First grow - 90w led/cfl combo 3x Northern Lights Autoflower

Discussion in 'Indoor Grow Journals' started by SmokedOutandHigh, Nov 2, 2014.

  1. #1 SmokedOutandHigh, Nov 2, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 2, 2014
    Alright so here it is, attempting my first serious grow. Hoping to be pretty organic without starving the plants but willing to use dyna-grow/ bloom + iguana juice bloom. Been browsing grasscity for a couple years but finally made an account. Advice is welcome.
     
    I received 3x Royal Queen Northern lights seeds, plus one cheese candy seed from one of the main seed distributors in England. Will not be growing the cheese candy this grow, saving it for outside. This grow i'm looking to keep the smell down as i'm the only one in the house who smokes weed, not that growing it will be a huge issue, I'd rather just not have it reek up the house as that would be the issue. I've read Northern lights is relatively low odor so i'm hoping I won't have to work that hard to minimize it.
     
    So let's get started, here's what I have so far; one wardrobe, 3x 3.75 liter pots, temp/humidity reader, clip-fan, regular organic potting soil mixed 30% with composted horse manure(2-1/2 yrs with a little sandy soil), a brand name 90w tri-ban led ufo, 2x 2700k 55watt cfls, and a 14watt led(don't know how much use that one will see), ona-block-pro for odor, and mylar walls and floor. Plans for adding two more 55w cfls/ or a 125-250w bulb and fixture are under way. Ordered Dyna-Gro Grow 7-9-5, Dyna-Bloom 3-12-6, and Iguana Juice Bloom, they should arrive shortly in the next week.
     
    Not sure yet but may do a test with the bloom nutrients giving one plant dyna-bloom, one iguana, and one both. Idk though, maybe, maybe not. Depends if there's interest and people's opinions as this is one question I have.
     
    Went with auto-flower because they just sound easier and shorter time-wise, kinda going for maximum yield for space and lighting but mostly it's a learning experience. Lighting cycle is going to be 20+ hrs a day.
     
    Planted and covered seeds in the dark to germinate will update in a couple days when they sprout. Pretty excited as I've wanted to do this for years. Lemme know what you guys think? That'd be dope.

     

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  2. good luck buddy. i'm a noob too... all I can say is don't give up and don't get discouraged. I'm following!
     
  3. #3 SmokedOutandHigh, Nov 2, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 3, 2014
    yours seems interesting too,  i may upgrade to similar wattage the next go around.. maybe normal plants too but too early to tell.
     
  4. Why are Northerns from Royal Queen so much more expensive?
     
  5. #5 SmokedOutandHigh, Nov 3, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 3, 2014
    I'm not absolutely sure, but I think it has something to do with stabilized genetics so they're good producers maybe less likely to hermie. Look at some pictures of their NL indoors too, they were monsters, especially for autos. My guess is part of it's the name though, I was recommended by a friend and they looked boss so I just went for it, we'll see how they turn out.
     
  6. And they're off.. One of the girls we'll call #1 for now, on the far right, sprouted today so I can't imagine that much longer for the other two. I have the 14w on it, once the other two are sprouted I'll flip on the 90w ufo and blast em from about a foot away. Getting pumped..
     

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  7. Quick update; they all sprouted. Decided to flip on the 55w cfls I had too along with the 90w, doubt it will be too much.. Ordering IKEA hang lights and buying some more cfls in the next couple days/ week. How much more lighting do you guys think i'll need(probably in 55w cfls or 45w)?
     
    next pic update when they grow some haha
     

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  8. #8 SmokedOutandHigh, Nov 7, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 11, 2014
    Day 3
    #1's growing good
    #2 came from a runt seed and sprouted a day later
    #3 is alot like #1 
     
    Temps hover around 75-85 degrees with the door cracked.
     

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  9. #9 SmokedOutandHigh, Nov 11, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 12, 2014
    Day 7
     
    #1, the largest seed I got out of a pack of three is easily doing the best now. Probably two inches tall.
    #2... the runt seed.. is off to a rough start as you can see. Idk what's wrong with it so some advice would be helpful, I've added like a teaspoon of epsom salts per gallon of water and that seems to help a little.
    #3 is doing pretty good, a  healthy plant as far as I can see.
     
    But that #2. It seems the runt seeds do turn out to be sub-par plants, same soil, same everything, probably a third of the size and in bad shape. Not even sure if it'll make it, feeling kind of gipped but whatever. 
     
    So around the 15-16th in comes Dyna-Grow and we'll see what that does as well. Thinking of starting off at 1/4 strength what does anybody think?
     

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  10. #10 SmokedOutandHigh, Nov 12, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 12, 2014
    Day 9
    #2 gets progressively worse
    #1 and #3 good
    Added another 55w cfl for a total 165w cfl and the 90w led
     

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  11. #11 SmokedOutandHigh, Nov 15, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 15, 2014
    Day 12
     
    Man, I kept looking at the size of those 1 gal pots and it just started to drive me crazy... So I went contradictory of half the peoples advice growing autoflowers and transferred them into some minimum 5 gal containers. I'm hoping by doing this early I can avoid some of the stunting but I figured even if they are stunted halfway they'll still produce a lot more than what they would've limited by space. Some people have had success with transferring them so maybe I will too.
     
    #2 is gone.
    I was fairly sure #2 would no way even survive the transfer so I decided it wasn't worth my time and pulled it. What came out was a disappointment but not a shock, so thanks Royal Queen Seeds for the bunk ass runt seed, that extra $10 for the three pack really went far.
     
