Auto, nearly 1 month since planting, looks a couple days old PLEASE HELP!

Hi, I have been reluctant to post, because this is my first grow, but I have researched all I can, and I am getting desperate. I ordered 2 seeds from "the single seed centre" Auto#1 and Sweet+Speed Below is the beginning of my attempt at a grow log and my atrocities as I panic and make things worse day by day. Anyone willing to post and help me, without being annoyed at my absolute lack of experience, would be greatly appreciated.

M Journal 12/2013


12/02 - seeds Auto#1 and Sweet+Speed (Autoflowers) arrived from "Single Seed Centre". Placed in purified water to germinate for 24 hours.


12/03 - Sweet-Speed has cracked, Auto#1 still solid. Planted each in their own jiffy sponge around 3pm.


12/4 - Nothing


12/5 - Nothing


12/6 - Nothing


12/7 - Went digging around, may have hurt/killed sweet speed.


12/8 - Auto#1 seed poking through?


12/9 - AM Auto#1 seedling sprouted, husk still attached / PM: Sweet Speed has started to show, looking sideways?


12/10 - Both plants sprouted, both still have seeds.


12/11 Seeds still attached, - PM: removed seed / cotyledon from SweetSpeed. Seed still attached to Auto#1


12/12 SweeetSpeed not wanting to open/yellow round leaf. Seed still stick on Auto#1 not much progress there. PM went and got 2 150w cfl.


12/13 Sweet seed starting to open slowly, yellow round leaves still.


12/14 Sweet speed pot tipped and plant fell out, didnt appear to have roots attached. Attempting to save by re-planting in new jiffy sponge+soil. Seed still attached to Auto#1


12/15 removed seed from auto, cotyledons very yellow.


12/16 Auto was too dry, dying, attempting to salvage. Speed looks like its going to grow.


12/17 auto dying - speed growing


12/18 speed leaves have doubled in size, second set ot leaves coming.


12/19 second set of leaves gorwn, auto dead.


12/20 growth but second set of leaves have gone back together


12/21 second set of leaves still closed, first set pointing up - replanted - maybe over watered? bottom leaves curling down...

12/22 Attempted to adjust PH at the advice of a friend, using lemon juice.

12/23 plants turning yellow - got them out of the 'acidic' soil

Been a bit - 12/28 decided to use baking soda to correct the acidic soil... (poor plant, cruel fate to end up in my hands)

[video=youtube_share;Mv1WkUC4zx4]http://youtu.be/Mv1WkUC4zx4[/video]

What soil mix is that? It doesn't look good at all.

Thanks for your reply!

I used a walmart brand, mixed with MiricleGrow Organic (I know, a lot of people will hate that, but again.. first time and it was all I had available) I also mixed a little bit of perlite in there,as well as Spanish moss? - Wasnt really sure how much to use... I have no way of getting 'Fox Farms' or anything fancy this go around... Is there something else I should try that would be reasonably easy to get a hold of as well as affordable?

Yeah, that is a runt. You gotta quit screwing with your plants. Poking around in the soil, lemon juice followed by baking soda?

Soil looks awful. I've used MG organic and it looked nothing like that. Not sure if it will make it but a yellow damaged seedling that size usually doesn't pull through. Next time get some decent homeowner potting soil. And start in a smaller pot, a tiny seedling in a large pot stays waterlogged too long unless you know what you are doing and water very sparingly.

Good luck.

Thanks Aim, I will do some research to see where I can get some 'homeowners' potting soil. Its embarrassing to post on a growers forum and admit everything I have already done.

I dont know WTF is wrong with me and why I cant just leave things alone. The seed itself was a little light in color and small. I thought it wouldnt even germ but it did. maybe it never had much of a chance, and being in my care was detrimental . The seed was originally sprouted in those little jiffy inserts, and then planted into a cardboard jiffy pot, and was stuck in the bigger pot about a week ago when the tops kept closing because I thought maybe the roots were trapped.

I have ordered 5 more seeds from attitude, and hoping they arrive within this week.

0BLIVI0US said:

the tops kept closing because I thought maybe the roots were trapped.

Click to expand...

