newbie w/questions re: autoflower, leaf burn/discoloration, stunted growth

[PWorld]

Hi, I am totally new to growing. Everything I learned, which ain't much, I got online. I planted 3 autoflower Critical Purple (Indica) and 3 autoflower Mexican Haze (Sativa) two months ago. I am growing outside in Los Angeles, in Miracle Gro soil, using Fox Farms trio of nutes. So here's the thing - it took a whole month before the plants were more than an inch tall, in which time 2 of them died. And it wasn't until about 3 weeks ago that they started to really put on more than a pair or two of leaves. And then one of the CP started flowering, even though it's not more than 4 inches tall right now! That same plant (see photo) has started to get leaf burn or discoloration very quickly - it's almost doubled in the past 24 hours! So there's a few questions - what's going on with the leaves? is the fact that it's flowering mean that basically i've got a plant with very, very little yield or can it go back into a vegging state? i'm unclear of how autoflowering works, but...should i expect all the other 3 plants to kick into flowering very soon? are their cycles hopelessly screwed up by now? should i even bother to move them from the 1/3 gallon buckets to larger pots? they are all still growing very slowly compared to photos and charts & vids I've seen about growing times/cycles. can anyone guess why they've grown so incredibly slowly? any inputs on these matters would be much appreciated. thanks!

[Canuck147]

Welcome to this forum PWorld - I'll let you know exactly what you did wrong. First - you started before reading GWE - cuz you would know that using anything with the words Miracle Grow is very bad.

So that is my opinion - and adding more nutrients didn't help.

So - by 2 months your autoflowers should be filling in all the preflowers then should have been showing around the 30 day mark.

I think you stunted your plants from the very beginning - sadly to say, I don't think they will recover to offer you any kind of a yield.

I grow my autoflowers in stages - get em germinated first, out of the soil next (which I find to be the most stressful time for me) - then the most important part - establish a good root system. Good roots will make for a happy plant which leads to bigger buds.

So get on GWE and get the best grow medium for cannabis plants - and if your growing in soil - get fabric pots - they make the happiest roots.

Good luck growing. Sorry if I made it all sound like a bummer.

[PWorld]

hi Canuck147. thanks for the welcome. ok, so here's a plot twist in this thread already. i actually did not use Miracle Gro. I used Patio Plus Premium Outdoor Organic Potting Mix, which several people on different forums said was a great deal and worked great. I would never use Miracle Gro because of their Monsanto connections. But in my research I found many people reporting on its use successfully. I didn't mention Patio Plus here because I think it's relatively obscure and figured it's maybe similar to MG and didn't want people to start questioning the PP not knowing it's had success. Maybe an odd editorial decision, but that was my thinking. Regarding having adding more nutrients, I didn't start with that until after a month. .And they were germinated via paper towel/baggie method. I then transferred them to styrofoam cups and didn't transplant again till the 2nd month because only then did they get a strong root system.
All the same, you might be right - maybe they won't recover, which'd be a bummer, as I put a lot of energy in them over time. But what about the sudden leaf burn?? Thats was actually the main reason I started a thread.

[Rwise]

Sorry but no it wont reveg, it/they are almost done,,,, all of my autos started flowering at 3-5 weeks
There are so many autos, all are different, many start to flower at 3-5 weeks with 24/7 lights. Some will finish as soon as 60 days others take 120+ days (and everywhere between)
I'll second loosing the miracle grow,

[PWorld]

Alrightee, RWise, I guess it's time to face the music. I tried my best. I wish I knew why it took so long for them to grow at all.

[Rwise]

I have my issues as well, I keep getting my soil to hot, that slows them down for sure, they cant grow roots into it,,another thing I did wrong is using coffee to adjust PH not knowing that caffeine is harmful and slowed them down
How long were they supposed to take sprout to harvest? IF they still have some time a larger pot may help, I ran 20 gallon cloth pots,,,

[PWorld]

thanks for sharing. and good to know to stay away from coffee grounds, which i use successfully on vegetables in the garden. the plants were supposed to take 70-80 days to harvest. it's already been about 65-70 days. i'm still somewhat unclear on the concept of autoflower. since i'm coming up on 80 days soon, is there no hope and thus no reason tor to transport them to a bigger pot?

