First successful (so far) grow (closet)

So I tried growing a few months ago which left me with 2 failed attempts because of:
1. Impatience
2. Crappy growing medium

I decided to fix those two problems and have had successful results so far on Day 12 and decided that I should share what I have
This is a closet 23w bulb CFL grow with a very small budget but only 1 plant running at a 24/0 schedule.

I am growing an Autoflowering Feminized Critical Mass plant in a rubbermaid container covered in tin foil. Currently working on ventilation as it would probably start smelling later and temps linger around 28-29 degrees Celsius.

I started off in a Jiffy pellet and I'm probably not going to do that again. Although it sprouted fine, the medium from the pellet dries a lot faster than the medium I'm using currently.
Another mistake I made is growing in a small pot. Although transplanting isn't recommended for Autoflowers, its a bit too late for that and I will have to transplant at one point or another to a 1.6gal pot I just got (currently sits in a 0.35gal I think). Still not sure when to do this...

Day 2:


Day 3:


Day 4:


Day 6 Setup (has changed slightly since then):


Day 6:


Day 7:


Day 8 (Was getting a bit hot as it jumped to 31 degrees so I removed the 2700k bulb and just left the 6500k in there):


Day 9:


Day 10 I touched the bulb with one of the leaves so it turned light brown on one of the tips also the heat stress is visible on the leaf tips here:



Day 11 (holy crap! Its growing!):


To be continued...

ur lookin good, just be patient and don't try to rush shit, start getting ur next pots ready to repot, shud be 5 gal at least. check into organic growing for an easy and quality final product

tomascat said:

ur lookin good, just be patient and don't try to rush shit, start getting ur next pots ready to repot, shud be 5 gal at least. check into organic growing for an easy and quality final product

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You dont need a 5gal pot for a auto flower.
Most breeder recommendations I have seen for autos say 2-3gal 2.5gal is the most common size I see recommended.

The op's 1.6gal will probably be plenty big enough for a CFL grow.
Give it 2 weeks or so to establish roots then transplant.
Next time I would just start auto plants in the final pot.

budfever said:

You dont need a 5gal pot for a auto flower.
Most breeder recommendations I have seen for autos say 2-3gal 2.5gal is the most common size I see recommended.

The op's 1.6gal will probably be plenty big enough for a CFL grow.
Give it 2 weeks or so to establish roots then transplant.
Next time I would just start auto plants in the final pot.

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Thanks for the advice, I was really wondering when I should transplant. I didn't realize that autos shouldn't be transplanted until a week in which was already too late. At least I have the pot for the next one

I am limited on space and read multiple times that its best if you use a 2gal pot for autoflowers so 1.6gal shouldn't make that much of a difference.

Day 12:

MysticMJ said:

Thanks for the advice, I was really wondering when I should transplant. I didn't realize that autos shouldn't be transplanted until a week in which was already too late. At least I have the pot for the next one

I am limited on space and read multiple times that its best if you use a 2gal pot for autoflowers so 1.6gal shouldn't make that much of a difference.

Day 12:

View attachment 2719414

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No What I was sayng is I would wait at least a week from today to transplant that plant into your 1.6gal pot from the .35gal it is in now. I would wait a week or two so that im sure when I pull the pot off that plant that the roots are holding the dirt together enough, so it dose not break apart and mess up the root ball up in the process of transplant.

And next time you run autos just start them from seed in 2-3gal pots and leave them in that pot the whole grow.
The 1.6gal is just fine, next time start the seed in that pot and leave the plant in it the whole grow.

That plant looks really good, keep up the good work.

Update

Day 13 bottom 2 leaves yellowing:


Day 14 more visible yellow leaves:


Day 15, closer up, setup (still working on it lol):


Are the 2 yellow leaves caused by nitrogen deficiency?

Update


Day 17:

Update



I screwed up bad today... Light dropped 2 inches and burned the top of the plant which burned the top leaves. Ended up topping it cause it was burned beyond that point anyways. Yes I know topping an autoflower especially this late will stunt her growth.
Day 19:

View attachment 2726710

And I dropped the fan on her while taking pics which roughed her up a bit....
Not a good day..

Looking good brother.

Update

Is it supposed to look like this after its been topped?
Just to reiterate for people that don't want to read up on what happened before: The leaves are burned cause the lamp dropped 2 inches somehow and touched the leaves for probably an hr or so which is why I decided to top it cause it was completely burned as shown by the leaves around it. I also dropped a fan on it on day 19 right after the burn when I was taking pictures which is why some leaves have been cut a bit...

After being topped is it supposed to cover itself with a grey/white/black looking substance where it was cut, is it cause of the initial burn, or did I screw something up?

Day 21:



Thanks

Your fine. That is normal after topping Looks happy considering all the punishment you have given her. Probably will start showing preflowers soon. At that point try not to stress her any more...

She looks good all things considered. I am assuming the orange pot change on day 15 is your new 1.6g pot?

hbbum said:

She looks good all things considered. I am assuming the orange pot change on day 15 is your new 1.6g pot?

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Yes. After the transplant, it didn't really show signs of shock

It continued growing steadily. The yellow leaves were there before the transplant on the day before.

Ph levels are high but I cant find a place that sells ph-up and ph-down on the low adjustment scale.

been looking for it the past few days and im still searching.

sry im really high right now.

I am assuming you have a meter to measure the pH since you know it is high. You can use a little lemon juice or vinegar yo bring it down. It doesn't last as long as the chemical stuff so you cant store it that way (from what I have read).

If you are careful in your transplant, you should be able to do it with almost 0 stress to the plant. It gets a little harder if they are tied up (LST) when you need to do the transplant since you will end up needing to man-handle her a bit more.

hbbum said:

I am assuming you have a meter to measure the pH since you know it is high. You can use a little lemon juice or vinegar yo bring it down. It doesn't last as long as the chemical stuff so you cant store it that way (from what I have read).

If you are careful in your transplant, you should be able to do it with almost 0 stress to the plant. It gets a little harder if they are tied up (LST) when you need to do the transplant since you will end up needing to man-handle her a bit more.

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Hmm Lemon juice seems to be a good solution... Can make lemonade with the extras lol

Yes, I have a Ph meter.

Cool, so theres a chance that I didnt stress my plant from the transplant.. Too bad the burn and crush would have stressed her more.

Still a noob so LST will have to wait until the next one

Thanks for your advice =D

past times said:

Your fine. That is normal after topping Looks happy considering all the punishment you have given her. Probably will start showing preflowers soon. At that point try not to stress her any more...

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Thanks, I think I saw a couple pistils shooting out of the plant.

I'll TRY not to stress her anymore than I already did.. xP

You can do LST through flowering. I just tied up my strawberry dream last night and she was already pointing back up to the lights in less than 8 hours.

hbbum said:

You can do LST through flowering. I just tied up my strawberry dream last night and she was already pointing back up to the lights in less than 8 hours.

View attachment 2728521

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Alright. I assume I shouldn't do it now cause its already stressed beyond belief?

Give her a week since her last stress if you are worried and then give it a go. LST should not stress out your plants, any stress it does introduce would be offset by the improved light penetration. The girls always seem happy after a little bondage session.

Update


Day 22 (36 hrs later):


Hope this is a good result after topping as it is my first grow and I have no idea how its supposed to look.