Golfer420 - Soil - NL Auto - 2015

golfer420

golfer420

Well-Known Member
My first journal. Hopefully the first of several journals that will improve each time. I'm not looking to have a huge farm but interested in the challenge of growing a few closely monitored beauties. I've seen some really great looking small plants (30") people bring to fruition. It's another reason I got the autos. I can live with smaller yields and have the convenience of not worrying about total darkness for 12 hrs. Live in NJ.

Here are the details what I'm starting with.

Northern Lights Auto. Indica 70%, Sative 20% Rudderalis 10%. I germinated 2 of 10 seeds purchased online.
They're veg state for about 4 days
They're in my garage under a workbench. Area is 36hx28lx24w.
Each is in soil with about 1/2" of perlite on the bottom.
Soil was potting soil mix - don't know the details
Pots are 5 1/2" h and 6" diameter (not planning to go into bigger pots with these plants)
I've got hanging over them 4 CFL 23w lights (2 of each end of spectrum)
They're air cooled with a fan (not oscillating) on them now (might have to bring inside when it gets warm)
No idea on PH or RH. Ordered the meters and will have mid next week.
Does not seem to be any major pest problem
Watering every few days. No nutes at this time. Going to give them another week or two.

Here is the timing so far:
Germinated 2 and they sprouted in paper towels 5/5
Planted in soil 5/7
Plant1 broke through the soil on 5/10 and shot up about 1/4"
Plant2 broke through the soil on 5/11 and was about 1/4"
As of today, plant1 is kind of spindly at 2" and plant2 is about 1". Plant2 seems sturdier but the leaves are smaller.

Pigeons420 mentioned getting more CFL's to put on the sides. I will probably do that this weekend. I'm not opposed to working my way to a 400w HPS/MH option but probably not with these two kids.

I might also need to bring them in the house in the next couple weeks as the temperature rises it will be tough to keep the heat and RH constant enough in the garage.

I considered hydro or other medium but I don't know that I can provide the level of attention it seems I would need to have with keeping things optimal.

So far the lights have been on 24x7. I have the lights as close as possible.

Question: Any harm in putting them outside while I'm at work to get real sun? I read where you should ease them into it but I'm not sure how I do that.

I'm looking to order some of the popular nutes for them in the next few days. Probably won't give them any for at least another 10 days. Unless the recommendation is I should start sooner.

051415_no2.JPG

View image in gallery​
Plant2

Plant1
 
She looks beautiful Holmes!! I'm gonna pull up a seat in the first row.

I'm excited!! You got this man!


::edit:: Don't put them in the sun this early. If that was an option it would have been done best before this stage. Chances are if she goes out side she won't be acclimatized to the intensity of our gorgeous sun.
 
Day 7. Watering every couple of days. I was hoping to get some more lights in there on the side but I haven't figured out the best way in the space that I have. The larger plant 2 is still very stretched and I can't have the oscillating fan going without almost knocking it over. Waiting on thermostat, RH, and PH meters. Just sticking with it since they're both still kicking. Plant 2 looks a bit more sturdy but also isn't growing as fast.





 
The meters have arrived. The temperature was 70 and the RH 57. I'm sure those numbers vary as it is kind of cool and humid today. Heat may be a problem during the summer. I won't be able to control the RH too much. The PH reading was kind of high at 7+. The moisture reading was also low. I added some PH (1/2 tsp?) to 3/4 filled Poland spring bottles and watered both plants. Some residual water ran off to the bottom of both. PH in the soil looked better at less than 7.

Plant 1 can barely stand. It's under the same basic lighting as Plant 2 yet it is very spindly. Plant 2 looks solid but it seems to be growing slower.

On the bright side - it's been over a week and they're both still kicking.
 
Day 14. Both are still improving every day. Kinda toppled plant 1 this morning. You can see in the shot that I used a wire tie to kinda prop her up a bit. Seems like the she is starting to fill in a bit and is getting stronger. I normally have her a couple inches higher to be closer to the light but took the box out I had boosting her up. Plant 2 looks good. Not nearly the same amount of stretch but smaller leaves and still a bit behind plant 1.

I have noticed that I must have put a bit more perlite in plant 2. It's dried out quicker than plant 1 with the same amount of water. Since both looked to be over 7ph, I did put a little PH Down into some water and added to both. A little more was put in plant 2 because she was drier.

I have a question for my fellow growers. Is three weeks a good time to start introducing some nutes?

Also, I saw some posts about the MarsHydro 300w and 600w LED's. Looking at what I have now, would getting 1 300w or maybe even 1 600w be a huge improvement?

Would the 600w be overkill for what I have (I'm thinking the answer is no....can you give too much light?)? I'm thinking that once flowering comes having 300 or even 600w LED's would really help.

