::welldone::welldone:
 
Oh yeah I dunno about you but for me this site was kinda hard to navigate at first but if you go and make a journal.. You can mark your progress and also ask for help and such. I recommend Go and look at some of other people's journals first and make you one.. I did the first go around and I wouldn't have made it through as well w/o one..
 
Thanks man, some good advice, i have had the lights on 18/6 since she went under. I also have a bloom button on the light, do think i should use that when the buds first appear or maybe just the last couple of weeks as a booster? im quite happy with her but think i might be overwatering based on what others are saying, the soil seems to hold water very well even tho i have good drainage.
Also, the water that drains thru is a lovely rich orangey brown colour, full of good stuff i reckon, so ive been chucking that back in the rainwater barrel to give some extra oomph to the water, what dya think, good or bad idea?
 
Bad idea. You dont use run off water. It will cause havic to ph levels. Id advise you get a little fan in there to blow straight at your plant. And a little exaust fan.
You need fresh air in wich you said a breeze blows through so this should do.
The fan in your mars is only for light. Its not sufficient enough for grow space.

THE GREEN RACER.
 
Oh right ok, i thought id read that water left to stand ph'd itself, or is that just tap water. I see ur point about fan, i thought they wer needed for removing heat and moisture from grow room, which i dont have any of, but i guess they need clean oxygen more regularly than just when i open the doors several times a day to have a little nose! Ill look into it, cheers man
 
Mate the clorine evaporates by sitting wich is good but ph wont. Its very hard for a beginner if they dont know there ph levels. And experts for that matter. $10 on ebay. But i think you read wrong there bud. Id explain it all to you but im sure someone else can do it better. All the best buddy.

THE GREEN RACER.
 
Oh ok, thanks for that, like i said im very amateur so all this helps a great deal.
I was also wondering..... If im going to use some sort of feed in the water, do i ph it before or after i mix feed in?
 
Allways ph before adding nutes, unless u use a product that balances ph to. Like advanced nutrients, grow micro bloom."ph-perfect". Also I agree.. U should prob ditch that runoff water.. R at least throw it on your other"cheap" plants here and there n the outside garden. There may b salt n other stuff n there that will throw shit out of wack. Especially if u add it back to rain barrel, there's tons of other reasons .but "ALLWAYS USE RAIN WATER " if u can,especially fresh, u can't beat it.. 18/6 should b great. I think u may b over watering though r at least to often. Let her dry out A little n between . Some air flow n there and some air exchange like racer stated is very important as well. A 8 dollar wal- mart 4" fan r 2 would work great for now. One for circulation .one for some kind of exhaust/exchange when needed maybe..
 
You would ph after you mix. Just mix it up 12-24hrs before you need it. It will settle down on it's own. Plus ur in soil which is a ph buffer so if you have decent water you won't need to keep chasing ph up & down, pita.
I would watch my environment more than ph levels, environment is king.
 
Ok, all taken on board, except the wallmart bit, im from the uk !!
So do i need moisture and heat in the air, because i have virtually none at the moment, i thought low heat/moisture was a good thing?
I will defo get some fans though to get a circulation going, although if i put an exhaust fan in it will take out any heat that is in there, is that ok or should i just stick to circulating the air given that the room isnt air tight anyway?
Thanks again everyone
 
You want to shoot for the sweet zone of 75-80 degrees/lights on......68-72 degrees/lights off. Humidity 40-60% keeps the plant happy & metabolism high. Yes on the circulation fans, play with them & you'll see how it changes humidity, you'll soon have it dialed in.

Good luck. here's a helpful link with tons of info.
How to Grow Marijuana - Everything You Need to Know
 
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Ok thanks, ive cut down water to once a day just befire her bedtime. She now looks like this at 25 days old.....
DSC_011832.JPG
 
With your rain water your ph should b fine. The erase us ph balance first is if u add any "living nutrients" or organisms baccocilliocs mychorize based things of that nature and such your throwing your money away. Your soil should should have a similar ph of that of your water . As far as soil buffering your water?? It's not going to magically make it better if things r out of wake every time u water. But if u use the rain water every time I wouldn't worry about ph. And focus on dialing in environment like stated earlier above. Temp.lights,ventilation, and feeding regiment
 
Listen man.. I no it's hard at first, because u look for answers to questions and all u get is more questions then u come somewhere like here and people tell u different things. There's really only a few basic things this plant needs to survive and most importantly it's that u ,the grower just need to b patient grasshopper. Less is usually more with these girls and most of us at first over do it the first time r to. But u just have to dial in your environment and find out what works for u. As long as she's not soaking wet/dry for to long. You don't get it to hot for to long and also b easy with the nutes. There's not much to it and u will b rewarded my friend.soooo moderation like I said, and patience. It's all a learning curve. .btw there looking great and good luck
 
Thanks man, as u say im not going over the top first time, im going to stick with natural everything and if it works fantastic. I have bags of this compost stuff and shed loads if rainwater in 3 big barrels (it rains a lot here haha). My main use of it is medicinal for a nerve/spine problem i have, if i can get enough bud out of her to last to my next grow ill be a happy man. If however the bud isnt strong enough, i will follow the advice of adding nutes etc next time. All advice has been much appreciated and its good to know shes lookin healthy at ths stage. Happy smokin everyone, nature is king!
 
Yeah man I'm right there with u with the spine injury. If you're using auto-flowering seeds I highly recommend AUTO SEEDS brand.. Dude great genetics and very powerful. Keep it natural my brother that's the way to go...:yummy: I'm right there with u with the spine/back injury to.. Try making some "TEAS" if u havnt allready, using worm castings and manure and such. Just google it my friend u will find all kind of recipes.... She will love it. Please p.m. Me and let Me no if u ever try it. All u need is a cheap aquarium pump and air stone and bubble over night r so and it will come ALIVE with all kinds of goodies your lady will enjoy..
 
Get out there & read some grow journals. People will show different things they do & what works for them, what failed. There is No one way, it is called WEED for a reason. I lurked & read looooong before I ever watered any soil.

Looks like you are in good hands & my heels are getting nipped, so I'm off :peacetwo:
 

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