DIY, First Grow, Northern Lights Auto Flower

[FelipeBlu]

I would only remove lower fan leaves if I felt like it was too humid near the soil, and they aren’t receiving any light. Otherwise, they are there to produce sugars for the flowers.

Better would be to dial in a perfect environment, have plenty of air circulation, and tuck any leaves that are blocking others.

I do think that there’s some benefit to removing lower small budlets that are unlikely to amount to much. The plant will redirect energy and resources to the big colas you want.

 

[GreenGoblin22]

Day 64. Sent the nice little humidifier back the it’s owner for the DWC grow he just started. Thanks @Mosspb! Now have the “token gaurdian”!

 

[GreenGoblin22]

Day 64. Feeding time!

 

[GreenGoblin22]

Day 64. Photo shoot time!

@Pennywise, @subliminal, @Mosspb, @Emilya, @FelipeBlu

 

[FelipeBlu]

Looking very healthy

 

[Mosspb]

Can’t wait to smell them tomorrow!

 

[farside05]

Day 64. Feeding time!

Looking good.

Interesting to see what AN recommends. Never used their products. At 24ml each of Grow, Micro, and Bloom, it comes out to 253 ppm of Nitrogen and a blended N-P-K of 1-1-3. I normally top out around 150 ppm of Nitrogen and see a little tip burn if I go higher, so that seems like a hot mix to me. At 24ml a feeding, a bottle probably doesn't last that long.

 

[Pennywise]

AN products are mixed hot to start with. I usually ran half of that.

 

[GreenGoblin22]

Thoughts?

They are really dense and these little buds are getting no light. Pluck them or leave them be?

@Pennywise, @farside05, @Emilya, @FelipeBlu, @Mosspb, @subliminal

 

[GreenGoblin22]

Looking good.

Interesting to see what AN recommends. Never used their products. At 24ml each of Grow, Micro, and Bloom, it comes out to 253 ppm of Nitrogen and a blended N-P-K of 1-1-3. I normally top out around 150 ppm of Nitrogen and see a little tip burn if I go higher, so that seems like a hot mix to me. At 24ml a feeding, a bottle probably doesn't last that long.

How did you figure out ppm of only nitrogen?

Some of my nutrient mixes have been as high as 1100ppm. Now I know that’s not all nitrogen but still seems high. I do add CalMag matches to my base nutrients so that maybe adding a lot as well.

 

[Emilya Green]

Thoughts?

They are really dense and these little buds are getting no light. Pluck them or leave them be?

@Pennywise, @farside05, @Emilya, @FelipeBlu, @Mosspb, @subliminal

The time for doing that was before flower started. Plucking them now would shock the plant and could cause enough stress to cause her to hermi. They will end up being smokable and will add extra weight to the grow total, or you can follow the advice of others out there who will say that these little popcorn buds take away from the growth at the top and that even in flower you should trim them. I have always thought that the difference between the weight of these little buds and what you might gain at the top without them is not going to be very far away from each other. I like the little popcorn buds, they are usually very tasty, they make good oil and other edible products, and that saves more of my big buds up top to share with my friends.

 

[farside05]

How did you figure out ppm of only nitrogen?

Some of my nutrient mixes have been as high as 1100ppm. Now I know that’s not all nitrogen but still seems high. I do add CalMag matches to my base nutrients so that maybe adding a lot as well.

Hop over to my current grow (link in signature) and check out post #5. There you can find a link to my calculators spreadsheet (need to have Excel). There is a Nitrogen Loading Calculator that is one of the tabs. You can enter all your products used (up to 10) and the N number on your bottles label. Then you tell it how much of it you used and it will do the calculations for you. Most big green house operations base their feeding off of Nitrogen loads, not nescessarily by PPM.

I rarely exceed 550 ppm (1.1 EC) on my feeds and that includes about 150 ppm from my tap water.