Will they grow faster with more light?

Also, is there a trigger for auto flowering? Is it purely based on time? I'm wondering if these ladies being in smaller pots has any impact on whether they begin flowering sooner or later.

Thanks!



close up plant 1

close up plant 2
 
am using 23w cfl which ones are you using i been using soft white only all i can find
 
That's what I am using so far. Two are 2500 (warm) and two are 5000 (cool) so I think I'm covering both ends of the spectrum. I also have a 90w LED (don't know the actual wattage off hand) that I'm going to put in there - somewhere.

I'm also considering one of those 600w LED lights but probably not for a month or so.
 
Unfortunately I think I've crossed over to obsession. I spend way too much time in the garage now. The entire evening was focused around redesigning the space. I can't say that I'm thrilled with what I've done to it, but both plants are still growing. I added the 18w LED but I don't think it will stay long. I'm very tempted just to spend $80 and get the 300w LED. I'd love to hear opinions! It would be easier to hang the 300 (or 600) over these two plants than it is screwing around with what I've got hanging in there now.

I was very excited today to see new growth coming from between the second set of branches. Plant 1 is still stretched and I have the wire tie there for moral support. I'm still pretty pumped we've made it this far. The further I get this time, the easier it will be the next.

Here are some new pictures of the layout and the ladies.

New set up

side view

Plant 1 side view

plant 2 side view

plant 1 top

plant 2 top
 
hang in there am having good luck with the cfl 23 watts. i thought about adding a t5 grow light to my grow
 
i had a problem with stretching added more grow substance around the base of the plant up to the bottom leaves seems to be working
 
I ordered a 300w LED for $80. Should be here Wed. I'll try and get the CFL's on the sides as well. I fed yesterday with a very low dose of Fox Farms. I'm away until tomorrow so I have a friend checking them but not sure how they're doing.
 
Today is day 19. Plants are both looking pretty good. Both have solid stems and feel much more stable. Both plants are getting growth between the branches. I've got a couple of photos of pistils from both plants that seem to be showing.

I gave them nutes 2 days ago. I did make a mistake. Friday I mixed 1 tsp of FoxFarms Grow Big with 500ml and fed both plants until there was run off (both plants each took 500ml with about 20% run off). What I wanted to put in was the Big Bloom, or at least that is what the FF instructions had. I ph balanced everything before adding to the plant. When I got home today I ph balanced some Poland Spring and watered both plants. I don't plan on feeding anything again until probably Wednesday with the next watering.

They were pretty much untouched since Friday afternoon. They both looked good and healthy today. Plant 1 (taller, skinnier) has some yellowing on 1/2 the larger leaf at the top. See the photo's.

Any suggestions on what might be the issue with plant 1? From the leaf chart it looks like it could be magnesium.

If I screwed up with the nutes, they would be in worse shape after three days - correct?

day 19

Plant 1 top

Plant 1 top close up (note the yellowing)

Plant 1 pistil

Plant 2 top

Plant 2 pistil

Overhead - Plant 1 top, plant 2 bottom
 
they are looking good and i can smell the love from here. got my coffee brownies and pulled up my chair for this one:goodjob:
 
Happy 3 Weeks Birthday! Fed them yesterday with some Big Bloom (used Grow Big last feeding). 1/2 tsp for 500ml and ph adjusted. Poured 500ml into both plants. Run off was consistent at about 15% with plant 1 having slightly more (likely due to more perlite).

Found out the LED arrival time was not this Wed but actually next Tuesday. For now I keep rotating and moving things around.

Here are some more pictures. I'm amazed at how thick and strong the stems are now. The first two weeks I was a little concerned about how well they would turn out but I'm cautiously optimistic these ladies can run the distance.

Would love some feedback on why some of the leaves are canoeing. Searching now but any opinions are welcome !

Both plants under lights
3_Weeks_Plant_2_top.JPG

Plant 1
Plant 2
Plant 1 top
Plant 2 top
Plant 1 in palm
Plant 2 side growth
Plant 1 side
Plant 2 side









View image in gallery​
 
watching this grow closely am thinking of trying NL at a later date
 
Starting to consider whether I should transplant them into something bigger. I've always admired those cool looking buds growing out of the bottom of a 2 liter bottle, though.

I will probably wait for the next grow. I hope I'm not over confident. I'm already planning on how I can grow enough to last me long enough to complete the next grow, dry and cure cycle.
 
btw...I'm a total noob. Realized after reading some posts (KingJohn specifically), that I've only seen the stipule, not a pistil yet,

I continue to get schooled :thumb:
 
keep schoolin pigeon I am listening
 
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