Beginner set up for auto flower potted plants outdoor

What do I need to keep things going right while growing. I have some AUTO CARAMELICIOUS in pots that germinated last weekend in 4-gallon pots mixed with Black Kow manure, organic potting soil and a mix of perlite/coco coir.

Welcome to the forum @Obrionusa
Lots of good folks here to help.
Lets start with an overall view of your grow.

COPY/PASTE the below list into your forum post.

Answer these simple questions the best you can.
If you do not know, or do not use something; Just say so; Or post
NA (non applicable)

What strain, Seed bank, or bag seed
Age of plant
Method: Soil w/salt, Organic soil, Hydroponics, Aquaponics, KNF
Vessels: Pots, Grow beds, Buckets, fabric pots
PH and TDSof Water, Solution, runoff (if Applicable)
PPM/TDS or EC of nutrient solution if applicable
method used to measure PH and TDS
Indoor or Outdoor if indoor, size of grow space
Light system LED, MH/HPS/CMH/Fluorescents, or other
Actual wattage draw of lights
Current Light Schedule
Temps; Day, Night
Humidity; Day, Night
Ventilation system; Yes, No, Size
AC, Humidifier, De-humidifier,
Co2; Yes, No

If you do not know something just put that down as the answer.

What strain, Seed bank, or bag seed seed Bank msnl auto caramelicious fem.
Age of plant 1 week since germinated
Method: Soil w/salt, Organic soil, Hydroponics, Aquaponics, KNF organic soil, manure, pot soil
Vessels: Pots, Grow beds, Buckets, fabric pots 4-gal. plastic plant pot
PH and TDSof Water, Solution, runoff (if Applicable) Don’t have test kit
PPM/TDS or EC of nutrient solution if applicable very greek to me
method used to measure PH and TDS Please advise test kit
Indoor or Outdoor if indoor, size of grow space **outdoor during daytime indoor nights **
Light system LED, MH/HPS/CMH/Fluorescents, or other N/A
Actual wattage draw of lights N/A
Current Light Schedule N/A
Temps; Day, Night Mid 70’s/ mid 50’s
Humidity; Day, Night didn’t keep track
Ventilation system; Yes, No, Size None
AC, Humidifier, De-humidifier, None
Co2; Yes, No Another greek question

I really hate to spend a lot of money on testing equipment just starting out to do this for a hobby

At the very least you will need a pH meter. They can be had pretty cheap.
Check Amazon for options. Lots of growers here like Apera, but they are spendy.
I just have a cheap yellow pH meter I got from eBay. I am sure it will fail one day but I have got two years out of it so it owes me nothing. The wrong pH in your water will be the worst thing for a new grower.
Cannabis is easy to grow, but its more sensitive to pH issues than a lot of plants.

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First off, welcome to the forum!! You found the right place.

Yeah you definitely NEED a pH meter at the very least, though I would highly recommend an EC meter as well.

EC is Electrical Conductivity of the solution, or how contaminated it is. For our use it gives us an indication of the amount of nutrients in the solution. This is multiplied by a certain factor to give you your solutions PPM. Different PPM meters will give you different numbers depending on the few PPM to EC ratios they use. I personally feel like using an EC meter makes the most sense as it is the raw value that is read by all PPM meters.

Ph meter is beyond necessary as ph will dictate how well the plant absorbs certain nutrients. It is also a logarithmic scale, so give a plant 6.5ph water vs 7.5ph water is a 10x difference in acidity…

I personally don’t like to cheap out on things that I will have to actually rely on… I go by the mantra “buy nice or buy twice”. Having said that I wish I got one if the apera multimeters that does ph and ec, but I ended up getting the Apera ph20, and tge ec20. Only negative with them is the probes are not replaceable. Apera builds fantastic meters even though they are pricier than those cheap meters. I feel like I can trust it without a second though.

What one would you buy? I’m looking at amazon now.

Welcome to the community. :+1:

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I would get this

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ENFOIKA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glc_fabc_F174VDX7P0BKPNMGCF01

I just bought the EC20… I might return it and just get the multi one lol

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Would this work?

You want a digital pH meter brother.

But idk maybe?

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Digital meter > test strips

What do use to check the EC now with?

Was using a PPM meter I got with a water filtration system a while back.

4 gallon pot is really big for a just-sprouted seedling. If you have experience doing it this way it’s no big deal but if this is something new you’ll want to take care not to over water for the first few weeks - a large container with a teeny plant makes it difficult to regulate the wet/dry cycle.

I was reading somewhere they said not to transplant auto-flowering but to start them in the same pot you plan on finishing them off with.

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My bad I missed this was autoflower… it’s only in the title and several posts :crazy_face:

I still start my seeds in 4” pots and transplant but yes you are correct, Many recommend going straight into the permanent container.

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Started my autoflower in a solo cup. The issue with transplanting an autoflower is stunting the growth. An auto needs as much vegetative growth as possible for a good yield since it will start flowering no matter the size it is when it is time. After I transplanted, I gave my girl Real Growers Recharge, and there was literally only a day, not even two, worth of stalled growth…

Hey, I have a chance to buy Apera premium series EC60 EC/TDS/Salinity test kit for $30. They guy used it for his swimming pool and he sold his house. He lives down the road from me. I’m not sure if that will work for my weed but thought I would ask. Thanks Man!

Oh absolutely! EC60 better than the EC20. It should’ve came with some of the buffer solution to calibrate the meter, so you can ask him to test the buffer solution to make sure it’s working.