Northern Lights Express Auto in a Space Bucket

[LloydDobler]

My first post, so here goes...

Thanks almost completely to the resources here on gwe.com I am a week or so away from harvesting my first grow. At least I "think" I am getting close, but I am hoping some of you seasoned growers can give me some feedback. I have neither a jewelers loupe nor a digital microscope, so for now I am relying on my eyeballs (and hopefully yours) to tell me when to harvest. The plant is coming up on 10 weeks since germination and it's been flowering for ~5 weeks.

I will add some additional info and pics, but in the meantime, I would greatly appreciate some feedback on how close you all think I am harvesting.

FWIW, the seed is from Phoenix Seeds thru Seedsman, linky here: https://www.seedsman.com/en/northern...eminised-seeds

Thank you for your help.

Lloyd
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[Eliot Pryor]

Well done !! If you knew what strain it is that would help determine weeks remaining. I'd guess 3 or 4 weeks. Nice grow !!

[LloydDobler]

Thank you for your words of encouragement and your assessment.

[Weed Pharma]

Welcome: You can use your photo's and then enlarge them to see trichomes.

Looking at the first pics, I see alot of cloudy and no amber with many white hairs.
The second pic is fuzzy when I enlarged it- but seemed to have more clear trichomes.

I would place the begining of havest window about 3 weeks away- you still have plenty of time to put on more weight. It wouldn't surprise me to see a doubling in yeild

There needs to be more dark and curled hairs before you are close to harvest.

[LloydDobler]

Thank you for your input. Your assessment is reassuring in that I am seeing the same thing when I look at the pics. Trichomes: some cloudy, some clear, none amber. And still many white pistils. Both you and Eliot are thinking ~3 weeks though; that part is a little disappointing. I have been reading that breeder grow times are extremely optimistic; guess so...

[LloydDobler]

I thought I would share some info on the space bucket setup I am using. Stealth is very important to me so I needed something that would be basically invisible in plain sight.

The bucket build shown below is in a corner of my garage as seen in the last pic. The lights, fan, and heat (from a heating pad) are all tied to my Samsung smart home hub and can be monitored and controlled from my phone.

A wireless smart home temperature sensor is in the bucket to monitor temps and is tied to the heater switch to automatically keep temps around 75 degrees. This setup has worked well even with garage temps dipping into the low 30s.

The buckets and totes are from Lowes, but almost everything else was ordered from Amazon, including the 6 super cheap LED grow lights: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I was concerned that the lights may not be sufficient to get the job done, but they seem to be providing enough light...

[LloydDobler]

Here is the latest pic. Looks like it's getting close. Pistils are darkening and curling in. It looks to me like all trichomes are now cloudy but none are turning amber? Not sure if it's time to start flushing?

A little more info:
- The plant is in some generic organic potting soil from Lowes.
- It is hand watered with filtered water from a Berkey water filtration system (usually ~16oz of water every other day)
- I have been using a nutrient combination from General Hydroponics.
- Temps in the bucket vary but are usually in the 70's (currently it's 65 degrees in the bucket but it is also 28 degrees in my garage.
- Grow lights have been on basically 24/7 since planting an ungerminated seed; this also helps keep the bucket a bit warmer
- Because my garage is uninsulated and cold, I have been unable to run the ventilation fans, however, humidity is also very low and I haven't had any mold related issues.

Again, this is my first grow and any feedback on time left to harvest, when to flush, or other advice is welcome.

[Gluteous]

Those look at least a week away. Enough time to get a loupe online. They're only about $8 and remove ALL the guess work. I like the 30x60 or a single 40x.

[LloydDobler]

Gluteous, thank you for the comment. Currently no one in my house, NO ONE, is read in on this grow, including the wife (of which I am not proud). She is pretty paranoid (pretty and paranoid...) in general and as my first grow this is a type of "proof of concept". The idea is to complete the grow from seed to cure in total stealth. Once the herb is fully cured and ready for use I will have proven that it can be done invisibly. At that point I intend to bring her into the loop. That being said, I need to time the delivery of online purchases for when I alone am home. The earliest I may be able to time the delivery of a loupe would be in about a week. I guess I should plan on doing that...

[Weed Pharma]

I start plain water at the first signs of amber trichomes- to be ready when the trichomes are ripen to preference.

However, I would start plain water now -allowing the plant to fade before harvest as the leaves are dark green and will carry the plant for a long time.
The pic shows cloudy trichomes with few clear, so you likely have 2 more weeks. (which is enough time to double the bud weight)

[LloydDobler]

Based on WP's comments, Sunday was the last day I watered with nutrients. From here on out it will be water only. Also, I will be ordering a few items online for a Saturday delivery. Currently in my cart are: 1) a loupe, 2) small hygrometers, 3) 62% Boveda packs, and 4) bubble bags to make dry ice hash. If you all have any other recommendations please let me know. Attached are a few more pics of Grow #1...

[LloydDobler]

I ended up harvesting last Friday 2/15/19. The plant had been flowering for ~7 weeks. Checking the trichomes with a jewelers loupe, all were cloudy with a small percentage having turned amber. I haven't weighed it but I would guess around 2-ish ounces? Because I can only grow one plant at a time, to maximize the yield, I choose to not trim the buds super close.

I also took the small buds and trim and made some dry ice hash. Again to maximize the yield, I skipped the 73 bag and went straight to the 120 and did a batch with the 220 bag as well. The rest of the dried buds are curing in the requisite 1qt wide mouth mason jars. In addition to the small hygrometers, I threw a smart home hygrometer in one of the jars and can check humidity from my phone. I also decided to try some Integra Boost 62% humidity packs. After a few days in the jars humidity has stabilized in the low 60's

Unfortunately I have been unable to sample any of the yield... yet. I start a new job next week, and am not sure about initial checkin testing... Nonetheless I am very excited about the outcome of this grow. Again, this was my first attempt at home growing, and I am exceedingly happy with the results. Thank you to Nebula Haze and the group here for making it EASY.