    So I'll probably give them a couple days to recover before I give them the dyna-grow.
     
    Where is grasscity lately? Kinda lame wouldn't have done this journal had I known no one would reply with advice, questions, anything...
     
    #1 is now on the left, #3 on the right
    Pictures are before and right after the transfer, we'll see what happens now. 
     

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  12. Hello Smoked,
     
    Tuned in to follow the grow, sorry to hear #2 didn't make it. I have a few questions and would like to possibly offer advice.
     
    Firstly, what is the brand of the brand name 90 watt ufo?
     
    Secondly, what is the brand and composition of the organic soil used for your base mix?
     
    Lastly, if you are striving for a simple balanced organic grow you may need to slap your own hand away from the bottled nutrients. The benefits of organic gardening is not having to measure bottled nutrients by having all of the elements present in the soil throughout the grow and readily available to the plant. Creating a soil to suit our needs as a grower is easily done, however there shouldn't be a problem amending your current soil should you choose to and if it is a decent starting mix. The first step in this process is to identify what your soil may be lacking before a deficiency even has a chance to occur. Understanding what amendments are needed for secondary nutrients and their purpose in the soil, in addition to your basic N-P-K formula, can help you to find natural alternatives to your bottled nutrients and create a balanced soil. A simple aerated soil mix amended with worm castings can provide a young plant with all of the nutrients it needs for its early life. Earthworm castings (EWC) are a simple nitrogen amendment, this is a good start. Some amendments are harder to find in their natural state, it took some digging to find that silica, providing enhanced stem performance for LST found in Protekt along with potassium, can be found in comfrey, as well as stinging nettles.
     
    The appeal this has to me, is that we as a scientific/growing community learn more about the nutrients and composition of amendment plants every day. The rapid and undeniable success of natural amendments leaves open the possibility that part of this success is due to nutrients yet to be identified. These nutrients may be present in the whole natural amendment, but not the bottled after product.
      
    A better example of this is Aloe. Being the base component of most rooting hormones/gels, many growers will add an aloe plant to their hps lit area, and use straight aloe for rooting applications. This saves the grower money, provides a natural source of nutrients (none of whatever ingredients make the gel a gel), and could have benefits yet to be identified in connection to the aloe plant.
     
    Sorry for the brief derail. Take only what information suits you and freely research yourself.
     
  13. #13 SmokedOutandHigh, Nov 21, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 23, 2014
    Day 18
    #3 is now renamed #2
    So we're at the beginning of day 18, things seem to be going pretty good with the exception of plant #1's first bottom leaves that developed.  They are drying up and curling, though it doesn't seem to be affecting the growth at all and all the new leaves are coming out nice and green. Advice?  #2 was slowed down by the transfer but picked back up again 2 days afterward, it's looking good and starting to catch up. Started giving dynagrow in very low amounts about day 15, maybe the reason for #1's burnt leaves or maybe not because #2 didn't experience that. May have spilled a couple drops of nute water on them not knowing any better but do now, so that's probably it. Going to feed probably every three days or maybe not as much. Also got another 55w cfl just have to find a lamp.
     
     
    Thanks for sub HereForTheFood, awesome, and thanks for the advice and info. I'm still brand new to this so trying to catch up a little. It's a Taotronics I got off ebay, seems to be pretty bright but I don't have another one to compare it to. 
     
    The soil is just some basic soil I picked up at the grocery store mixed with some sandy topsoil and composted horse....It has some perlite and some peat moss in it too. I didn't know what I was doing but other plants outside seemed to have really liked it.
    Have you ever heard of Cleomes? They have leaves almost like pot leaves and grow about as tall but just produce actual flowers, but they even have a vaguely reminiscent smell. These did great in it.
     
    I wasn't completely sure on the nutes just trying to go off an average of the available guides for autos that's why I started small at day 15, like a 16th of a teaspoon dyna-grow per gal. Not very much and way lower than the bottle, that says to start out at 1/4 or 1/2. They seem to have reacted well though aside from the leaves. 
     
    Silica huh? I am going to lst and have started #1, might have to pick me up some. What does it do exactly? Makes them stronger and grow faster?
     
    Hopefully we can get some weed out of this.
     

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  14. looks good dude keep going
     
  15. Hey thanx for subbing dude. I subbed yours too, looks legit.
     
  16. #16 SmokedOutandHigh, Nov 29, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 29, 2014
    Day 25
    Plants are doing good except for a little burn on number 1, which is starting to lessen. Not giving any more dyna grow atm, they seem to be doing fine without it. I now have 4 55w cfls and the 90w led, may add more or keep it the same, not sure yet. Lst is coming along too..
     

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  17. seems you got a good amount of light going for 2 plants especially for them being bushy/short, looks great 
     
  18. #18 SmokedOutandHigh, Nov 29, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 30, 2014
    You think I have enough for flowering? And I was thinking of adding 100-200 more watts cfl down the line idk, we'll see. How much of a difference would that make you think?
     
  19. Looks good bro subbed
     
  20. If you need pictures for comparison, I'm doing Northern Lights Autoflower from Nirvana right now. Different seed bank, but same strain. 5 gallon containers too.

    It looks like your wardrobe space could fit one of those larger CFLs you mentioned, maybe a 125 watt if heat is managed properly. Can you please explain more about the dimensions and ventilation qualities of your wardrobe grow area?


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