What is a simple (overemphasis on SIMPLE) guide that I can follow to have a successful grow? This is my second year and I fail at various stages.
Flying bugs. Mildew pots. Overwater. PH and food second guessing.
Hello!
From the looking at your supplied photo I could start by making a few suggestions.
Leave about a 2-3 inch space to the top of your grow bag. It will help from spilling water over the sides of the bag. Try and remove the seedlings with enough soil and remove some soil to get at a good space. It might be a good idea to water around the seedlings so the soil doesn’t crumble apart before removing them.
Also elevate the grow bags and place a pan to catch water overflow. Remove any standing water in the pans.
The fan in the upper left of the photo looks like it could use a cleaning. It’s good to clean up any build up on the fans.
Mold and mildew I think is associated with high humidity. Getting the pots elevated and removing the water run off will help along with monitoring the humidity.
What other equipment do you have? What’s your normal routine for watering… etc…?
Many questions… but any info will help others to give better advice.
On an indoor grow, the current temp and humidity is a factor in controlling the temp and humidity in your tent.
Here’s a guideline I try and follow during different stages with temp and humidity.
Seedling temp 68-77 humidity 75-85
early veg temp 70-80 humidity 60-60
late veg temp 70-80 humidity 45-55
early flower temp 65-80 humidity 35 -45
late flower temp 65-80 humidity 30-35
I also have a small ceramic heater that I place outside my tent pointing at the air intake. I can control the heat by how I point the heater and the distance from the air intake.
I did have one of those humidifiers from Walmart. They do work, but are a hassle to control. I ended up with one from AC Infinity. It’s much easier to control the humidity.
Using tap water can cause problems. I picked up a filter from a local grow shop that filters out chlorine and chloramine. It should help out as well.
What are you using for nutrients? If your using liquid nutrients you have to be careful not to over do it when adding it to water. Less is more with this. Also after adding your nutrients its recommended to check your ph. I usually try and get it at 6.5
For insect problems there are different things you can use. I’ve only had problems with nats. I use the yellow sticky paper along with this stuff called, “Mosquito Bits”. I was able to find a small bag of it on Chewy.com
I hope that helps
Let others know what you have for equipment and what your routine is.
Cheers!
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Here’s another thing I like to follow when it comes to temp and humidity.
VPD Charts
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Gracias Amigo! I will get started on those great tips! Thanks. I water too much. I need to wait until the pot is dry. I used to lift it to determine. I have no clue on soil and feeding. I try things I see online and I always seem to make a catastrophic mistake re burns.
Here’s what I’ve been using for all my grows. I am on my 3rd grow and they all came out pretty good.
Another thing you might want to check on is your light schedule and if you have a dimmer or not. I see you have a Spider Farmer light. They should have a recommendation for height and intensity.
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Don’t know what advice I could give on the funky seedling.
What are you growing?
Autoflower or photo?
Strain also has its different recommendations for growing environments.
Light schedules differ for each.
Weed Lives Matter!
Give it a chance and see …
If it’s an auto you can give it 20 hrs light and 4 dark.
For a photo period it’s normally 18/6 then 12/12 light schedule for flower.
I was told that you could go 12/12 from the start with photos. That was recommended to me because I was experimenting with growing small photo period plants.
Looks like the funky seedling is starting to flower.
Good luck!
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It is an auto. Been 18/6 light
Here’s a guy on YouTube that has some good videos. They might be helpful…https://youtu.be/SZXMFCzkB4k?si=gZfPVqDv6K4fEEbY
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Hello!
How are things going?
Any updates?
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Hey Dizzy - Your plants went to flower… very common if an auto flower is stunted (mostly from over water). Really if you overwater an auto too bad it not going to end well for it.
If you want to grow simple auto flowers and get rid of most of your problems….
- Genetics - get good auto seeds from a reputable breeder/vendor. Unstable autos are very unpredictable:
- Earthbox - 7 gallon rectangular box. The perfect pot for autos (and great for foto)… you still have to carefully navigate through seedling stage but when she starts drinking from the bottom then it’s super easy from there… when the bottom is dry, pour some water down the tube. Also makes top dressing for flower a breeze.
Photo period vegging in 7 gal earth box.
Auto’s in beginning of flower in 7 gal earth boxes. Plant the seedling on the opposite side of the water spout to give you plenty of room for top dressing later… and it makes watering easier. - Media - use a pre amended soil to start. There are lots of good ones… personally I use build-a-soil lite or 3.0 for auto’s. You will not.need to feed them until they are around stretch/ / flowering. One top dress with an organic bloom blend and some worm castings and that’s it. Other than that, it is water only when the bottoms dry. Growing does not get easier and by using a bigger box you can maximize the plants genetics (get a bigger plant) . You can supplement some horticultural aloe and coconut powder into your water occasionally.
- Gnats - Worms and beneficial insects. - I generally dump some worm castings in from Colorado worm co. They generally have a lot of that stuff In it. Always see worms crawling in it when I pull a couple handfuls out… Also utilize the mulch covers made for the earthbox and you’ll have very little exposed soil. Also clean regularly in there with some plant based enzymes to keep everything tidy (containers, walls, floors, fans, etc). I haven’t had gnats for a long time but when I grew in fabric pots I had to deal with them. I also would clean my plants with some plant based enzymes (mine are very specific and expensive);;;about 200 bucks/gal after you add shipping… but mold and bugs hate it. I actually use this product in removal of toxins and other particulate matter through fogging. When I treated my house id hit the plants and they’d do well with it so that’s always been my go to for cleaning and pest maintenance. BAS sells a product called EM5 that works fine as well for cleaning and pest and can be used as foliar spray.
Of course this assumes your environment is dialed (lights’ RH/temps, air exchange and circulation, etc.)
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They flowered and died
Thank you for the photos and advice! 
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Thank you for your help!
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