DIY, First Grow, Northern Lights Auto Flower

[Mosspb]

In my opinion, I would keep doing what you're doing, after all they look really healthy. These plants had like zero stretch so something went wrong along the way, but my belief (while definitely not as seasoned and these other men and women) is swapping strategies makes it harder to get right the second time, and third time.

If it's me I would duplicate this grow next time at half nutes like @Pennywise suggested, and a heavy defol a bit earlier like @Emilya has suggested. In my view by doing this you can ascertain a lot easier where you went wrong.

In my past grows I made too many changes on the fly and it make deciphering some of my mistakes a lot harder.

All of this info is amazing and without a doubt true, however for me seeing cause and effect is important. I know you are by no means a heavy smoker so whatever you get off these plants will last you until the next crop. On the other hand you're a perfectionist, and my thoughts are that being able to see the implications of this great advice without the bias of your previous mistakes will give you valuable data.

You're exceptionally lucky to have such seasoned growers (@FelipeBlu @farside05, while not mentioned directly have been along for the ride with great input) adding advice, and frankly I feel a bit out of place chiming in. Keeping a log of what these growers are telling you, and organizing it according to the plants stage will let you retrace these steps, while keeping all the good things you've done in play.

Just my 2 cents, with no disrespect intended.

 

[farside05]

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."

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.

I perscribed to that adage when I started but not any more. Wish I could find the exact quote because it was probably more eloquent and than I'll put it. A plant will tolerate so much. Eventually you will exceed limits and those excesses will show up in the leaves. You've made the plant sick. You started sickness before it showed up in the leaves but that sickness got too bad that it became externally viewable. Kind of like smoking with humans (yes I'm a cigarette smoker anyway). You can smoke 10 cigarettes a day and show no outward effects. I'm not as healthy as I could be. My blood pressure is higher from smoking but you can't see that. Up that to 2 packs a day. Good chances are I'd get cancer or show other symptoms of bad health. Or if you prefer, a couple drinks of alcohol may be ok. You may get a slight buzz. Too much alcohol and you're gonna get a hangover. Feeding until you get burnt tips (yes I've done it just like every other greedy grower trying to yield more) is like having your plant smoke 2 packs a day or drinking a liter of Jack Daniels.

I was searching last night trying to find a study I've read in the past. Couldn't exactly find it but found several similar. Although it was not performed on cannabis, I think it was marigolds, cannabis is not a unicorn. It functions just like almost every other blooming plant and it's nutritional requirements are similar. In the study, they had test plants being fed various levels of Nitrogen (and P and K) at 30 ppm intervals. They measured the number of blooms and dried bud weight. Under 90 ppm of Nitrogen, plants suffered due to deficiency. Yields we're lower. Yields peaked around 120-150 ppm of Nitrogen and declined slowly beyond 150 up until 240. After 240 things dropped off dramatically because of N toxicity. Call me a cynic, but if I'm selling nutes, I'm gonna push my "recommendations" right up to that limit where things fall off the cliff so I can sell more product. (Side bar, the best results came in with a N-P-K of approximately 2-1-2).

As a former Mars 300 user (4 of them in a 32"x32" inch tent) I can say they aren't nescessarily a "virtual sun". They did the job I expected them to do and filled lots of jars. I've moved on and my new fixture puts out about 3x as much light with roughly 1/2 the power draw. I still feed the same amount of base nutes but have found that I've had to supplement a bit of Calcium which I never had to do before.

 

[Mosspb]

I perscribed to that adage when I started but not any more. Wish I could find the exact quote because it was probably more eloquent and than I'll put it. A plant will tolerate so much. Eventually you will exceed limits and those excesses will show up in the leaves. You've made the plant sick. You started sickness before it showed up in the leaves but that sickness got too bad that it became externally viewable. Kind of like smoking with humans (yes I'm a cigarette smoker anyway). You can smoke 10 cigarettes a day and show no outward effects. I'm not as healthy as I could be. My blood pressure is higher from smoking but you can't see that. Up that to 2 packs a day. Good chances are I'd get cancer or show other symptoms of bad health. Or if you prefer, a couple drinks of alcohol may be ok. You may get a slight buzz. Too much alcohol and you're gonna get a hangover. Feeding until you get burnt tips (yes I've done it just like every other greedy grower trying to yield more) is like having your plant smoke 2 packs a day or drinking a liter of Jack Daniels.

I was searching last night trying to find a study I've read in the past. Couldn't exactly find it but found several similar. Although it was not performed on cannabis, I think it was marigolds, cannabis is not a unicorn. It functions just like almost every other blooming plant and it's nutritional requirements are similar. In the study, they had test plants being fed various levels of Nitrogen (and P and K) at 30 ppm intervals. They measured the number of blooms and dried bud weight. Under 90 ppm of Nitrogen, plants suffered due to deficiency. Yields we're lower. Yields peaked around 120-150 ppm of Nitrogen and declined slowly beyond 150 up until 240. After 240 things dropped off dramatically because of N toxicity. Call me a cynic, but if I'm selling nutes, I'm gonna push my "recommendations" right up to that limit where things fall off the cliff so I can sell more product. (Side bar, the best results came in with a N-P-K of approximately 2-1-2).

