Golfer - NL Auto - Soil - LED/CFL - Grow 2

[golfer420]

Thanks OMU. Appreciate you providing feedback and perspective. My biggest fault is my impatience. Glad I didn't do anything too damaging.

I'll keep reading and learning.

 

[golfer420]

She's looking very droopy today but I have to think it's because of over-watering. I've put about 8 gallons of water through her the past two days. At least I hope that is the reason for her droopiness. No water for a couple of days and hopefully she rebounds. I'm concerned about stressing her at this point in the game because I'm afraid she won't recover to make some nice buds

 

[golfer420]

Week 7 (2 flowering)

She's doing ok, as the pictures will show. I've checked at 6am, 8pm and 11pm the last couple days. Some times she looks up and "perky" and other times the leaves around the buds seem to be hanging. Temps have been pretty much in mid-80's so I don't think it's heat. These pictures show her looking fairly perky. I have noticed less of the ends twisting (like I showed in earlier pics) - so that seems to be positive

I'm happy with how she's doing. Filled out great and the lst seems to have helped make her a bit bushier and let the cola not be as tall. I wonder whether I would have been better off leaving the cola tied down the entire time. It's already about 5-6" from the LED so I might try some lst to lean the cola over. All the other bud sites are looking pretty good too. Still feels like her buds may turn out 'pop corny'.

Haven't watered her at all since Sunday's final flushing. I lifted her up tonight and I can still feel a bit of dampness on the bottom. The next water will just be ph balanced water and no nutes. Depending on the ph of the run off will tell me if I feed next watering. If it is still low, I will do another watering and test again until we're right around 6.5 with the run off.

Thanks for stopping by Appreciate any feedback

 

[golfer420]

oops....it's only week 6 - NOT week 7.

 

[OldMedUser]

She looks like she's got a ways to go yet. Another 3 weeks at least I'd wager. Hardly a red hair on her yet.

She's looking real good now.

L8r

 

[golfer420]

OldMed - she has at least 7 weeks left. Last two plants - one went 7 weeks, the other 9. I'm hoping to see quite a bit of bulking up. Haven't been able to see much trichomes on the leaves at all and you're right - the pistils are still fresh and white.

I did add in 2 46w 6000 CFL's hanging in there with the LED. I think she will be ok because it's been slightly cooler out and she should be ok with the heat.

I'm posting a pic comparing the last two (grown in veg under CFL and then flowered in LED) and this one (all in LED). I did LST on this grow and that's helped keep the Christmas tree look less pronounced. I have done much less leaf trimming on this plant. Only dead or partially dead leaves. Also, the pots I grew the first two in were ridiculously small. One of these days I'll take a picture of those pots against this 3gal fabric pot

 

[OldMedUser]

oops....it's only week 6 - NOT week 7.

Here you say it's at 6 weeks and I thought you meant 6 weeks of flowering already done.

I'm confused.

L8r

 

[golfer420]

My bad. She is 6 weeks old and flowering for 2. My last two plants went a total of 12 weeks (about 7 for one and 9 for the other in flowering). So I'm thinking this lady has at least 6 more weeks maybe 8.

 

[golfer420]

I ended up feeding her tonight. 1/2 tsp less than the recommended amounts per ff nutes - bb, gb, tb and the rec dose of calmag. She took the whole gallon without any run off. I then poured a 700ml bottle of water and after a minute got enough run off to test. Came in right between 6.5 and 7.0. I feel like we will see some good growth now the ph is in the right zone. Most of the fan leaves and new growth is coming out vibrant.

The downside is the main cola is about 4" from the LED. I'm going to have to figure something out, like pick a direction and LST over to the side. Getting some great bud growth around the bud sites on the main branches.

I'm starting to think my next grow might need to be a photo plant instead of an auto. It would seem that I might have more options to use LST aggressively. Either that or I should trade this 30" for a 48". I'm already getting enough shit about this tent that I can't get away with a 48" tent without some serious rearrangement in the garage.

Thanks for stopping by

 

[OldMedUser]

I would just pick a spot below the main cola and roll the stem between my thumb and fingers firmly along and inch or so until it was soft and the top fell over. Has the same effect on the plant as if you topped it but the main cola will grow as big or bigger than if you left it on. Stem might split open but it doesn't seem to bother them.

As long as the stem is made soft with firm pressure first it folds over without snapping,

L8R

 

[golfer420]

She's looking good today. Really hot. It's been about 88-90 in the tent. Still damp on the bottom from Friday's watering.

I did a fair amount of trimming. Figured I'd let her focus more on the buds and get rid of some of those fan leaves. Hopefully my logic helps.

I'm happy the way the buds are developing and the pistils are extending out. I can see the trichomes when I use the flash. Zooming in I can see the new growth on the main cola has quite a bit of trichomes on them. Not as much on some of the side buds.