Leaves folding upward usually means too much heat. You got a little fan air blowing under that flood lamp? It could be trapping heat. Kind of big and flat.

Just get some potting mix, any brand even MG. The organics tend to have a lot of woody trash in them. Get more peat and perlite in there if you can. Safe bet if you could find a greenhouse/nursery open, try to buy from them what they use.

Not sure on the spanish moss, never heard of using that but I'm sure it's OK, just looks weird.

Ah! I had a fan in, but took it out because it was hard to keep the humidity up. I will back that flood off a bit and get a little clip on fan today to get some circulation going, as well as go and find a nursery. Thanks again, I really appreciate the help!

AimAim said:

Leaves folding upward usually means too much heat. You got a little fan air blowing under that flood lamp? It could be trapping heat. Kind of big and flat.

Just get some potting mix, any brand even MG. The organics tend to have a lot of woody trash in them. Get more peat and perlite in there if you can. Safe bet if you could find a greenhouse/nursery open, try to buy from them what they use.

Not sure on the spanish moss, never heard of using that but I'm sure it's OK, just looks weird.

Click to expand...

0BLIVI0US said:

Ah! I had a fan in, but took it out because it was hard to keep the humidity up. I will back that flood off a bit and get a little clip on fan today to get some circulation going, as well as go and find a nursery. Thanks again, I really appreciate the help!

Click to expand...

I'm rootin for ya and keeping my fingers crossed.

I'd get rid of the cfls and invest in a 2'x4-tube T5. They produce virtually no heat. Also get a decent soil mix.

Thanks! I have been considering it, but was worried about space. My tent dimensions are 48x48in x 24in deep. Any chance you / anyone know(s) if a 2x4 t5 fixture would fit in a 2x4 tent, or would that be too tight of a squeeze?

BBbubblegum said:

I'd get rid of the cfls and invest in a 2'x4-tube T5. They produce virtually no heat. Also get a decent soil mix.

Click to expand...

Don't be embarrassed about asking questions or showing your failures. It's really the best way to learn because the helpful people here really, really a wealth of knowledge. Just when I thought I had a hold on things, bam, my nice plant died overnight. I learned a great deal by posting for help right away. https://www.rollitup.org/marijuana-plant-problems/748244-plant-wilted-overnight-recovery-suggestions.html I've learned what I did wrong and now have a healthy replacement plants.

Anyway, I've currently got two Auto #1 flowering now. They seem like hearty plants, I'm pretty certain your soil killed it.

If my memory serves me, the Spanish moss drops the PH levels.The Miracle Grow Organic has an NPK of 0.10 - 0.05 - 0.10.

I bet if you tried this with one of your new seeds it would grow just fine.

1. Fill that pot with straight up potting soil. The generic $1.50 a bag stuff on the shelf of walmart etc that has NO additives. Ensure the pot has good drainage holes on the bottom.

2. Completely saturate soil (turning by hand) with a few bottles of distilled water ($0.90 each) making sure it's absolutely moist from top to bottom. Let it sit for 12 hours.

3. Use a pencil and poke a hole 1/2 - 3/4 inch deep in center of soil. Drop the seed in and cover. Mist soil over seed with 2 strong sprays from water bottle.

4. Mist soil over seed with one strong sprays one time per day until it sprouts. (should be 3-7 days till it sprouts)

5. Once it sprouts, just keep doing the water bottle sprays for 5 more days.

6. Don't use that flood bulb. Use the one CFL until it's a few inches tall.

That will get it going without killing it.

Whichever fertilizer you use should be enough to feed the plant and not even be need for at least 12 + days after sprouting. For me, the first run from seed to harvest was very important, more so than the yield, getting massive buds etc. Just keep it simple and make it through. Get fancy on the second grow, keep it simple the first time around.

For me, that means

No additive soil

No Spanish moss, peat moss, whatever moss

No jiffy cups, starter pucks etc - I've read, this is second hand, that auto flowering plants root system quickly rush down into the soil at a young age and jiffy cups are a bad idea. I don't know if this is entirely true, it's just what I've read from several different boards.

