Obi's Northern Light Autoflower - Indoor T5 - Soilless Mix - 2014

[Obi Wan]

@ColoradoKid Thank you for the great feedback. I really do appreciate it. You've brought up some good points. My basement is 80% finished space but it's an older '50s home and does not have much of anything for fresh air intake. I hadn't really given that too much thought until now. For this grow I will have to make due with opening a few windows. Luckily the weather is finally starting to break. The snow is melting and spring is in the air.

Evidently I have most of the supplies handy for a few of DIY CO2 generators. I might assemble a few and set them in the grow box. There is quite a but of air exchange in the box but if I have the supplies I don't imagine it could hurt to add some additional CO2 to the mix.

I think you are spot on about the nutes, too. I've been raising the strength, but maybe a bit too slowly/cautiously. I've been trying so hard to take the "less is more" approach to this grow I may be overdoing it.

I've got some catching up to do on my journal subscriptions tonight. I'll be dropping by and checking up on your LED grow shortly Thanks again!

Older and wiser every day,
/Obi-Wan Cannabinoid

 

[ColoradoKid]

Obi, you are doing good and I can see that you are paying attention to things that will help you to become a fantastic grower of your own meds. We all started out as new growers and had help to get to where we are now. It is all about paying it forward and helping others as paybacks for the help that we were given. I hope that you are having an excellent day my friend.

 

[snakelad]

That's me caught up.I'm subbedgrt plants.will look 4ward 2 seeing these 2 the end

 

[Obi Wan]

That's me caught up.I'm subbedgrt plants.will look 4ward 2 seeing these 2 the end

Snakelad! I'm glad you stopped by. It's nice to have some experienced eyes peeking in now and then.

Cheers!

 

[Guano]

This whole process... I'm getting hooked. Hard. I've only just begun and I already have an even deeper appreciation for the expert growers...

Subscribed.

And this is exactly how I feel. I've had plenty of backyard gardens, but this is different. I'm making check-ups every 8 hours and stressing out about everything.

I love your cabinet, but I was wondering what you did about drainage. I've been looking at your photos, but it doesn't seem to be clear, at least to me.

 

[Obi Wan]

Hi Guano. Thank you for dropping by and the sub!

For drainage control I simply use a turkey baster to suck the runoff out of the plastic drip trays under the containers. I usually gather about a cup of runoff, give or take, from each plant. I pH test a few individual samples from a solo cup before disposal.

Cheers!
/Obi

 

[Obi Wan]

Journal Entry 04/23/2014
Day 26

Room temperatures remain consistent @ 65F/18C and 83F/28C with a RH of 33% to 37%. Containers still feel like they have a day or two worth of moisture but I have decided to water/feed a little early because I am heading out of town for a few days. I think I may have been under watering/feeding as well and I'd like to see how an earlier watering affects the plants.

I raised the light about 5 inches to compensate for the plant growth. A couple plants, and one in particular, are getting quite stretchy and have large internodal spacing. This is the first time I've raised the lights to compensate for growth. I also shifted some plants around the grow space. Taller plants toward one end and shorter on the other. I can angle the T5 light to attempt to keep even canopy penetration from one side to the other.

A few plants continue to show signs of a deficiency or lockout. I'm not sure which. It could possibly a pH issue. I'm not sure about that yet either. I could use a little help to determine a corrective course of action.

I gave all plants a watering with 1/2 strength veg nutes (GH Flora Trio). I will most likely give them a straight pH'd watering next and then switch to a flowing nute regimen for the remainder of the grow unless advised otherwise.

Today's watering/feeding
24hr tap water @ pH 8.1
5Gal/19L Water + 20ml Grow + 15ml Micro + 8ml Bloom + 22ml? pH down (I forgot to log the pH down amount)
Water + nutes pH 5.7
Water ppm before nutes 400
Water ppm after nutes 1030 (I have no idea how to use or calibrate my TDS meter yet)
Runoff pH 6.7 <--- I think this may be an issue?

