Need Help - First Grow - Northern Lights Auto

[noobgreengrow]

Hi everyone. I've been reading the sire now for a while, and, fortunately, I have been able to find an answer to pretty much every single question I've had. Until now.

I have been growing 15 Northern Lights Autos. I started the seeds on Sept 3. Friday will be 4 months. I'm not sure how much longer they need to sit before harvest. Below are some pics that I took a couple of days ago. They are looking good, I think, for my first grow. Sorry for the pics being taken in just the grow lights. I don't really have any other light in there. But, anyways. Thanks in advance. Your help is much appreciated.

 

[josh223]

Re: Need Help. First Grow. Northern Lights Auto.

I just want to welcome you to the forum!



That long for an auto? That's crazy. Are you running your lights 24/7? If so, I'd switch to 12/12 and they'll finish quicker and should not sacrifice yield.

Judging by your pictures, and thinking from a non auto standpoint, they look like another 3-4 weeks out.

The best way to judge is to get yourself a little 30X hand-held microscope and examine the trichs.

 

[noobgreengrow]

Re: Need Help. First Grow. Northern Lights Auto.

Thank you for the welcome!

Yeah, I thought it seemed kind of long. Originally I had them on 18/6, and when they started to flower, I turned them to 12/12. Even though I read it was okay to leave autos at a 18/6, I figured that it couldn't hurt to switch them for flowering.

Unfortunately, I don't think the pictures show the necessary info. I would say that the hairs on most of the plants have started to turn dark, but there is something a little weird going on, I think. On at least 2 of the plants, the center main bud still looks like it needs time while the outer, lower buds look like they need to be harvested. This wouldn't be such a bad thing, and I wouldn't mind harvesting parts of the plants at different times, but I only have one drying area. That means that I will have to harvest all of it at the same time. This is why I'm a little confused. I figured the top, big buds would have been ready by now while the lower ones would still need time.

 

[josh223]

Re: Need Help. First Grow. Northern Lights Auto.

It's not uncommon to selectively harvest the "ripest" nugs earlier than the rest.

The pistols (hairs) are very strain specific as far as judging their color for ripeness. I've been familiar with NL for a while, just not the auto version/versions. Typically the hairs will be a uniform red/brown color. Trichome inspection, as far as I know, is the most acurate way to judge ripeness.

One thing that IS very evident from your pics is lack of "bud swell". When ripe the calyxes start to envelope the pistols and stems of the sugar leaves. 25% of the final medicinal weight is put on during the last two weeks of flowering.

You should have dense colas at that point.

I hate doing it, but here's a couple of my pics to illustrate. Also, the plant will start to self consume its nitrogen reserve resulting in yellowing of larger leaves.

 

[noobgreengrow]

Re: Need Help. First Grow. Northern Lights Auto.

Yeah, I can see the difference. This being my first grow, I new things wouldn't be perfect. This grow was done in soil with some hiccups along the way. My next grow will be done in a deep water culture setup with a different strain and a better light to plant ratio. I knew this would be a learning process, and though I haven't done the best with this grow, it's still been very fun, and I'm very excited to start my next one.

As far as these ladies go, I guess I will keep going for another week or so. I had planned to harvest Thursday, but I am thinking that's too soon. And the last thing I want to do is weaken my harvest.

 

[josh223]

Re: Need Help. First Grow. Northern Lights Auto.

A person can get a 30X microscope for $10 U.S.D. from an auction site. Really is worth the investment, especially when first starting out or growing a new strain.

Other than the length of their life span, which is genetic-not environmentally influenced in your specific situation, I think your plants look outstanding.

Patience, patience, patience is the best advice.

When you get to the next grow, start a grow journal and link the URL to your signature. There's some great people on here that run DWC. Establishing a journal will get you great advice from some of the best growers on the planet.

If it were me, from what I saw from your pics, I'd wait a minimum two weeks. But...that's just my opinion.

I tell you what bro, I'm going to link this post to my grow journal. I'll get you some second opinions on your autos.

 

[Lester Freeman]

Re: Need Help. First Grow. Northern Lights Auto.

It's hard to tell but it looks like it could go a while longer, especially for some nugs. Since the pics were a couple days old, I'm guessing 7-14 days depending on how you want the medicine, again, hard to tell. Always check the general bud density by "cupping a cola" to see how hard it feels. You want rock hard nugs.

Hang in there!

 

[noobgreengrow]

Re: Need Help. First Grow. Northern Lights Auto.

