Northern Lights Auto: Budget LED & First Grow
- Thread starter Mosspb
- Start date
I vote for 18/6. They seem to like their naps and sometimes the biggest growth spurts I see is after their 6 hours of darkness. Plus it cuts down on the electric bill a bit by not running the lights 24/7.
el cheapo
Well-Known Member
Looks like you’ve got your answers! What a great community
Amazing community! Yes I watched the video above then did more research. My conclusion for now is its important to keep as many leaves as possible on the plant. Only cut what's necessary. I read that when the plant is dying the flowers draw their energy from the leaves instead of the roots. Or a lot more from leaves than roots. It makes sense to me as I have had many houseplants die from the bottom up. Today I cut one leaf that was covering the entire bend of the stem, where a lot of new growth is. Mid is wide open now. Can already see the future.
I like to leave as many leafs on as possible. Leafs are an engine for growth and a source of stored mobile nutrients. I'll tuck as much as possible and only look to defoliate later in bloom when a big fan leaf is blocking light from lower bud sites. When I do take off a fan leaf, be it an old spent fan at the bottom of the plant, or something higher up blocking a bud site, I just pinch it off with my fingernails a couple mm away from the stem.
EDIT: I see you came to a similar conclusion while I was typing my post.
el cheapo
Well-Known Member
I'm kinda liking 40/8. I'm a cannabis noob and all and would never argue against anyone else's opinion I'm just giving mine...
I studied horticulture for 2 years high school and have grown quite a few outdoor gardens and indoor plants. This it not a big deal but I guess I could say I'm use to observing plants and their growth/health. I'm on my first cannabis grow ATM. During my observations I have noticed that the plant grows soft at 18/6 or 20/4. I'm finding that the plant hardens off nicely at 40/8. It also seems to make the plant grow bigger, faster. I don't know if different lights will give different results but with household CFLs/LEDs I'm finding that the plant needs to "bake" longer. After 8 hour nap the plant looks gorgeous. Anyways like I said I'm no pro just giving my opinion.
I can't give too much insight to using household CFL or LED bulbs and their requirements since I've never used them. 40/8 light cycle must take some extra dedication since most basic timers are just 24 hours.
JoeDaddy77
Well-Known Member
40/8 cycle is new to me. Is this your own idea?
el cheapo
Well-Known Member
No timer. Lights off every other night before bed then on in the morning.
I guess it's my own idea. I haven't heard it mentioned before.
I'd forget to either flip the switch or what day it was. LOL That and my outlet and switches are behind the tent in a narrow closet. I have to get down on the floor and crawl my fat ass behind the tent to get to them.
420BudzFreak
Well-Known Member
No timer eh? That's some serious dedication.
- Thread starter
- #91
Mosspb
Well-Known Member
Im happy to hear I'll likely be OK!
Yes it was your NL step by step, it's funny you say that... I was eager to see it, and you just had an apology haha.
- Thread starter
- #92
Mosspb
Well-Known Member
Swapped to this today, they had their first nap between 1200 and 1600. Good news is my box didn't lose much heat at all.
I also have my lights go out at 12:00 PM and back on at 6:00 PM. I find in the winter months, that's the warmest part of the day so I don't loose as much heat, and in the summer they are off during the hottest part of the day to help keep heat build up down. It seems to work the best for me regardless of the season.
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- #94
Mosspb
Well-Known Member
Day 15: Grow box got a little bit of a make over. I re-wired the lighting to accommodate 3, 7:1 adapaters (one arrived and is shown in the pic, 2 more within the next week.). I also adjusted the lights so that I could lower them to my plants instead of stacking a bunch of stuff up to get them closer to the light.
I'm really anxious for my 2 other adapters to arrive so I can flood this baby with 100w equivalent leds, 21 total.
Peterson: This dude is really struggling, and I keep toying with the idea of culling him, but them I figure a bit of weed is better than none.... am I right or am I right?
Moss: The apple of my eye... I will top him in the next few days, but I'm a bit worried he won't have clear the edge of the bucket... thoughts?
