Stunted growth and in flowering mode

[Zen021]

Hey guys, hope I can find some assistance here with my first grow. 

 

I planted two strains on the 25th March, both auto fem seeds, after germination. One is original AK, the other is auto blueberry. I was not able to get grow equipment before or even now during lockdown in order to grow them in a controlled environment unfortunately so I decided to grow them by my window sill with lots of light. I'm fully aware that window sill grows don't come with very large harvests and this is my first grow so I'm not expecting much. 

 

My plants grew a bit 'leggy' and stretched out for a while, and wasn't sure what to do other than just dig down a bit deeper and carefully lower the seedlings leaving about a fingers worth of stem and plant above the soil. This was done a few weeks ago, and while they seem healthy now and have slowly gotten more leaves, they aren't getting taller and judging by the white hairs it seems to be going Into flowering mode now as a result of the days getting shorter / nights getting longer. So this is a little upsetting for my first grow but you live and learn so it's okay. 

 

 

I have no way of checking ph balance at the moment, and I do have nutrients which I'm wondering should I also start using that now? 

 

 

How can I get my plants to grow a bit taller, more leaves and atleast a couple grams of bud? Maybe 10 or 20 grams atleast? I have them in 5lt pots in some soil mixed with a bit of dolomitic lime and some river sand.

 

After this lockdown I will be getting a proper grow environment and doing proper research and going about it the right way. 

 

 

How do I start/how often should I feed these plants nutes? Every time I water? I know i have to water when the soil is dry, so no problems with the basics. 

 

I just want them to get a bit taller now and look a little less like seedlings. 

 

The plants each have about 10 to 15 leaves each, but very small and the stem is still seedling - like and thin. 

 

I can't seem to attach images, so i hope my post helps thank you so much in advance for your help and assistance! 

[Prom]

If you raise your child on bread and water.. will not turn into a Arnie. 

Giving them as much sun as you can.. good.. watering when dry.. sweet too. 

Growing without gear is like building a house without tools.. will look according to that.

The 5L pots should be fine for now, the plant will not become rather big anyhow, when you have proper gear, double the pot size for Autos. Autos demand perfection.. you might wanna start with a Feminized seed.

Read up on some fertilizer.. beside light, is the second most important thing to add to improve harvest. No sun, no plant, no nutes, no harvest. I do not count 2-3 joint plants as a harvest 

 

Why you add river sand to your soil?? Has any reason behind that?? 

[CreX]

Welcome yo !! 

Shem... Seems like you got caught in the middle of everything with this nasty lockdown!! 

First up - totally correct with windowsill growing... It's not good... You need direct sunlight on the leaves, and not reflected light. So I say take them outside in the morning so they can get the most sun possible... 11 hours if possible as apposed to likely under 2 hours of direct light while the sun rises or sets on your window sil. And then take them inside to a dark dark place... A windowsill here would also suck if you went into the room and turned a light on... It's not as critical with Autos... But it's important to note it. 

Next as @Prom mentioned, you need good soil/nutrient feeding

What do you have for nutrients currently? If nothing.. Then I suggest you go to pnp and buy some Epsom salts, and if you are lucky and they have a garden section, you should be able to find a basic liquid fertilizer... Don't go granular fertilizer as it's often slow release... And you won't have enough time to effectively use it before harvest... 

Seagrow is a common one or nitrosol is better for flower and both you can find in pnp garden section. 

Follow the instructions on the bottle and we might just get you to a better harvest than you hoped for... 

1)outside in the wind and the sun all day, and in side in a dark place at night

2)epsom salts and seagrow and you will be happy. 

Prom did mention that autos need perfection... For a good yeild, everything must be right from the word go. Autos do not recover well from stunting and are often quite a challenge for new growers. 

 

[Bakstein420]

Load some pics @Zen021 so we can have a look.

[SkunkPharm]

Depending on where you are based nights may be to cold and wet for plants atm. But you don't need an expensive set up to grow your own. You can build a small hoop house for less than R 1500 and be able to grow year round. Auto Flowers need proper soil to start off with. They should also not be transplanted except if you are a seasoned grower and have mastered the art. PM me if you need advise.

[PsyCLown]

@Zen021 So firstly with an auto it will start to flower based in time, you need to baby them to ensure you get the best out of them. Any mistakes and it will be felt in your harvest.

 

So too late to fix it now unfortunately. If they were "normal" seed, also called photoperiod seeds then a plan could possibly be made. As you have control over when the plant goes into flower.

 

Also the more sun / light, the better. So if you're not growing indoors with proper lights then make sure you're plants are outside getting direct sunlight. As much as possible.

 

I don't see why you'd want much river sand in your soil mix. Also 5L is a bit small, once again with autos anything which can stunt them is typically not a good idea. Repotting into a large pot can stunt a plant and for this reason a lot of people who grow autos like to start them in their final pot (I like to use 20L pots, even for autos).

 

Grow shops are selling, all ecommerce is allowed now so you shouldn't have any issue purchasing equipment.

If you feel you could do with some advice and guidance on what equipment is needed and what's a good deal and recommend etc. Then start a new thread and I'm sure you'll have many members helping you out.

 

Sent from my Redmi Note 7 Pro using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

[Live Canna]

Welcome to the growers club! I am also relatively new and had some last minute lack luster attempts outside before the weather changed.

 

One of the biggest things I have learnt so far, is that yes you can get lucky without the right stuff, but having the right stuff makes it a lot easier. 
 

Things like the right soil and pots and a good idea of how this all works will get you a long way already. I would start by searching the forum and hitting up a couple google searches. That will get all the basics down as there are many sites that offer grow guides.

 

Most of the basic stuff is easy to learn and there is plenty of reading and I’m sure even more people willing to help here.

 

For me, I decided to go organic, get good soil, organic nutes and keep things simple. But there’s all sorts you can do. I had some stunted plants in the beginning and it really just taught me a lot.