24 days and still no roots

I first started this white widow autoflower off 24 days ago. it sprouted fast and was on track the first week. At the first sign of a root coming out the bottom of the rockwool I transferred it to the netpot with about an inch of pebbles under it. Ever since it has been growing very slowly with even after 24 days no rots popping out the bottom of the netpot. I have been occasionally watering over the top with just water at first and now with nutrient-mixed water. It has been continuously growing each day and to my untrained eye appears healthy. From every other thing I see online it should be huge by now. What may I be doing wrong? What can I do to speed up this process? Humidity is around 60%, temp 76F currently.

Is that the light you are using?

Get more light for starters.

kevdogerino said:

I first started this white widow autoflower off 24 days ago. it sprouted fast and was on track the first week. At the first sign of a root coming out the bottom of the rockwool I transferred it to the netpot with about an inch of pebbles under it. Ever since it has been growing very slowly with even after 24 days no rots popping out the bottom of the netpot. I have been occasionally watering over the top with just water at first and now with nutrient-mixed water. It has been continuously growing each day and to my untrained eye appears healthy. From every other thing I see online it should be huge by now. What may I be doing wrong? What can I do to speed up this process? Humidity is around 60%, temp 76F currently. View attachment 4913372View attachment 4913373View attachment 4913380

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Looks about the right size for that light.

Whatever that light is, put it about 1ft above the plant.

What wattage (draw) is it?

kevdogerino said:

I first started this white widow autoflower off 24 days ago. it sprouted fast and was on track the first week. At the first sign of a root coming out the bottom of the rockwool I transferred it to the netpot with about an inch of pebbles under it. Ever since it has been growing very slowly with even after 24 days no rots popping out the bottom of the netpot. I have been occasionally watering over the top with just water at first and now with nutrient-mixed water. It has been continuously growing each day and to my untrained eye appears healthy. From every other thing I see online it should be huge by now. What may I be doing wrong? What can I do to speed up this process? Humidity is around 60%, temp 76F currently. View attachment 4913372View attachment 4913373View attachment 4913380

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More light is going to be a huge plus to accelerate growth.

The reported Wattage was 150W (whether that's true or not; I don't know). How much wattage is recommended for just one plant? I tried bringing the light closer, here is the new setup.

I would start with a light that includes uva spectrum, a grow tent maybe like 2 x2, 3x3 or 2x4, a 4in ac infinity inline fan 4in carbon filter, c02 block and trellis netting.

Dechroinate water before using it and always ensure both ph and ppm levels are optimal.

AriusCultivator said:

I would start with a light that includes uva spectrum, a grow tent maybe like 2 x2, 3x3 or 2x4, a 4in ac infinity inline fan 4in carbon filter, c02 block and trellis netting.

Dechroinate water before using it and always ensure both ph and ppm levels are optimal.

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If you really want to boost growth, look into compost teas.

That plant should be hand fed until roots are coming out of the mesh pot.
That light isn't much use beyond a seedling if you want to grow weed you need a reasonable light source.

I'd have the light closer by half and hand feed it 2/3 times a day.

Have you been topwatering? If not where are they getting water from? Maybe slow if go go juice!

AriusCultivator said:

If you really want to boost growth, look into compost teas.

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That's not very adviceable. Most people experience problems when using organics in hydroponics, it's normally a recipe for disaster.

Better of with foliar feeding in hydro to trigger root growth IMO. Kelp/humic and/or NAA/IBA-K(KLN, dipngrow etc) is good for initial root growth.

Wastei said:

That's not very adviceable. Most people experience problems when using organics in hydroponics, it's normally a recipe for disaster.

Better of with foliar feeding in hydro to trigger root growth IMO. Kelp/humic and/or NAA/IBA-K(KLN, dipngrow etc) is good for initial root growth.

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It's true if you don't put enough research into compost teas, it's very easy to make a mistake. Though, I believe the pros strongly outweigh the cons if you keep it organic. Had I known this technique, I would have used it sooner.
I will use compost teas for each stage of growth, with appropriate ppm levels and nutrients of course.

Star Dog said:

That plant should be hand fed until roots are coming out of the mesh pot.
That light isn't much use beyond a seedling if you want to grow weed you need a reasonable light source.

I'd have the light closer by half and hand feed it 2/3 times a day.

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ah, will do, thank you! any economical light suggestions? I'm currently looking at this 600W one.

kevdogerino said:

The reported Wattage was 150W (whether that's true or not; I don't know). How much wattage is recommended for just one plant? I tried bringing the light closer, here is the new setup.
View attachment 4913771

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One quantum board of 100W would be enough for 1 autoflower.
If you're on a budget check out the SpiderFarmer SF1000. Your plant will thank you.

kevdogerino said:

ah, will do, thank you! any economical light suggestions? I'm currently looking at this 600W one.

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Stay AWAY from blurples ( blue and red leds ). It's old technology. Look strictly for quantum boards using samsung lm301h or lm301b diodes. Those are the best.

Also don't look at the title. Always look at wattage ( draw from wall ) from the spreadsheet.

AriusCultivator said:

It's true if you don't put enough research into compost teas, it's very easy to make a mistake. Though, I believe the pros strongly outweigh the cons if you keep it organic. Had I known this technique, I would have used it sooner.
I will use compost teas for each stage of growth, with appropriate ppm levels and nutrients of course.

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There's no substrate for microbes to grow, multiply and flourish in hydroponics. You're just combating bad bacteria with good. They die off because they have no place to live and multiply.

While there's good controlled extracts of "bacillus amyloliquefaciens" like SouthernAG in the US that's very affordable and work wonders for many in hydro you get the same results running things sterile with an oxidizer.

We only have "Hydroguard" in the EU and I'm not paying for a watered down product. I've always used regular bleach instead(sodium hypochlorite), it's been working on a commercial scale as a sterilizing agent for over 100 years in hydroponics.

Most people think hydroponics is a new thing when it was in fact already being developed in the early 1910-1920's.

AriusCultivator said:

It's true if you don't put enough research into compost teas, it's very easy to make a mistake. Though, I believe the pros strongly outweigh the cons if you keep it organic. Had I known this technique, I would have used it sooner.
I will use compost teas for each stage of growth, with appropriate ppm levels and nutrients of course.

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PPMs are for synthetic nutes, not for compost teas.

Millo said:

One quantum board of 100W would be enough for 1 autoflower.
If you're on a budget check out the SpiderFarmer SF1000. Your plant will thank you.

New Spider farmer SF1000 LED Grow Light With Dimmer Knob Full Spectrum Samsung diodes QB

Energy Efficiency at 2.7 umol/J Max Yield:2.3g/w White-light full spectrum High-efficiency white light quantum boards with Samsung LM301B diodes. Each SF-1000 lamp uses 1 high-efficiency white light quantum boards with a total of: 208 Top-Bin Samsung LM301B LED arrays 9 Top-Bin Deep Red LED...

www.spider-farmer.com

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Just got the spider, one day shipping, should be here within 5 hours