First off, thank you for taking an interest in my humble grow. I originally intended for this grow to be in a PC box hidden in my wardrobe. I also looked around for some easy to grow seeds and decided upon the Nirvana Northern Lights autoflower. During design I found that the PC case was going to cost a lot for the size I needed, so I reverted to a converted filling cabinet (bought sheet wood for the front). Then during sound/heat tests I found that the noise and heat were not suitable for a 100% stealth operation. So I had to hide my box in a cupboard in the garage in order to not require 100% stealth (i.e. some sound was okay). At this point I will introduce my grow area (1st pic) From left to right; 90 degree bend with wire mesh taped to the end and filled with 3/4 inch of carbon pellets 5” wall spigot to attach the bend Two high static pressure PC fans (60cfm) taped together to increase static pressure and reduce sound. I did this after finding 1 fan was too loud (straining) and had significant backdraft – adding the second fan reduced sound and backdraft and heat. Four 30w cfl’s – I couldn’t source the e27 holders so had to butcher some ikea ones (regret that) Light cycle; 22/2 Three 2” intakes – had one intake and fan couldn’t take the negative pressure nor did it reduce heat much Six 90 degree bend spray painted black inside and plugged two at a time into the intakes covered in tights 45w Tubular heater connected to a reptile thermostat to come on if temps get below 22c – found needed this as during night cycle it was dropping to 18c with an ambient temp of 16-18c outside The front has a door draft sponge around it to seal against light and air Door has four suitcase latches to pull tight shut against the seal And mylar stapled inside My grow pot (2nd pic); 3 gal air pot I got for free from nirvana with the seeds – cut down to about 1.5 gal Purpose built lst/scrog net built to hold pot and move out. Biobizz Allmix Biobiz Nutrients; Root Juice, Grow, Bloom, Top-max And last picture shows the girl at 1 week and 2 days from seed. The location of the grow box worries me some, and I am resigned to 100% certainty that I will get pests. As and when that happens I will post. In the meantime I am spraying with Canna Cure weekly. Lessons learned so far with the grow box. Bigger is better; wish I had built a bigger box, height is not too bad, but wider would have been better to get a proper light setup and fan/filter combination Proper air filtration; The amount I have spent getting the PC fans working I could of had half the funds for a decent speed adjustable fan and CF E27 sockets; the way I have had to connect them is shocking, order the ones from Maplins and wait for them to be in stock next time Paint; the mylar is a bit of a pain and I could easily have painted it white for less hassle Even after all of the negatives over the box, I thought what the hell, the seeds were cheap enough, lets grow one and see what happens. Thanks for looking, I will add more info as I progress.
New picture - 2 weeks and 1 day from seed Have been giving it 1ml/l of root juice since sprouting upping to 2ml/l gradually Just gave it its first Bio-grow with todays watering 0.5ml/l I probably watered it a bit soon, last two waterings it has taken just less than 2 litres, today it too about 1 2/3 litre - but it looked and felt dry - another lesson learned. On the subject of germination and initial sprouting; The paper towel between two saucers approach was used, and it sprouted within 24 hours. I sieved allmix into a small container and placed it and the seed into an espresso coffee cup (since it was all I had around). I added two bottle caps full of water twice during the week. Transplanted after 1 week from seed into final pot.
I think you are over watering big time as the leaves look like they are drooping and curling downwards. You do not need to water everyday they do not mind going 3 days without water in fact they seem to love it. I would take a look at other posts about watering to give you an idea of when to water and how much.
great start keep the updates coming, but i do agree with jmanuk i usually skip every third day of watering. it seems to make the roots stetch and grow stronger in turn taking your plant to another level when you make it work for the feedings.
Thanks for the help guys. To answer jmanuk and 11bvt - in all honesty I thought I may be under watering. The plant is now 16 days old and I have only watered it twice which has resulted in the plant on the picture. I followed the advice found in forums to only water when the soil is dry 1" down; So I watered on re-potting (2 liters) this lasted 6 days, watered again (2 liters - just less) and then today four days. I will wait longer this time. Spicesauce - they are autoflowers, so have them on a continual 22/2 light setting - simply to help control the temps, because it feels right to give them some sleep time, oh and because I spray with canna cure weekly and need a dark cycle to do it so it does not burn the plants.
