Autoflower first grow day 43, any tips?

[eugeeen123]

Hi All, i'm on my first indoor grow using a simple 100W TS600 lamp (DLI around 45). Currently on day 43 and just removed all my LST strings since i think the canopy seems to be good and filled out evenly the grow room (small 60x60x140 tent).
Using a 5Gallon fabric pot with Biobizz light soil and used Biotabs starter pack full nutes kit.

Average Temp. is around 27 Celsius and 50% Humidity. There is an heat wave right now so is kind difficult to control temperature, i had some quick spike of around 30Celsius. I have the inline extractor and small fan always on.

I use tap water of around 7PH, i dont check PH since Biotabs told me it shouldn't be a problem with the nutrients i used.
In the past few days i removed 3 lower leaves that started became yellowish with brown spots. I dont know if that is normal or not, the plant overall looks healthy.

What do you guys think? i really appreciate some tips i'm not sure if i'm doing fine or i can do better.

[crucialbunny]

That's a grow any veteran farmer would be proud of. Good work

[eugeeen123]

thank you very much for the feedback

[90Gizmo]

Yeah, keep doing that. Check your leaves against cal-mag deficiency

[eugeeen123]

I will indeed keep an eye out, right now i just removed in the last 2 weeks all the yellowish leaves with brown spots. Like 4-5 total, hope for the best. Thank you very much for stopping by and give me some tips.

[SoOrbudgal]

Excellent first grow get a fan an open the tent door gentle breeze keep the air flow going during the hottest parts of the day. Try removing very low bud sites and small stems that won't produce those close to the soil. Otherwise let her RIP man she looks great.

[eugeeen123]

i already have a small fan inside (the one you can clip to the tent structure) n addition to the extractor fan. Following your tips i added also a big fan outside the tent to get a better air flow. My grow tent is installed in a small room and it is not easy to get proper airflow, i want also to try achieve a smart solution to not waste a lot of energy. Thank you very much for your feedback.

[SoOrbudgal]

I hear ya eugeeen123 i'm running autos too indoors besides growing outdoors right now. I'm just leaving the flaps open and windows in the room open. Come July it will be very warm.

[eugeeen123]

i followed your tips and removed 2 little stems on lower side, they looked fine and had flowered but no way they could give big buds. I planned to do this gradually so hopefully i dont harm the plant. I'm not confident enough to remove upper leaves yet and spot the right one to cut. Thanks again and good luck for your grow!

[Bluey]

Your grow is going great but keep an eye out for more leaves doing the spot thing. Check regularly and if more appear a good photo posted here..probably calmag deficiency. You must keep on top of that as it can spread throughout fast.

[eugeeen123]

i will, right now apart from the 4-5lower leaves i removed in the past 2 weeks i have no new yellow leaves. Basically i should be done with nutes (based on vendor instructions) so i just have to water till harvest.
Hope for the best.

[quirk]

That is a great looking plant. Check out the May 14 Newsletter where Nebula discusses and illustrates a strategic defoliation technique. I've incorporated it in my current auto grow and I like what I'm seeing.

[eugeeen123]

I found the link:
1.https://www.growweedeasy.com/10-most...tion-technique
2. https://www.growweedeasy.com/nebulas...ation-tutorial

i want to try since my plant is a little bit too bushy (it is good of course but it can be dangerous later on), I'm hesitant since it is my first grow and i don't want to mess up. My plan is to do it little by little, especially in the lower side to improve airflow and light penetration. Thank you for the feedback.

[Bluey]

What is the EC of the nutes you are giving them?

[eugeeen123]

Based on nutes vendor instructions (biotabs starter pack), since i'm growing organic i dont have to measure EC and Ph of water.

mycorrhizae fungi and bacteria are supposed to ensure proper nutrients absorption regardless of Ph and EC.

I dont know EC values for nutes i checked everywhere on their descriptions but couldnt find any, main fertilized i gave to the plant are:

Startrex Organic soil improver at week 1 (NPK 3-1-2)
Mycotrex for fungi and bacteria at week 1

Orgatrex liquid fertilized (NPK 5-1-5) 5 ml on week 1 and 20ml on week 5

3 total Biotabs tablets slow releasing fertilizer (NPK 15-7-8) 1 each week 1 to 3

Bactrex for fungi and bacteria at week 1 and 5

Basically after 500ml of water with Bactrex and Orgatrex 20ml i gave to the plant on week 5 i should be done with nutrients to the plant and give only water until harvest. I started noticing yellow leaves (with few brown spot on top) just after i gave the plant those last nutes. So maybe what i'm seeing is a little nutrients burn even if i strictly followed vendor schedule for autoflower plant.

Do you have any suggestions? many thanks for stopping by!

i'll make sure to measure EC from water runoff on my next watering, and let you know.