You wouldn't believe how much I appreciate the advice. It always makes me feel good when I see a community come together with shared knowledge to create something truly great.

Tomorrow, I'm going to try to get some light in there other than the grow lights so that I can take some regular pictures. Then you guys can make a better judgement.

I'm kind of dumbfounded that you guys are talking about adding another 2 weeks. Especially when the plants are already 17 weeks along. I'm wondering if maybe I am confused, but I was under the impression that 16 weeks from seed to harvest was the norm. Is there something I'm missing, or is the harvest time strain-dependent?

 

[1grower]

Re: Need Help. First Grow. Northern Lights Auto.

Hey there. Im just woundering... What lamp are u using? Im doing 15 by myself, just started... I hope u will have a nice harvest.

 

[mrbubbles87]

Do you know specifically which northern light you have? Ie. Greenhouse seeds, royal queen seeds, etc

The reason I ask is after a quick search online most Northern Light Auto strains finish anywhere between 8-12 weeks depending on the company.

If I had to guess I would say stress has delayed your plants growth. Nothing to worry about. I'm a relatively new grower myself and just keeping it alive til harvest makes me happy lol.

I don't think lighting schedule makes a huge difference in yield for autos myself. I've grown them in 24, 20, 18, and 12 hours of light with not much of a difference.

Your leaves appear healthy so that rules out ph or nute def. Maybe not enough light? Just shooting in the dark here no pun intended

I would say a minimum of 2 weeks left possibly more. I recently acquired a 420 handheld microscope for $14 online and it goes up to 100x. Highly recommend that for future grows. In the meantime I think your best bet is waiting until almost all of your hairs are red/brown. Your always better off pulling late than early IMO.

Hope that's helps.

 

[mrbubbles87]

Also, I have harvested sample branches nugs in the past to judge harvest dates as well. I don't think the stress will be enough to do much at this late into flower. Worse case scenario it'd slow your growth down a bit more but then you'd know for sure if it's ready or not.

 

[donpaul.p]

Re: Need Help. First Grow. Northern Lights Auto.

Hi,

this is what i have found with the autos ive grown and with my own auto strain,

when i grow autos under 24-0 from seed to harvest they grow quick and start flowering really early and yields end up being very small, so i played around with light schedules and got better results giving autos a night time each day, my yields went from 7 to 14g dry per auto up to 2oz per auto dry.

now what i found was this
under 24-0 they reach harvest at around the estimated harvest date
when i changed to 18-6 from seed to harvest i found the plants took longer to start flowering, took a couple of weeks longer to grow and this gave me an increase in yield with all autos i grew,
then i grew autos under 12-12 from seed to harvest, this made the grow time even longer but again the plant took longer to mature, longer to show sex and 4 weeks ish longer to reach harvest,

so i found that if you want a quick harvest and growing a sea of green with autos then go with 24-0 from seed to harvest, then you will harvest them around day 60 but yields will be small but due to how quick the reach harvest it makes it worth while as you can harvest more plants per year,

but i was only growing 2 or 3 autos at a time and was producing my own auto, i didnt want to end up with small yields so i used 18-6 or 17-7 or 16-8 from seed to harvest, i found they took 2 or 3 weeks longer to start flowering and longer to reach harvest, but the extra grow time meant i ended up with 2ft autos instead of autos that finish at less than 1ft,

then under 12-12 it dragged it out longer and this gave me even bigger yields, but thats only with my own autos strain and the autos ive grown, so it could vary due to strain etc etc, autos will grow and flower under 24-0 from seed to harvest but i find the yields are not worth it unless you go with something like big bang auto which hits 4oz dry per plant.

what i found is autos will have a longer growing season if they have a night period each day, so im thinking autos dont flower due to age in days because if they flowered and reached harvest in age in days then under 24-0 they would not flower or reach harvest as they would not know how long 1 day is,
what i think happens is the mature and reach harvest due to age in light hours, other growers have also tried using 18-6 and other light schedules and have gotten similar results, so i think they flower due to age in light hours, so under 24-0 they mature and reach harvest much quicker and yields are smaller, but as plants also grow during the night then giving them 18-6 allows them to keep growing without actually maturing at the same rate as 24-0.

so id have to say if you went with 24-0 from seed to harvest then they would of matured and been ready at the time the breeder gave, but by you using a different schedule you have made the process longer and this also improves the dry weight you get,

 

[Hydro900]