Scurvy's First Grow - Northern Lights Autos Under G8LED 450 Watt LED

[ScurvyKnave]

I've got all my grow room parts together and the beans arrived today. Time to get busy.

If at any time you hear me say I'm about to do something stupid please correct me! Advice at any stage is appreciated - I haven't grown a plant since 1987 lol.

Here's the particulars:
What Strain is it? Northern Lights Auto Fems
Is it Indica, Sativa or Hybrid? What percentages? Indica 80%/Sativa 20%
How Many Plants? Four I hope
Is it in Vegetative or Flowering Stage? Seed
Indoor or Outdoor? Indoor
Soil or Hydro? Soil
If Soil... What is in your Mix? FFOF/Happy Frog/Perlite mixed 65/25/10
If Soil... What Size Pot? 3 Gal Smart Pots
Size (Wattage) of Light? How Many? G8LED 450 Watt LED Grow Light (one)
Is it Air Cooled? Yes
Temperature of Room/Cabinet? 76-82 F
RH of Room/Cabinet? ~55
Any Pests? Not yet
How Often are you Watering?
Type and Strength of Fertilizers used? Technaflora Recipe for Success
Size or Square Footage of Room? 5' X 5'

After much reading, I'm putting the beans into water for about 8 hours then straight into the 3 Gal smartpots. I read that auto's don't like transplanting much so I'm rolling with that.

I've got great ventilation, negative pressure with door closed - tried holding a lighter up to both in/out vents and it blows it out in both cases. Going to try blowing out through the filter first - I can move it into grow room if necessary but this "fits" better for now. Room a tad warm after having lamp on for 2 hours - 82F but its a hot day outside and the grow room is against an outside wall (no windows). No problem with light leaks.

Here we go....

Scurvy

 

[NekoDragon]

Nice im doing NL auto as well be nice to see how each turns out. Subbed

 

[ScurvyKnave]

Welcome aboard Neko! I'm definitely going to follow yours as well. I've read a lot of good things about the NL Autos.

Got mine in the ground...now I wait.

I noticed that even using my good sunglasses would have me "seeing spots" after leaving the grow room with the lights on. So I found these goggles at Home Depot - $12 and they work perfectly. I recommend them to anyone with LED's (or any bright lights)

 

[NekoDragon]

Yea those goggles work great. Im lucky enough that my perscription glasses ajust to light(close my eyes for 20 seconds as i open the tent and bam instant shades).

 

[Grayhawk]

got good start of a good place to grow them

 

[littlemiss]

I'm In & Following Along With Your Grow, Want To See How Yours Will Do Under The LED, I've Just Started Growing Under LED Too, Heard Some People Don't Like Them Though So Will See How They Do, Northern Lights I've Seen Some Beasty Plants.

 

[ScurvyKnave]

Welcome, littlemiss - yeah I'm hoping for some Beasty Plants

Well I'm 4 for 4. Planted 4 and they've all come up. These are the NL Autos from Bonza, just got my Candy Kush and Fruit Punch beans from Herbie's today. Bonza was wicked fast, but both were on time and very stealthy.

Got them on 18/6 light cycle - will post again when they've grown a bit.

 

[littlemiss]

Saw Candy Lush Looks Nice! The fruit Punch Is That a New Strain? Saw One With Same Name On Attitude Seeds May Have Just Been Fruit If Not, Otherwise They Have No Details On Strain So Will Be Good To See what Its Like.. Mine Are On 24 Think I Might Change To 18 Though Now As I Burnt One My Babies Light Was Closer, Moved It About Your Distance Now But The LED is Quite Intense But Other Half Of Tent Still Has Cfl So Still Has Light 24hours Basically. I Heard 24hour Light On at First??

 

[Pittbull72]

 

[ScurvyKnave]

Welcome, Pitbull!

@littlemiss - After reading a number of articles, I decided on 18/6 although I did find some that said 24/0 was ok for autos, just my preference.

Well it's day 9 from seed, and day 6 from sprouting. The girls are looking really nice and healthy - dark green leaves and not stretching that I can tell. I'm liking this LED panel - doesn't get hot and is pretty quiet. I'm interested in seeing how my fan/filter setup performs when they get stinky.

I was curious about power draw so I bought a Kill A Watt thingy at the hardware store. I was pretty surprised that the overall power draw for my setup is so low. With the LED panel, and a 440 CFM fan running at 70%, it draws ~365 watts. I've been running the oscillating fan during the dark period and it only pulls about 40. So overall for the brightness of the light and fan size, it's not using a ton of power.

 

[littlemiss]

Yeah I've Heard That 18/6 Is Better But Personally I Think My 24/0 Is Working Out Better

 

[ScurvyKnave]

Yeah I've Heard That 18/6 Is Better But Personally I Think My 24/0 Is Working Out Better

I'll be sure and watch your results - if 24 works better I may try that on my next grow (Candy Kush Autos). My setup doesn't seem to use a significant amount of power over normal at 18 hours, but I'll know for sure when the bill comes

Scurvy

 

[wildwelshman]

Im subbed

 

[littlemiss]

We'll LED's Are Energy Sufficient Anyways So Your Bill Shouldn't Be Too Much More. Well I'll Be Doing My Update In Abit

 

[ScurvyKnave]

Well it's 17 days from seed, 14 days from sprout. Apart from a leaf curling problem on some of the lower leaves, the girls are healthy. I raised the light from 24" to 28" which is what I think caused the leaf curl - this LED is really bright. They are very compact, so a little stretch might be a good thing. One article I read from a guy who grows a lot of autos said stretch is good within reason.

Still on 18/6. They're loving the LED and I"m now watering the full Smart Pot every 3 days. The smaller plant replaced one that didn't sprout right, it's about 3-4 days behind but should be fine. I'm seeing a few gnats in the grow room, gonna buy some of the sticky yellow traps today. For my first grow, I'm pretty happy with progress so far.

Scurvy

 

[wildwelshman]

They are looking very good.

 

[ScurvyKnave]

Well friends it's a week later in Scurvyville and the girls have grown a lot. And they stink. They stink REAL GOOD. They are now 21 days from sprout and one is 9" tall. All look healthy and I haven't had any more leaf curl problems. I think I see pistils one one of them, but I'm a noob so I'm not positive -the last pic is an attempt to show them, white feathery things. I also have a UFO bloom light I'm going to start them on when I'm sure they're in flower.

The charcoal filter setup is working great - the room I'm venting into has no smell at all, but walk into the grow room and the smell hits you instantly.

I transplanted the small plant into a bigger pot - it's about 4-5 days behind the others. The transplant didn't seem to affect it much, I was very careful with the roots.

I wet them down about every third day if they need it. No nutes so far, I'm using FFOF which is pretty hot so I'll wait until bloom or until they tell me they need it.

As always, any observations/advice is appreciated

ScurvyKnave

 

[wildwelshman]

They are all looking good mate

 

[ScurvyKnave]

Thanks Welshman! This is my first grow so as long as they're green, female and healthy I'm a happy boy

 

[wildwelshman]

Hi scurvy not sure if u know but you can add your journal to your signature, i just think it's a good way to let others know that you got a journal when you post in other threads.