No baking soda, lemon juice, vinegar or other PH altering substances. This is why you want distilled water to start with. It's PH is usually around 7, 6.8 is ideal but 7 works.

No lights that will burn it. I'm not liking that flood light and personally would buy another cheap cfl bulb.

No nutrients at all until it's ready. Some start from day one, some wait a month. I would start at 2-3 weeks personally.

Good luck

Wow! I really cant thank you enough for that post! You answered so many of the questions I had been having. Many of which I hadnt even asked. I really appreciate your taking the time to write that all out for me. This is exactly what I needed with my new seeds on the way. I am going to keep this and follow step by step. I will keep you posted on how it all goes. I especially appreciated the bit about watering and spraying.

BTW: I do have a pack of 100 watt CFLs should I go ahead and replace that flood lamp with a 100 watt cfl, or just remove that lamp all together and leave it to the other 150 watt for now?

Kontraband said:

Don't be embarrassed about asking questions or showing your failures. It's really the best way to learn because the helpful people here really, really a wealth of knowledge. Just when I thought I had a hold on things, bam, my nice plant died overnight. I learned a great deal by posting for help right away. https://www.rollitup.org/marijuana-plant-problems/748244-plant-wilted-overnight-recovery-suggestions.html I've learned what I did wrong and now have a healthy replacement plants.

Anyway, I've currently got two Auto #1 flowering now. They seem like hearty plants, I'm pretty certain your soil killed it.

If my memory serves me, the Spanish moss drops the PH levels.The Miracle Grow Organic has an NPK of 0.10 - 0.05 - 0.10.

I bet if you tried this with one of your new seeds it would grow just fine.

1. Fill that pot with straight up potting soil. The generic $1.50 a bag stuff on the shelf of walmart etc that has NO additives. Ensure the pot has good drainage holes on the bottom.

2. Completely saturate soil (turning by hand) with a few bottles of distilled water ($0.90 each) making sure it's absolutely moist from top to bottom. Let it sit for 12 hours.

3. Use a pencil and poke a hole 1/2 - 3/4 inch deep in center of soil. Drop the seed in and cover. Mist soil over seed with 2 strong sprays from water bottle.

4. Mist soil over seed with one strong sprays one time per day until it sprouts. (should be 3-7 days till it sprouts)

5. Once it sprouts, just keep doing the water bottle sprays for 5 more days.

6. Don't use that flood bulb. Use the one CFL until it's a few inches tall.

That will get it going without killing it.

Whichever fertilizer you use should be enough to feed the plant and not even be need for at least 12 + days after sprouting. For me, the first run from seed to harvest was very important, more so than the yield, getting massive buds etc. Just keep it simple and make it through. Get fancy on the second grow, keep it simple the first time around.

For me, that means

No additive soil

No Spanish moss, peat moss, whatever moss

No jiffy cups, starter pucks etc - I've read, this is second hand, that auto flowering plants root system quickly rush down into the soil at a young age and jiffy cups are a bad idea. I don't know if this is entirely true, it's just what I've read from several different boards.

No baking soda, lemon juice, vinegar or other PH altering substances. This is why you want distilled water to start with. It's PH is usually around 7, 6.8 is ideal but 7 works.

No lights that will burn it. I'm not liking that flood light and personally would buy another cheap cfl bulb.

No nutrients at all until it's ready. Some start from day one, some wait a month. I would start at 2-3 weeks personally.

Good luck

Click to expand...

0BLIVI0US said:

Thanks! I have been considering it, but was worried about space. My tent dimensions are 48x48in x 24in deep. Any chance you / anyone know(s) if a 2x4 t5 fixture would fit in a 2x4 tent, or would that be too tight of a squeeze?

Click to expand...

Well it would just stretch out the tent a little? Should be able to squeeze.

Oh you're welcome, the least I could do considering all the help I've received.

You can start the plant with the one cfl by itself. Once it's 4-5 days old add the other CFL. I'd entirely remove the flood bulb from your grow.

New seeds are here.. Pots soaked / drained / and new seeds planted following Kontraband's method. Got an Auto-White Widow and an Auto-anesthesia sitting in their new CLEAN/PLAIN soil.

Thanks again Kontraband.

Wish me luck!