Salchipapa27's - Soil - Blue Mystic Auto - Grow Journal - 2016
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- auto autoflower blue mystic nirvana
So lifting is a very common practice. I actually go longer because it is beneficial for the root system. I don't know if Autos are too sensitive to this but most plants grow heartier strong bigger root systems if the soil dries out a bit and the roots are forced to go look for water. For most plants and standard cannabis it is highly beneficial to wait until the plant shows minor signs of under watering. It is not hard on the plant and it will rebound in hours. So I will wait until the leaves start to droop a little then water.
In fact the opposite is also true. If you over water but not bad enough to cause rot or kill the plant you will allow the plant to develop an undersized root mass. It wont need a big root ball if it is getting plenty with what it has. That can have long term negative affects.
Mid way through bloom the plant stops developing roots and focuses on flowers. So up till then you want to do what you can to stimulate that growth and get as big a root ball as possible. The reason is the above ground plant is merely a function of the size of the root mass. There are some tricks that can be done but in the end the final harvest weight is limited by the root mass so you want that to be as good as it can be.
I still lift in late bloom...but until it doesn't matter, I let the plant get dry.
In fact the opposite is also true. If you over water but not bad enough to cause rot or kill the plant you will allow the plant to develop an undersized root mass. It wont need a big root ball if it is getting plenty with what it has. That can have long term negative affects.
Mid way through bloom the plant stops developing roots and focuses on flowers. So up till then you want to do what you can to stimulate that growth and get as big a root ball as possible. The reason is the above ground plant is merely a function of the size of the root mass. There are some tricks that can be done but in the end the final harvest weight is limited by the root mass so you want that to be as good as it can be.
I still lift in late bloom...but until it doesn't matter, I let the plant get dry.
millertm
Well-Known Member
FFOF is a hot soil. If you are not PH'ing your water and new plants with small root base will lock out quickly and if you feed in lockout conditions when it un locks you will burn.
Cheers
Cheers
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- #44
salchipapa27
New Member
Thanks Village! I will definitely remember that especially since my nirvana freebie is still in veg and i want it to have a huge root system since it stinks already i want it to yield a lot. As for the autos ill be a little bit more cautious of the water feeding and wait till theyre dry. Only thing is i noticied the vermiculite looks like it holds some water so i have to wait a little longer till i see that dry out too
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- #45
salchipapa27
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I will pick up a pH testing kit soon because up untill now ive been using water bottles. But i know pH plays a good part in good grows i just didnt get to it because i thought i work my way around it being my first grow and im a noob but of course i dont want a dying grow. Thank you
SoloVoodoo
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I picked up my Ph pen at my local hydro for $35 they are pretty cheap depends where you look you can also get liquid Ph drops they are $11 here for the kit
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- #47
salchipapa27
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The drops kit with ph down and ph up bottles are 20 here i figure thats better than the pen since the pen doesnt come with pH up or pH down to help me adjust it
So yeah Vermiculite is used for the same reason as perlite and is good aeration and holds water well. But after 3 weeks (or a week and a half of not seeing anything) you can probably dump it off. It doesn't hurt none just if it is in the way and the gnats are gone you can get rid of it.
That soil is Hot as suggested but are you running that pure not mixed up with stuff? No good soil is meant to be just used out of the bag. You want a mix that is more like 1/3 that soil, 1/3 perlite, 1/6 steer manure and 1/6 coco fiber.
Not using a pH pen is a fast path to failure. A good soil will compensate for a while. A great organic soil with a good compost base really can handle it the whole time if it aint too bad but that kind of soil is quite advanced and not recommended for autos.
In fact after my experience with autos I did even more research on it and I personally think autos (when run indoors, which is not what they were really meant for) should be done in hydro or a soilless medium. Autos have very quirky nute requirements and don't grow normally. They are actually much more difficult than a regular plant to get to a good sized yield. With a regular plant you can do all kinds of things wrong and recover and still get a pound a plant. With an auto every misstep negatively impacts final yield. There is no room for error and even if you do it right you don't get monster yields. You can get great yields but if you have a cloning program with a small clone area separate from a regular tent going you can get faster turn times with larger pants.
Anyway Autos are cool and fun to grow but they start blooming before you realize it and at that point (once it starts blooming) you can't have a misstep to get "decent" yields.
That soil is Hot as suggested but are you running that pure not mixed up with stuff? No good soil is meant to be just used out of the bag. You want a mix that is more like 1/3 that soil, 1/3 perlite, 1/6 steer manure and 1/6 coco fiber.
Not using a pH pen is a fast path to failure. A good soil will compensate for a while. A great organic soil with a good compost base really can handle it the whole time if it aint too bad but that kind of soil is quite advanced and not recommended for autos.
In fact after my experience with autos I did even more research on it and I personally think autos (when run indoors, which is not what they were really meant for) should be done in hydro or a soilless medium. Autos have very quirky nute requirements and don't grow normally. They are actually much more difficult than a regular plant to get to a good sized yield. With a regular plant you can do all kinds of things wrong and recover and still get a pound a plant. With an auto every misstep negatively impacts final yield. There is no room for error and even if you do it right you don't get monster yields. You can get great yields but if you have a cloning program with a small clone area separate from a regular tent going you can get faster turn times with larger pants.
Anyway Autos are cool and fun to grow but they start blooming before you realize it and at that point (once it starts blooming) you can't have a misstep to get "decent" yields.
millertm
Well-Known Member
I'm not sure about your choice of words about all bagged soil. I do agree that you can improve bagged soil but FFOF straight from the bag is not bad. I'm on my third grow with FFOF I want to try Lucky Dog as a true peat moss grow with feeding from day one. I consider FFOF a great soil straight from the bag.