On further investigation I have found that my digital thermometer appears to be reporting temps 2c higher than it actually is. My cheap mercury thermo was reading 23c, to further check I set the reptile thermostat to 24c and it switched on straight away. This mean my actual temps have been between 18c (dark) and 24c (light) - not sure if this is any help or cause; but I assume the water will not be evaporating very quickly. I have also calculated that my lights total 120w per square foot at this point - could it be light stress? Checked the plant tonight and it looks more droopy/curly at the tips than before - the color still looks healthy green at the minute (sorry forgot to get pic). The leaves feel kind of light, not brittle but not silky.
Latest update. Plant has more than doubled in size than the last picture taken two days ago - although some of the leaves are discolored where it was drooping. I have added some more carbon pellets to the 90 degree bend which reduces airflow slightly and has increased temps to a solid 27c. Downside to this is that it gets colder during night cycle as it is drawing slightly less air from the tube heater - got down to 17c yesterday. May go 23/1 or 24/0 just for temps - unless anyone has some suggestions for controlling night time temps when ambient temperature outside the box is dropping to 6-8c? I have a reptile heater mat, but even at 3w it heats up to 40c and it feels way to hot to put under the pot. I germinated the seed on it and had to have books and wood between it and the plates. Not sure what happened with the drooping two days ago, my only thoughts are that it could have either been the low temperatures or it was ready for some nutrients; it has certainly exploded in size in the last 48 hours since the last watering - which was also the first time I gave it Bio-grow 0.5ml per liter.
Thanks dall23014 and mrsmichigan, it will be my pleasure to keep you up to date... and fingers crossed I get to a harvest. Any and all tips/questions are most welcome (especially the heat problem during night
To be honest ur only chance is keeping the front of the box off always. Or cut 2 holes in the bottom and get some little 4 inch desk fans bringing air in and also rig two on the top taking air out. That's the thing with those little boxes like that they get hot. Im not gonna lie tho they are pretty cool.your plant looks good tho just make sure you always water it well and let it dry every time. And watch your temps don't ever let it get warmer than 85
Made the decision to just go 24/0 light cycle; for the cost involved in trying to maintain heat during the night cycle balanced with keeping it cool during the day cycle it just is not worth it for this particular grow. Plans are forming in my head for a larger box (wider), where I will put the fan/cf and heater inside the box.
Latest pictures. Was worried the little lady was a bit small for her age (19 days) and she has started curling very slightly at the tips again - although my local hydro guy thinks those tips were small shoots when the droop happened last week so would have been affected then. I had a look at other grow journals for Northern Lights Autoflower and she looks about the same for her age, if not slightly bushier. She has loads of new leaves comes on top as well as underneath the larger ones - her green mass seems a lot (dont think the pictures do justice) - wish she was taller I will water tomorrow, it will be six days since the last one, and the soil is feeling a little dry and crumbly - going to increase the nutrients to 2ml/litre Root Juice and .75ml/litre bio-grow. I probably wont increase the root juice anymore. She perked up loads (doubled green mass in 48 hours) after the last water which is when I introduced the bio-grow, so if she does the same again I will continue stepping the nutes up at the next water Thanks for looking.
Our setups are very much alike... pretty insane. I Think i mighht have alil more light then you.. Hopefully this keeps mine short and stalky... good work!
Latest updated - day 21 from seed. Seems to have grown in height by about an inch or two since my last post, I have also found the start of a couple of branches hidden underneath the top leaves. No adverse reaction (yet) to upping the nutrients at the last feed (2 days ago). The original baby leaves (first 4 I think) seems to be discoloring a lot, are curling up and touching the soil. Should I wait until they drop off or snip them off?
that's looking great mate, it's so dense. I'm guessing you won't need to use the screen. I don't think that one will get very tall. autos that I have had that have grown stocky like that don't get tall. they end up as a big ball of bud on a stick this is one of my stocky ones. this was one of 9 grown under a 125w CFL. as you have just the one you should get much more bud than this so don't worry lol. they are nice and easy to manicure
nice picture jetski - looks like a hand sized bud - what was the dry weight of this? I was rather hoping it would start to stretch a little; but the vegetation is so dense - probably about 4-6 sets of leaves within about 4 inches - it almost one solid bunch of green. Do you think this is due to any environment factors or just genetics? I was hoping 120w in a small space would be enough. I could remove a bulb and put the plant closer to the light if that would help? This is three weeks from seed - any idea how big it could grow from here?