Miniature autos: What am I doing wrong?

[guerrillabalconygrower]

Pictured here are two autos: AK47 auto (germinated 08th Aug) and we’ll into flower and a Sour Diesel Auto, germinated 30th Sept.

Both are way too tiny for the age that they’re at. What are the mistakes I’m making?

Both grow in a well draining Soil+Perlite+Coco mix with synthetic and organic nute feeds. Outdoor grow. Daylight is about 11 hrs currently. Temp ~ 30 deg C and 55% Humidity.

I don’t think there’s any hope for the AK to grow any bigger. But I want to salvage the Sour Diesel and make it worth the effort. What can I do?

 

[Azimuth]

More hours if light is one thing you can do.

But you haven't told us much about how you grow. What are the proportions of your mix? How do you water? How much do you give them? What nutes are you using and are you following the directions of the manufacturer?

We can help, but you need to give us more info than you have.

 

[guerrillabalconygrower]

More hours if light is one thing you can do.

But you haven't told us much about how you grow. What are the proportions of your mix? How do you water? How much do you give them? What nutes are you using and are you following the directions of the manufacturer?

We can help, but you need to give us more info than you have.

Medium is a mix of coco perlite and gardening soil. I water them as per need - moisture meter test and pot lightness; which makes it every 2-3 days or so.
The sour diesel seems too small to risk giving it chem nutes and burn it. But for the AK, I use grow-micro-bloom combo from a local brand with cal-mag. Diluted to 50%. Then pH 6.2-6.3. Guidelines attached

 

[Azimuth]

Well, @Bill284 grows in coco a lot and he advises not to mix soil and coco since they need different pH's from each other. You have to pick a side. He mixes his coco with perlite in distinct layers and adds in some organic inputs like fresh and bokashi and grows some monster plants on his greenhouse.

I don't like coco so I can't be of much help with that.

 

[013]

Hey GBG!!!

ahh cute little bud sickle, but once you stunt an auto its toasted.

full disclosure… I don’t grow autos (often or well so yeah) anywho but I’ve read before it’s best to establish them indoors for the first 3 to 4 weeks then move them outside

its possible to stunt an auto with the drop of a hat… they do not bounce back from a mistake.

strongly suggest you start your next with feminized photos, they can easily bounce back from mistakes.

ditto on Azi…. pick just one for your grow media… either soil or coco but be advised they are not the same thing. Coco coir is mostly inert, there’s nothing in coco to sustain a plant so it must be bottle fed (meaning nutes plus water) everyday with ph set at 5.8.

plants grown in coco should never get plain water or plain ph adjusted water, it’s feed (water plus nutes) every time. When using coco you should not run a wet dry cycle

best of luck, keep us posted!

 

[guerrillabalconygrower]

Hey GBG!!!

ahh cute little bud sickle, but once you stunt an auto its toasted.

full disclosure… I don’t grow autos (often or well so yeah) anywho but I’ve read before it’s best to establish them indoors for the first 3 to 4 weeks then move them outside

its possible to stunt an auto with the drop of a hat… they do not bounce back from a mistake.

strongly suggest you start your next with feminized photos, they can easily bounce back from mistakes.

ditto on Azi…. pick just one for your grow media… either soil or coco but be advised they are not the same thing. Coco coir is mostly inert, there’s nothing in coco to sustain a plant so it must be bottle fed (meaning nutes plus water) everyday with ph set at 5.8.

plants grown in coco should never get plain water or plain ph adjusted water, it’s feed (water plus nutes) every time. When using coco you should not run a wet dry cycle

best of luck, keep us posted!

Should I transplant the auto to coco + perlite then? It’s about 5 weeks old. Will run the experiment. Nothing to lose I guess .

 

[013]

Dealers choice but think I’d just focus on keeping them alive.

go fem photos next round where you are in charge of the timeline

 

[guerrillabalconygrower]

Dealers choice but think I’d just focus on keeping them alive.

go fem photos next round where you are in charge of the timeline

Yeah absolutely. Fem photos were hard to find until recently. But that’s the path I’m taking up next time around.

I’m going through with the transplant. Any advice what nutrient schedule I should follow given the size of the plant?

My manufacturer categorises feed based on plant life cycle.

I’m assuming general purpose level? Full strength or half strength?

 

[jxck02]

I'm very new to this but if I can be of any help please do not give up with your plant.

I'd have to disagree with anyone that tells you an auto doesn't bounce back in some circumstances it can for instance my grow is perhaps a week away from completion I'd originally stunted them and have infact continued to be very healthy plants.

Another instance would be giving my pal three of my plants which had switched early they'd also rectified the mistake and continued to grow taller and bud more.

However I'd agree you should never mix your media, big no no each one will require its own care and attention.

(Please do take what I say with a pinch of salt I'm very new to this and can only go off what I've personally experienced with these autos BUT I will tell you I would never grow an auto again - it's definitely not a beginner plant requires so much attention, females are the way to go!)

 

[bluter]

Both are way too tiny for the age that they’re at. What are the mistakes I’m making?

autos will often trigger on the slightest stress. if there's more than one issue they get real sensitive.

Both grow in a well draining Soil+Perlite+Coco mix with synthetic and organic nute feeds.

you got way too much going on there. poor media and nute choices. simplify your approach.

Outdoor grow. Daylight is about 11 hrs currently. Temp ~ 30 deg C and 55% Humidity.

not near enough light hrs and a bit too hot.
indoor autos run under 18 or more hours of light. when they are outdoor they will sometimes trigger early on light hours. the plant assumes fall is coming so it rushes to reproduce.

