I’m not growing in RDWC anymore, it’s just a clay pellet media drip fed and recirculated. I should switch back but I have it set up this way and am too lazy to plumb everything back up.. I do still do them in collars sometimes, I just wait till they have a good handfull of roots.
Sometimes it's smarter to do just that and cut your losses rather than deal with stunted plants occupying your space. I just watched a Mr. Grow-It YT podcast where he was talking to a guy who grows huge autoflowers in 8 inch rockwool cubes. He says he regularly pulls the stragglers if they aren't performing as he wants. I wish I could afford to do that. I've got 1 plant out of 4 that is less than half the size of the largest from the same strain. If I didn't have these clones fighting for room, I'd chop that one. My autos are just starting to pop pistils. I scratched in some flowering nutes last night and watered in a little epsom salts as I usually start seeing Magnesium deficiency around flower time. Hoping to do better this round. Foliar sprayed Epsom salts on the clones too. They were looking bad.I'm going to cut my losses and start fresh next week. There's no way these 2 little plants will grow enough before they start to flower.
I think my problem has been the medium I've been starting my seeds in. After seeing the post by @Mumbeltypeg questioning what I was using to start my seeds in I did some research. I found out that it's a product from ihort called a q-plug. I think it's too dense and hinders the roots and substantially slows the seedlings growth.
That's one thing about my current method that I can finally relax on is Ph. The Recharge and Mykos have really got that under control. I don't know if you're averse to starting in Coco, but, ive seen alot of nice autos in Coco. It's very important with autos for the roots to be free to grow. I know there's alot of folks running big autos in Hydro, but you can't make any mistakes in the first 3-4 weeks, and that's hard sometimes. At least in Coco, you can add microbes to help stabilize the roots. Actually, the guy on the video I watched says he uses recharge each watering in rockwool. Autos are finicky in those first few weeks.
My first two DWC grows using the q-plugs provided with my Hydrobucket kit were phenomenal. The plugs came in a sealed bag and were very moist. I think I remember reading that they should remain moist and not be allowed to dry out before use. This last time they were bone dry and I soaked them for a couple of days before putting the seeds in. They sprouted and came up quick and then stalled out. It was 10 days before I even saw the first root appear.
Your four autos are looking great!
That sounds like a good plan
Nice job! That's old school, most people couldn't do that without a CNC router table. I like the deer head or do you call that a stag?
Yeah I was pleased with the stag head.. and nah, no cnc, cyst mucking about with some chisels. This was just playing around though.. the dartboard case was the real project, milled down a couple of burls we had found for the doors and it is looking really nice..
What tree species is that burl from? The thing I love about burl wood is every one is a unique piece of natures art. You did them justice!
I made one of those for Mom using Dad's router and Dremel. Stained some nice Cherry wood. That's a nice sign. I'm sure your friend will love it. That's a beautiful burl. I love finding a good ole piece of wood that's begging to be worked.
It’s off a eucalyptus.
Bugger on the gnats.. good luck with the upside down watering.
Things were going 'too' well lol. I needed to be humbled again. At least I see that it's not just me. I think this year they're all on steroids or crack or ,,,,,,something lol. When folks like @Star Dog and some others on here have been hassled this year by fungus gnats, then, I don't feel too bad. Lol, these little fabric pots would sit inside pantyhose... I could pin together the top and duct tape the holes I reckon. The peroxide mist is back out too.