Hello fellow growers! My journey began 7 weeks ago (July 10) wanting to be more self sufficient with Covid and the dispensary being shut down for a while. The original plan was to put a few autos in big pots outside and harvest by the end of September. But I bought photo fem Northern Lights #5 by mistake and received 3 free Super Lemon Haze seeds. The 2 NL that I germinated have done pretty well. The 1 Lemon Haze didn’t survive seedling so I tried germinating directly in the pot and 2 weeks later (3 weeks ago) she sprouted and seems to be doing well. these plants are in 7gal planters with Coast Of Maine Stonington blend soil cut with perlite. All plants are getting plain tapwater when the soil feels dry/light.
I’m in Massachusetts, and it will be getting cold here soon so I went ahead and purchased a tent, a $40 COB grow light from Amazon, a 4inch booster for intake, a 6" for exhaust and built myself a pair of full spectrum COB bricks 100w each for another $40. I’m guessing my harvest won’t be until the beginning of December at this rate.
So I’ve decided to try adding the 2 autoflowers to the mix in hopes of having something ready a little earlier. I used the paper towel method to germinate 2 seeds - took about a day and a half. Both seeds went directly into their 3gal fabric pots which are full of (yeah yeah, I know…) Miracle Grow organic for containers mixed with extra perlite. The next day one has sprouted, and I’m waiting anxiously to see if the second seed with sprout.
I’m loving my new hobby which really scratches my mad scientist itch lol! Its amazing how quickly this went from a few pots out in the field to as my wife says “Breaking Bad”. And I don’t want to think about just how much I’ve spent so far.
I figured I’d try documenting the new seeds and my first grow in general since I’ve really been enjoying everybodys posts in this great community, and I could use some like-minded friends who are as excited about all this stuff as I am. I’m completely open to any advice and opinions as I’m sure I’ll get plenty wrong so please don’t hesitate to speak up.
If you’ve read this all so far, thank you - I really appreciate the time! I look forward to learning with all of you
“The Tall One” - NL stretched right from the start. Found this girl blown over twice when they were still outside and a few weeks old. Added a few inches of soil the other day since the roots were showing. Bigger fan leaves. Topped 8 days ago! :
I Forgot to mention, I am growing in a 4’x2’x5’ tent.
So my “new hobby” is developing the same way most of them do. Me: “This will be so much cheaper than buying it / paying someone to do it for me.”
My Wife: “Look at your Vape cabinet… hundreds of flavors you don’t even use. The basement is full of band equipment and stage lighting gear that you haven’t even touched in years. We REALLY need this, that and the other thing.”
But last night was our State’s tax free weekend, so I bought a Spider Farmer SF-2000 which just got left on the porch. I like to keep things in pairs, but it’ll have to be one new light for now. I wonder what folks think - should I retire all the other lights? Keep the DIY full spectrum 100w COB bricks on either side of the new light and retire the $40 “1000w” COB Grow Light (Actually nice for the price with a bunch of other LED wavelengths surrounding the white center chip) to the veg tent that I don’t yet own…?
I’m probably the worst person to ask. Nothing i do makes a lot of sense to anyone but myself. I would say if you really wanted hlg lights, I wouldn’t buy two hlg-100’s for a 2x4. If that helps any.
The posts I’ve read around here seemed you’re THE man to ask lol! Thank you for the anti-recommendation I’ll use this guy until I can get away with upgrading.
But full disclosure:upon unboxing, I noticed the driver was wobbling around. 2 of the screws were loose. So I went around the whole board and was able to snug about half of the screws, and one of the driver screws was missing altogether.
I just added a small drop of moist soil to re-cover the seed thinking it might just need to be a little softer to split open. Not sure if that is really how it works or not. I’ve also domed it with a clear plastic cup that I poked two holes into. So much reading over the last month and a half that it is easy to get things mixed up.
It looks like I have a problem. I’m not seeing much new growth, and starting to get some discoloration, curled twisted leaves that feel a little crispy, and I’m wondering if the reddish stems might be an issue.
I’ve been using straight tap water from my garden hose all along, without bothering to check my ph. I’ve got a ph meter coming today, and some cal-mag coming tomorrow. I’ve also ordered Advance Nutrients Micro Grow Bloom hoping that their “ph perfect” will straighten out whatever ph issue I might have without having to buy ph up and down. I’m not sure if it is ok to add nutrients with these soils I’m using.
Brought all the girls out for a watering and photo shoot. I’ve decided to try adding AN MGB at 1/4 strength and see how it goes.
The Sprout - Auto Super Lemon Haze
All the plants seem to be doing better since the cal-mag and captain Jack’s on Friday. I have a feeling I may have been underwatering in addition to not balancing the PH. The plants really don’t take much water though… I mixed up a gallon and was only able to use half of it between the 3 pots before I started to get some runoff.
The girls are looking much better a few days after watering with the added nutrients. We’re definitely back to growing again! I’ll check them again tonight. The sprout is showing 3 leaves now just beginning to show the 3rd node
A quick check in. The girls seem to be doing pretty well, but I’m worried about possible bugs… maybe spray again with the Captain Jack.
The 2 northern lights are 10 weeks old, and I think they’re very ready to flower. I’ve been waiting for the 5 week old Skywalker OG to catch up to them size-wise, but I need to top her and want to try making a clone with the top. I’m waiting for plastic cups to come (which won’t be here until Friday now) so I’ll be able to check for roots.
The plants seem small to me, but I have been trying to keep them short since the tent is only 5’ tall. The NL really need another good pruning, they’re getting a little unruly.
Plastic cups came on Wednesday so I’ve topped the Skywalker OG finally. The topping got large leaves trimmed off, a quick scrape, fresh 45 cut and dipped in Clonex gel - what a mess lol! Stuck straight into some dirt and domed… now the waiting. I really hope this works as this is a really beautiful plant that has grown nicely.
Both Northern Lights got a good thinning and watered to runoff with cal-mag then ph’ed water. There were some yellow clawed leaves down low on both plants… since I’m in super soil and now using cal mag weekly, I may want to hold off on the AN nutes for a few more weeks.
Here is a longview shot of the tent from last night. I think it might be time to switch to flower if I want to harvest sometime this year. I may need to make some sort of clone box and should take a cutting from both NLs. I should just buy another $60 tent, but I’ll probably line a cardboard box with foil.
I picked up this neat bluetooth thermometer/hygrometer so that I can see how the temperature is during lights off.
It is getting down to the 40s at night now and it will only get colder. Insulation is mostly up on the walls now which has made a big difference already. Attic insulation coming next weekend. There is a small space heater outside the tent in front of my 4" intake fan.
Today is my Birthday. I got home from work and was happy to see a nice little taproot on a new autoflower Grandaddy Purple seed I started on Saturday! But then I opened my tent and found this