Cheers
Cheers
millertm
Well-Known Member
That sounded a bit harsh, that was not intended. I'm sure you are just helping to explaining the benefits of helping a soil work better the it would on it's own.
Cheers
Cheers
yup... I am not saying FFOF is bad. I use the froggy blend myself.
All I am saying is a good quality bag soil is actually full of lots of goodness and can be (and should be) thinned out for best results. You can of course use it straight but it is not recommended. And just about everyone who does complains about it being too hot.
I was just trying to provide an option for better results next time.
All I am saying is a good quality bag soil is actually full of lots of goodness and can be (and should be) thinned out for best results. You can of course use it straight but it is not recommended. And just about everyone who does complains about it being too hot.
I was just trying to provide an option for better results next time.
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- #52
salchipapa27
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Im definitely considering the Hempy bucket next for my regular grows. I wanted to do the autos because I wanted to see results quicker and also its my first experience but I have come to love the regular girl I have going and she is stinky and healthy-ish aside from the yellowing which I THINK was nute burn from the veg nutes Grow Big by FF That I got for her. But I just bought a pH testing kit today and im going to try to continue (if im correct and if im not correct me please!) 5.5-6.5 pH of any feed to all the plants. But next grow will be only regulars and clones. It seems like such a good cycle that I want learn and experience in. With the soil yea, I didnt do much recent but just knew a few years back that FFOF was good out the bag so I just went with the flows. Thanks again for your concise help!
Naw that is wrong for pH
In hydro pH should be between 5.4 and 6.4 depending on the time of the grow. Closer to 6.2 in Veg and closer to 5.8 mid bloom and 5.6 near the end.
In soil it is very different. The good range is 6.2-7.0 however 7.0 is a sharp cliff and things start to fail at 7. I prefer to keep it around 6.3-6.4 in soil which gets great results. Definitely below 6.8 is the real good spot and I find closer to the bottom is better.
Coco is like a hydro type medium so running a hempy is like a hydro pH.
In hydro pH should be between 5.4 and 6.4 depending on the time of the grow. Closer to 6.2 in Veg and closer to 5.8 mid bloom and 5.6 near the end.
In soil it is very different. The good range is 6.2-7.0 however 7.0 is a sharp cliff and things start to fail at 7. I prefer to keep it around 6.3-6.4 in soil which gets great results. Definitely below 6.8 is the real good spot and I find closer to the bottom is better.
Coco is like a hydro type medium so running a hempy is like a hydro pH.
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- #54
salchipapa27
New Member
Hello everyone who comes by! I appreciate your all your inputs and will continue to learn from you guys and my experience. My girls seem to be doing good. I watered them yesterday after noticing some drooping. This was of course before I finally bought my pH test kit today.
These are the BM autos
and of course the regular girl
its time tomorrow to do the LST to start turning it some more
Heres the seed coming up which is another BM Auto already showing some intense growth.
ALL feedback and criticism is welcomed!!
These are the BM autos
and of course the regular girl
its time tomorrow to do the LST to start turning it some more
Heres the seed coming up which is another BM Auto already showing some intense growth.
ALL feedback and criticism is welcomed!!
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- #55
salchipapa27
New Member
Naw that is wrong for pH
In hydro pH should be between 5.4 and 6.4 depending on the time of the grow. Closer to 6.2 in Veg and closer to 5.8 mid bloom and 5.6 near the end.
In soil it is very different. The good range is 6.2-7.0 however 7.0 is a sharp cliff and things start to fail at 7. I prefer to keep it around 6.3-6.4 in soil which gets great results. Definitely below 6.8 is the real good spot and I find closer to the bottom is better.
Coco is like a hydro type medium so running a hempy is like a hydro pH.
Ohh okay thanks im definitely keeping this chart with me for reference. Thanks a lot Villiage!
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- #56
salchipapa27
New Member
Okay so today is Day 48. The buds looks pretty tiny but look like theyre shaping into those tree like nugs but on a mini scale. Please tell me what you think if they are probably a little growth stunted or something. I noticied that a few more leaves are starting to show Nitrogen deficiency but I cant help but feel its because of the hot soil they are in since they are autos and dont require a lot of nutrients I wasnt sure what to classify the problem as. Long story short I just want to know if you think they are on the right track or not because ive tried doing some research on flowering days and such and I feel like these BM autos are a little behind. Any feedback is welcomed.
I grew these recently. I made some fairly solid errors but mine did not stretch like that. I got very tight nodal density and some fairly thick buds. I had them under professional lighting. I think you said you have these under T5's? What is the lighting you are using here?
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- #58
salchipapa27
New Member
I have them under a 8 bulb t5 commercial lighting fixture. At first one wasnt too stretchy. Could it be the lights too far away?
yup. Stretch is almost always due to low lighting. Now in the case of an auto like this stretch may be nice to help get the light in and around since you didn't train. But you really want to get some light on there now if you want to get some weight.
Like I said I made a bunch off mistakes and the flowered early but I still got tight nodal density...
Trained one over in half
Got some decent flowers mid way
a couple weeks before harvest, I think these were the last pics I took.
Like I said I made a bunch off mistakes and the flowered early but I still got tight nodal density...
Trained one over in half
Got some decent flowers mid way
a couple weeks before harvest, I think these were the last pics I took.
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- #60
salchipapa27
New Member
Theyre beautiful i guess when i get home ill lower the light some more. Theres probably about 4 inches to 5 inches between the top bud the light i was just worried i could burn them