Overall she's looking good and all the variables (except the heat) are pretty much under control.

Question - should I get another supplement for making bigger buds? I'm already using the main three from FF. Just curious if getting a specific flowering nute makes sense.

Thanks for stopping by!

This shows the original pot from my first two plants

you can see the size of the pot from the first grow

 

[golfer420]

Here are some bud close ups.

 

[OldMedUser]

She looks like she's feeling the heat a bit. Those spiky edges of the leaves are all folded up a bit but that's normal for getting extra evaporation.

Looking real good all round now.

L8r

 

[golfer420]

I was really please with the way she looked tonight that I took a couple more photos.

All the leaves were sticking out and perky - even though it was 89 in the tent. Heat wave coming up this week.

The buds are starting to show really good pistil growth, especially in the bud sites underneath the colas. Main cola is starting to get thicker and she must be putting growth towards the buds because she hasn't grown much taller (thank god because I don't have more than 4" between top cola and the LED. I keep rotating her every time I go in so that the CFLs are close to some of the side bud sites.

I'm also stoked after looking at the top leaves coming out of the cola. I can see trichomes really coming out on those newer fan leaves.

Since she's at about 3 weeks into flowering, based on the last grow and the bank - about 5 more weeks left. I'm liking what I'm seeing

I adjusted color on the whole plant to minimize the LED impact so it may look different.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

[golfer420]

Just watered with a gallon and the minimum dose of calmag. I think I have the watering down now. She got a gallon on Friday with a feeding. About every 4 days I will be watering with a gallon (and alternating feedings)

She's looking great. Pistils are growing well out of the main cola buds and even all the buds on the outer branches look great. I've been trimming fan leaves somewhat aggressively in the hopes that more effort goes towards the buds.

Question - any thoughts on flowering/bud nutrients? I'm using the regular fox farm trio but wondering if getting a bottle of some other kind of flowering nute would be a good idea.

 

[golfer420]

Feeling great today. Looked closer and I'm seeing trichomes. The pistils continue to come out of many areas and some are starting to change colors a little.

I took some close ups of the buds and the trichomes. I love seeing the buds and trichomes develop. I doesn't matter to me how many people sub this thread, it's just fun growing. Hopefully the pictures can help someone like me who was dying to see what a real Northern Lights auto bud would look like from start to finish.

I think the 3gal pot is the main reason for the big improvement. Same Crop King Seeds and same LED - it's the pot that's the big game changer.

I keep wondering what I should do next. I have 4 or 5 more NL Auto's that I could grow but I'm toying with another auto or maybe a photo. I've been loving the White Widow shots I've seen. I'm also interested in doing a nice Haze, but since they take a little longer I might wait on those.

Also, grinded up some buds from the first grow and I was kinda surprised at how good it looked ground up. Looks like some decent smoke. Tasted pretty good and I got a decent body type of stone. Pretty good smoke to make you a little tired at night before bed.

Enjoy the photos

 

[OldMedUser]

Ya man! Looking pretty good!

I know I wish I could grow out dozens of strains and fill my house with plants but then reality kicks in and it sux. lol

Too many strains and not enough time for me. Wish I was 30 again and getting into this big time but that window passed 30 years ago.

Grab it before it's too late.

L8r

 

[golfer420]

Here we are at day 53 and she's looking great!

Some really good bud growth going on this time around. Trichomes are showing nicely around the bud growth areas. Super exciting to see her bulking up. I put a comparison in there from day 45 to day 53 and it's looking good.

Fed her on Friday evening before I left and she did fine all weekend. All the leaves are looking great to me - healthy and growing straight out. I have trimmed her a fair amount but the growth comes back fine. I think I have bigger, thicker buds growing from where I LST'd them to the edge of the pot. Those side colas are much bigger than those on the first two plants. I believe this lady will weight in more than the other two did combined (almost 24g). I am thinking I might get close to an oz.

Day 53 overall and just about 4 weeks flowering. I'm estimating another 4 weeks or so left. Who knows, maybe the trichomes will end up getting amber sooner. The flash makes the trichomes looks much better.

I have fun taking pictures so here are a few more! Thanks for stopping by

 

[golfer420]

Here are a few bud close ups...

 

[OldMedUser]

Looking real good Golfer! They're gonna have huge colas by the time they are done.

I wouldn't wait for amber trichs. Pick your fruits at the peak of ripeness. Most of the hairs gone red with the trichs still mostly clear and less than half gone cloudy. They still age and can go amber off the plant. Amber just means the THC is degrading to CBN and you're losing the peak.

That's not just my opinion but what Jorge Cervantes says in his grow bibles and the way I've been judging my harvest window for 10 years or more.

L8r