[Bluey]

Looking closely at your pics you definitely do not have nute burn. The leaves you are removing have been stripped of their nutes because the there is not enough at the roots.
Not sure what strategy to adopt given your medium as I grow in coco now and never had problems with nute deficiency in soil..but I pretty much always lost the lower leaves like you.

[eugeeen123]

maybe i'm killing good bacteria due to tap water with oo much chlorine? last few watering i didnt wait 24h before watering and let chlorine evaporate. Dont know. Let;s see what happens next few days.

[eugeeen123]

Hi All, at day45 unfortunately i'm seeing more yellowing leaves. They are all lower side of the plant. I am screwed?

[crucialbunny]

eugeeen123 try not to overthink things. I've been using water straight from my hose for years with zero issues. Give the soil a little molasses tea with every other watering and the beneficials will stay happy. At this stage most plants will have some lower leaf browning and I just clip mine off since they're essentially not serving a purpose any longer.

[90Gizmo]

Does your soil or tabs provide potassium for the flower stage? Plus I think you are more that a few weeks from harvest so it might be too soon to stop fertilizer.

[eugeeen123]

i'll try not to overthink then! i just read ingredients for the liquid fertilizer part of my nutes kit from biotabs (Orgatrex) and contains mixed molasses.

90Gizmo soil was light mix from the beginning as per biotabs instructions. Potassium is provided by Orgatrex liquid fertilized (NPK 5-1-5) i gave at week 5 so not long ago..... and 3 Biotabs tablets slow releasing fertilizer (NPK 15-7-8) added from weeks 1 to week 3. Also added at the beginning some Startrex Organic soil improver at week 1 (NPK 3-1-2). I'm following nutes vendor instructions and at week 5 is the last time you should add their products. After then only water, they say that if you see the plant not doing so well you can add out of schedule 1 gram of bacteria powder to the water.

[eugeeen123]

Day 47, after other few leaves removed from the plant i gave yesterday a good watering. Today plant looks fine overall, another lower fan leave is showing first sign of yellowing (became from dark green to light green).

In the mean time i ended up having multiple exchanges with nutes vendor which suggested me to introduce flowering boosters which i already ordered:

PK Booster Compost Tea
contains a mixture of extremely concentrated organic compost, Bat Guano, Kelp, P releasing bacteria, K mobilising bacteria and Selected special ingredients

Bio PK 5-8 (NPK 2-5-8)
flower boosting formula combined with trace elements, phosphorus, potassium, calcium (2,5%), molasses, humic acid and vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B12 to ensure your plants flower to their maximum potential.

With the following plan:
Week 1 flowering Compost Tea
Week 2 Bio PK
Week 3 Tea
Week 4 Bio PK
Week 5 Compost Tee
Week 6 Bio PK
Week 7 Compost Tee.

Also never hear before but to make the compost tea i had to buy separately also a water oxygen pump (the one used for acquarium). I just have to stop weeks before harvesting.
Let's hope this will improve the plant health and give max yield...and didn't waste a lot of money!

[SoOrbudgal]

What's a good watering the amount you gave? My plants are at the same age as yours and autos. I give mine 1/2 gal of water every other day now as they are thirsty, i feed Dyna Grow Bloom 3-12-6 currently. I also begin to give unsulferated molasses 1tbls per gallon of water. I am not a fan of complication. You will learn this if you find yourself getting frustraited with all the different tabs or booster mixes, you may want to rethink those products as you buy more of it. Nothing is cheap as it was 2yrs ago i get it. Are you in the USA eugeeen123? It's normal to see yellowing beginning on the lower leaf when they get to be at least 14days into blooming, it's the mid an upper that would be a concern.

[eugeeen123]

i'm from EU, i never understood well how often to water. I tent to underwater and give 1/1,5 gallon each 3 days. I basically weight the pot once watered and water again once the pot is lighter. Right now i wait 3-4 days before watering again. At the beginning the soil could stay wet even for 5-6 days at times! I saw your booster nutes is rich in potassium, hopefully the additional boosters i bought will do the trick. I also don't like overcomplication, i just want to reach a basic level where i'm confident i can manage a plant start to finish....then optimize from there.

[SoOrbudgal]

Yes i remove larger fans and again those are 3gal fabric and filled to the top when planted. If your using 5gal pots fill them up as the soil settles which is why we like to add additionl perilite. I'm just suggesting things that have worked for me while learning still.

[eugeeen123]

beautiful plants congrats, i also love the setup with pots lifted up. Regading the soil right now i have non left i added all my biobizz light mix 20L package. Even if i added all the soil from the package i couldn't fill completely the 5gallon pot whis is equal to 19L. Next time i will for sure buy more soil so i can fill completely the pot. I think real content of the package was more 18L and not 20L. Remember i felt like i was scammed!

