First Time Growing Journal; Auto Gelat OG and Auto Zkittlez

[MaesterSeymour]

Grow Space: Closet
Grow Tent: CoolGrows Grow Tent Room with Viewing Window for Indoor Plant Growing Dismountable Reflective Mylar Hydroponic System (32"x 32"x 64")
Grow Light: Hydroplanet Grow Light Fixture HPS 150W Complete System with Hydroplanet Lamp - HPS Plug and Play Grow Lamp for Hydroponics and Greenhouse Use(150W Grow Light Kit)
Light Cycle: 4 Hours of Light and 20 Hours of Darkness in the germination stage
Ratchet To Hang Grow Light: iPower GLROPE 1-Pair 1/8 Inch 8-Feet Long Heavy Duty Adjustable Rope Clip Hanger (150lbs Weight Capacity) Reinforced Metal Internal Gears, 1 Pack, Black
Pot: Viagrow 2 Gal. Plastic Nursery Pots (7.57 liters) x 2
Growing Medium: Black Gold SUGRBG16QT 1402040.Q16U Qt U 16 Quart All Organic Potting Soil
Nutrients: Dyna-Gro DYNAGB8OZSET Liquid Grow & Liquid Bloom, 8 oz
Inline Fan, Filter and Duct: iPower 4 Inch 190 CFM Duct Inline Fan with 4" Filter 8 Feet Ducting Combo for Grow Tent Ventilation, Silver
Fans: Genesis 6-Inch Clip Convertible Table-Top & Clip Fan Two Quiet Speeds - Ideal For The Home, Office, Dorm, More White x 2
Seeds: 1 Zkittlez Auto Feminised Seed and 1 Gelat.OG Auto Feminised Seed






First time grower and a new member here. I initially wanted to follow the Small Grow Guide for $130 but I ended up buying more accessories. I am also following Nebula Haze's Auto-flowering Grow Journal – 6.7 oz under 250W HPS!. This is my first time growing and I am opened to suggestions and criticism.




Day 0, January 7th 2021.

[SoOrbudgal]

Hello and welcome to GWE got your self a nice setup. Autos just need little light to begin with and more than 18hrs once above ground. I would place a humidity dome over where the seed was sown keep damp not soaked. Once up be very careful with that large light. I used dyna grow many times it's ok by me are those just 1gal pots or are they the final pot for the autos?

[MaesterSeymour]

Hello and welcome to GWE got your self a nice setup. Autos just need little light to begin with and more than 18hrs once above ground. I would place a humidity dome over where the seed was sown keep damp not soaked. Once up be very careful with that large light. I used dyna grow many times it's ok by me are those just 1gal pots or are they the final pot for the autos?

Hi, thanks for replying to my thread. Should I increase the light to 18 hours once it starts sprouting? I edited the OP and included the type of pots I used. The pots will be the final pot for the autos. Unfortunately, I do not have a humidity dome. Would a dehumidifier work as a substitute?

[MaesterSeymour]

Yes, the HPS is the only light I currently have. They are about 11 inches away from the soil. I did pour a little bit of nutrients after sowing them. I hope it did not affect it negatively. I will try your plastic cup method and water it until the soil is a bit damp. Thanks.

[Canuck147]

You're the first person I've heard giving nutrients to a seed - you are going to probably regret it.

[MaesterSeymour]

It was a very small amount. Any consequence of doing that?

[Tedtheclown]

This sounds like a good success journal, i will be following as i would like to try hydro next! Welcome 🙏

[MaesterSeymour]

January 9th update. Added pure water to dampen the soil and placed a plastic cup over them so that is acts as a humidity dome as SoOrdbudgal suggested.

[SoOrbudgal]

Looks great be very careful with that light i mean raise it now. All the seeds need is warmth an humidity to sprout 11" away with HPS is too close when they break soil may fry the sprouts.

[MaesterSeymour]

Okay, I just rose it up to 25". I was following this guide which is why I chose 11" initially. https://www.growweedeasy.com/how-far-grow-lights

Thanks for the heads up.

[MaesterSeymour]

Week 1 has passed. The germination process is done and now we're entering into the vegetative stage. I removed the humidity domes and set the lights at the appropriate height. I have changed the light cycle to 16 hours of light and 8 hours of darkness. *Correction*. I changed the light schedule to 18 hours of life and 6 hours of darkness. (I must've misread the tutorials provided on GWE). My thermostat also came in recently and it reads that my tent is at 93 Degrees Fahrenheit at 33% humidity. My lights unfortunately give off heat and getting another pair of lights is not within my budget at the moment. Any ideas to how I can decrease the temperature?

