NLnovice's Northern Lights - Soil - CFL - Cabinet Grow 2012

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Wow NLnovice That plant seems to be filling out so well, I'm impressed :bravo:

Do you think the difference ( progress wise ) would be dramatic in comparison of the change from CFL to HPS ?

Just wondering because I am contemplating switching to a 250w HPS with a Cooltube because, at the moment the temps are steady in my box, I planned on adding 2 more 125w CFLs but i dont think i would be able to manage the heat there is already 375w running at the moment.

The inline fan is already running at full speed so the extra heat would unfortunately have nowhere to go :scratchinghead:

In your opinion do you think the heat would be more manageable with a switch to HPS ?

Thanks NLnovice

Keep up the good work :)

:peace:
 
Thanks GreenFingers
Yes I believe if I had began flower with the hps the difference would have been huge. Also wished I had super cropped or lst for a more even canopy height. I think the heat would be manageable with a 250 watt hps. Especially a cool tube one. If the ballast is separate and placed out of the grow space you would be even better off. To put it another way, I have been so shocked by the lack of heat coming from my 150 watt hps that I may get a second one when I begin my next try.

I suggest you try an experiment, take the carbon filter out of your set up(if able to do with not a lot of hassle), free up that super fan's airflow and I bet your temps would go way down? Try it during veg. for a day and see what happens.
 
:bravo::high-five: Looks like it's going to be a nice yield for you! How long do you think it will be before you harvest?
 
Hi mate, looks like your Northern s doing similar to what mine did.. I veg'd her to she was 4 ft and then cut her down to 12/12.. She flowered for nearly 3 months, and was ready basically, everyone who knew her said she was ready - well, maybe for them, but i like a big kik in the arse couchlock pipe..The M/scope i had was crap n i thought she was amber more than what she actually was, when i got my 65x scope she was all cloudy and about 5% amber. The main cola was probably 10-15% but yeah, She was all yellowing,leaves drooping and starting to fall off, the buds were green still just the bigger fan leaves etc; were yellowing, the bottom 4 levels were less developed as light penetration was in issue with that setup.. She had a tuff life but still made me 8 oz of buds and some popcorn so that wasnt bad considering her grow.. Cant wait to see ur final result!! Just check ur trichs n youll be ok..Goodluk and Happy Harvesting;)
 
Thanks JASPL, it's nice to hear positive thoughts like yours and stop my worrying.


Thank you K-Frat, hoping for a nice yield and hopefully some quality smoke. I am guessing(and praying) it should be another 3-4 weeks. That would put it at about 10-11 week flowering time. Will begin checking trichs in the next few days, as I come to the end of the 8th week.

Thanks for the info on your plant Smokemupm8. It's nice to hear and see that others have gone thru the same thing. The speed at which I am loosing leaves really had me worried. Guess all I can do is wait, check the trichs, and let her do her thing. What kind of lights were you using for an 8 oz. harvest?
 
NLnovice said:
Thanks JASPL, it's nice to hear positive thoughts like yours and stop my worrying.


Thank you K-Frat, hoping for a nice yield and hopefully some quality smoke. I am guessing(and praying) it should be another 3-4 weeks. That would put it at about 10-11 week flowering time. Will begin checking trichs in the next few days, as I come to the end of the 8th week.

Thanks for the info on your plant Smokemupm8. It's nice to hear and see that others have gone thru the same thing. The speed at which I am loosing leaves really had me worried. Guess all I can do is wait, check the trichs, and let her do her thing. What kind of lights were you using for an 8 oz. harvest?
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Hi NL, i was using a 400w mh veg and 400 hps for flower..I veg d til she was 4 ft..No major nutes she grew well on her own really if i tied a branch-next day the cola would be positioned so she could get more light. Was great plant to learn from and fairly hardy..Goodluk and Happy Harvesting!
 
Nice journal :thumb:

One thing i noticed was the bud rot problem on your first grow... no one commented on that as far as i can see ?


Bud rot is caused by high room humidity (RH) in flowering with dense buds being problematic if such conditions exist with in the flowering enviroment !

RH of 50% 'n' below is pretty good for flowering, i normal keep mine around 50% average with a variation between 45% & 60%


This may be improved by better ventillation (extraction) / passive intake & dehumidifiers for better growing enviroment :peace:
 
Fuzzy Duck said:
Nice journal :thumb:

One thing i noticed was the bud rot problem on your first grow... no one commented on that as far as i can see ?


Bud rot is caused by high room humidity (RH) in flowering with dense buds being problematic if such conditions exist with in the flowering enviroment !

RH of 50% 'n' below is pretty good for flowering, i normal keep mine around 50% average with a variation between 45% & 60%


This may be improved by better ventillation (extraction) / passive intake & dehumidifiers for better growing enviroment :peace:
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Thanks for stopping bye Fuzzy Duck,
Yes bud rot was a huge problem in my first attempt. The super long flowering time contributed to the rot. A couple other things that have since been changed added to the likelihood of getting rot....

