Autoflowering seedling growing extremely slow

Info - originally started this seed in paper towel, planted it into 3gal coco coir. After a week I realized the seed shell was stuck on. I gently removed and it started growing.

Unfortunately I didn't add perlite in the beginning.

Grow room size 3.5ft long, 2ft wide, and about 10 ft high. Lights are about 9-12inches from plant.

1st lights 5 23w cfl daylights bulbs
One fan
3 gal pot coco coir.

After two weeks, on advice, I removed seedling, added perlite, replanted and watered with half nutes. Which is half of 1/4 tbsp.

At this point I also added a humidifier. The temps were hovering between 68-77, humidity was 25% but after adjusting fan and adding humidifier, temps are sticking around 70-80, with lower temps when lights off. Humidity is sitting around 60-70%.

Yesterday, I got a new 24w LED bulb, with red and blue diodes. I removed two cfl bulbs and added this bulb. It's about 9 inches from the plant, with the other three cfl circling around the plant.

My issue is, I have some yellowing on tips of my plant. I did a ph test and found my waters ph was very high, 7.8. So I got some ph down and have got my water down to 6.3. I'm worried because it's hardly growing, and this specific strain of auto is supposed to start flowering at 3 weeks, but I'm at three weeks with a seedling hardly bigger than an those pink school erasers. I'll add pics from the last few days progression. Any advice will help!!

Pics go Nov 29, dec 1st, dec 3rd, and dec 4th today.

Autoflowers, once planted , should not be transplanted or disposed at all from original pot or they will do this on you.
If it were me personally, I'd start again with a photo seed -much more forgiving! - as is soil-I learnt all this at my own expense & frustration.

facthunt said:

Autoflowers, once planted , should not be transplanted or disposed at all from original pot or they will do this on you.
If it were me personally, I'd start again with a photo seed -much more forgiving! - as is soil-I learnt all this at my own expense & frustration.

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So you think i should just pull the seedling and start over? I only have one other auto seed right now unfortunately. I'll have to order some more.

Would you say that everything else is ok? Set up and all

Are you new to growing? I messed up about 3 auto grows with very little to show for my time, i think they're "medium" skill level tbh.
Best way to grow an auto, chuck her in her final big pot and water by misting around her at first, so you don't get the whole media wet. If in soil don't feed for 3 weeks.
The set up is fine, ideally i'd recommend stronger lights maybe.... But i really can't see your poor little auto coming to much if she is 3 weeks now. Autos have like a set in - timer, once they crack the timer pops, and you've got 8-10 weeks to get it right.
I'd reccomend feminised photo- seeds, they may take a couple weeks longer, but easier to grow IMHO , can be up-potted as you go along, etc.

facthunt said:

Are you new to growing? I messed up about 3 auto grows with very little to show for my time, i think they're "medium" skill level tbh.
Best way to grow an auto, chuck her in her final big pot and water by misting around her at first, so you don't get the whole media wet. If in soil don't feed for 3 weeks.
The set up is fine, ideally i'd recommend stronger lights maybe.... But i really can't see your poor little auto coming to much if she is 3 weeks now. Autos have like a set in - timer, once they crack the timer pops, and you've got 8-10 weeks to get it right.
I'd reccomend feminised photo- seeds, they may take a couple weeks longer, but easier to grow IMHO , can be up-potted as you go along, etc.

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I've grown before with photo seeds no problem. this is my first time with autos. I figured it would be just a faster grow, didn't realize it would be so sensitive to changes. But I think you're right. Can you recommend a good seed site? I'm in the US so i have to order abroad.

Erinr8 said:

Info - originally started this seed in paper towel, planted it into 3gal coco coir. After a week I realized the seed shell was stuck on. I gently removed and it started growing.

Unfortunately I didn't add perlite in the beginning.

Grow room size 3.5ft long, 2ft wide, and about 10 ft high. Lights are about 9-12inches from plant.

1st lights 5 23w cfl daylights bulbs
One fan
3 gal pot coco coir.

After two weeks, on advice, I removed seedling, added perlite, replanted and watered with half nutes. Which is half of 1/4 tbsp.

