Aerogarden 6 elite + joint doctor lowryder grow

Zacarino

Active Member
Alright well we can't find the card reader to actually upload any digital pictures. Here's the lowdown though.

It's been 2 weeks so I changed the reservoir out and added in some very minute nutrients. HOWEVER. Although I have never done an aerogarden grow, for being 2 weeks old, all of the plants look very miserable. There is only one plant that looks 100% healthy. All the others have sprouted but have some brown edges on leaves or etc.

I don't know what (if anything) has gone wrong with this grow. I haven't removed ANY of the biodomes yet even though it's already been two weeks (I haven't needed to because none of the plants leaves have touched the edges yet). I've taken away all the side tin foil and just left the foil on the plastic covering. I removed the front CFL but have left the two side CFL's.

Are my plants way undersized for their time? 2 weeks and still not out of the biodomes? Any experts on the situation?? They are growing their roots out... but they seem severly undersized for their age.

Some questions: Should I have been lowering the pH to a 5.7 for the first two weeks even though there was no nutrients being added until after the first two weeks?

Speculation: I think I overheated all the plants and that's why they're off to such a slow start. Next grow I plan only to use the aerogarden lights and two side CFL lights for starting without any extra foil or the 3rd most powerful CFL.

Comments? I'd really like some feedback here (please from people who are experienced and not asking questions)



P.S. Before removing the 3rd CFL and side foil, I also noticed that the reservoir water was running relatively hot. The thing is that the aerogarden is hidden most of the time and it must have been too well insulated. How big of a difference would it make if the water was warmer than it should have been?
 

lurkmaster

Well-Known Member
Two weeks from germination or two weeks from sprouting? I count my plant days the morning after they sprout.

Yea, you should always maintain pH no matter what, start the plants off with 1/4 of a nutrient tab, then move your way up in dosage as you see the plants taking well to nutrients, I wouldn't put more than one tab in at a time though until way later down the road.

Sounds like your grow went alot like my first one, had some pH hiccups and some heat stress, make sure your roots dont get tangled, theres a good chance you'll have some males if you don't have feminized seeds.

They will pull through just give them time, take the humidity domes off.

Not sure what light cycle you are on now, but definitely switch to 18/6 soon if not immediately.
 

"SICC"

Well-Known Member
There probably stunted due to the pH being off, its alot eaiser to help with pics, but i would flush the rez, pH the water, and let them chill for a day or two until you add nutes, and like lurk said, start at 1/4
 

Zacarino

Active Member
Well I'm not using the AG tablets, but am using the GH series (just added first nutrients ever yesterday). I'm assuming they must have undergone a lot of heat stress. I also was using lemon juice to keep the pH down before (but now have actual pH up and down from GH).

To lurk: I am growing the lowryder strain and wanted to do the entire grow on 24/0 cycle as they are autoflowering. Is it still a good idea to put them on a 18/6 cycle anyways?


They are two weeks from germination, not from sprout. What EXACTLY do you mean when you say after they "sprout." ??? Does this mean... after there is ANY visible vertical growth? Does this mean after there is ANY signs of first leaves? After the first set of leaves? What?

Thanks for the help SICC and lurkmaster
 

"SICC"

Well-Known Member
he means when they actually shed the seed and pop out, but the AG is barley a gallon, so any nutes, you start at 1/4 strength, just to be safe
 

lurkmaster

Well-Known Member
To lurk: I am growing the lowryder strain and wanted to do the entire grow on 24/0 cycle as they are autoflowering. Is it still a good idea to put them on a 18/6 cycle anyways?


They are two weeks from germination, not from sprout. What EXACTLY do you mean when you say after they "sprout." ??? Does this mean... after there is ANY visible vertical growth? Does this mean after there is ANY signs of first leaves? After the first set of leaves? What?

Thanks for the help SICC and lurkmaster
Woops, yea I'd switch to 20/4 though, just give them a little bit of root growth time and give them a chance to rest.

I was doing 24/0 with a rather high pH, and when I dropped the pH and switched over to 20/4 my plants started looking alot better and were growing at a more normal rate.
 

Zacarino

Active Member
Alright... well I took all the domes off. I've been maintaining the pH at least twice a day... it is slowly but steadily climbing up when I don't monitor it. The pH shouldn't have been a problem, but I was using lemon juice to lower it instead of a real pH down. Would that actually have a negative affect on the plants? I've been told it's frowned upon, but that lemon juice is pretty much okay to use at least until you start adding nutes. I'll try to find a way to turn the lights to 20/4 asap. I didn't get the required timer and additional splicing cord or w/e for the lamp top as I wanted to grow this strain as a 24/0.

If they pull through this setback, I still may grow these 24/0 as an experiment, and then grow 24/0 for the first two weeks and then switch to 20/4 for the remainder of the grow the NEXT grow that I do. Ideas?
 

lurkmaster

Well-Known Member
24/0 for the entire lifecycle just sounds like an all around bad idea to me, light timers are $5 at walmart, likewise with the fig 8 cord @ radio shack.

$10 will set you right, theres no reason to trump your entire grow to avoid a $10 expenditure.

Your plants are going to have almost no root mass and not be able to adequately give your plants nutrients, but feel free to try it out for yourself if you want to experiment. Ruderalis plants by nature already have a wimpy root mass, and the fact that you are giving them no darkness is only going to amplify that problem.
 

Zacarino

Active Member
Hey everyone. Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. The three plants in the back are finally looking pretty decent. One of the plants never recovered from being fried (whoops) so I put a random strained plant in place for fun that's previously been growing in a plastic cup filled with water in an aerogarden sponge.

The other two in the front row are doing better. They were a little heat attacked at first, but they are pulling through. Hopefully I can find the card reader soon to get some pictures to go with these words.

The reservoir will be changed tomorrow with a small amount of nutrients being added. Talk to everyone later, thanks for the help.


~Zac
 

krakennkenji

Well-Known Member
Sooo... how're things progressing? I'm about to begin my first grow using a set-up quite similar to yours and I wanna see how yours is coming along.
 

Zacarino

Active Member
Sorry for the delay guys... there's been a lot going on in my life recently.

I changed out the reservoir yesterday. Plants are looking good... the one in the back left and back right are doing the best. There's only a total of 5 growing at the moment, as there's only 6 holes and one of the plants kicked the bucket in the beginning. I still don't have any means of uploading pictures... planning on going to staples soon and getting another card reader.

Also on the plus, the soil grow is going great. Somehow 6 of the 7 plants grown (from random bagseed) have been female.... I'm assuming the seeds must have somehow been feminized or else this is just incredibly lucky odds. There's lotsa hairs starting to grow all over them and I have absolutely no idea how much longer they'll be flowering cause I don't know what strain they are.

I'll find a way to get pictures up soon though!

Long story short, beside the fuck ups in the beginning (which were definitely induced... the equipment had nothing to do with it), everything's going great :]
 

krakennkenji

Well-Known Member
Nice, good to hear. Gotta get that card reader! Do you think that 5 plants in the AG might be too many when they start to get big? I had been planning on growing only three lowryder 2's in an AG Deluxe so they'd have plenty of room.
 

Zacarino

Active Member
From what I understand lowryder's dont grow to big too big in any dimension... although they are beginning to get pretty bushy. I've got no idea if 5 will be too many... but I'm using the aerogarden elite + 6 so there's only 6 pods instead of 7 to give them some more space. I'll let you know if they get way too constricted as they continue to grow.
 
Top