Karl's Northern Lights Grow - First Grow - CFL - LST

[karlpessar]

This is my first grow so all help or comments are appreciated. Don't be a stranger.
I've been thinking of growing for some time and now i have the opportunity to do it.

SETUP

Lights:
3x 30w 2700K CFL
5x 30w 6500K CFL

Grow box:
BASE: 70*90 cm or 28,6'' * 35,4''
HEIGHT: 90 cm or 35,4''

White thick paper as reflective walls (the kind you put on the floor for protection when painting) attached to a wood frame.

Medium:
Soil. I'm from Europe so i don't think you'll know what kind it is even if I tell the name but it is probably the best soil around. I've been told I don't need to add anything so no perlite or things like that. Pure soil.

Pots:
Right now my two seedlings are in 0,659 liter round pots so about 40 cubic inches. I'm sitting on 8 liter=2,11 gal pots that I first thought would do but I'm thinking of getting some bigger ones. I'll be vegging for maybe 5 weeks, will the ones I have now do?

Ventilation:
3x 8 cm=3,15'' "PC-fans". Two as exhaust and one for blowing on lights and plants. Passive intake.


SEEDS

Two feminised Nirvana Northern Lights seeds. Indica dominant. I picked this strain because it's not supposed to smell that much and from what I heard, it's a good beginners strain with good yields and high THC concentrations.



With 4 lights running the temperature is 26 C=79 F in the box with 23 C= 73F in the room. However we have really dry winters where I live, it's only 20% rh indoors but I'm working on that.

Enough said! I know you want some pics Veg day 3!

Setup as it looks today. I got my two seedlings under PET domes made from coke bottles. In the other pots I'll be growing some other herbs just for fun.

#1. I haven't named them yet. This is just the first seedling that broke through the soil. If I recall this was from the smaller, light seed

#2. This came up about 12 hours after #1 and is a little shorter but seems to have a thicker stem and broader true leafs.

I just want to say that without you guys this would never happen. Almost all knowledge i got from 420magazine and it's just such a great atmosphere here. Thank you and wish me luck!

 

[THCScientist]

Re: Karl's Northern Lights grow- First grow, CFL, LST

Good luck with the grow. I have grown northern lights before and it is a classic for a reason. when fully budded it looks like a stocky upside down shorter to the ground chandelier. truely wonderful strain. I will follow along

 

[karlpessar]

Re: Karl's Northern Lights grow- First grow, CFL, LST

sounds great! how long was your bloom time? i know it's often longer than the seed company say. any problems with northern lights?

 

[HempRocket]

Re: Karl's Northern Lights grow- First grow, CFL, LST

Nice little setup. I'll be following. How often do you water?

 

[karlpessar]

Re: Karl's Northern Lights grow- First grow, CFL, LST

Nice little setup. I'll be following. How often do you water?

well last time was two days ago but I spray them a couple times a day and when I look under the pot the soil is still moist.

 

[HempRocket]

Re: Karl's Northern Lights grow- First grow, CFL, LST

Looking good. Just a tip...many people over water their babies so I would just watch that. I would just let the top inch or so of soil dry out before I would water again.

 

[THCScientist]

Re: Karl's Northern Lights grow- First grow, CFL, LST

Last time i vegged the northern lights for 6 weeks. After that i flowered for about 6 weeks. I often pick around the 6th week when the trichomes are mostly cloudy and just a few are amber. (handheld microscope). this grow im doing lately i am gonna flower for 10 or 11 weeks and try to go more into the amber (cbc) side of things. more of a full body relaxation. like to switch it up and try different things all the time. Trial and error. You have to learn what works best for you. hopefully i didnt trail off too much brother. lemme see if i can find any of those northern light pictures for you.

 

[THCScientist]

Re: Karl's Northern Lights grow- First grow, CFL, LST

Northern lights 5 weeks into vegetation. Hope this helps.

 

[karlpessar]

Re: Karl's Northern Lights grow- First grow, CFL, LST

Veg day 5

Just a quick update for you.

#1.

#2. She is now bigger than #1.

 

[THCScientist]

Re: Karl's Northern Lights grow- First grow, CFL, LST

They look beautiful sir. Soil does look nice but i would consider adding a bit of perlite to the mix when transferring into larger containers. Never heard of perlite hurting ones crop before. So it would be a win/win situation. Great work Karl.

 

[karlpessar]

Re: Karl's Northern Lights grow- First grow, CFL, LST

They look beautiful sir. Soil does look nice but i would consider adding a bit of perlite to the mix when transferring into larger containers. Never heard of perlite hurting ones crop before. So it would be a win/win situation. Great work Karl.

I might just do that. The problem is that when it's not season the stores doesn't have much. I would probably add it to the seedling pots if I could find perlite. Maybe next transplantation.

 

[labradoodle]

Re: Karl's Northern Lights grow- First grow, CFL, LST

I am gonna subb and follow along man. Keep posting and updating, very interested to see how it goes. Good luck!

 

[HempRocket]

Re: Karl's Northern Lights grow- First grow, CFL, LST

They look very nice.

 

[karlpessar]

Re: Karl's Northern Lights grow- First grow, CFL, LST

Thanks for the compliments everybody. Does anybody have opinions about my pot size question. Is 8 liters too small for maybe 5 weeks of veg?

 

[HempRocket]

Re: Karl's Northern Lights grow- First grow, CFL, LST

Is the 8L container the final container you want bring your girls to harvest in?

 

[karlpessar]

Re: Karl's Northern Lights grow- First grow, CFL, LST

Is the 8L container the final container you want bring your girls to harvest in?

Yes. As I said the stores around don't have much during the winter. I know it's almost always better to go big with pots but will it make much difference between 8 liter and perhaps 12 liter?

 

[HempRocket]

Re: Karl's Northern Lights grow- First grow, CFL, LST

I would say 20L. In 8L containers they will probably get root-bound and will stunt growth.

 

[karlpessar]

Re: Karl's Northern Lights grow- First grow, CFL, LST

Update! veg day 10.
Even though HempRocket warned me about over watering I managed to do it.
Watered them Sunday morning and both girls got droopy leaves. #2 recovered pretty quick but #1 is still suffering and is not looking too happy. take a look at the pics and tell me what you think.

#1. It looked worse before. Are those dark areas in the middle of the leaves anything to worry about.

#2. My favorite girl as you may imagine. She just keeps on growing without a complain.

 

[THCScientist]

Re: Karl's Northern Lights grow- First grow, CFL, LST

Looking good karl. Looks like your second set of three prong leaves are ready to lay out for you. After that you should start getting into your five prong leaves. No way to stop them ladies now. Have never seen the hydroton on top of a soil grow. Any benefits or just for stability purposes?

 

[karlpessar]

Re: Karl's Northern Lights grow- First grow, CFL, LST

Looking good karl. Looks like your second set of three prong leaves are ready to lay out for you. After that you should start getting into your five prong leaves. No way to stop them ladies now. Have never seen the hydroton on top of a soil grow. Any benefits or just for stability purposes?

Well thank you Sir So you don't think #1 is in any danger? As a first time grower I guess I'm just anxious. As for the expanded clay, thats for slow evaporation. The top of the soil turns into a hard crust pretty fast otherwise with the fan running.