As a former Mars 300 user (4 of them in a 32"x32" inch tent) I can say they aren't nescessarily a "virtual sun". They did the job I expected them to do and filled lots of jars. I've moved on and my new fixture puts out about 3x as much light with roughly 1/2 the power draw. I still feed the same amount of base nutes but have found that I've had to supplement a bit of Calcium which I never had to do before.

As an intermediate grower these are the discussion I love to see and learn from.

 

[farside05]

As an intermediate grower these are the discussion I love to see and learn from.

One thing I've come to the conclusion of: there's all kinds of theories and opinions when it comes to growing this plant, just like there's a thousand different ways to grow it. Soil, soil-less, hydro, organic, bottled fertilizer, inside, outside, metal halide, led, the list goes on. Over time you will developed your own. Many of mine are contrarian to old standards but are based on a lot of science. That's just how I roll. The plant is very adaptable (hell it's a weed, them s.o.b.'s grow everywhere under all kinds of conditions) and there's lots of ways to get good results.

 

[Mosspb]

One thing I've come to the conclusion of: there's all kinds of theories and opinions when it comes to growing this plant, just like there's a thousand different ways to grow it. Soil, soil-less, hydro, organic, bottled fertilizer, inside, outside, metal halide, led, the list goes on. Over time you will developed your own. Many of mine are contrarian to old standards but are based on a lot of science. That's just how I roll. The plant is very adaptable (hell it's a weed, them s.o.b.'s grow everywhere under all kinds of conditions) and there's lots of ways to get good results.

That's so true, which is why I prefer to stick to a plan. It's easier to find your method, and build off of it based on the experience of others.... and if my method was complete garbage, scrap it and get mentored by someone with a great one.

 

[farside05]

That's so true, which is why I prefer to stick to a plan. It's easier to find your method, and build off of it based on the experience of others.... and if my method was complete garbage, scrap it and get mentored by someone with a great one.

I don't think I've done the same thing twice since I started. I've stuck to the same media (other than 1 grow) and same nute line (other than 1 grow) but have continued to tweak every time. I might have settled on something this grow, although it's still early. LOL

 

[Mosspb]

I don't think I've done the same thing twice since I started. I've stuck to the same media (other than 1 grow) and same nute line (other than 1 grow) but have continued to tweak every time. I might have settled on something this grow, although it's still early. LOL

Buds are never big enough!

 

[farside05]

Buds are never big enough!

Nope, not even with a couple pounds of "inventory". Lol

 

[GreenGoblin22]

Day 63.

Had to defoliate. Way too thick and wet in the middle of the plant. Rather not lose it all the mold.

 

[farside05]

Looking good. They are filling in with bud nicely.

 

[Mosspb]

I know it wasn’t ideal burn some Defol was the right move. After seeing them in person I still can’t believe how dense they are...

A great amount of bud on the main colas, and still so far to go.

Lesson learned with autos I think is defol before you think you need to defol. Every auto I’ve grown has gone so quickly from early veg to flower and I waited too long in veg before giving it a haircut.

 

[GreenGoblin22]

All my nutes, mildew or mold?

 

[Emilya Green]

salt

 

[GreenGoblin22]

salt

Ahh yes thank you.

 

[GreenGoblin22]

 

[GreenGoblin22]

Getting some nutrient burn. Thinking of running ph’d water through until run off comes out matched. Thoughts? I would do this tomorrow night too at regular feeding time. Too late? Do bother and carry on ?

@Pennywise, @FelipeBlu, @Emilya, @farside05, @Stu, @DonChiefums20, @Mosspb

 

[Emilya Green]

I think you are over reacting... just back down a little next time. Not every tip burn is a crisis. Some say, "If you aren't burning the tips, you aren't trying hard enough!"

 

[Mosspb]

@Emilya I agree on the severity.

I saw these plants in person a few days ago, and while they're stout, there's a ton of bud.

This is his first grow, and the results are great. They are still so far from being done and some light nute burn this far in is a great success.

Stick to your plan! #rideordie

 

[FelipeBlu]

Just back off a bit next time.

 

[GreenGoblin22]

Half a bowl for the two mini green goblins!

Full shot of water half the nutes across the board. They are building up a lot of bud and just starting to get a little tacky. It amazes me how different the both smell. Keep in mind I have a very poor sense of smell. NL1 has a mild and clear, pine scent where NL2 is rich and bold, good old fashioned dope smell.

Adjusted the box a bit to give me more room. Took out the black mason tub and put the token guardian (lady big humidifier) in the middle.

@Pennywise, @Mosspb, @FelipeBlu, @farside05, @Emilya, @Stu, @DonChiefums20