I would let her be and get bigger before messing with it. Autos are picky, especially when younger. Try to avoid any unnecessary stress.
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I already saw that. The one most affected by the bugs, got bent while she was young and she got notably smaller than the others and with the stress she maybe got more vulnerable to the pests.
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Some of them are already 1 month old by now, and they now getting taller and the stem is finally getting thicker too. We have had some strong wind, atleast yesterday when I was at the spot but they to be holding well, I just added some support to one that was more vulnerable. I also sprayed them with neem oil, gonna do it every tuesday from now on to prevent pests. They havent been attacked again so that’s a good signal. Especially 2 are getting taller than the others. One of them is the one thats doing good since the begining and didnt show yet any problems and the other is surprisingly the yellowish which fully recovered and she’s now doing amazing well after being attacked by bug and also had some leaves yellowing. I’ll show you now some pics of them
Do you see that lighter in the pic? I just forgot it there ahah. Anyway, how much time do you think they’ll take to start flowering? And is it to late to try some lst training like bend them a little in the north Direction?
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Hard to say when they’ll start budding, it really varies with different autos. They still look to be in ‘veg mode’ to me.
You can LST any time in the plants life, just be gentle!
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I’d say they’ll start showing this week couple look like they might be throwing pistils pretty soon !
I like that light fabric you have around a few of them I’d think that that would help deter any of the flying pests as well
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Good things coming in the future. Weather getting better, temps increasing and rain stopping. plants are becoming bigger, 1 or 2 still have some problems. I already transplanted the little seedling that had some problems due to her position in the cup but everything went well. Hope she likes the outdoor enviroment 
i have started doing the lst, still not bending them too much, just a little bit for the sun to reach the lower branches. About the problematic plants, one of them is the most attacked by bugs, but no surprise there, she even seems to be recovering after that “defoliation” but the other one that had once the yellowish problems, now she had some dry leaves and the leaves were curling up in the sides. I think it was due to the plastic that was around her because when I opened it, it was really hot there and the other 2 plants with plastic had much bigger opening in the top of their plastics. I will put some mics for you to check that. (I removed the dry leaves)
If you have any clue in whats going with her, let me know. Thanks in advance. Now the other plants, one of them is getting really beautiful with some purple in her top the garden is looking much better. Now, its the last addiction to the garden, the transplanted seedling. and for last just a general overview of the garden
Edit: I forgot to mention but they seem to start having some smell, or atleast I’m starting to be able to smell it ahah especially when I rub my fingers on her stem.
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I found some new problems, this time it seems the holes in the leaves have some kinda of webs but maybe its just my head to imagine things. It only happened in one plant, atleast. Here’s a pic
there’s also a bug around, I wonder if its harmful
If you have any idea what bugs is doing the damage in the first pic, please tell me that. I’ll spray with some neem oil for now. If it gets worse I’ll go for the pyrethrins
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I’d take that top cap off the bottle even though there’s holes in it hot air it getting trapped up there … the one bug appears to be an aphid (post 106 pic #4) keep an eye on them and squish them when ya see them hopefully will deter others from moving in.
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This last pic of the black bug with long antenna looks like a culprit of a major leaf chewer looks like a species of grasshopper of some sort
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Looks like a member of the Luber grass hopper family.
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I found a new damaged leaf
I applied neem oil again but while I was doing it my sprayer stopped working probably because it was left openned on the ground and some dust/rocks blocked the way. No worries since it was a cheap and simple one, so I will just buy a sprayer with a pump on the top to pressurize. Any idea of this one?
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Looks like the same damage to me, one of the hazards of growing outside.
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Yeah the problems of growing outside are the law since it’s illegal here and the randomness of the nature. The pests, the weather and the soil condition will certainly affect your plants but I think it’s better, especially if you’re making seeds, to grow them outside and let them be endured by the nature than trying to replicate the ideal conditions inside. I’m really interested in making seeds so I hope next year I will start growing regular seeds outside in a full organic way without the addiction of bottled nutrients, but that’s a project for the future. About this one and the pests, I think neem oil does a goob job at repelling them, but after a while they comeback, so I don’t know how frequently should I apply the neem oil like 4 in 4 days? I still have to buy a new sprayer too, so I guess I will spray them again with the new and better sprayer on thursday to make sure those pests leave the girls alone. It would be probably better to add some companion planting and there’s some around the plants like basil and cilantro but not too much… Next grow I do I will add many more companion plants around them and also cover crops.
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It doesn’t really repel them, they will still eat your plant but then the neem will affect them and turn off their eating and breeding mechanism. If you want them to stay away I would use Safers insecticidal soap. I use it occasionally for spider mites and thrips, when vegging, but not in flower. When in flower, I use for thrips, cinnamon powder, and dust the leaves with it, not sure if it repels spider mites though.
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The problem is that I don’t have almost any of those US products available here in Portugal, including safers insecticidal soap, and even if I wanted to order it from amazon/ebay, the shipping costs go over 30 euros in most cases so it doesn’t justify the purchase. I can try to use some cinnamon powder with the neem oil. I forgot to mention but I made a trap for the ants, I know they don’t damage directly the plants but they carry some harmful bugs to the plant, atleast that was what I read, and I saw tons of them around a plant that was being damaged so I decided to try something. I used borax with sugar and honey in a bottle, mixed it and then I cut a little opening in the bottle. Now the ants will eat that and they will die after, I hope. I saw this in a youtube video and I will tell you if it worked when I go to the spot. Thanks for the enlightment on the neem oil.
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I use this stuff for my plants.
Only says 4 things on the bottle but this stuff will kill pretty much all bugs and if you put too much on the plant that will burn too but the 250ml bottle goes a long way and like I say it will kill most bugs it comes into contact with but it’s not organic
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I also have an insectice of that kind based on pyrethrum but I’m trying to avoid using it. I will go there in a few hours and if theres any with heavy damage I will try to use that.
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IMO unless you have mites or thrips I wouldn’t bother using sprays. At the end of the day that’s nature for you and when these things grow out in the wild I’m sure they’ll get eaten just as much and still grow just fine. Or if you did want to use it and you don’t want to apply it to the plant itself then spray the ground around them and whatever bugs are around will eventually come into contact with it.
Pro tip tho when using these chemical sprays though take your health into consideration and spray downwind so it’s not getting blown into your face and I would wear something on your face if you have the option. I used it first time in my tent and left my fans on got a face full of misted spray and it doesn’t taste good and has a kind of solvent smell the warning says avoid contact with eyes nose and mouth etc
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Safers do one called end all with pyrethrums in it. I have only used it in veg, for mites and thrips, works well. I wouldn’t use it on buds during the flowering though. Wear rubber gloves as its absorbed through your skin. I put it in a bowl, and use a bit of kitchen paper soaked in it, and wipe the leaves, it uses a lot less and you get a better coverage.
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I’ve already used that method, but for neem oil when the sprayer broke and I had still many plants to apply. It definitly takes more time than a sprayer but seems to work better.
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