Each plant received about 2Qt/2L of nutes. All had a fair amount of runoff @ 1-2 cups 0.25-0.50L. A little more than usual but expected since I watered a little early this time.

I stocked 10 gallons of tap water in case I need to do an emergency flush when I return home from my trip.

All plants are showing signs of preflower or have just begun flowering (I think anyway). Next week I will be purchasing and swapping out the 6500K lights to a 50/50 mix of 6500k/4000k then all 4000K to finish out the grow. I couldn't find any 3500K HO T5's locally :/

Final note:
Gladis fell from her perch, landing on the grow room floor, spilling some of her solo cup container contents. I took this as a sign that she was ready to be done and put to rest. I had an odd feeling of attachment to her and couldn't bring myself to just throw her in the trash. I documented her root structure and snipped off her roots. The roots were disposed of and she was put to rest in the outside garden compost. A little bizzare and out of character for me but WTH. Good Karma I suppose.

It looks like the taproot stopped growing after about 1/2 inch then a couple root forks made their way to the bottom of the cup and stopped growth as well. This was the late-to-pop seed that was planted just after it cracked in the paper towel (about the same 26 days above ground). RIP Gladis. I learned something from your short life.

I still have 8 of 10 plants alive. Better than I expected for my first grow.

Note to self: Don't name the next batch of plants with personalized names. Perhaps stick to generic NLA-1, NLA-2

Picture update to follow...

 

[Obi Wan]

Day 26 Continued...

 

[Obi Wan]

Day 26 Continued...

 

[virgingrower]

hey obi if you go on youtube and just type calibrate tds and there should be a vid or two there

On watering mate i left mine dry out to learn the weight of the pot dry,and that's when i know when to water them i don't stick to a schedule,if you water when it's lighter there no risk of overwatering then ;-)

 

[Obi Wan]

Thank you for the comments virgingrower. Much appreciated.

It's hard to see, but Marge, that solo cup transplant has a single flower forming on her very top. I vowed to remove her if light and space became an issue but now I'm not sure I can bring myself to do it if she's growing! Ahhh! lol. I want to see how it will fill out. I am imagining a golf ball on a stick near the end (if she makes it).

Have a great weekend everyone,
/Obi

 

[Radogast]

Gladis had a lot more roots than I expected. At least you know she wasn't stunted by roots.

When you said deficiency or lockout, I was expecting ugly leaves. Your foliage and leaf color are BEAUTIFUL!

Those yellowed lower leaves aren't going to stay green if they share a light with that TALL plant. For the health of the other plants, either set them on a bench closer to the light, or consider drastically topping the stretchy one. If stretch is in her breed and you want to allow it, you're going to need a separategrow space.

All just my opinion and I totally respect that different growers want to grow different ways.

I think your plants are doing great

 

[Obi Wan]

Hi Radogast, thanks for the encouraging words and feedback! I agree I'm going to need to do some more adjusting to keep the canopy more even. I like your suggestion to raise the lower plants up. I know I'm already losing some yield to my learning curve and being that they are autoflowers I'm reluctant to top the leggy girl. I might LST her if she gets really out of control. She's the same strain as the rest of the group but is hell bent on doing her own thing

Cheers,
/Obi

 

[snakelad]

Hey obi wan.u def don't want 2 be topping any auto plant.by the start of week 7 all height growth will have ceased

 

[Radogast]

Hey obi wan.u def don't want 2 be topping any auto plant.by the start of week 7 all height growth will have ceased

My ex-wife was a leggy 6 foot as a twelve year old, she eventually stopped growing but always cast shade and upset everyone around her.
I'm sure your autoflower will be better behaved.

