First time grower, lower leaves started to die

Hi all!

I'm a new growing trying out an autoflower outdoors. I'm growing in a tropical climate. Highest temperature 48 Celsius, coolest 20 Celsius But it has been gloomy and raining almost everyday while I was growing my autoflower. But when it is not, it's really hot and sunny.

The strain I chose was Blue Dream Auto. It's into the 10th week from seed now.

Problems with it I've identified:
1. Very short and not growing big enough. Probably not enough sunlight. Growing at my backyard, has got houses blocking the rising sun and when setting. The plant only get direct sunlight from 10.30am -4 pm

2. Leaf miners. The plants have white streaks. Searching online and it's leaf miners, have tried to tackle it with Neem oil spray.

3. The lower leaves are dying slowly. From what I've searched, seems to be lacking nutrients? I've not given it that much, because from what I have read, autos doesn't require as much nutes. But have you look at the picture and let me know if that's the case

Please let me know how I can better my next grow so it can be much bigger. Thank you all in advance

Your soil looks terrible also with that high of temps the pots probably cook, roots wont like that.

If I were attempting to grow in that climate the first thing I would do is paint all my grow pots white

Black is a heat magnet , I doubt you can even keep up on watering as it is

myke said:

Your soil looks terrible also with that high of temps the pots probably cook, roots wont like that.

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I'm using local brand potting soil. Can't find any better quality. Yeah, temperature here is definitely not ideal, I'm also trying out AK420. Maybe that'll be more suitable for that climate?

Herb & Suds said:

If I were attempting to grow in that climate the first thing I would do is paint all my grow pots white

Black is a heat magnet , I doubt you can even keep up on watering as it is

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At the moment, with the raining season here. It's fine.

charlieo said:

Ah man it's too far gone you might as well scrap that one and start over with the right ferts from the beginning you'll save a lot more time and be happier with quality weed in the long run

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I see, could you advice on what else to improve on other than the nutes? I'm using potting soil, as I've read autos shouldn't get any nutes for at least 2 weeks - 1 month from seed

Soil just needs aeration looks like mud,no air roots cant breathe

myke said:

Soil just needs aeration looks like mud,no air roots cant breathe

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This is what I'm working with

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Go with Pro Mix or Sunshine Mix.

Looking for mostly peat.

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Like others have said your soil is the foundation for your plants so you have to start there. Try to order some from Amazon if you can't find any local. Fox farms Happy Frog, ocean forest are good for beginners. There are also great auto flower soils with nutrients mixed in already enough to get your plants all the way through flower supposedly. You just have to add ph water and monitor for pests. Promix or Sunshine mix are fantastic soils but come in bale's that are kind of large if I remember so keep that in mind. Tons of ways to skin the cat but trying to keep it simple in the beginning is probably best. That's why I used the Happy Frog for so long. It was good for seedlings and then a couple weeks of growth and then I could begin to use the fertilizer I liked to use. You for sure have to have 6-8 hours of direct sunlight for good growth. You might want to stay indoors if you can't find better direct sunlight. Hope this helps and good luck.

If you can’t find anything in your area to buy and it’s too difficult to order start researching and finding some pretty basic things to improve soil quality , manures , river sand / pebble, rice hulls , the list is pretty extensive

aquadel said:

If you can’t find anything in your area to buy and it’s too difficult to order start researching and finding some pretty basic things to improve soil quality , manures , river sand / pebble, rice hulls , the list is pretty extensive

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This is the medium that I'm using

CaptEddie said:

This is the medium that I'm using

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These are 4 weeks from seed and I’ve done nothing speacial , I’m also in tropics but little lower temps then yours but not much , on those hot days you can use shade cloth or a thick clay pot painted white with a lot of airation , I would not have a clue what soil that is mate. But as someone above said it looks like mud and needs something for oxygen , your just not going to be able to work with it as it is and for an auto that is 10 weeks already you are probably done

aquadel said:

These are 4 weeks from seed and I’ve done nothing speacial , I’m also in tropics but little lower temps then yours but not much , on those hot days you can use shade cloth or a thick clay pot painted white with a lot of airation , I would not have a clue what soil that is mate. But as someone above said it looks like mud and needs something for oxygen , your just not going to be able to work with it as it is and for an auto that is 10 weeks already you are probably done

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Thanks! I will work on the aeration of the soil l. May I know what is the hottest temperature at your place? I have 50% shade cloth on top, hope that isn't too much

I’m 39c today and I’m still about 2 months from summer I’m also going to assume that your humidity goes up to the %90 mark pretty often like me also . Be sure to prepare for that while flowering , don’t be discouraged if your first few grows fail either . Keep it up trial and error and research will get you there

That soil mix needs perlite or vermiculite for drainage. Probably too dense and stunted the growth.

Try posting that soil mix on the organic forum and seeing if they can give you some guidance on how best to doctor it up with what you might have access to. Those guys are the guru's when it comes to making soil work with what you have and reusing a soil. Adding perlite will improve the aeration so the roots can breathe for sure and greatly improve the consistency of the soil but you still need to address the nutrient levels and microbes in the soil to grow healthy plants and that's where those guys can really help you out.

aquadel said:

I’m 39c today and I’m still about 2 months from summer I’m also going to assume that your humidity goes up to the %90 mark pretty often like me also . Be sure to prepare for that while flowering , don’t be discouraged if your first few grows fail either . Keep it up trial and error and research will get you there

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I'm totally new in growing outdoors, may I know if you grew yours from seed outdoors? Or did you put them under lights for a month then transition them outdoors? Since your climate is quite similar to mine, I'd like to get to learn more from you if that's alright