#1 - I had both my exhaust and intake on the same wall(back) surface. This was a bad idea. The fresh air was just coming in near the floor and hugging the wall and going out the exhaust. The fresh air was not filling the grow space at all. Before I started my second try I sealed my intake hole and cut two new intake holes(like 2 in x 4 in each) in the floor. I cut the holes in the front part of the floor near the door. What a difference this made in terms of temps and air flow. The fresh air now easily fills the grow space and fresh air is also pulled in thru the non sealed front door.

#2 - There are 4 x 80mm intake fans and 2 x 120mm exhaust fans. During my first grow I had them all hooked into the same timer that controlled the lights. Lights on all fans on, lights off all fans off. Now two of the intake fans run all the time. This has made a huge difference as well. The air is constantly moving and the humidity stays in the safe range at night.

I am hoping that these simple changes will keep me from having any rot this time.Thanks again for your interest.
 
JASPL said:
NL - what is you plan for checking trichs? Loupe, microscope, camera? I will need to do a little shopping and am trying to get recommendations. Thanks.

JASPL:peace:
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Hi JASPL,
I use a 60x-100x mini pocket microscope. Very similar to the radio shack one that I have read about in many journals on this site. Mine came from amazon for $7, the radio shack version is $12. It works well and I have found it works best if your background is dark colored. Like a dark wood or black construction paper. It has a small but bright light in it and I noticed that with white paper as background things were just too bright and washed out.
With the size of your plants you should be able to just look thru your window with a set of binoculars.(j/k)
 
As I get closer to harvest, I thought I would share a couple things that have made a difference in my second attempt. Both are simple but seem to have helped. Warning... boring, non plant pics to follow....

#1 - I cut small pieces of thin air conditioning filter and placed them over my intake holes. Every couple weeks it's amazing to see the amount of dust and other stuff that these things trap. Just rinse them with water, let dry and put back in. All that dust could not be good for the leaves and pores of the plant.
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#2 - Using a measuring cup is not a good way to water. As my first grow went on I noticed the classic problem of the water making small channels to flow thru and thus the watering was incredibly ineffective. Also it was tough to get the water to all parts of the soil in such a small space. Using a backpack/pump sprayer has made a tremendous difference. Got the cheapest one, just under $10, and it works great. Adjustable spray nozzle and long, skinny wand make it easy to get to all parts of the soil. Would be great for those with multiple plants in tight spaces. As you will see in the pics below I marked the side of the tank in one cup increments. Yes it's a bit ocd, but it makes it so easy to figure out the right amount for the plant. It is slower but well worth it.
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@JASPL if you go to the auction site you can get a small hand held microscope 60x for a quid, next to nothing, works great as well, it has 2 lights on it, one light is normal leds and the others is uv led, i think its made for checking bank notes or something like that, but works great on these plants, plus if you hold the lense of the camera up to where you look into it then you can take pictures as well, it works great and cost next to nothing
 
NLnovice said:
#2 - Using a measuring cup is not a good way to water. As my first grow went on I noticed the classic problem of the water making small channels to flow thru and thus the watering was incredibly ineffective. Also it was tough to get the water to all parts of the soil in such a small space. Using a backpack/pump sprayer has made a tremendous difference. Got the cheapest one, just under $10, and it works great. Adjustable spray nozzle and long, skinny wand make it easy to get to all parts of the soil. Would be great for those with multiple plants in tight spaces. As you will see in the pics below I marked the side of the tank in one cup increments. Yes it's a bit ocd, but it makes it so easy to figure out the right amount for the plant. It is slower but well worth it.
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I want one :) It's perfect

:peace:
 
NLnovice said:
As I get closer to harvest, I thought I would share a couple things that have made a difference in my second attempt. Both are simple but seem to have helped. Warning... boring, non plant pics to follow....

#1 - I cut small pieces of thin air conditioning filter and placed them over my intake holes. Every couple weeks it's amazing to see the amount of dust and other stuff that these things trap. Just rinse them with water, let dry and put back in. All that dust could not be good for the leaves and pores of the plant.
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hi NL novice i like the idea of changing your air intake.i did the same but half way threw my veg because the temps in my country are off the scale this year..i noticed an imediate change my grow room was stuffy now i have fans set up correctly(well as correct as i can get)..lol miles better still not ideal as i said i struggle to get my temps down..also i cover my intake with a small bit a gause which collects lots of dust i also wash then put back.defo cant bo good for my girls so much dust..:peace: keep up the grow lad:high-five:
 
NLnovice said:
As I get closer to harvest, I thought I would share a couple things that have made a difference in my second attempt. Both are simple but seem to have helped. Warning... boring, non plant pics to follow....

#1 - I cut small pieces of thin air conditioning filter and placed them over my intake holes. Every couple weeks it's amazing to see the amount of dust and other stuff that these things trap. Just rinse them with water, let dry and put back in. All that dust could not be good for the leaves and pores of the plant.
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Good idea!! Thanks for sharing this with us. :thumb:
 
Hey NL.....Great ideas!!!! Never really took the dust into consideration.....Always thinking!!!!
The insecticide bottle is great too. I water with a one liter bottle and I use string to LST my plants and what a pain...I know the string loose all the time trying to get around the plant to water it thouroughly. Bet it works great for foilage feeding too?!

Thanks again for the insight and Ideas! Keep up the good work as always!
 
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