At this point I also added a humidifier. The temps were hovering between 68-77, humidity was 25% but after adjusting fan and adding humidifier, temps are sticking around 70-80, with lower temps when lights off. Humidity is sitting around 60-70%.

Yesterday, I got a new 24w LED bulb, with red and blue diodes. I removed two cfl bulbs and added this bulb. It's about 9 inches from the plant, with the other three cfl circling around the plant.

My issue is, I have some yellowing on tips of my plant. I did a ph test and found my waters ph was very high, 7.8. So I got some ph down and have got my water down to 6.3. I'm worried because it's hardly growing, and this specific strain of auto is supposed to start flowering at 3 weeks, but I'm at three weeks with a seedling hardly bigger than an those pink school erasers. I'll add pics from the last few days progression. Any advice will help!!

Pics go Nov 29, dec 1st, dec 3rd, and dec 4th today.

Click to expand...

The perlite is not that important in coco, it already drains well enough on its own. The reason your plant is so small, is because plants can only grow with the light they have to photosynthesize..you have 4 tiny light bulbs on a 3 week old plant..of course it won't grow! Auto's need to be blasted with as much light as possible in their first 4 weeks as the veg cycle is so short..if you miss out on light in that phase, well, you get runts that grow and flower. It's why transplanting is not advised as if you do it a bit roughly and the plant goes into shock..you're losing valuable time growing while the plant goes through it's stress phase. If done properly, then transplanting shouldn't hurt, i have done it with auto's in the past and they didn't suffer, though i prefer to pot them in their final pots if possible. get more light, and you'll see more growth! If you will keep only the lights you have..then 9 inches is a mile away when talking about 23 watt cfl's..they should be 2 max 3 inches from the plants!

Don't kill the plant. You have more than enough space to grow a few plants. So start a new one, and keep trying to make that one move up, so it'll serve as experience at least.

What kind of nutrients are you feeding it? I'd recommend you buy and feed it Real growers recharge to continue the development, together with the nutrients you're using. Also, how are you mixing the feed?

You also need to upgrade your lights... URGENTLY. Even an "Led grow light" from amazon would be much better than the CFLs.
MELONFARM 300W LED Grow Light (amazon). <--- THat's a super generic blurple grow light that's only 125 watts...so it's not expensive at all... But it'll be a much needed upgrade from the CFLs. And it's only $50, so nobody can complain, lol

CFLs are really inefficient at producing light (about 20%), and degrade very fast...

eyderbuddy said:

Don't kill the plant. You have more than enough space to grow a few plants. So start a new one, and keep trying to make that one move up, so it'll serve as experience at least.

What kind of nutrients are you feeding it? I'd recommend you buy and feed it Real growers recharge to continue the development, together with the nutrients you're using. Also, how are you mixing the feed?

You also need to upgrade your lights... URGENTLY. Even an "Led grow light" from amazon would be much better than the CFLs.
MELONFARM 300W LED Grow Light (amazon). <--- THat's a super generic blurple grow light that's only 125 watts...so it's not expensive at all... But it'll be a much needed upgrade from the CFLs. And it's only $50, so nobody can complain, lol

CFLs are really inefficient at producing light (about 20%), and degrade very fast...

Click to expand...

Erinr8New Member
New
I'm using dyna gro foliage pro, I'm adding the feed to a gallon of tap water. I am going to go ahead and order some new lights. But i am going to get new lights. But I'm very confused by led..

What's the difference between 4 28w full spectrum led bulbs, and that bulb you recommended? Just wondering.

