HELP! Day 10, noticed tips turning brown

[lookevit]

Hello, it’s day 10 since I planted the seed, it’s a gelato, autoflower from FastBuds. I am growing outdoor, planted in biobizz all mix, 5 gallon fabric pot (I ordered light mix from a store but they gave me all mix, mistakes happen and I couldn’t refund it). I am growing it under a shade since it’s too hot where I live and water it every 1-2 days for the same exact reason. I am using vinegar for controlling the pH. Outside it’s very hot, these days the temperature raised to 37 degrees celsius. I tried to slowly put them in direct sunlight, starting from 2 hours a day then increasing the number of hours. Today I noticed the tips of the plant are turning brown and one of the leaves is droopy. This is my first grow, I don’t know how a healthy cannabis plant should look like at 10 days old, is my plant small for 10 days or it has serious problems? Thank you for your attention.

[Bluey]

Your seedling looks fine for its age and looks healthy to me.

It's suffering from heat stress no doubt. Try and keep temps down on it and the pot. Direct sun at these high temps often fries little seedlings.

[lookevit]

Your seedling looks fine for its age and looks healthy to me.

It's suffering from heat stress no doubt. Try and keep temps down on it and the pot. Direct sun at these high temps often fries little seedlings.

Thanks for your reply. I will keep it under the shade, and put the pot into a bigger pot, I hope that way it will cool down a bit.

[Gingerbeard]

Biobizz has come up a few times in the forum for burning seedlings. Use the search bar and see what else you can find.
A quick google says Biobizz doesn't need pH adjusting unless you have nasty tap water. Vinegar is a temporary solution in lowering pH. My experience has the level going back up within an hour.

[lookevit]

Biobizz has come up a few times in the forum for burning seedlings. Use the search bar and see what else you can find.
A quick google says Biobizz doesn't need pH adjusting unless you have nasty tap water. Vinegar is a temporary solution in lowering pH. My experience has the level going back up within an hour.

Ok so I don’t have to lower my pH before feeding plain water, the soil will lower it? Or it lowers only when I’m mixing the water with liquid nutrients from biobizz? My tap water comes with a pH of 7.8

[Gingerbeard]

What I wrote was from a quick google I did when you mentioned using vinegar. It reminded me of one of my first grows. I don't want to be the guy who says, "Check the website." but check the website. There are manufactured soils that do not need pH adjustment. I am not saying you are killing or pickling your plant using vinegar. Just that it might be unnecessary.
Do you know if your water company uses chloramines or chlorine? Nothing you can do about chloramines. Chlorine can be bad for plants. That water is often left out to off-gas. The company website should say.
Can you give a general location where you are? Someone might know the area.

[lookevit]

What I wrote was from a quick google I did when you mentioned using vinegar. It reminded me of one of my first grows. I don't want to be the guy who says, "Check the website." but check the website. There are manufactured soils that do not need pH adjustment. I am not saying you are killing or pickling your plant using vinegar. Just that it might be unnecessary.
Do you know if your water company uses chloramines or chlorine? Nothing you can do about chloramines. Chlorine can be bad for plants. That water is often left out to off-gas. The company website should say.
Can you give a general location where you are? Someone might know the area.

My water company uses chlorine, I should let the water sit for 48h to let the chlorine evaporate

[Rootsruler]

Most water districts use chloramines and not chlorine to clean their water. Chloramines will not evaporate easily like chlorine as it's a mixture of chlorine and ammonia.

The only effective way to remove them is either through charcoal filtration or through the RO process. You can boil the water or use de-chlorinization tablets but it won't remove it all and it's not all that effective at removing a large part of it.

I suggest you use a dedicated product rather than vinegar or lemon juice as they aren't that effective at keeping your pH at a consistent level. It'll work in a pinch but be like the Boy Scouts and be prepared.

[Gingerbeard]

It is a common thing for indoor growers to let their water sit for at least 24 hours.
Outdoor growers do not often consider that as hoses are often the watering can of choice.
If you let your water sit and keep with the vinegar, add the vinegar just before watering.

[Bluey]

You can use lemon juice to pH down your water. Probably only need one or two drops for every 2 or 3 gallons. I use it here and it works well for me in coco with nutes.

If you can't let your water sit for long you can aerate it and that will quickly remove the chlorine gas. Vigorous agitation will also help heaps. I don't have chlorine in my water but when I mix my nutes I use a drill with a stirring paddle that also aerates my nute mix. That will remove chlorine quickly also.

[lookevit]

It is a common thing for indoor growers to let their water sit for at least 24 hours.
Outdoor growers do not often consider that as hoses are often the watering can of choice.
If you let your water sit and keep with the vinegar, add the vinegar just before watering.

Yeah, one time I let the water sit for 8 hours with vinegar in it, and when I checked the pH it raised up. I don’t add that much vinegar, just a few drops to a 10 l bucket. I read on the biobizz website, they say “they do have a self-regulating system, which helps maintain the pH values at the correct level.” I guess I can add that 7.8 pH water like it is and the soil will buffer it down, no?

[Rwise]

I got the same rise in PH after setting when using vinegar, I now use sulfuric acid (when I PH down). Sulfur can be used to buffer the soil, sulfur + water + time = sulfuric acid

[Gingerbeard]

Something like that. The folks who make soil for the common people, like us, know water quality will vary within their sales areas so it is in their best interest to make a product that can handle various water qualities.
Your little seedling otherwise looks real fine. Watering every couple days, as you are, has already cooled the soil.

[lookevit]

Ok, thank you all for your replies, it really helps me understand what should I do with my plant. I appreciate that!

[Gingerbeard]

Rwise Sulfuric acid vs the phosphoric acid in the orange Tang looking pH down?
What's the diff?

[Rwise]

Or citric acid, its the acid in vinegar that causes the PH down, (also kills chlorine and chloramine) I get sulfuric acid really cheap at the plumbing supply. I also keep sulfur on hand.
Phosphoric acid (additive E338) can be found in soda, want a refill on that coke? No wonder it rots your teeth!

[Gingerbeard]

So, the point is just to lower the pH, not that one is better than the other?

[Bluey]

When it comes to changing the pH of a feed solution I look for stability of the pH over time. This may be critical if using a nute tank and feeding from it over an extended period.

Some nutes behave well with some acids or alkalines and not so well with others. Same goes with suppliments.

Some are better than others at holding a stable pH when mixed with the nute solution. Lemon juice and potassium carbonate both work well for me but for others with different nutes &/or suppliments to what I am using do not work so well.

[lookevit]

I got one more question, when I should start spraying the plant with neem oil to prevent pests?

[Bluey]

Depends what pests you're likely to experience and that varies hugely by location.

Just monitor your plants closely. My pests were predominantly fungus gnats, white fly and snails, all pretty easy to manage & treat and not too harmful for the plants either.

[Rwise]

Also never use neem oil on your buds, it causes some folks major issues. It also leaves a bad taste behind.
Look into predator bugs such as ladybugs and praying mantis etc..

[Rootsruler]

Agree with @bluey

Unless your plants are infested don't spray them with anything. Follow cleanliness protocols so you don't have to spray your plants or deal with an infestation.

If you're still going to do it start with something mild like insecticidal soap that you can make yourself for pennies. It'll probably not affect your plants much and will keep pests from getting a foothold in your garden.

[lookevit]

I have another question, when do autoflowers start growing the most? My biggest fear is that my plant will stay small and start flowering when it’s too small..

[Bluey]

It varies. 3 to 6 weeks seems typical though.

[Rwise]

There are some that take up to 8 weeks before they start to flower. The sooner it starts to flower the shorter it will be in general.