First Time -- Little Cheese Auto (CFLs)

Thanks for the reply man!

I've let the soil almost dry out...I stuck my finger an inch or so into the soil and it's dry, but they're still curled/drooping downward.

I'll put the lights closer again -- I thought that taco shape might have been from the lights being too close :S

If its dry an inch down then its more than likely underwatering, and your plants are wilting. Usually you should aim to water just before they wilt, trial and improvement. I would suggest watering them now, and in about 15minutes they should perk up a bit.

I'd like to comment on something. Why didnt you leave the plants to grow vertically a little bit more? As I can see, these two will become very bushy and consequently it'll be
difficult to provide light to the bottom leaves.
Best regards, PApapa.

PApapa said:

I'd like to comment on something. Why didnt you leave the plants to grow vertically a little bit more? As I can see, these two will become very bushy and consequently it'll be
difficult to provide light to the bottom leaves.
Best regards, PApapa.

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Hey PApapa, thanks for replying!

I was hoping to start training 'em bushy earlier because I didn't think I'd have enough vertical height. I removed my ties earlier today because I realized that I have more room than I thought -- so hopefully they can recover upwards a bit.

I've been watering just once a day and using Liquid Karma and some Vegetative formula by Botanicare -- Pure Blend Pro (about a cap full for a half gallon watering can). I try to soak the whole of the soil and use about a half a can of water for the two of them. I'll douse them with some more now and see how they take to it.

Woah, you didnt tell me that, thats quite a bit of water mate, unless your soil is dry then dont water, also they may have nute burn. Dont follow what it says on your nute bottle, they recommend way too much, if it says half cap for half gallon, put about half cap for a full gallon. Dont soak all the soil, what I recommend is getting a bigger pot that your current pot fits into. Pour your water into that bigger pot, and submerge your plants pot into there, and let it soak from the bottom. Only about a 1/4 of the plant pot should be submerged.

moonstar47 said:

Woah, you didnt tell me that, thats quite a bit of water mate, unless your soil is dry then dont water, also they may have nute burn. Dont follow what it says on your nute bottle, they recommend way too much, if it says half cap for half gallon, put about half cap for a full gallon. Dont soak all the soil, what I recommend is getting a bigger pot that your current pot fits into. Pour your water into that bigger pot, and submerge your plants pot into there, and let it soak from the bottom. Only about a 1/4 of the plant pot should be submerged.

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Darn, I just watered. Right now they're in 1 gallon pots, I was hoping to run them in there for their life-span. My soil was dry so I soaked them again....The colour of them seems to be a nice full green colour so I was hoping they are OK with the nutrients. I really hope I'm not drowning them. Should I hold off on the water for a bit? I'll consider that idea with the new pot!

I've never been good at keeping things alive, and this is why I also won't be having kids of my own...Lol..... I am surprised these plants have gone this far!

I've got a couple other seeds I'm going to start I think, and maybe consider putting these outside, and into larger pots. Thoughts on this?? Maybe these will do a bit better outside.

Overall, how's it looking? Think they'll produce anything for me?

Thanks guys!

Yeah hold off on the water for like 2 days. This allows the roots to grow bigger and therefore better plant. If you water all the time, then your roots wont have to do anything and wont bother growing. Putting outside is a great idea, I myself am planning on it. However I would recommend planting into the ground directly, pots dry out fast! What you need to do is dig yourself a nice hole, and fill it with your soil mix. When you water dont water around your stem, water the actual soil. Good luck!

Ballsonrawls said:

i would suggest watering all of the soil in the pot. eventually the roots will reach the outside and you dont want to have any dry pockets under the soil cause that can cause slight problems as the plants start to get bigger.

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moonstar47 said:

Yeah hold off on the water for like 2 days. This allows the roots to grow bigger and therefore better plant. If you water all the time, then your roots wont have to do anything and wont bother growing. Putting outside is a great idea, I myself am planning on it. However I would recommend planting into the ground directly, pots dry out fast! What you need to do is dig yourself a nice hole, and fill it with your soil mix. When you water dont water around your stem, water the actual soil. Good luck!

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Check!

No water for two days, and I think I might aim for getting them outside next weekend since we usually have a frost at the tail end of May. I'll start germinating some new seeds for the grow box too. I hope these droopy girls perk up a little bit.

dont worry about having your cfls too close. i have mine as close as i can so that they dont touch the leaves. the plants will love it. as for watering, i usually let it dry out a little. not too much. make sure that there is moisture in the soil and you should be good. your plants look wonderful by the way.

Ballsonrawls said:

dont worry about having your cfls too close. i have mine as close as i can so that they dont touch the leaves. the plants will love it. as for watering, i usually let it dry out a little. not too much. make sure that there is moisture in the soil and you should be good. your plants look wonderful by the way.

