HELP.. Autoflower hyrdo grow.

Hi people im new to the forum, I hope this is where I am suppose to be posting a thread like this. If not please let me know. So, this is my first grow. Im growing 6 blue mystic autoflowers. Im using the lowryder 24" box from www.stealthyhydro.com. Its an ok box besides the fans are crap and theres no way to lower the lights, and you cant raise the plants higher because the water pump is located on the side, blocking any type of book room to get closer to the cfls. The cfls are 3 14w 6700k. I germinated and will continue enitre grow in 1' rockwool cubes with small little netpots. I've attached pictures from day 1 of sprout to day 6 which is today. 7-7-12 No nutes have been added yet but i am soaking 1/3 of the rockwool in 5.5 ph balanced water once a day or so. Please let me know your honest to God opinions on how its looking and any suggestions you have.I'm

P.S Guys, I am not expecting great yields from this, in my eyes, this is a training method for me in order to learn techniques and proper grwoing methods before i drop some money on my closet to convert. Thanks for any honest opinions !!

QUESTIONS

1. When to start veg nutes.
2. I'm using 24/0 light schedule for entire grow. Is this ok?
3. When do I actually fil hydro tub with water and turn on pump. When roots pop out bottom?

Looks good so far. Yes, when roots pop out the bottom fill it up to where the water level is about 1'' below the bottom of the net cups. I would go 20/4 with those autos and give very light nutes(300-400ppm) for the first 2-3 weeks. Keep water temp around 68-72F or you'll get root rot. You won't yield much with those lights but it'll be a good learning experience.

Can I go ahead and switch to 20/4 emmediatly without harming plants? And what exactly is ppm? ok so lets so im mixing veg nutes in a 1 gallon tub. The label says 20ml per 4 liters of water? How would I go about this? And with those lights what do you think the yield would be?

Yes, go ahead and switch to 20/4. PPM is parts per million, that's how you measure the exact amount of nutrients in your solution. You would need an ec meter to be able to read ppm. What nutrient line are you using? DO NOT mix what the instructions say! You need to start at 1/4 strength and then work up gradually. That means start at about 5ml (or 1 tsp) per gallon and raise it a little every time you change out your water which should be at least once a week in that small res. Use a medicine dropper to measure out your nutes and try to keep your ph at 5.8.

Here are the nutes im usinh.

Think these nutes will get me through a full grow?

Hi there - looking good so far mate

I agree with DANK, CFLs wont be the best for flowering, but that set-up is definitely a good way to learn. I feel like i went through Cannabis High the hard way now...

anyway, those nutes will be fine to go a whole grow. I have always found it best to use less than what anyone / packet says - as its easy to add more on the next feed, but a ball ache to take it back out or correct problems!

about 95% of all my issues have come through overfeeding.

Try thinking about getting yourself some superthrive (great all round stuff) and some hydrogen peroxide (food grade) to help keep your rez tank clear of nasties... A drop of both every time you feed really does help out no end!

Definitely get yourself a PH meter and an EC meter. getting PH spot on (5.5 to 6.5) is essential, as well as keeping your PPM right for the grow. you can always use a on line guide such as the Dutch master site: http://www.dutchmaster.com.au/nutrient_calculator.php

but remember to take it with a pinch of salt.

good luck!

That's alot of awesome info I really appreciate all this. I have a Ph kit, its a tube I put water in and Ph test drops, is this sufficient enough?.and also, could you please look at those nutes and tell me how ml I need per gallon? 5 ml for starting right? And when should iadd nutes? Now or wait till the roots are sitting in water?

lol and yea ive heard of superthrive. We built a house about a year ago and had some lanscapers plant tress. They were completely brown and dead. Mixed a teaspoon of superthrive in a bucket of water, poured it on the base of the tree and within days the leaves began turning green and the bark moistened up. Amazing stuff!!

My blue mystic autos day 7 from sprout.

Yeah, start out with 5ml per gallon. You can add water and nutes as soon as the roots are exposed, otherwise the roots could dry out. Greenwithenvy made a good point about adding some superthrive or some other type of bloom enhancer during flowering. I personally use KoolBloom but there are several good bloom boosters out there. Those Botanicare nutes should be easy for beginners, use the grow up until flowering period then gradually lower the grow and start building up the bloom. I'd say start adding bloom booster during the 2nd -3rd week of flowering. BTW I have 8 blue mystic autos on their 3rd week right now, I'll be checking in on your grow and hopefully I can help you along the way

Do you have pics of your autos?

I just took these really quick so excuse the blaring hps light. 8 blue mystic autos, 6 critical mass autos and three fast bud autos. The rest are photoperiod strains that will go into my other tent in a couple of weeks to be flowered. Master kush, ak48 and wwxbb. The autos are on day 15 right now and the others are about a week behind them.

BTW those are growing in Botanicare coco/perlite in 2 gallon bags. GH nutes with Koolbloom and Cal-mag. I switched from hydro to coco about a year and a half ago after having root rot problems and I luv the coco!

Wow man you have a really nice setup. Ive been looking online at tents because you can get pretty large ones for a good price. Do you have a carbon filter setup with yours? And if so how did you run ventilation? Again thou, very nice. Im jealous lol

I have a 4" carbon filter on the end of my exhaust and a 6" filter with 400cfm fan just sitting in the room with the tents. The room temp stays at about 75-78 so the smell isn't a huge problem unless the room temp rises. That tent is a 4'x4'x7' with 1000w dimmable and my other tent is 40"x40"x7' with 600w dimmable. Those tents are fairly cheap now and they are extremely efficient if you have air-cooled lights.

I was just looking at your cab and you might want to think about adding a couple of cfls in there. It wouldn't cost much and it would greatly benefit your plants during flowering.

Ok thanks for the info, I have been doing alot of research and price on complete grow tents which come with lighting, ventilation and pretty much everything I would need for around 500 bux. Ill probably be purchasing within the next couple of months.

Ive been trying to add a couple more cfls but cant seem to find the room ..

Cool, it's a great investment and I can tell you are determined to produce. I think you will do great