When is it too early to feed autos?

I know autos require significantly less nutes - maybe 1/4 strength - but when is "too early"?

I have 5 autos @ day 13 and they are fairly small. This strain is supposed to get anywhere from 50-60cm to 80cm, depending on the breeders I've reviewed. I've had the seeds 3 or 4 years, so I don't remember which specific breeder at The Vault I purchased them from, but RQS says 50cm on average, so we'll go with that.

They are all in a 2x4x5 in 2 gallon smart pots, so in theory I've got plenty of room. Lighting is good - two 195 actual watt LED's for a total of 49 watts a sq/ft if my math is correct. They are in FF Salamander Soil, which is 60-70% coco coir, perlite, and some other misc. stuff. Ratio on the bag says 0.35, 0.25, 0.20 and 1% calcium. It's all I could get within a 50+ mile drive, so it is what it is.

I think I've read here that you need to add more nutes to mixtures that are heavily coco, but since auto's need less... ? I was feeding them 7.5 pH water for the first 1-ish week (I misread something). Now they are getting 6.5 pH. I think I cause some damage early on because they leaves have some discoloration.

Sorry for the long post. I can post pics if that helps, but it's really a question of when I need to feed.

Thanks all!

I grow just autos ((ok I had 3 photoP. grows(not my cup of tea)) but I have never use coco,only pure soil with perlite.. And I grow mine in pre fert soils, So I'm feed less for first 4 weeks...Then I just start with bloom nutes, coz they are by that time in flowering..

CikaBika said:

I grow just autos ((ok I had 3 photoP. grows(not my cup of tea)) but I have never use coco,only pure soil with perlite.. And I grow mine in pre fert soils, So I'm feed less for first 4 weeks...Then I just start with bloom nutes, coz they are by that time in flowering..

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Ok, not sure what to take from that. That doesn't answer my question, and we are growing in different medium. If I'm missing something, please clarify.

H_Aspect said:

Ok, not sure what to take from that. That doesn't answer my question, and we are growing in different medium. If I'm missing something, please clarify.

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Naahh just wanted to share my style. nhf
start with 30% of strength , I think you cant go wrong... but that just my opinion..

CikaBika said:

Naahh just wanted to share my style. nhf
start with 30% of strength , I think you cant go wrong... but that just my opinion..

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Ok, sounds good. I figure they are ok to get fed every other watering with a low dose of FF Big Bloom. I guess I'll just watch a see.

Growing autos in coco I flush the coco well first (obviously) then mix w perilite; seedings get 0 ppm water until the seed falls off and I see little round green leaves. At this point I keep feeding at around 150-170ppm. Under 200ppms. After a week they go up to 300-350. Then 400-500. Week four they get 6-700ppms for the duration.

I do a veg mix the first two or three weeks from seed, then switch over to flower. Or if the plant looks like it has too much N before that (ie: the leaf curl thing) then I’ll move to flower bites earlier.

I prefer photos as opposed to autos but I keep them growing because they can give me a little extra smoke out of the corner of wasted space in the veg room.

Mr.Goodtimes said:

At this point I keep feeding at around 150-170ppm. Under 200ppms. After a week they go up to 300-350. Then 400-500. Week four they get 6-700ppms for the duration.

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Ok, so that I understand this process. Let's say I start with Distilled water that is reading 2-3 ppm. I then add enough Big Bloom until it reaches 150-170ppm, regardless of how many "tablespoons" is says to add per gallon? Then when it's at the correct ppm, it'd pH it to the correct level and then feed?

H_Aspect said:

Ok, so that I understand this process. Let's say I start with Distilled water that is reading 2-3 ppm. I then add enough Big Bloom until it reaches 150-170ppm, regardless of how many "tablespoons" is says to add per gallon? Then when it's at the correct ppm, it'd pH it to the correct level and then feed?

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Yes essentially, but just now it does not take much big bloom to hit 200ppm. I dont know the exact amount but add 1ml at a time. It will also lower your ph to around 4.5 - 5.5. You will most likely have to add a little ph up to bump it to 6-6.5 Big bloom is very acidic. Do not PH balance water untl your nutes have been added.

Also at 13 days they should be at 3rd or 4th node already. The small ones in this pic are about 9-11 days old depending on which plant. the big one is at 16 days.
These are auto white widow. I don't use nutes until they start to show signs of flowering, but than again I use FFOF which has plenty of nutes for the first 4 weeks already in it. I would never use Coco, just because its too much work for me. I am a set it and forget it type of person. Messing with these things too much cause more harm than good most of the time.

Used FF before for AUTOS ... but not the sal mix ... happy frog and ocean. Salamander has the BASICS for grow and makes a good starter mix.

I NEVER go by schedule ... simple mix by half.
Big bloom and grow big ONLY during veg stage.
1 tsp grow big / 1-2 tsp Big Bloom. Big Bloom is the ORGANIC of the FF LINE.

No need EVER for distilled / RO. These are stripped of minerals. You can use tap water.
One gallon water / mix in ingredients separately /
PH AFTER to 6.3-6.5. FF soils including coco based are already prebuffered to 6.3 with lime and oyster shell.

FF NUTES are SALT heavy and will need plain waterings between to keep under control. Plain watering 6.3-6.5 between feeds will help dilute salt buildup without unnecessary flush.

You said you are about 13 days in ... plant will become sexed around day 35 and begin transition , so between now and then it is important not to overfeed it so it can root out as best as it can. Since your soil mix is water retaining .... you nay have to spread out watering and feeds maybe by days depending how quickly it needs to dry out.

@jtrizzy @Budzbuddha

Thanks guys. Here is a pic of where I am at. I added the 125w CFL a couple of hours ago. I'm not sure if it's close enough or too close. The thermometer says 81 when it's been pretty cold in there, so the CFL definitely cranked up the heat. I've got an A/C unit feeding it 73 degree air, which was keeping it between 73 and 77, depending on where in the tent it was. My hand doesn't feel it above the plant, though.

I'm squeezing 5 plants in a 2x4, so it's tight. I should have waiting and ordered all smart pots, I could have fit them without issues. They are normally spaced out better, but I was moving them to show the distance between that one plant and the CFL.

Yeah, these plants are small but are visible growing daily. I see other people with plants this size after 4-5 days. But these are WW Auto Fems, so I only expected 2' bushes. According to Herb.IQ, it's been 13.7 days since they sprouted.

I can’t offer anymore advice as I have never grown in coco medium before. Like I said it’s too much work for me lol. FFOF like I said has plenty of nutes in it and is PhD to 6.3 from factory. For the first month my plants are on cruise control which just basic tap water ph’d. The plants look healthy though, albeit small, but look fine. You could set up those lights and your pots a little better though, you have the space.

Set them up like this, and get rid of the cfl, not needed.

jtrizzy said:

Set them up like this, and get rid of the cfl, not needed.

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Dude, that's awesome man, I feel like an idiot for not even thinking about it that way! I guess I'm more of a checkers, not chess, guy. LOL

Seriously - I really appreciate the help drawing that out!!

Yeah, I won't be using this soil again, but it was the only thing outside of various potting soils and miracle grow that I could easily get within about 50 miles. Next time I'll just take the drive.