Favre: Much like his name sake, this guy has endured. He's got a really week tap root or something because it's scary easy to move him while watering.. like he floats.
I'm having a few issues with my box getting too warm, so I'm trying to track down a better 4" in line fan. I'm reaching nearly 30-31 degrees, which is clearly the cause of my canoeing/clawing.
I recently got a better thermometer and rh meter, so it's easier to dial this in a bit more.
Constantly tinkering....
I'm really anxious for my 2 other adapters to arrive so I can flood this baby with 100w equivalent leds, 21 total.
Peterson: This dude is really struggling, and I keep toying with the idea of culling him, but them I figure a bit of weed is better than none.... am I right or am I right?
Moss: The apple of my eye... I will top him in the next few days, but I'm a bit worried he won't have clear the edge of the bucket... thoughts?
Favre: Much like his name sake, this guy has endured. He's got a really week tap root or something because it's scary easy to move him while watering.. like he floats.
I'm having a few issues with my box getting too warm, so I'm trying to track down a better 4" in line fan. I'm reaching nearly 30-31 degrees, which is clearly the cause of my canoeing/clawing.
I recently got a better thermometer and rh meter, so it's easier to dial this in a bit more.
Constantly tinkering....
They're all looking pretty good to me.
30 to 31 (86 to 88 Fahrenheit) is definitely on the warm side. A better fan may help, or where you are venting to may be another option. When I started I was just venting the tent into the room, when I started venting it to outdoors my problem went away. I know that's not always an option for everyone. My tent just happened to be near an attic access door that I was able to modify so I could vent to outside.
If you worry about topping them, just ponytail (page 7, post 103 of my step by step) and LST them. The results will be very close.
PS - Silica/Silicon additives are supposed to help give the plant better heat resistance. They also help with stem strength and pest resistance. If you can't get the temps down, it may be something to investigate. I use Dyna Gro's Pro Tekt for Silicon for all my grows.
30 to 31 (86 to 88 Fahrenheit) is definitely on the warm side. A better fan may help, or where you are venting to may be another option. When I started I was just venting the tent into the room, when I started venting it to outdoors my problem went away. I know that's not always an option for everyone. My tent just happened to be near an attic access door that I was able to modify so I could vent to outside.
If you worry about topping them, just ponytail (page 7, post 103 of my step by step) and LST them. The results will be very close.
PS - Silica/Silicon additives are supposed to help give the plant better heat resistance. They also help with stem strength and pest resistance. If you can't get the temps down, it may be something to investigate. I use Dyna Gro's Pro Tekt for Silicon for all my grows.
- Thread starter
- #96
Mosspb
Well-Known Member
I need to do some reading on how to properly ponytail, and frankly the concept behind it. Stoked to check it out, learn more.
I also have a line on a 4" online fan which I think will be the perfect remedy for my problem. Lastly I'll go grab some AN Rhino Skin as a precaution. My box is in the garage, so it vent into a fairly cool area, about 15c and slowly declining as the winter progresses.
Thanks again Far, always educational
It's pretty straight forward really. You're tying up the top growth for a portion of their lights on day in an effort to expose the lower growth to more light. 4 to 6 hours a day for 3 to 5 days. You'll see a noticable difference in the lower growth when doing it. I use a half a length of pipe cleaner, then fold that in half. Start at the base of the top sets of leafs, slide it up the leafs a bit, folding the top pairs together, then gently twist the ends of the pipe cleaners together to hold it in place. You can do it in conjunction with topping, or as a topping alternative. You're trying to get the bottom growth to come up and make additional tops.
Oops, double post
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- #99
Mosspb
Well-Known Member
Based of those pics you think they're ready for it? Given my issue with head space, this seems like a great program.
It won't hurt them at all to do it now since you aren't physically cutting anything. Topping looks like it would be a couple days out yet if you are going to do it too. I'd top around the 4th node. Actually, if you start a little ponytailing before topping, the undergrowth will be more ready to take over when you snip off the top.