[SoOrbudgal]

Do to the light being to strong for seedlings an that's what you got seedling. It's stretching do to light an needs support. These seedlings are going to fall over . This is why we try an convince new growers to use CFL or t-5 light tubes for seedlings. Skills need to be developed. And since these are autos chances are if you don't bury these deeper into the soil you may just end up loosing them without support.

[MaesterSeymour]

I don't have the means to alter my grow set up as I've spent enough money on it. I have chose HPS because I initially followed the $130 small grow set up as stated in the OP. I buried the seeds a knuckle deep into the soil as some tutorials on this site suggested. Unfortunately, I am going to have to stick with what I have. I will post an update next week.

[Tedtheclown]

Need some air circulation. Also you want to pull the heat up and out, of course hot air rises, so setting up an exhaust fan around the top of the light will help pull the heat away. Get a small fan

[MaesterSeymour]

The bottom right (4) is my current set up with my duct, inline fan and carbon filters. Is this a bad set up to reduce heat?

[Xena]

If possible I’d get the humidity up. This is my second go and the only problem I’ve had was RH in the low 30s and even dropping into hi 20s and I believe it seriously stunted them. Since I got it up to upper 30s and even into the 40s it seems the growth has really started to boom again.

[MaesterSeymour]

I've added a humidifier and it increased the humidifier, but the high temperatures remain the same. Maybe the thermostat could be inaccurate?

[Tedtheclown]

Any way you can up the fan speed, draw more heat out? This is just my assumption, but having the filter on the backside of the fan seems like it would slow the air from circulating out better. I would change the filter in front of the fan.

[MaesterSeymour]

"I would change the filter in front of the fan"

What do you mean? It's currently somewhat chilly outside, so I have changed the light cycle from starting at 7AM to having it begin at 7PM. However, as the months ago on, it will get hotter and hotter outside and this I foresee this strategy from being effective.

[Tedtheclown]

You are worried about heat being to high right? Try it and see if it helps dropping the temp. Or get a bigger fan? Try cracking the grow tent open to let some cool draft go in? See what you can do 😊

[MaesterSeymour]

I think it's because I am using HPS lights, but I have no option but to stick with them. Cracking the grow tent open seems like a good idea.

[SoOrbudgal]

Please update with a picture of the seedlings. 18on 6off autos lighting or 20on 4off they do better with a minimum of 18 hrs of light. Autos don't mind light leaks open the tent flaps.

[MaesterSeymour]

Post #6 is the updated picture of the seedlings. Also, I updated the light schedule. I thought I read 16 hours of light and 8 hours before, but after double checking, it was actually 18 hours of light and 6 hours of darkness. Thanks for the correction.

[SoOrbudgal]

Cannot open the pic MaesterSeymour anyway good luck looking forward to seeing your grow

[MaesterSeymour]

Can you look again? I reuploaded the image.

[MaesterSeymour]

Unfortunately, my plants are experiencing slow growth. I think it may have to do with the fact that I cannot control the temperature. The HPS 150w lights give off too much heat. Another possible reason is when I used feed very early.

[MaesterSeymour]

Sorry for not posting for Week 3 and 4. I have been busy with school.

I am entering week 5 but my plants look like they are stuck in the beginning stages of week 2, if I were to compare it to Nebula Haze's Auto-Flowering Journal.





Is it still salvageable?

[Tedtheclown]

I would let it ride and see how it goes, if its the only ones you have. You never know what might happen

[MaesterSeymour]

Should I treat it as if though it's still in week 2 based on its growth? I think I may have found out another contributing factor to its slow growth. It turns out regular plain water was at a PH level of 8. I should've tested the PH levels of plain water. I brought it down to the 6.5-7 range. Hopefully that will make a difference.

[Tedtheclown]

Thats way too high 😂! It wasnt able to take in the nutes. Also check your ph of water runoff to make sure its reading good there. My regular tap water reads almost 7.0, when i mix in my nutes it stays around 6.5-7.0, also with runoff. Being those are autos, im not sure when they will start to flower. Give em good ph water and nutes so they will hopefully grow at a decent rate to flower. I havent tried autos yet, i have some on the way. Right now i have 2 photos and a few clones to keep me busy. Keep us posted how it goes, may get lucky with a small harvest