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Thanks Ballsonrawls! I've been keeping my lights as close as possible pretty much -- just about an inch away from the plants. It's amazing to see the amount of upwards growth even in two days after untying the plants from the side of the pot.

Here's the week 3 update; 21 days in the ground. The leaves are still lookin' pretty taco-like, and keep curling upwards. I was reading that this might be a temperature issue and that they're trying to shake off the heat. I checked the temps in my box and realized I'm kicking around 93 degrees. I opened the one side of my box in hopes that the temp drops a little bit. I skipped watering yesterday, and am skipping again today. Tomorrow I'll hit 'em again. I'd like to get ONE of these girls outside, but I'm trying to wait until the end of next weekend (since we almost always have a frost and cold temps right before summer heads into full form). I think the one that I decide to leave inside the box will really love having all four CFLs to herself! I think I'll buy her a bigger pot too, since I'm only running gallon pots right now. Would it be a good or bad idea to transplant these guys? I don't want to eff up the roots/give them any problems!

Thanks for following guys Repp++++ all around!

I think if you want to transplant, and they are in solo pots (one for each pot) then hold the stem as low down as you can, gently using your index and thumb, and tip the pot upside down. The soil should come out like a sand castle, and then simply turn right way up and drop into another pot. Prepare a pot beforehand, like fill it up with medium and make a small hole in which the soil "castle" from your actual pot should drop into comfortably .

Thanks a lot for the info man!

I held off on the water for two days, and then checked them today to see that the lowest fan leaves started to turn yellowy/lime greenish. So I doused them with the usuale of nutrients and water. Will these leaves recover? Or should I snip them and hope that I see some more upper growth? I know that fan leaves are important for providing nutrients to the plant, s'm assuming I should try and keep them, right?

I'll post pics at some point. I'm working now. Also I am leaving town from tomorrow night til sunday morning so I'll be unable to water. Think they'll be OK? I'd like to not kill anleaves! Lol

I read that this is a pretty normal occurrence when they start flowering? I think I'll just gently pluck them off and let'er grow

Pics to come on Monday.

tripp96 said:

I read that this is a pretty normal occurrence when they start flowering? I think I'll just gently pluck them off and let'er grow

Pics to come on Monday.

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NEVERMIND.... Pics coming now.

The yellowing is traveling upward; my vegetative formula is as such ::

Total Nitrogen: 3.0%
3.0% water
soluable potash 4.0%
calcium 1.0%
magnesium .5% (.5% water soluble magnesium)

I'm using around a half cap of the above and also some everyday feed called Liquid Karma which is as such::

Nitrogen -- 2%
Available phosphate 3.0%
Potash 5.0%
Calcium 1.0%
Magnesium .05%

Again, I'm using about a half cap of this for my half gallon watering can.

Am I simply over-fertilizing? And should I go back to water for a while until I introduce my flowering formula?? Do you guys think these gals are getting too much Nitrogen??

I watered with nutes yesterday, but I gave them a dose of distilled water today since I have to leave for the weekend....I pray to God that they recover some by the time I get back with less feeding, no nutes, etc.... It seemed to get worse today, and that was after feeding them with nutes yesterday.

BUMPIN 'Cause I'm scared! Haha.

Thanks for all the advice guys.

That is some serious nute burn mate. Your giving them way too much. I'd say about 4 drops of each into your half gallon watering can.

Thanks for confirming it man! I didn't know how potent those nutrients are!

Recoverable? I hope! They're getting nothing until Sunday anyway!

Are the ridges in the leaf blade real pronounced? Or are the blades pretty flat?

You probably just could go for a good flush, I would use about 2-3 times as much water as the containers volume. After that water with a micro supplement at 1/4-1/2 recommended dose. They have a cal-mag supplement available through advanced nutrients.

If you don't feel like going out and buying the micro your veg solution could do the same, just remember to keep the dosing really light.

Bonanzal said:

Are the ridges in the leaf blade real pronounced? Or are the blades pretty flat?

You probably just could go for a good flush, I would use about 2-3 times as much water as the containers volume. After that water with a micro supplement at 1/4-1/2 recommended dose. They have a cal-mag supplement available through advanced nutrients.

If you don't feel like going out and buying the micro your veg solution could do the same, just remember to keep the dosing really light.

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The ridges were very pronounced, and looked like tacos. It seemed to flatten out quite a bit when I stopped feeding for a couple days, but after not watering for two days I noticed the yellowing -- so I simply assumed they were drying out and really soaked 'em with water and nutes....Now after seeing more yellow a day later, I regret doing that.

I kinda panicked and dumped some fresh water into them, in hopes that it'd flush some of the nutes out. We'll see what happens! If it looks really bad when I get back into town, I'll do a full flush as you recommended, and then simply add a couple drops of my vegetative solution.

At what point should I introduce my flowering formula, since they are autoflowers??

Thanks a lot!