Beginner in Hot Arizona Desert

Grow Support Autoflowers
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@elheffe702 I appreciated and benefitted from your post, including the lack of brevity. Though I do not live in a dessert, it is DRY in my house in the winter with the forced air heat running. I think my last two plants dried too fast due to this. I dried them in a 2x2 grow tent and left most leaves on (except the fan leaves I could easily trim), even a humidifier set for 55%, but they were still done too soon. I also find that they maybe are done before any small branches will “snap”, like they dry so fast the outside can’t catch up? I am confused and about to dry an AK-47 and don’t want to over dry again. All my Boveda packs have been sucked dry trying to rehydrate, and I know that’s not the same rehydrating as getting it right in the first place. Any special advice for me, or basically just the same as above, get them to dry as slowly as possible, 55% humidity. Should I try a gentler fan? I had my best luck cutting down whole plants and putting them upside down inside giant double-thick paper bags. It dried much more slowly. Maybe I’d be better off going back to that? You are one of the few people I’ve seen talk about it (box in your case–I’m not even sure if cardboard needs airflow since it absorbs moisture and then presumably transfers it to the outside of the bag eventually).

And also, what can I do when I do overdry, or if I do again, or for my stuff that is about a month cured, and about a week cured (respectively) and drained all my bovedas? :stuck_out_tongue: SOrry, I too am medicated and not brief, and I am procrastinating. But this is still pertinent, as I plan to trim this AK today or tomorrow (has been in the dark alone for a day now).

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@KikiGee I wish I could find a MyHerbsNow dryer! After overdrying in a tent, it would be nice to not fret and just put them in a machine to dry properly. They do not seem to be for sale any longer. :frowning:

I am using a ton of Boveda this winter. I was wondering how the heck people did this in the past without. I guess they used sponges and fruit and lettuce. I find I need to put lots more than just one pack in per jar. Do you find that, or am I doing it wrong? I sometimes have 6 in a jar just to get it to 58% humidity. Do the 58% ones work better than 62%? Seems like the 62% dry out faster.

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@TheCrozh This thread is gold, and there is some fantastic advice here. I will be following along. Although I grow inside, it is DRY in my house with forced air heating during winter. I know a guy who grows in a garage in the very SW of California, but I guess that is no help since you are outdoors.

You’re doing the right thing, starting indoors early, and using autoflowers is smart, too. I hope you have good luck with that WW. My first was a WW, and I messed it up bad. Looking forward to growing another soon (properly).

I use 7 gallon potato bags indoors. I’d think outdoors, you could get away for sure using 7 gallon or bigger.

Hang in there. It is a LOT to learn. I didn’t see what soil you’re using. I really like the super soil concentrate method. I use Nature’s Living Soil autoflower concentrate. I use their Girl Flower Power, too. Happy Frog is good soil.

I tried using peat starter pots and things to avoid transplanting. It is a pain. Now I am going to plant directly into the final medium. I don’t know if that will work for you since you have to start indoors. I would recomend those peat pots, but I have had issues.

However, I will say that I don’t think the paper towel method or any of that is really worth it. Root Riot and stuff work well. But I have come to think soaking the seeds in water first, for three days (as ILGM recommends) is the best method. There should be a pretty long taproot at this point, and they don’t need much for the three days they soak. Then just plant it and keep it moist.

I am a total newb, by the way, one disaster after another. If you experience disaster and hardship, realize you are learning a ton from it! I panicked and had a breakdown every time I messed up. Don’t do that. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket either. I kept thinking “this will finally be the one!” The One will come. It might even be your first one, but you’ll learn more if you screw it up. :slight_smile:

Will be following along. Extremely interesting grow!

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@TheCrozh Sorry, I forgot to mention AK-47 is a good one for dry environments. Sometimes I see people say to keep it under 45% since AK grows so dense. However, I’ve always seen people say to keep it cool.

Meanwhile, I know Sour Diesel does excellent in dry heat. The only caveat there is not too much humidity, because it’s really susceptible to rot and mold. It needs bright light to prevent mildew, so I was thinking it might be good for me to grow this summer in my tent close to the light when it’s hot and dry. But then I realized if we get especially humid at some point, it would not be dry enough for it. Oi.

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Thanks @Tinymight_Autoflower. Our humidity in Scottsdale in May/June can skyrocket to, I dunno, 14%? To increase the humidity I read that I could set my pot pots on a bed of rocks in a tray of water. Or maybe just set next to the pool. I may try a fall season and Sour Diesel and Blue Dream. Good luck to you!

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Great advice @Tinymight_autoflowerer. (BTW, get a shorter name!) A local growing supply center was out of supply of preferred soil, so they said go for Kellogg’s organic. So that’s how I am starting out.

I have read and read and read some more about all this. Then something comes up and I think, “I read something about that.” My latest “duh” moment is that I need to get a tiny bushy plant going indoors before phasing in the outdoor Arizona sun. My light is only 24 watts so I hope it it has the power when the plants get bigger.

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Great input @kikigee ! I am so focused on germination that the drying process is barely on my radar. I will look into your recommendations. Yippee – something else to buy!