I don’t think there’s any hope for the AK to grow any bigger. But I want to salvage the Sour Diesel and make it worth the effort. What can I do?

transplant fast into a much bigger pot with a looser media. never leave autos in a small pot for very long.

Medium is a mix of coco perlite and gardening soil.

go with a cannabis specific soil. that's a franken-mix.

I water them as per need - moisture meter test and pot lightness; which makes it every 2-3 days or so.

moisture meters are generally useless. don't rely on that. going by weight is good.
read through this :

The Proper Way To Water A Potted Plant

The Proper Way to Water a Potted Plant Also covered: the importance of pH and why we successively up-pot How to Water Over the last several years I have put a lot of study into this, and I feel that I can now define the proper way to water a potted plant. Keep in mind that this discussion...

www.420magazine.com

that's only for soil types. coco and other styles are fed different. you have a mix of styles going on, so it's hard to advise.

The sour diesel seems too small to risk giving it chem nutes and burn it. But for the AK, I use grow-micro-bloom combo from a local brand with cal-mag. Diluted to 50%. Then pH 6.2-6.3. Guidelines attached

you might not be able to ph correct in that mix. you are neither under soil rules, nor hydro rules.

do you know if the soil component was buffered ? can you tell us what makes up the "soil" component. garden soils are composed of several things and may not have any actual earth.

Yeah absolutely. Fem photos were hard to find until recently. But that’s the path I’m taking up next time around.

they are much easier on a new grower.

I’m going through with the transplant. Any advice what nutrient schedule I should follow given the size of the plant?

those nutes don't look cannabis specific. are you in a non-legal country ?

i'm assuming the company does not want to market them as cannabis nutes or talk about cannabis directly. cannabis specific nutes from a known good supplier would be recommended. those nutes may work ok though.

My manufacturer categorises feed based on plant life cycle.
I’m assuming general purpose level? Full strength or half strength?

autos generally feed a little lighter. at that size i'd try the early growth mix and be ready to ramp up depending on how the plant reacts.

you'll probably need something in between that level and the veg growth level. those schedules aren't hard and fast, they are just a starting suggestion. it's up to you to read the plant and adjust as necessary while they develop.

 

[guerrillabalconygrower]

autos will often trigger on the slightest stress. if there's more than one issue they get real sensitive.



you got way too much going on there. poor media and nute choices. simplify your approach.



not near enough light hrs and a bit too hot.
indoor autos run under 18 or more hours of light. when they are outdoor they will sometimes trigger early on light hours. the plant assumes fall is coming so it rushes to reproduce.




transplant fast into a much bigger pot with a looser media. never leave autos in a small pot for very long.




go with a cannabis specific soil. that's a franken-mix.





moisture meters are generally useless. don't rely on that. going by weight is good.
read through this :

The Proper Way To Water A Potted Plant

The Proper Way to Water a Potted Plant Also covered: the importance of pH and why we successively up-pot How to Water Over the last several years I have put a lot of study into this, and I feel that I can now define the proper way to water a potted plant. Keep in mind that this discussion...

www.420magazine.com

that's only for soil types. coco and other styles are fed different. you have a mix of styles going on, so it's hard to advise.




you might not be able to ph correct in that mix. you are neither under soil rules, nor hydro rules.

do you know if the soil component was buffered ? can you tell us what makes up the "soil" component. garden soils are composed of several things and may not have any actual earth.




they are much easier on a new grower.





those nutes don't look cannabis specific. are you in a non-legal country ?

i'm assuming the company does not want to market them as cannabis nutes or talk about cannabis directly. cannabis specific nutes from a known good supplier would be recommended. those nutes may work ok though.




autos generally feed a little lighter. at that size i'd try the early growth mix and be ready to ramp up depending on how the plant reacts.

you'll probably need something in between that level and the veg growth level. those schedules aren't hard and fast, they are just a starting suggestion. it's up to you to read the plant and adjust as necessary while they develop.

Wow thanks for the detailed response.
First remediation I’ve taken up is to transfer the plant to a coco-perlite mix 4:1 by volume approx.
I’ll start off on early growth and see how the plant responds. Being new to chem nutes, I always have a fear of overfeeding.
Not much I can do about the light currently so yes I’ll use the experience to hopefully be better educated for the future. Cheers and thanks!

 

[SRN420]

Pictured here are two autos: AK47 auto (germinated 08th Aug) and we’ll into flower and a Sour Diesel Auto, germinated 30th Sept.

Both are way too tiny for the age that they’re at. What are the mistakes I’m making?

Both grow in a well draining Soil+Perlite+Coco mix with synthetic and organic nute feeds. Outdoor grow. Daylight is about 11 hrs currently. Temp ~ 30 deg C and 55% Humidity.

I don’t think there’s any hope for the AK to grow any bigger. But I want to salvage the Sour Diesel and make it worth the effort. What can I do?

I think it maybe soil resistants try just coco and biobizz litemix, if your medium is to tight they will flower quicker and so they don’t grow

 

[TOPitlikeitsHot]

I wouldn't transplant at all and chalk this run as a loss. Maybe try a theory or two you've heard in the threads and see if you can get at least a 1/8th yield. Don't go crazy and run every experiment on them. Everyone has been there starting out growing with autos. They are extra fragile and need 18hrs of light minimum for most of their lives. Anything less than 18hrs of light is just gambling with an autos since they flip so easily with little to no stress at all. Quickest I've had to flip to flower was at 21 days from sprout. Turned me into a photoperiod guy really quick. If you want to play the role of God, photos are the way my broheim. Best of luck with whatever you decide.
Andrew