[Newbie] Single bud after 1 month?

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Hi, I have just started into this hobby(for me anyway) and have some seed that flowers in a month. I started with 6 seeds. 2 Each of ChemDawg, ThaiHaze, and Watermelon all auto-flower. I also bought a GelatoPie clone as a safety net in case I failed to germinate any seeds. I needn't have worried because all 6 germinated after just 3 days. I left then for 12 days to strength before potting. I potted all six at the same time in the same soil (Miracle Grow potting soil from Lowes). Now, 2 weeks later I am alarmed to see buds already forming on both of my ChemDawg (closeup below). I understand from searching the internet that is does happen occasionally however both ChemDawg seeds are doing it. The ThaiHaze and the Watermelon appear to still be solidly in the vegetative state despite same light, water, temp, and soil.

I am attaching a photo. You can see the Gelato-Pie clone in the middle. The three seedlings across the bottom are left to right, Watermelon, ThaiHaze, and the stunted, flowering, ChemDawg. Repeated counter-clockwise around the back. Any thoughts on the issue with the ChemDawg? I'm thinking a bad strain of seeds.

Note: After looking at the photo I realized a few of you are going to see the top of the Solo cup in one of the pots and let me know (most respectfully, I sure :-) ) that I was supposed to remove the seedling from the germinating cups when re-potting. I assure you this is a trick. I planted some of the seedlings too low so I cut the tops off some solo cups to make a fence to keep the soil away from the stem.

[Ckbrew]

Good start. You don't need to fense off the plant with cups because the plants were potted low. Just fill it in around the stem. The plant will grow more roots. Nothing bad will happen.

[click]

Thanks! Good to know.

[TOKABIGONE]

I agree with@Ckbrew, The first node on my just finished autos was very low to soil. I didn't remove those branches and noted much later that node was buried an inch below soil level as soil washed in around it unnoticed. When I saw that I decided to leave it buried to see what happened. Uncovered at harvest to find the node had grown to large marble size with several large root branches coming right out of it but no harm done. Weed can adjust itself to most any condition! Harvest brought several large fat buds.

[click]

Here is a pic of the plants 2 weeks ago just before potting. They all looked pretty similar then:

[dilvish]

the first pics you posted indicate that there may be several issues happening. One of which is the temp may be too high as the middle plant has upper leaves "canoeing" which is a sign of heat stress.

You need to post as much info on your set up as you can to better diagnose issues. lighting, temp, humidity, PH levels, type of nutrients etc.

All I can say is buds forming in 2 weeks can be a good thing or a bad thing as there are many factors involved.

FYI I would not recommend "miracle grow" for any cannabis plant grow unless it's the "nature's care organic" version!!!

[click]

All I can say is buds forming in 2 weeks can be a good thing or a bad thing as there are many factors involved.

I would be interested in some elaboration here. I figured this can only be bad.

ou are right I am having some difficulty maintaining temp. Just using a fan to pull in cooler outside air (~50F) when temps exceed 75F. But with those lights, I still see spikes around 82F in the center of the plant so no doubt even higher at the tips.

I keep the soil pH at between 6.5 and 7 by application as needed of distilled water set to 6.5pH via lime juice. Otherwise watering with pure distilled water (except for one of the Chem-Dog which, as an experiment, I water with my 400ppm hard tap water - so far no noticeable difference).

Once a week I fertilize with a 12-4-8 veg mix fertilizer as per manufacturers instructions.

[dilvish]

that nutrient mix could be the problem. The nutrients you are using are likely not for cannabis...hopefully you didn't buy them at Lowes...they likely don't have the right mixtures for cannabis.
when I said good or bad thing it could be just that. good that its forming buds but bad that they are coming in a bit premature but that could be the way that strain grows.

[dilvish]

terra cotta pots like the ones you are using may only have a single drain hole in the bottom so you should elevate the pots on a mesh (like a plastic milk crate) to ensure proper drainage.

[click]

They are actually just made to look like terracotta but, in fact, are cheap plastic planters from, you guessed it, Lowes. Has a drainage tray in the bottom along with a shallow collection pan built-in.

Anyone have thoughts or experience with a premature budding? Will the plant continue to grow and develop additional buds? Should I go ahead a switch to the flowering fertilizer mix for the premature pair or keep pushing the nitrogen to encourage more vegetation?

[Rwise]

Not premature, right on time, yes switch to flower ferts, the others are slow but still in the 3-5 weeks, there are also autos that take longer to start flowering (5-8 weeks) the dif is they make a larger yield when they take longer to start flowers..

