Waiting too long maybe ?

[Wazzybear]

Hey! I have a question regarding auto flowers - I have started with Rockwool cubes, my seedlings are about 21/22 days old - had decent little clusters of roots poking through the bottom a week ago - I saw in a video that you should carry on air pruning at this stage until you get a cube practically covered in roots on all sides before transplanting to my big clay ball pots- sadly I’ve let the cubes dry out a bit twice and have definitely overwatered one of them - have used mild nutrients for the past two weeks - my questions I suppose are :
1: should you transplant when the firsts cluster of roots pokes through the bottom?
2:how can you tell exactly when veg is officially started
3: have I left it too long /potentially ruined yields from taking too long
4: will over dry /watering once or twice as a seedling ruin the whole effort down the line
5: is over 3 weeks definitely too long to wait.
Pics provided - the unhealthy one has been over /under-watered I think ?! Please advise- if you can answer any of this for me. I can guarantee you eternal life ! Many thanks and happy growing - love this community ! You can see where the old roots died off

 

[Captain Fap]

Don’t want to answer the first one till I know for sure what your plans are to grow and water these plants in, sounds like you’re going dwc but I’ve seen people try to hand water clay pebbles too.

2) from my understanding you are in veg as soon as the first set of true leafs show and as long as you’re in 18/6 light schedule lol with autos, that 18/6 may not matter, I’ve only grown a handful of autos, not my taste but I get it.

3)you really don’t have to worry about ruining yields until you actually start flowering, right now, any mistake is just adding time to your grow. Always best to start with more than intended, mistake can happen and this allows you to easily cast a bad plant to the side and gives you a variety of plants that may show better growth in this stage to choose from.

4) honestly the way you’re growing from what I can tell would be better suited for a ebb and flow setup atm. I don’t recommend investing in that but unless you’regoing to dwc after this I would get those rockwool cubes in a proper seedling tray, the kind that has the grooved channels, fill with water so that’s it’s barely covering the bottom of the rockwool than refill before it dries out. This will cause less air pruning on the bottom roots but if they were allowed to drink and grow those roots can get long enough to be balled to the sides before transferring to coco or pebble

5) they look happy and healthy, things are slow in the early stages, I have a pair of diesels I started that are about the same size as yours andthey are on day 14 so you haven’t punished them too badly lol. Less is more in this time, you won’t have to give much water if watering like I mentioned in a grooved tray or unless you have awful low humidity

 

[Wazzybear]

Hey captain! First off thanks for your speedy and detailed reply. It’s much appreciated
To be clear yes you’re correct on the dwc - I have a 4x18l pot Wilma rdwc system, will be using clay balls.

2 : so would you consider the first true leaf as the single serrated leave or first set with fingers ? (I think I went a bit too mild/late on nutrients either way)

3: good advice I’ll do that next time (the dieselxgg4 has taken a beating)
Spares are a good idea hey.

4: I have run out to get the seedling tray with drainage and will try this as of tomorrow - does this replace the top feeding entirely for the propagation stage?, or do you still water from the top sometimes ?
Either way another great tip thank you.

5 - thanks man ! Lol glad to hear I haven’t been to abusive
The two healthier ones are gsc and the slightly sad are gg x diesel.
Im in the subtropics going into winter so humidity is pretty good if anything a bit high.
Honestly thanks again captain - I’m going to put this feeding technique /advice into practice -really appreciate the reply dude was fast as and very insightful ! Many thanks

 

[twentyeight.threefive]

1: should you transplant when the firsts cluster of roots pokes through the bottom?
2:how can you tell exactly when veg is officially started
3: have I left it too long /potentially ruined yields from taking too long
4: will over dry /watering once or twice as a seedling ruin the whole effort down the line
5: is over 3 weeks definitely too long to wait.

1) My transplant criteria is for coco so can't help on this one.
2) Veg starts once the seed sprouts, it's a seedling but still in a vegetation stage.
3) Yes. The plant needs an extensive root system to grow larger. A small rockwool cube isn't going to provide that.
4) Any stress or lack of care will contribute to a final plant that isn't 100%. It's not going to ruin the whole effort but everything combined will determine your final result.
5) 3 weeks is a little long before transplanting. I usually transplant my autos about 14 days in from their starter pots. Autos typically will start to flower in 3-4 weeks so there isn't a ton of time to get things right in the beginning.

