BiggMakk’s Soil Northern Lights Auto Grow Journal, 2021

[BiggMakk]

HERE We GO! Second grow, first journal. I have several lessons learned from first grow. The two primary mistakes I want to correct are 1) proper pH of water going into plants and 2) take better notes. Hope this journal fixes number 2 and by taking better notes it will document number 1.
WARNING! I expect to make frequent updates with lots of detailed notes. Keep up or go home! Just kidding. ALL FEEDBACK IS WELCOME! Other new growers, please ask questions because there is lots of experience in these forums. We both can learn.

So here are the basics:
Strain: Northern Lights auto, pure Indica
2 plants
Indoor, 3’ x 3’ x 6’ tent
Soil: Coast of Maine Stonington Blend
3-gallon cloth pots
200w LED light (measured at the outlet), air cooled
AC Infinity T4 exhaust fan with carbon filter

So the journey begins....
July 10, 10 PM - dropped two seeds into about 40ml of distilled water. Placed in dark closet. Temp 64° so turned on small space heater.

July 11, 2:30 PM - no sprouting yet (I know, it's too early). Added about 0.5ml 3% H2O2.
July 12, 7:30 AM - both seeds have split and showing tap roots. Moved into moistened Jiffy Pellets.
July 13, 6:30 PM - first seedling appears above Jiffy Pellet.
July 14, 4:00 PM - second seedling appears above Jiffy Pellet.
I present to you, Cora and Dora!

Imagine the potential. Ponder the possibilities. Can't wait to cut them down in about 10-11 weeks.

 

[BiggMakk]

Bonus content: time lapse video of first days. Cora and Dora

 

[BiggMakk]

Forgot to document lights.
24 hours on, 24 inches above plants, 75% intensity

 

[Paul Squiggle]

Forgot to document lights.
24 hours on, 24 inches above plants, 75% intensity

Howdy do mate..
I will be following along..
Just one thing, post a picture of your light.. im just concerned that your light maybe to intense at the moment. 75% of a 200 watt light is a seedling killer..
Just don't want you to fry your babies.

 

[BiggMakk]

I checked my notes from my first grow and realized I didn't turn the light up to 100% until I placed the pellets into soil, their final home. I turned the light back down to 50%. Found poor Dora collapsed. The pellets dried out faster than I expected. Watered them. I'll see how fast Dora recovers, if she does. She's still green so I'm hopeful. Geez. Not even a week into grow and already have a "near death experience".

Here's my light anyway.

 

[Paul Squiggle]

We've all done it mate. We either give them too much light or not enough. Not enough on this run of seedlings and they stretched. But I would rather have stretch than stress. I would even go down to 25% with that beast of a light.. invest in a lux meter. It will save a load of guess work with the light settings. You can pick one up for 12 quid.. 100% setting or 200 watts is ideal for later stage growth.. Im only drawing 200 watts and my plants are this big

 

[BiggMakk]

DOH! I forgot I downloaded a light meter app to my phone. I'll get some readings the next trip downstairs.

 

[Paul Squiggle]

Aim for this

 

[BiggMakk]

Thank you for anticipating my next question.

 

[Paul Squiggle]

Thank you for anticipating my next question.

No problem. I totally fooked up the start of this grow in a similar way. I had just upgraded the light, to a one that had 4x the power of my previous one; so I was frightened to turn it up. I had the old light dialled in; 25% seedlings, 50% veg &100 % flower. All that went out of the window with this new light. So I purchased a lux meter and hired a quantum par meter and mapped every notch of the dimmer function. So now I'm happy with where ever i dial it at.
We are all learning mate; every Grow..

 

[HashFart]

Looking good biggmakk !!!! good call on the light and awesome comments with the chart squiggle ,,,, ill stick around if you don't mind ? Your plant is looking chonkey already

 

[BiggMakk]

Well, this phone app says the lux at the plant level is 3,000; well below the 5,000 in your chart above. I have no idea how well this app is calibrated. The other numbers it gave me is 59 PPFD µmol/m²s and 3.5 DLI (daily light integral).

Rehydrated the pellets. They are drying quicker than I remember in the first grow. The RH% is below 50% so that may be part of it. I put a container of water in the tent to raise the humidity a little.

Here is poor Dora collapsed.

While trimming my first harvest (that I let go about 2 weeks too long) I collected a bunch of seeds. I got rid of the tan and green ones. Kept the ones that look like the seeds I bought, dark brown with black spots. I dropped one in water and H2O2 as a backup to Dora and just to see if one of those will germinate.

 

[BiggMakk]

More data and more confusion. I was looking more closely at this light meter app. Noticed there was a warning that it needed a diffuser. Easy enough. It said just wrap a piece of white paper around the top of the phone to cover the camera. Now the lux measurement is 18,800 (dimmer at 50%)!!!! So I turned the light down to 6,000 lux. The dimmer setting is under 25%. I sure don't know what's going on but it's going to be an education for sure. I work at a university in the science college. Maybe I can find a scientific light meter to see how far off this app is.

Watering is still a problem. Both pellets very dry. I guess I need to go water every 4 hours instead of twice a day. Both seedlings are definitely in survival mode.

 

[BiggMakk]

Dora is standing up on her own so I think she is going to make it. I turned the light back up to 50%. It worked great for the first grow and I don't trust this phone app until I can compare it to something scientific.

Doing better at keeping the pellets moist.

Past 24 hours:
Avg. temp: 71.5°
Avg. RH: 53.5%

 

[Paul Squiggle]

Glad she recovered.. a cheap lux meter will save all the guesswork.
. I still wouldn't have it at 50% which will be 100 watts. But whatever works for you.
You can get a plant to harvest with 100 watts of led.. so a seedling doesn't need it.. hopefully she doesn't burn or get stunted

 

[BirdieNumNum]

Well worth a watch if you want high yields and up to date Cannabis lighting research

 

[BiggMakk]

Moved Cora and Dora to the 3 gallon fabric pots. Still not sure Dora is going to thrive. She hasn't grown any in a few days. I have a few backup seeds soaking but they haven't sprouted.

Cora

Dora

 

[BiggMakk]

I have to declare the death of Dora. Even though it is still "green" she isn't growing at all. When I pulled the Jiffy pellet from the soil, the roots had not spread out. None of the three backup seeds sprouted. This grow continues with one plant, Cora.

She is now in the vegetative phase. 16 days from seed sprouting. I gave her a little taste of nutrients.
Fox Farms Grow Big
3ml in 1 liter of RO water
pH 6.2
EC 433
Height: 2.5 inches/6.35 centimeters
Light about 22 inches above plant, still at 75%