Lime green seedlings haven't grown in almost 3 weeks

Hello. This is my 1st grow in about 35 years.
They will hopefully be my 1st Buzzz in 27 years.
I quit back in 1994 for raising a family and didn’t want my kids exposed to it.

Jack Herer Autoflower
Medium is 80% Better Homes and Gardens organic raised bed compost and 20% Perlite. PH about 6.7, an outdoor grow in well draining pots. Climate is hot & humid, low-mid 90s and about 60% humidity. Plenty of breeze. Gets direct sun for about 11 hours.

I’m concerned because they are lime color not deep green and almost stopped growing.
They didn’t turn that color, they sprouted like that.
They’ve barely done any noticeable growing in almost 3 weeks.
I heard it’s good to feed @ 2 weeks, so @ 14 days I applied 1/4 strength of 24-8-16 to all. I hadn’t see any reaction either way from them.

I think this may also be heat stress.
I put them in the shade for a few days so they received direct sun only 5-6 hours to help keep them cool but I don’t think that was helpful for the lack of direct sunlight.
So I wrapped foil around the pots and put gravel on top 2 days ago and put them back out into the sun all day.

I am using a probe type moisture meter to gauge watering, letting them get mostly dry to the bottom of the pot before watering.

I bought a chemical type soil tester this morning. I don’t think my electronic one is accurate.
-PH is just under 7
-Nitro almost non existent
-Phospate high
-Potassium high

Someone in another forum suggested that I completely flush the medium and start the nutes over. But I don’t think these young plants will survive a flush.

I drove 2.5hrs this morning to my nearest nursery and asked advice. I suggested getting straight Nitro but he suggested the FoxFarm GROW BIG 6-4-4 so that’s what I got.
I mixed up 1/3 strength and watered them with it this morning.
Fingers crossed.

These are 25 days old. I’m not sure what can save them.
I hope they don’t die.







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How big are the pots that they’re in? They could just be getting the root system established sometimes they’ll do that for weeks and then they’ll start growing. Don’t give up on them yet.

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Thanks for the hope.
For size, I am mainly going on internet photos of autoflower at their 3-4 week stage. Most of them I’ve seen are more advanced than these.
I am hoping you are right with these.
4 pots are 3gal, one tall 5gal pot.
I appreciate your reply. :+1:

When you start them in big pots like that they’ll spend the 1st few weeks getting the roots established. If you start them in solo cups they’ll grow more above ground at first. Usually.

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This plant was 4 weeks old in the 2nd picture and 11 days later in the 1st

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Wow, thanks for the encouragement.
My week 4 is coming up in 4 days.
I’ll just keep on keepin’ on!

Patients…nature will find a way lol…give em time…roots are growing…

Week 4 - Day 29.
I think I burned them a bit with the FoxFarm nutes. Getting more brown spots especially leaf tips.
I didn’t want to drown them so I let the pots dry out a bit, and gave them all a measured gallon of pure H2o this morning. I plan to do the same in a few days to help wash it out.
They’ve been getting 5-12hrs direct sun everyday- I shelter them from the afternoon rain storms.

They grew maybe 1-2mm last week. They’re all maybe 2-3 inches tall.
Am I right in believing these will try to flower in a couple/3 weeks (Jack Herer AF)?
They’re not dead so I still have hope with these 5 girls. Not giving up.
But I get this nagging voice in the back of my head that at least one of them should be as far along as the 4 week old Auto Flower example marked (?).






Screenshot 2021-07-26 154944

Ok, loosing hope. It’s going on 6 weeks and they remain about 3 inches tall.
I flushed them all with a lot of pure water this morning.
Maybe I can get a couple pea-size buds from these.
Maybe I just chose the wrong growing medium based on local availability.

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My girls are growing in ffof and ffhf potting soils and they are doing great. So from my experience I would recommend ff soil products for your next grow. But that’s just my opinion


Update: All 5 of my plants appear to be entering the flowering stage even though they are only a few inches tall! Aren’t they the cutest thing? It’s day 41. I wonder if I might get a pea size bud from them? With the potency of hash?.. Well laughing about this is better than crying.
I doubled up the Fox Farm nutes today. Nothing to loose at this point.

I still have time this year for another autoflower crop but can’t do another $80 for 5 seeds.
Any seed donations are extremely welcome from a sympathetic soul, please PM me. Even a junk AF seed or 2 would be very appreciated.
Thanks in advance.


Those are Jack Herer Autoflower sprouted June 28.
Outdoor grow in pots with 80% Better Homes and Gardens organic raised bed compost mix. 20% Perlite. Using FF 6-1-1 nute. Soil tests about 6.7 PH, N is mid-range with Pot and Phos a bit high.
Plants in full sunlight except sheltered when raining ( I carry them back/forth as required). Watered only when pots are nearly completely dry.
Upper 80s to mid 90s, humidity about 60%.
Pots covered in tin foil and soil is covered in gravel to help keep the soil cool.

I do believe you had rooting problems my friend

Here we are, day 59 ( 8 weeks):
It appears these severely stunted girls may each produce one small bud that encompasses most of the plant. Kind of interesting I think. This is the best of my 5 plants… With most of a leaf missing…
I can’t believe that I’ll actually be checking trichome color soon…