[eugeeen123]

Day 55 (vendor forecast is 20 days left but i know probably will be more) - plant still looking good and buds started forming. Lost a few leaves that became yellow ? brownish and just fell. Also removed a few leaves from lower part of the canopy but just a few and gradually. Is already the second time i'm adding the bloom nutes suggested by biotabs vendor. Hopefully the plant will do just fine. Struggling to keep temp down, i have an average of 27Celsius with 29C peak on morning even with intake fan at 3/4 power. Also average humidity is always between 55-60% even with dehumidifier always on inside the tent....just bought another one hopefully i can manage the humidity better. Switched to water schedule every 2-3 days from 3-5, plant is drinking a lot more.

[eugeeen123]

Day 68, at this point plant lost lot of leaves that went yellow/brown and fell off. Followed all nuted vendor instructions so at this point i don't know what else to do to slow down foliage loss. Struggling very hard with temperature with full air exchange and fan always on, i'm on a 20/4 cycle and can't do much else. I have AC but it is on the opposite side of my apartment. Average VPD is 1.7 which is pretty bad (high temp AVG 26.6C, low RH AVG 49%).

I'm getting ready for harvest, bought a little microscope to check trichomes evolution and also a little secondary tent for dry only (with carbon filter and air extractor too for odor control) . I placed the tent just below AC unit so I'm pretty confident i can get to 21C and then just mind the RH. This is getting fairly expensive but hopefully I'll get rewarded.

[SoOrbudgal]

Do not worry yourself with the loss of leaf at this point forward you've done a beautiful job. I'm sad for the folks that need to use all the smell diffusers or run air conditioning so frequently. Hey your nearly finished maybe 3wks by the looks of the plant. I like my last couple weeks because they know the time is nearing to just quit they know they are'nt gonna produce seed so they just start to change from filling up from plumping to just aging the oils in the trichs. I just give them water and let them suck the energy from itself get all yellowish they've got lots of vitamins in they leaf left. Be proud of her and yourself

[Going2fast]

Looks like a healthy auto to me. She's a beauty. Right where she should be for 68 days. Another 10 I would say. What strain is it again?

[eugeeen123]

Thank you all for the positive feedback, it is crazy to think already 70 days have passed and i had no idea how to grow before! Strain is auto bruce lemon diesel by super sativa seeds club. They say 75 days is the expected harvest day. But i really don't know when i will harvest, if i understood correctly i have to wait until 70% pistils have turned red. Then time to look at trichomes and check for a little bit of ambers but not too much compared to the cloudy one. I'm still messing with the digital microscope having an hard time distinguish between cloudy and amber trichomes. Looks all the same to me!

[Bluey]

For a 1st grow and growing an auto you have really excelled eugeeen123 Expert training, gorgeous full healthy buds
Soon you'll be drying and curing which will determine the final quality.
Well done.

[eugeeen123]

let's hope for the best! drying and curing first time gonna be quite hard as well, i want to avoid mould at all cost of course!

[Bluey]

I used the grow room for my dry of the main colas. I made the mistake of having too much air movement and they dried a fraction too fast. I was hoping to over dry them and I did, simply because I couldn't open the storage jars every day. I was limited to once a week. I then brought up the moisture content of the buds over the next 3 weeks and now just open them once a week at the 7/8 week mark.

They are curing well. We've only been using the lower buds and popcorn to date and this past week the potency/effects have picked up quite a bit. I rated the bud as pretty shit/extremely average weed but now I'd say it's good. It's still a bit rough but it's slowly getting smoother and coughing has reduced to almost none. Can't wait to try the main buds that I let grow for another week or two...

[eugeeen123]

Day83, i setup my new little dry tent just under my AC unit in my apartment. Temp stable on 22-21C based on my tests so i should be good. I mounted also an extractor and a little box fan inside so i have constant airflow. On the other side though RH is just stellar high...around 70%. I will for sure put a dehumidifier near the tent (not inside i heard it could be detrimental to drying buds) and hopefully i can put RH under control.

Back to my main grow tent..... i Played a little bit with the portable microscope but it is very hard to get a clear picture. Starting from this week i decided to cut with the bloom nutes and will give to the plant just water until chop. Based on the pictures is it correct to suppose that I'll be harvesting in around 14 days?

Thanks all for the support!

[Bluey]

Yes. Perfect sense

[eugeeen123]

Would you suggests wet or dry trimming? i think i'll do it once dried but maybe i'm not considering everything

[Bluey]

Depends on the size of your buds, it's susceptibility to mold, your ability to control humidity in your dry room.
I wet trimmed as I was worried about mold. Mine dried a bit too fast. A slow dry is better for quality..
Dry trimming is easier and they will dry slower but the risk of mold increases.
A breeze in your dry room will dry them fast..mine too fast but they have come good with curing.

[No3odiesShad0w]

Everything's looking great! I wish I had that much success on my first grow! Keep up the great work and you'll be well rewarded. 👍