Cfl's can work, albeit on a limited basis, but it can grow plants. This was from a grow a few years ago that vegged (some sunlight, max 2 hours, if home at the right time and completely sunny) and flowered only under 23 watt cfl's, end result was almost 3 oz's.
The other one, moneymaker was vegged for 8 weeks with 23 watt cfl's (8 bulbs to start, then 14 at max) and sharing the light with 3 auto's (3 autos combined produced 3 oz's). For flower, she was alone under the lights from week 5-9, and she produced over 4 oz's.
It can be done, but it's a hassle for multiple plants, and constant adjusting of lights and more tedious training to expose the plant to the light...stronger lights and simple cfl's to hang for low/side lighting, is most convenient for me now. But if no option exists for the moment, these bulbs can give you enough smoke per grow to last each cycle, unless one is a heavy smoker i guess

Erinr8 said:

Erinr8New Member
New
I'm using dyna gro foliage pro, I'm adding the feed to a gallon of tap water. I am going to go ahead and order some new lights. But i am going to get new lights. But I'm very confused by led..

What's the difference between 4 28w full spectrum led bulbs, and that bulb you recommended? Just wondering.

Click to expand...

The difference is like trying to use a hundred blow dryers to warm your room, or getting a stronger heater to do the job instead. One strong source of light will outdo a bunch of weaker ones and will benefit the plant better overall. Instead of smaller, airy buds, you get bigger, denser ones

Blitz35 said:

The difference is like trying to use a hundred blow dryers to warm your room, or getting a stronger heater to do the job instead. One strong source of light will outdo a bunch of weaker ones and will benefit the plant better overall. Instead of smaller, airy buds, you get bigger, denser ones

Click to expand...

Ok, thanks this helps a lot. I think I'm going to keep my cfls around the sides of the plant but get a better led for the top

Good luck mate- I don't have anywhere to recc. buying seeds from as i'm in Europe & can buy them in a shop, (as "novelty expensive birdseed) .i.e 6-10- euro each,.
Great idea not to kill the plant but to larn from its growth. I have 3 girls 8 weeks in flower, 2 are 2.5 ft tall, one is about 8 " tall and is like a bonzai- a photo seed that I stunted and accidentally topped as a seedling by leaving a home made plastic dome over her for a day too long. Interesting project, i'd say ill get 2-3 oz each from the other 2, but be lucky to get 5g from baby as I call her.
I started out with "Led 300w" (No brand, cheap too) (80e) moved up to a slightly better Mars Hydro Led 300w, and finally got a Migro cob recently. It's all a process. (i am in 2 x 2 x 6)

facthunt said:

Good luck mate- I don't have anywhere to recc. buying seeds from as i'm in Europe & can buy them in a shop, (as "novelty expensive birdseed) .i.e 6-10- euro each,.
Great idea not to kill the plant but to larn from its growth. I have 3 girls 8 weeks in flower, 2 are 2.5 ft tall, one is about 8 " tall and is like a bonzai- a photo seed that I stunted and accidentally topped as a seedling by leaving a home made plastic dome over her for a day too long. Interesting project, i'd say ill get 2-3 oz each from the other 2, but be lucky to get 5g from baby as I call her.
I started out with "Led 300w" (No brand, cheap too) (80e) moved up to a slightly better Mars Hydro Led 300w, and finally got a Migro cob recently. It's all a process. (i am in 2 x 2 x 6)

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I
Dang, I wish we could just by them here. It's legal rec and med, yet I still have to buy seeds illegally. Shm.. will post some updates if things improve!

Don't get discouraged. Auto's have brought me to tears more than once.
It's weird here, you can buy seeds in a shop but its illegal to grow them Hoping to be legal here soon Rep. of (Ireland)
If you have a online deal site you might pick up a cheap used Led light? Kinda like craigslist or whatever.

facthunt said:

Don't get discouraged. Auto's have brought me to tears more than once.
It's weird here, you can buy seeds in a shop but its illegal to grow them Hoping to be legal here soon Rep. of (Ireland)
If you have a online deal site you might pick up a cheap used Led light? Kinda like craigslist or whatever.

Click to expand...

Oh yeah I do. I'll try that. Craigslist maybe

Thought I'd upload an updated picture. My girls. Doing 100 times better. I did start another seed that's already sprouted and looking good. I switched to 4 28w full spectrum leds and 2 23w cfls, and I think it's the leds that have really made the difference. I also got a moisture reader and have cut back on watering. I'm happy with the results and am definitely glad I didn't just toss the plant. I've learned much from the mistakes in this grow and am hoping the new seedling does well.