How to do run off

I’m currently growing inside a tent 2 Bruce banners and 2 white widow. First time ever and up until yesterday thought I was watering enough and realized after reading several articles on here not even close lol had some burnt tips on my white widow and was suggested to maybe flush due to extra nutes.

I feel I did not do that accurate as well and hopefully did not drown my ladies because I watched and read so many things that say water until you have run off. Well I never got the run off and almost half a gallon later in both 5 gallon buckets still no run off and after doing so I checked on them and leaves are now droopy. So for next time I want to ensure I’m doing run off correctly

They are in 5 gallon fabric buckets.
In the second week of veg
Any tips on how to do run off in case I need these up or for next time so I don’t need them up is greatly appreciated.

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With runoff, keep on watering slowly until you get water out of the bottom. It might take 10 minutes because your medium is soaking up what it needs. After your medium gets its fill, water will start running out of the bottom. This is where the term " runoff" comes from. Your 5 gal pots will be very heavy and you might not have to water for 3 or 4 days until it dries out again. My girls are using nearly a gallon of water a day now since the temps are up.

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Does your soil have a decent amount of perlite to help with drainage :love_you_gesture:

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What soil r u using?

Well… Remember newbie and there are so many different things I have read and seen but they are in a mix of organic soil with work castings etc and miracle grow organic I think in the first 2 I planted and the second 2 that are on 3rd week of seedling stage today are in organic with the yellow bag miracle grow I believe. Both of the perilite stuff though. Now moving forward I will be changing the soil since reading things in here. There is just so much variations it makes my head spin and all trial and error it seems😬 I have no idea where to start and what’s right it wrong so now I’m trying to read more on here on watering, nutrients, soil etc it’s truly a science to matter I feel like lol

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Like @OGIncognito said, do you have a good amount of perlite for drainage? Definitely got to be careful saturating that much soil on such a young plant. Its roots might stay wet longer than it would like.

You said you watered to runoff because of too much nutrients? Are you feeding already?
Can you give us a little back story to help you.

Everyone here has given you great info but we all here could use a little moree

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Of course and I’ll take all the help lol. So the first 2 we germinated in water 48 hours then planted them March 29th they sprouted April 3rd. The timelines still confuse me so they just or may not be in the stage mentioned or may be further along then mentioned I’ve calculated it I swear 3 different ways.

Planted directly in 5 gallon buckets so didn’t have to transport and not cause any stress then bed be on them was our thought.

Have had them in 18/6 lighting schedule

Was only using a squirt bottle up until yesterday in fear of over watering them. With the nutes I put I think 1 1/2 tsp of ff in a gallon jug but sprayed with the water bottle only 3 times over the last 2 weeks because I read that it’s easy to over do it and that they can get nutes starting in the veg stage

Then yesterday white widow had a couple tips that looked burnt and it was suggested to flush it out and then I watched more videos and read more on how much they should be getting watered and about fell out of my chair


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@Catdaddycox dude, those look good! I wouldnt feed anymore yet though, those datk waxy green leaves means shes getting an excess of nitrogen. Its all good tho dude. Youre doing it!

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Exactly what @ChittyChittyBangin said!
You are correct that plants in veg need nutrients but that depends on if the soil already has nutrients.
Some soils come with nothing in them and you have to add the something from day 1.

Your soil has nutrients so they have been getting double fed.

Continue with water only as needed for several more weeks.

Sounds too easy right? Because it is. Less is more. You’re doing a great job.

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So question with the timeline above lol am I on veg week 2? I read in here it goes germinate, seedling for 3 weeks then veg for a few then flowing

@Catdaddycox it looks like youre on node 3. If you could do a side shot, it would help, BUT what i do is start counting veg weeks when the first true set of leaves is out. You have to take into account though how much room you have. During flower they will sometimes triple in size ( up ) , so you need to decide how tall you want your girls.

This is the current run i have going in my flower room. I let these veg for 6 weeks but i did alot of LST and manifolding. This was taken the day i flipped 12/12.

This is 2 weeks later

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This was Monday both are about an inch taller now

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Id safely say between week 2 and 3. How high is your light off the canopy? Looks like you need to lower it a bit.

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20 inches from the top of the plant

Download the photone app. Thatll allow you to dial in your ppfd and dli for your plants.

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Yes, but its not anything set in stone and is more determined by the individual plant itself then length of time since planting.

Each stage has tell tale signs though of a begining to each stage, so avgs get formed.

For example, Veg starts when the first true leaves (5, 7, 9, or 11 fingers) have unfurled. This happens around week 2 from seed, on avg.
Make sense?

Lotsa good advice and skilled hands in this thread. @ChittyChittyBangin with some real solid advice. You are in good hands. Welcome to the community!

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Yes it does thank you


Update tonight still have some tips that are burnt and a couple new ones showing burnt as well but trying to not get discouraged and hope they pull through

White widow grew 2 inches since Monday and bruce grew around 1.5 inches since Monday🤞


Is it normal to have pistols showing so soon?

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Yes for an autoflower. Its one thing about autos that make them unappealing to me. They are unpredictable, lets just say that.

I have some bad news, they are gonna start flowering VERY soon. These wont get a ton bigger then they are even if everything was right from here on out. Some but not big by any means.

If you want, we should talk about your setup and watering habbits and things like that to nail down some of the causes of the results you are seeing and tweek your method so when these 2 are done you have a better knowledge base going into the next.

Dont see this as a failure because it isnt, the plants are alive and happy enough to make flower. If you had killed one, that would be a fail. These two are alive so you should use them to sharpen your skill. Maybe even a risky experiment or something.