Radogast

 

[Obi Wan]

Journal Entry 04/27/2014
Day 30

I arrived back into town exhausted after a long, multi-state road trip. After unpacking and an overdue shower I had enough energy to briefly check out the girls in my grow box and then fell asleep trying to catch up on friends' journals here

At a glance everything looks wonderful. The 1/2 strength feeding was not too much. No noticeable leaf tip burning. Topsoil still feels a bit moist and the weight of the pots suggest at least a day or three before next watering. Page is continuing to stretch like mad. Her top is only about 4 inches from the light. Well above the rest. I will be working on a solution to raise the other plants to even out the canopy over the next day or two.

The scent inside the grow box is wonderful but not overly powerful. Ambient air inside the box still has the low, warm spice note that I am becoming accustomed to. When I open the grow box door my wife comments that she can smell salami or a dull skunk scent. I am continuing to deploy leaf tucking to provide bud sites with as much light as they can get. After gently touching/tucking fan leaves my fingers have the mixed spice and citrus smell. Unfortunately it doesn't last very long on my hands (yet).

Flowering is progressing nicely. It's time to swap in additional (4000k) light spectrum. I will acquire these soon. There is a growing disparity between plant maturity amongst the eight survivors. I plan to use this to my advantage later toward the end of the grow. My personal needs lean toward late night use for relaxation and sleep. My plan is to flower the largest of the mature plants long enough to provide cloudy/amber Trichomes. My hope is that this will also provide me with some less mature flowers as well, allowing me to try various stages of Trich development to fine tune my preference.

That's all for now. I will get a picture update posted soon.

Love and respect,
/Obi-Wan Cannabinoid

 

[grannyT]

Hey there Obi Wan, gonna sub if you don't mind. I'm sure I will learn a lot and My auto pounder is about the same age as your NL.
You have a great set up. I ordered 2 tents one for veg and one for flower. My male friend was to help me with all of the setting up. He put the veg tent up then decided to disappear. So I am only half set up. I need to get the flower tent up but I don't think it would be easy for me to do at my age. 51 and disabled, 5 ft tall , 115 lbs. I'm really going to have to find someone I can trust to help me. So I like to see others set ups. The veg tent is about 3 or 4 ft tall so I hope Autos don't grow tall. I ramble on and give TMI sometimes.

I'm here in the stands cheering you on !!
grannyT

 

[Obi Wan]

Hi grannyT,

Welcome! I'm glad you subbed. It's nice to have a grow buddy that started around the same time. That's exactly what I was looking for when I started my journal. Someone to share notes and compare progress with. Not to mention the eyes of experienced growers now and then

I don't think you will really need a separate flower tent until you start growing photo-period (non-autoflowering) plants and want to keep some kind of perpetual grow going with those, meaning you will have some plants with 18/6 light in veg and some plants with 12/12 in flower. Your autos will be fine in a single tent from seed to harvest.

From what little I know about the Auto Pounder, they are typically on the taller side of autoflower strains. Perhaps up to 3ft tall +/- in really good conditions. There are several factors that will determine final height including container size, grow room environment (heat, humidity, etc.) light type and schedule, nutrients and so on.

Hopefully we can figure all of this out together and enjoy some quality meds in the end

Happy growing,
/Obi-Wan Cannabinoid

 

[Obi Wan]

Day 31

I had time for a closer inspection tonight. There are some signs of minor nute burn on a few leaf tips. Everything else seems mostly OK. A few containers are drying out. Some faster than others.

The new T5 bulbs are here. I swapped in (4) 3000k bulbs for a 50/50 mix of 3000k + 6500k.

I crafted some rudimentary risers to raise shorter plants closer to the light and even out the canopy. I also performed some basic grow room cleaning. Vacuumed the floor, wiped up water spots, etc.

Against my better judgement I fed all plants tonight with a bloom feeding.

5Gal water + 18ml Grow + 15ml Micro + 25ml Bloom + 24ml pH Down
water pH 8.1 -> + nutes 7.1 -> + pH down 5.8
ppm before 390
ppm after 1070
runoff pH 6.8

Pics to follow...

 

[Obi Wan]

Day 31 continued...



Cheers!
/Obi-Wan Cannabinoid