 

[GreenGoblin22]

The time for doing that was before flower started. Plucking them now would shock the plant and could cause enough stress to cause her to hermi. They will end up being smokable and will add extra weight to the grow total, or you can follow the advice of others out there who will say that these little popcorn buds take away from the growth at the top and that even in flower you should trim them. I have always thought that the difference between the weight of these little buds and what you might gain at the top without them is not going to be very far away from each other. I like the little popcorn buds, they are usually very tasty, they make good oil and other edible products, and that saves more of my big buds up top to share with my friends.

Great insight. Thank you.

I think I’ll leave them alone. To be honest I’m not in this for massive buds and pounds of product. The process of growing itself is enjoyable enough for me. Don’t get me wrong I’m excited to sample the finished product....very excited.

 

[FelipeBlu]

You can always manipulate the position of the shade leaves, and secure them using bread bag ties, thus exposing the lower buds to more light.

 

[GreenGoblin22]

Hop over to my current grow (link in signature) and check out post #5. There you can find a link to my calculators spreadsheet (need to have Excel). There is a Nitrogen Loading Calculator that is one of the tabs. You can enter all your products used (up to 10) and the N number on your bottles label. Then you tell it how much of it you used and it will do the calculations for you. Most big green house operations base their feeding off of Nitrogen loads, not nescessarily by PPM.

I rarely exceed 550 ppm (1.1 EC) on my feeds and that includes about 150 ppm from my tap water.

Interesting. Well again thank you but now I have more questions haha. Mainly, what now? Do I carry on with AN schedule or cut things way back?

 

[GreenGoblin22]

You can always manipulate the position of the shade leaves, and secure them using bread bag ties, thus exposing the lower buds to more light.

The grow box isn’t really deep enough to do that. When I close the doors they are right up against the plant similar to what you see in the back. We use LST to try and combat our height constraints but I think it also made the plant very dense. Essentially the two halves of the plant are growing on one side.

 

[farside05]

Interesting. Well again thank you but now I have more questions haha. Mainly, what now? Do I carry on with AN schedule or cut things way back?

@Pennywise said in post #88 he normally ran about half what AN's schedule was showing, and he has experience with those products. It also kind of coincides with the strength I'm used to using with a different nute line. I'd say you could cut it in half with no ill effects. Almost every nute company I've seen suggests way too much. Of course they are in business to make money by selling product. You probably have a bunch of stored up/excess nutes in your Pro Mix unless you've been watering to the point of a whole lot of run off.

 

[Pennywise]

I run 1/2 strength AN Sensi for 2 years. If you feed too heavily it will end up showing lockout.

 

[Emilya Green]

@Pennywise said in post #88 he normally ran about half what AN's schedule was showing, and he has experience with those products. It also kind of coincides with the strength I'm used to using with a different nute line. I'd say you could cut it in half with no ill effects. Almost every nute company I've seen suggests way too much. Of course they are in business to make money by selling product. You probably have a bunch of stored up/excess nutes in your Pro Mix unless you've been watering to the point of a whole lot of run off.

It all depends on your lights and your growing conditions. If you have strong lights you will have strong plants, and they will be able to handle more nutes. If you are going to supply fertilizers, don't be hesitant and timid with it. If you have decided to try to supercharge your plants, do it. There is an adage out here that has been lost on this new generation of weed farmers, "if you aren't burning the tips, you aren't trying hard enough."
That being said, there are complete growing systems out there that put everything needed together for you, and all you have to do is follow the directions to get great grows. People seem to hate doing this though, and so many people start to innovate. All of a sudden, people don't trust the directions.
If you have weak lights, use fertilizers weakly. That just makes logical sense. If you have created a virtual sun indoors, then you better feed them as if they were outside. Nute companies generally assume you have strong lights and strong plants or you wouldn't be spending all this money on their products. Adjust accordingly.

 

[FelipeBlu]

If your medium will allow it (dries out faster), watering more frequently will provide more fresh air in the root zone. And if you’re watering more often, it is generally better to provide a steady diet at a lower concentration, than to blast her with a constant high level, or to alternate between higher and lower.
Watering frequently with a high concentration will likely lead to issues with lockout.