Uh Oh! Beautiful Babies in distress?--Take a look...PLEASE, noob needs your help!

Here are my babies on their 16th (day) birthday. It looks like the newer leaves are starting to look a little yellowish compared to the first set underneath them. Is that normal for young plants and will they get darker green too? The leaves seem to be sturdy & not drooping at all and no spots. I'm hopefully getting worried over nothing but I never did this before so I'm just being cautious. I'm curious as to whether or not I can successfully grow 2 adult plants in each of these 2 autopots. I know I'll have to sacrifice 2 plants in each pot (male OR female) so they don't get too much stress from roots growing tangled. I've heard that it's possible to sex them before they go into flowering stage, is this true? If so, how do I tell?

They are on a 24/24 lighting schedule with 4-24" T5 lights for veg growth with 6 hours of fan blowing for stalk strength (is that enough time?) and growing in coco for the medium. Again, just looking for input as to the looks and status of my babies. BTW, the nutes I use are "Ionic" brand "growth" for veg stage at this point. I love not having to water on a schedule and the freedom these "autopots" give me to grow non-stop and still go on vacations or leave for extended periods. No power needed for pumps or anything but the lights, timer, air pump (sucking in new air from crawl space) & fan. Very little noise---the wife still has good hearing---I don't. This is a stealth grow, I built an entire addition (18'X18' Workshop) and put in a hidden room that measures 22"X5'X8' tall, not even the wife knows (She doesn't like me smoking but puts up with it)...only you people know what I'm doing...lol. --'cause you don't know where I live...lol

The first 2 pics (that's a quarter for scale) are at 10 days, the other 3 pics are 16 days. As you can see in the second and 3rd pic, I have a slow starter, I named her grunt (g+runt). The last pic shows a little bit of the "grow room ".

Any input or comments will be appreciated. I am convinced the help I will get here will be invaluable from all the experience you all have for my first grow.

first rule of thumb - one plant per pot man!!!

cheetah2007 said:

first rule of thumb - one plant per pot man!!!

Click to expand...

I found this site AFTER I started the grow. As you know, the best laid plans...... Anyway, it's too late to start over so I'm just growing to get the best yield with what I have. I did plan on removing (thinning the heard) 2 plants from each pot after I sex them. I thought that might give enough root structure to work for me. We'll see if it pans out that way. Is it true you can sex them before flowering?

hi mate,

firstly you can lower your light considerably. you want it as close to the plants as possible without causing them to burn. As you already have a fan you will be able to get pretty close - 12-20''.

Next, do you test the ph and ppm levels of the feed before you add it?

pH should be as near to 6.8 as poss, ppm should vary between 500-1500 depending on strain and age of plant.

How often do you change nutes, or adjust nute strength?

Should adjust nutes daily ( at least once ), and change on weekly basis at least.

Only one plant per pot. As if more the roots will entwine. Can cause disease to spread to other plants if one affected, and if one is male and the other female they will have to be seperated - this will cause root damage. Also, plants will overlap and block each others light.

Personally, grow at 18/6. Gives the plant some down time to rest and get itself together. Yields not that much different, electricity bill alot less!

Get some mylar for your walls - if not gloss white paint is just as good - and easy to clean.

Make sure you have plenty of fresh air. If smell a worry invest in a filter - worth the money if prevents neighbours from being suspiscious.

Use a rooting juice, and cannazym if poss.

good luck.

If your using flouro tubes for light, you need to put them RIGHT on top of the plants. ANY CFL's need to be VERY close to them. Its even ok if the plants touch the light. I keep my lights so close I have to raise them every single day. Every morning the tops are just brushing the bulbs and they dont mind a bit.
When the lights are close enough the stalks will be plenty strong with no fan at all.
Also, I think they are to young to be giving them nutes. Probably why they are yellowing, but it doesnt look too bad.
If you have more than one in a pot they will compete for everthing-water,nutes, light, everthing...it will not be good. From what I've read if your really good, and you know exactly what strain you have and are very familiar with its characteristics you MIGHT tell the sex before flowering, but only just before so by then it's gonna be too late really.
Find out if at that size they can be separated (idk) otherwise grow them a little more and sacrifice all but the best one in each pot.
Ohh, and whats this about the coco?????????????????

david6767 said:

hi mate,

firstly you can lower your light considerably. you want it as close to the plants as possible without causing them to burn. As you already have a fan you will be able to get pretty close - 12-20''.

Next, do you test the ph and ppm levels of the feed before you add it?

pH should be as near to 6.8 as poss, ppm should vary between 500-1500 depending on strain and age of plant.

How often do you change nutes, or adjust nute strength?

Should adjust nutes daily ( at least once ), and change on weekly basis at least.

Only one plant per pot. As if more the roots will entwine. Can cause disease to spread to other plants if one affected, and if one is male and the other female they will have to be seperated - this will cause root damage. Also, plants will overlap and block each others light.

Personally, grow at 18/6. Gives the plant some down time to rest and get itself together. Yields not that much different, electricity bill alot less!

Get some mylar for your walls - if not gloss white paint is just as good - and easy to clean.

Make sure you have plenty of fresh air. If smell a worry invest in a filter - worth the money if prevents neighbours from being suspiscious.

Use a rooting juice, and cannazym if poss.

good luck.

Click to expand...

itsgrowinglikeaweed said:

If your using flouro tubes for light, you need to put them RIGHT on top of the plants. ANY CFL's need to be VERY close to them. Its even ok if the plants touch the light. I keep my lights so close I have to raise them every single day. Every morning the tops are just brushing the bulbs and they dont mind a bit.
When the lights are close enough the stalks will be plenty strong with no fan at all.
Also, I think they are to young to be giving them nutes. Probably why they are yellowing, but it doesnt look too bad.
If you have more than one in a pot they will compete for everthing-water,nutes, light, everthing...it will not be good. From what I've read if your really good, and you know exactly what strain you have and are very familiar with its characteristics you MIGHT tell the sex before flowering, but only just before so by then it's gonna be too late really.
Find out if at that size they can be separated (idk) otherwise grow them a little more and sacrifice all but the best one in each pot.
Ohh, and whats this about the coco?????????????????

Click to expand...

Thanks for the input from both of you. First off, the lights are high so you can see the set-up in the picture. I have them about 2" above the plants when not drooling over them. I will be changing the nute tank every 2 weeks (according to label) and I follow the mixture to the "T" that they recommended. No I don't have a ppm meter, can't seem to let myself spend that much for one ($180). The water ph, after sitting for 2-3 days, is basically perfect, 6.2 is what my little vial mixture says. The nutes are the only thing I will have to vary depending on plants' needs. I have considered removing all but 1 plant for each pot, but I still want a decent harvest. The "coco" was recommended for the "autopot" setup by the grow store. It is nothing more than coconut husks. Very good wicking abilities and gives a lot of air to roots too, without a lot of constant care and maintenance. It is relatively new to the market, as is the "autopot" system.

Again, anyone know about sexing before flowering?