Afraid I might have stunted her

[Felkamlor]

​Northern Lights Auto, Nature’s Living Soil with FFOF, with a bit of Happy Frog for germination.
she started out of the dirt Apr30, was shooting for 1May, easier to count days. By my guess she is 16-17 days old, looks like she has some growth, but seems very short. I thought about topping, but since she is my first,(they say you never forget your first) I don’t want to hurt her. I was planning on doing some LST over the weekend. Any ideas ??I appreciate any help.

 

[OldManGrower]

Personally, short as she is, I'd give her one more node then top her. At this stage, there's not much LST to be done. Nice Sprout.

 

[Felkamlor]

Thanx OldMan, it’s just that I see pics, people say this auto is 2 1/2 weeks old. They are always tall. Along area between nodes, etc. Maybe it’s my inexperience showing.

 

[Bluey]

She does look rather dark green for a small young one. Soil mix perhaps. Have you tried giving it a flush?

 

[Felkamlor]

Bluey, I am using nature’s living soil. I was under the impression not to flush. Have I misunderstood? I do believe though that when I finish the rest of that bag of soil I am going coco. Just seems more straight forward.

 

[Allenpro]

I would wait to top that one too, that is one of the down sides of growing auto flowers, she may flower at 3 weeks,
I dont see anything you can LST so I guess just leave it alone for now, Its probably more focused on building roots right now for whatever reason they do that

 

[Felkamlor]

Allenpro, Thanks, being first timer I am happy for this community. Advice and opinions are appreciated

 

[Bluey]

It doesn't look hot so I'm in two minds about flushing but it looks high in N. Nitrates will flush out of the soil easily without too much runoff needed but try not to over water if you do decide to give it some runoff

 

[Felkamlor]

Bluey, I am generally skittish of overwatering in the dirt, that’s why I plan on switching to coco after I’m outta dirt. I guess I will have to take it day by day, who knows, maybe she is building roots for a spurt. At the very least, I guess I could just let her finish, then I can chalk it to experience and try to do better next grow.

 

[Bluey]

Switching to photoperiods and coco might be the go. It's what gives me the best results from what I've tried to date.

 

[Felkamlor]

Bluey, as I was doing my research, it seemed like that living soil was the way to go, so I did. But I didn’t stop doing research and coming to the conclusion that coco certainly seems a better medium. So I am trying to up my knowledge about it while finishing with this dirt. So my next posting will probably try and expand the knowledge I am learning from the tutorials on GWE, cal-magging, etc, most likely going from brick

 

[Bluey]

I don't use brick, I use the bag coco pre buffered but I'm not sure that's much of a benefit. Bricks need a bit of prep. I don't use fabric pots, plastic works best for me. Fabric pots dry fast. A bit of perlite seems to work best early in the grow but later in the grow just coco. You'll need to do more runoff so drain to waste or a decent catch setup you can extract the runoff from.

 

[Felkamlor]

Bluey, yea, I am still comparing bagged vs brick, but I am trying to design a drainage system that will work for me. I definitely believe I should have went with something taller than 4 ft though. Thank you for the tips and info

 

[Bluey]

If your tent is only 4' high you'll need to flip shortly after you do your last topping and you'll need to use max light to minimise stretch with tight temps (same day/night) and limit or eliminate far red light. A short and small pot might help too.

 

[Felkamlor]

Update with new pic and another question:
I still think she is stunted, but noticed that while some leaf tips are curling up, som are curling down, she is currently between 20-22 days

 

[Allenpro]

No problem, everyone wants to help, its kind a payback we owe for all the help we have gotten over the years. Try a photoperiod next time, IMO they are much more forgiving than Auto flowers