GL

 

[Wazzybear]

1) My transplant criteria is for coco so can't help on this one.
2) Veg starts once the seed sprouts, it's a seedling but still in a vegetation stage.
3) Yes. The plant needs an extensive root system to grow larger. A small rockwool cube isn't going to provide that.
4) Any stress or lack of care will contribute to a final plant that isn't 100%. It's not going to ruin the whole effort but everything combined will determine your final result.
5) 3 weeks is a little long before transplanting. I usually transplant my autos about 14 days in from their starter pots. Autos typically will start to flower in 3-4 weeks so there isn't a ton of time to get things right in the beginning.

GL

1) My transplant criteria is for coco so can't help on this one.
2) Veg starts once the seed sprouts, it's a seedling but still in a vegetation stage.
3) Yes. The plant needs an extensive root system to grow larger. A small rockwool cube isn't going to provide that.
4) Any stress or lack of care will contribute to a final plant that isn't 100%. It's not going to ruin the whole effort but everything combined will determine your final result.
5) 3 weeks is a little long before transplanting. I usually transplant my autos about 14 days in from their starter pots. Autos typically will start to flower in 3-4 weeks so there isn't a ton of time to get things right in the beginning.

GL

1) My transplant criteria is for coco so can't help on this one.
2) Veg starts once the seed sprouts, it's a seedling but still in a vegetation stage.
3) Yes. The plant needs an extensive root system to grow larger. A small rockwool cube isn't going to provide that.
4) Any stress or lack of care will contribute to a final plant that isn't 100%. It's not going to ruin the whole effort but everything combined will determine your final result.
5) 3 weeks is a little long before transplanting. I usually transplant my autos about 14 days in from their starter pots. Autos typically will start to flower in 3-4 weeks so there isn't a ton of time to get things right in the beginning.

GL

hey three five , thanks for the input.
Interesting point on veg being as soon as it sprouts.
I see what you mean about it being a little bit long and I was thinking they were looking good to go at about 2 weeks in.
its just I heard somewhere that you should aim for roots coming out the sides as well by air pruning before you transfer.
I do feel I’ve dropped the ball a little with something in days 14-21 as they seem to have slowed a little maybe.
it’s definitely down to inexperience!
Not sure if it’s not enough nutrients /leaving it too long/ under watering.
Perhaps all of it combined

Do you feel they are still worth seeing through or would you start again ?
Honestly I am super grateful for the advice - I feel like I’ve learned a fair bit from you and captain already. If only I had a time machine ! All the best take care

 

[Wazzybear]

Don’t want to answer the first one till I know for sure what your plans are to grow and water these plants in, sounds like you’re going dwc but I’ve seen people try to hand water clay pebbles too.

2) from my understanding you are in veg as soon as the first set of true leafs show and as long as you’re in 18/6 light schedule lol with autos, that 18/6 may not matter, I’ve only grown a handful of autos, not my taste but I get it.

3)you really don’t have to worry about ruining yields until you actually start flowering, right now, any mistake is just adding time to your grow. Always best to start with more than intended, mistake can happen and this allows you to easily cast a bad plant to the side and gives you a variety of plants that may show better growth in this stage to choose from.

4) honestly the way you’re growing from what I can tell would be better suited for a ebb and flow setup atm. I don’t recommend investing in that but unless you’regoing to dwc after this I would get those rockwool cubes in a proper seedling tray, the kind that has the grooved channels, fill with water so that’s it’s barely covering the bottom of the rockwool than refill before it dries out. This will cause less air pruning on the bottom roots but if they were allowed to drink and grow those roots can get long enough to be balled to the sides before transferring to coco or pebble

5) they look happy and healthy, things are slow in the early stages, I have a pair of diesels I started that are about the same size as yours andthey are on day 14 so you haven’t punished them too badly lol. Less is more in this time, you won’t have to give much water if watering like I mentioned in a grooved tray or unless you have awful low humidity

 

[UpstateGarden]

You gotta transplant when you got a viable root ball. You can usually tell if it's ready just by lifting up. But don't even try lifting it if you suspect it isn't quite yet ready. Plants can go too long in a pot easy. Just don't try to get it too early or it will break.