[Rwise]

The coffee grounds after perking the coffee are considered "washed" and has much less caffeine than unwashed, I toss them out for the worms! I know folks that have used them for years in their garden, which is why I tried them. I feed 3 plants, all autos all about 70 days, all took 120 days.
Will re-potting help, maybe, I would try just for the learning! If you can do it without upsetting the roots they would do better. They should finish but are not going to make as much as wanted. I take soil samples to my local Ag center (OSU) and have testing done (if you are legal just tell them its hemp you grow), hey can do more than just NPK, and for $20 (extended test) it is well worth it!
Also those plastic pots (any hard sided pot) the plants will become root bound, (one can drill holes in the sides and bottoms) I went to cloth pots and will not go back! The cloth pot causes the plants to self trim the roots thus they are never root bound. I am using some outside now as well, and next years outdoor grow will be in large cloth pots (30 gallon) Many use 3-7 gallon for autos, the GF has 5 gallon)
If you can give them 24 hours light they do better, I have some outside now as well, we'll see how they do in the OK heat!

[PWorld]

R, lots of good info here. Thanks, a lot Just woke and must run to work but quick couple crucial questions. The flowering plant out of the four has leaf discoloration - yellowing, browning, more and more each day but haven't heard diagnosis/symptom yet. Any ideas? It's on a road to ruin without intervention. I will gladly transplant the four into larger pots if there's any chance they might survive/grow bigger/flourish. Again, unclear on autoflower concept. You are saying your autos were said to take 70 days, but took 120. That's encouraging! More later...

[Rwise]

Some as they finish shed the fan leaf, at her stage if they bother you pluck em off,,, she wont be to long until no new growth happens, the white hairs all turn colour, time to get out the scope! I would give her unsulfured black strap molasses (1 Tablespoon per Gallon water) every other watering.
The other three have more time to go, I would put them in a larger pot (7 gallon) and water with a root growth simulator like Voodoo Juice.
IDK how much N is in the soil, but maybe something not so hot for flowering, I dont use commercial product, I build my own soil.

[Rwise]

Check out this bud near finished, yellowed leaf, burned tips, deformed leaf

.

[PWorld]

R, again, thanks a lot for your generous input! what means "time to get out the scope"? you suggesting i give the flowering gal some molasses even though you don't expect any much new growth? so, then, in the photo you posted, is part of your point that it still delivers some good bud even with "yellowed leaf, burned tips, deformed leaf"? i seized on yr advice and designed to repot the first of the other three plants, and started with the one in the half-high plastic pot. i did repot it, but in the process learned that the root system really wasn't much, with a lot of soil falling right off the sides the minutes i slid it out of the container - and, again that's the smaller planter. so me thinks the other two still have a ways to go before the y need repotting. what you think? again, thanks for your tips n thoughts on cloth bags, Ag center test, light, etc. Will store all that info away in the noggin'.

[Rwise]

Get a 60x jewelers loupe or mini (USB) microscope to look at the trics with
The blk strap is said to feed the soil and thus the bud, fattens, sugars up more, and so on, many give this in the last 2 weeks, I give some throughout the flower stage.
I myself suspect the soil is to high in N, or the PH is off not letting them make root,,, I have lost the soil from plants, they can recover. The GFs Sweet Tooth I started in soil to hot, when I took it out, it had little for roots. I washed the roots in a root wash (freebie from local shop) It survived all my efforts to kill it and finished. Did not produce a lot, but she is enjoying what she did get.
There is a thread here with a friendly competition going "The Great Auto Showdown" lots of great info and luvely pics! Including some of my failures,,,,lots of great info here and folks too!

[PWorld]

Ah. Will procure some molasses promptly. Soil is fine, or originally so, except maybe I added too much nutes looking back. PH is fine, I've eyed it always. Scratch that completely- I didn't know diddley about it and only learned it's importance maybe 3 weeks into growing, when panicked, did some sorely needed research. Now, come to think on it, maybe that's what impeded them from the get-go (!!!). I have impressively forgot about that fact until now. Poor gals maybe never had a chance, began life disadvantaged by circumstances.

[Rwise]

I keep records daily on all my plants, what I add, water everything. You might try a flush with PHd water and run it through good, maybe wash out extra (added) nutes. I did the same, hell I took in samples for tests, was told add sulfur,, what did I do,, I added the sulfur, some bat guano, blood meal. worm castings etc.. and then wonder why they dont grow! Once I admitted to myself what I had done, I took a dying seedling with no root and put it in milder soil, it will be up for chop soon has recovered well (its an auto). I did that early in its life, also I have cut my soil down so it is not so hot,,,