[Rwise]

Those 12 days count also, the seed had sprouted the clock is running which means these are near 4 weeks old and right on time for flowers. Many autos start to flower at 21 days old.
IF the MG is the organic version it may be ok, else it has time release crap in it that causes problems for us. Do cover the lower part of the plant so it can grow more roots. Dont cover leaves. IF those are look alike plastic pots drill holes in the sides.

[Going2fast]

First rule of autos. They do not like being transplanted. If done gently and on a long veg strain maybe but it's best to plant the seed where it will grow up. Indica heavy strains tend to start flower sooner. As little as 18 days.

[dilvish]

take this with a grain of salt...I've never had an issue with any auto being transplanted so I am wondering where you got this info from...that's like saying only grow autos in soil...

[click]

OK. Update - at day 34 since germination of the seeds and transplanting the clone. I shifted things around to better manage the light for the variety of heights I have to deal with. Quite a wide range of behavior. The Gelato-Pie clone in the right foreground has been topped and spread and I *think* am ready to trigger flower stage (20" tall). Will the 12/12 light for clone adversely impact the AF seeds sharing the room? Pretty sure the answer is yes, but to what degree? Significant enough that I really should figure out how to separate them to provide more light? Poor planning, I know, but I am a newb after-all. Live and learn.



My tiny, struggling, Chem-Dog bud sure looks pretty. Too bad yield is so low. Runoff pH is a little high (7.5) so will start trying to bring it down. It has struggled almost since day one with its leaves always being yellowish. Will probably not try that again and will, instead, start some more Melon (foreground left) assuming I like the end product. The Melon, BTW, also is running high pH (7.5) but seems to be coping a lot better (assuming that is the issue with the Chem-Dog).

[click]

After seeing Gingerbeard's ad-hoc setup (https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...299#post549299), I decided to move my GelatoPie photo to it's own home quickly fashioned out of an appliance box and other stuff I had on hand. It is a little crowded but now I can keep my autos in my grow room on the 18/6 light schedule. Fan on top comes on when temp exceeds 75F or humidity exceeds 50% in the chamber (outside air is 40-70F and ~25% RH). At night the ambient temperature drops a bit so I added a heater at the bottom to keep it above 65F. The shop bay it is in is dark at night so not too concerned about light leakage.

[Gingerbeard]

Gingerbeard approves. And the mutt.

[click]

Borrowed a friends FLIR to take this psychedelic pic of the microchamber. Wish I could afford one of these - seems like the perfect tool for monitoring temperatures. Can see the temps of every part of the plant in one pic.

[click]

Looks like I'll get something out of my sad little ChemDawg soon. Most of the trichomes are still clear but a few are turning milky on the middle cola. How much longer do you think before I should harvest? (IOW, should I start my flush?)

[click]

IF the MG is the organic version it may be ok, else it has time release crap in it that causes problems for us.

I didn't appreciate this comment as much as I should have back then. I have learned that you indeed Rwise. Today, after weeks of trying to gently bring my pH down below 7, I decided to wage an all-out assault on one of my Watermelon Autos (if I lose it I still have another). I've been watering with 6.5 pH water for weeks. Lately 5.0 and the runoff is still 7.5+ ! So I pulled one melon aside and decided to flush with pH 4.5 water. After 5 gallons draining through the "15 gallon" planter, I was still getting 7.1 . So I made another 5g of pH 4.0 (!) and flushed with that. At last, the runoff pH is in range (5.2). Will be interesting to see if the MG time release stuff pulls it back up to 7.5 in time. Also biting my nails about the 4.0 flush - I hope not too big a shock. If this works, I will treat the rest.

[click]

Thanks for the info. Perhaps since you used a mix you avoided the issues I am experiencing. ..or it could be something else entirely that is troubling me (most of my plants are doing fine after-all). This was an impulse purchase for me so I got home unprepared and uninformed. Next grow will be with considerably more knowledge (mostly thanks to the tutorials and feedback from this forum).

[click]

The two stunted ChemDawgs finished their 4 week cure yesterday and I tried my first home grow. Very nice - such satisfaction smoking your own harvest. Not that there weren't setbacks. In addition to the plants being stunted, I had a fungus gnat infestation which forced me to throw out the bottom inch of the buds since they were so close to the soil and was full of dead gnats. I know what bug-zapper smells like - don't want that in my smoke. I ended up with just enough good, clean bud to fill a single 14oz jar but no mold and it smokes nice. I'm calling it a win.