It is a little unfortunately to be honest, partly because it was as healthy as it was! There is always the chance with regular seeds, but even though you know there is a possibilty, it still sucks..I wish I could have kept it alive and separated from the others, so hopefully one day I can get a small tent for males!
Honestly with watering, I just watered any time I thought they needed it - although I fully believe underwatering could have been an issue! I kind of stopped measuring at the end and just went with my gut on how much it needed and when, but I do agree that I most likely was underwatering it due to its size!
Thank you for those kind words brother! I know I'm not an expert by any means, and I still have so much to learn, but I do feel connected to my plants! In a way, I kind of feel like this has been my calling..like this is something I was born to do! 💚
But yes, I have definitely noticed that the plants suck up a lot of water in flower, and the lights evaporate a lot of that moisture as well, and they also make the tent pretty humid! I'm sure the humidity levels would change with an LED, but if I keep the HPS long-term, I may have to invest in a dehumidifier at some point! 🤣
And also -
To start out with partial waterings for small plants that don't have a developed root system is a good practice, but once the plant starts leaving that seedling stage and has a well developed root system you'll want to give full even watering and allow a couple days of absorption and drying before watering again.
At what point do you feel like a seedlings root system is well developed? I feel like I've been underestimating on my timelines during the seedling and vegetative stages, which is why I missed the optimal training for my auto testers! And while I understand autos grow quicker, and go through the seedling and vegetative state quicker, the growth during those stages are still relatively similar!
With root development it can sometimes vary from plant to plant. It's more of a feeling out thing, and you'll see what I mean over time I'm sure. Conservatively speaking it's usually 2-3 weeks before they are out of that seedling stage with rapid root development. This time is critical so we don't want to starve those roots of the most essential ingredient they need to sustain that growth!
You'll also start to notice weight wise how fast they suck up water. It's harder in bigger heavier containers though. I like to start out in paper cups and move up in size slowly, but sometimes we have to just work with what we have available to us as well and just make it work :D
Keep on rocking bro, you're doing a great job! 👍
Awesome! Thank you for that man! This will definitely help out on this next tester run I'm starting! I'm going to be attempting bottom feeding, and with them being in 2 gallon smart pots, I need to make sure the root system is well established before I start to ensure the roots will stretch and seek the water from the bottom of the container!
I hope it will be a little easier to tell by weight from bottom feeding in smart pots too, because I have noticed that to be an issue as well!
Thank you brother, I appreciate your kind words! ✌🏼💚