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@TheCrozh 24 watts will get you there! You don’t need it to be very big before it can handle the sun, right? first set of true leaves? second?

@TheCrozh @KikiGee If you guys find any of those MyHerbsNow Driers for sale, let me know too! I’ve been looking for what seems like almost a year. They dropped off the face of the earth.

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I am not sure what happened to the company. I kind of think they were a small business and it is just so incredibly hard to make it in any business with a new product when the majority of the market won’t consider anything but the way it has been done ‘forever’.

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@KikiGee Ain’t that the truth! Sucks. If it works half as well as people say, it would save me a lot of time, worry and effort. Seems like the main objection is “you should just hang dry it”. I think the gadget would work a lot better for me, in my unreliable indoor weather.

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I’d try no fan, or have the fan blowing out of the drying space, so there’s just a draft and not a direct airflow against the plants. Other than that, just the boveda or boost packs is what I do for dried up dispensary buds, and it works pretty well. If the bags worked best, I’d try modifying that method, maybe close the bags with paperclips or something similar, or put them in a cooler spot while also considering the increased risk of mold when doing so. 68-70°F and 55%ish are ideal, closer to that the better. Try different areas, like under a sink might help you get a few more points of RH, for example. I found a high corner of one bathroom was the most humid spot in our old place. Do you plan to wash your plants at harvest? That would obviously make them wetter out of the gate. :man_shrugging: :v: :slightly_smiling_face:

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@elheffe702 Hey, thanks! I should save this for stuff to try.

First off, the tent method seems to be working this time. Maybe the fan I was using was too high before, or blowing too close to them, or bouncing off the walls and getting on them too much. I’ve got a humidifier in there set for 60%, and a hygrometer reading 55% pretty steady. I am amazed since the rest of the house is less than 25% right now. I am thinking maybe I should try pointing the fan out the tent like you mentioned. The rent is pretty closed up right now, just one flap loose where the fan is. Stays about 68F and 55%ish RH amazingly… Not sure what the deal was before (best guess is the fan, like you mentioned).

Hopefully I’m getting it right this time. If it ends up drying too fast yet again, I will maybe have to try bags again!

Do not plan to wash them, by the way, but I will google the process. Maybe it is something I will want to consider before jarring. They stay pretty clean in the tents, except for a little soil, and dust and cat hair (ew) that gets in somehow.

Thanks!

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Always improving! Just make adjustments as you learn more about the space and how to fine tune it, and your meds will get better and better. :+1:

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Thanks to all. Update on my first-time newbie rookie progress. Two white widows germinated and are 2-3 inches tall with second set of leaves starting. Not much growth in the last few days.

No luck so far on germinating AK-47s or Bubble Gum. I soaked one seed each (PH in 6 range) for 24 hours then planted about 4-5 days ago. Nothing to see yet. I soaked 2 more seeds of the same for 72 hours. No tail growth from soaking. Just planted 2 days ago.

24W CFL on 18/6 hours. Seedings are 2-3 inches from light.

Just waiting for something to happen! Am I on track? Any advice?

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They start off pretty slow. I have a white widow auto that just started week 6 of flower. If you want to check your plant’s progress vs mine I have a grow log.

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@oheeeoh it would be great to see your grow journal. If nothing else I would like to see a good format. I started a spreadsheet but it is already a mess.

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Here’s the link if you want to check it out:

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@TheCrozh That is odd to me that you don’t get tail growth after soaking for 72 hours. It is not too odd for it to take a long time to pop out of the ground, however. I am in the same position, worrying I planted three seeds too deep.

I know this is a silly question, but what are the temps like when you are soaking seeds? They say it needs to be dark and warm. I don’t know about the dark part, but warmth sure seems to help. You could try a heating pad.

You could also try these Root Riot starter cube type things, or peat pellets. I’d recommend the foamy root riots (I’ve tried both). They never seem to fail. You can wait til they have tails to pop them in. But in your case, without tails, I think I’d pop them in the way they are and make sure the root riot stays moist and warm. Don’t drown or dry out your seeds. Which sounds weird, because you were just instructed to soak them 72 hours… Some say do not soak beyond 24. I soaked my last ones for more than 72 hours, so now I’m in a panic over that.

I would try Root Riot or some other type of starter cube or thing, and maybe more warmth!

Just a reminder that I am a frantic beginner, not an expert. I have made enough mistakes to learn a lot though.

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@elheffe702 I must be doing something right this time, because it’s not dry yet, and it’s been at least 5 days I think?? It might be any day now, although I have a tough time with this phase. It seems like the small branches never get to the “snap instead of bend” stage. Seems like they just skip that and go right to dry af and remain bendy. I’ll have to see this time tho.

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Ok, the Arizona Newbee is back. Thats my pitiful set up. 6 plants growing in 3 waves about 2 weeks apart. The largest two sprouted 7 weeks ago and i am pushing them 2, 4, 6, and now 8 hours a day into AZ spring sunshine. Problem 1: none seem to be growing very fast. Problem 2: some leaf burn. I have added just a light dose of nutrients. Too much? Too little? Too much sun too soon? All input welcome!

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