Pistils?

[Philou38]

Hi all,
I'm a total newbie here, growing Northern Lights Auto from Royal Queen Seeds, in soil and only with water and sunlight If I can get a few grams out of my plants it will already be a success for me.
Are what I'm seeing on the picture the pistils that will in the end turn into buds?
It's been 4 weeks since it got of the soil.
From your experience how taller should the plant grow in these conditions until harvesting?

Thanks!

[ellz]

Hi Philou38 and welcome to GWE! You have a female plant there and yes, those are pistils. Congrats! Should bud up nicely for you!

As for the growth, outdoor plants can get pretty large if they are straight in the ground or in super large containers. Smaller containers will see smaller plants but typically you should see the plant grow about 3x bigger than it is in veg so if it's only 12 inches tall in veg you can expect it could get up to 36 inches tall in bloom or taller (and wider depending on training). That is by no means exact. Just from my observations in a hydro set up inside. The outdoor grow (in the Earth) I started years ago never made it. It ended up getting flooded due to a storm but those were taller than me and I'm 6' 3" tall! Are you growing straight in the ground or in a container?

[Philou38]

Cool, thanks for the welcome and the quick reply!
I'm not really outdoors. I'm growing in containers behind windows. I have both east and west facing windows, so I move them every time so they can get as much light as possible. Is it a good idea to turn them around regularly so all the branches get more or less the same amount of light?

They are in 7l containers (~2 gallons). The tallest plant which is 4 weeks old is 20cm tall (7.9inches) at the moment.
I suppose I could have used bigger containers, but I'm not planning on having trees in my apartment

[ellz]

No problem! I would say it would be a good idea to rotate them regularly through the day if you can for best results. Otherwise you'll end up with only one side really growing. The only issue I could see with rotating them is it could take a bit longer for the buds to develop than if you just let one side face the window at all times. You could try to train the "back" branches (the ones not in the window) to come out a bit and then get the light off the sides. That would probably be the best option if you can do it. The containers may end up being fine for your setup but I would have probably gone a bit bigger just to avoid the roots binding up.

[Philou38]

Thanks again, will try rotating them then

[alltatup]

Hi Phil, are you not feeding your plants anything? You won't get very good flowers if you don't provide them with some nutrition...

[Philou38]

There are already nutrients and fertilizers in the soil (NPK, compost..). Is it enough? Ph is at 6.5.
I would really want to grow something without having to add anything else. Doesn't matter if I don't get drug lord yields, just a few grams will make me happy

[CaptainWiese91]

Welcome to GWE!
Happy for you choose RQS seeds! I only grow from that breeder. And I’ve have grown Northern light auto many times ! Super plant! It can take a beating actually and I will still bounce back and give you something to smoke on
PH levels are good.

[Philou38]

Cool, can't wait until it's finished. This grow will teach patience
I agree the experience with RQS was perfect, super quick delivery in Europe even with the covid lockdown. And you get free seeds and a grinder on top.

[CaptainWiese91]

I’m diagnosed with PTSD from Afghanistan, so she know I need it to get trough the day.
She just loves the growing experience also, cannabis it’s not the only we grow here.
Your wife don’t smoke either ? That is always a cool experience also .

[Philou38]

She just smoked a few times when we were students, but is not against trying again!
I have hardly smoked in the past years (used to smoke regularly as a student), but am looking forward to try something homegrown. I suppose it should be better than stuff bought on the street (I'm from Europe)

[CaptainWiese91]

I’m from Europe also. I’m danish, but me and my wife moved to Portugal so I could grow and she could have a sunnier life

She is actually studying right now - she can do everything from down here and get her college degree.

I smoked hash all my life, it’s the only thing in Denmark. But it’s to hard for my lungs - and marijuana in Denmark is shit. So we decided to move to south of Europe instead. I have my military pension

[alltatup]

Philou38 Just make sure your soil has the proper nutes to carry your plants through flower.
CaptainWiese91 How cool you moved from Denmark to Portugal!!! I'm suprised to hear the Denmark weed is shit.

[CaptainWiese91]

@Philou38
Sounds Nice with a weekend in copenhagen. Normal people would tell me they hate the prices on everything, it’s an expensive country, sadly
Can i ask where you are from ? - yea my people are very friendly, because you not a an emigrant 😁. And tourists are very welcome in Denmark.

[Philou38]

CaptainWiese91
If you insist, I can admit that food was very pricey there
I'm from France (born there, but parents come from elsewhere)

[CaptainWiese91]

Yes specially the food is very expensive. And specially in the capital.
France lovely country - had a lot of camping trips to France before moving to Portugal 👍🏻

[Philou38]

alltatup if I remember well the packaging said NPK 14-16-18. I can check when I come back home the other percentages. We'll see how it goes
I can send a picture of the whole plant later too.

[CaptainWiese91]

The Ph is on spot.
Sound like the soil I’m actually using.
But the more you mix leca or perlite in the soil, the less nutrients you have.
My standards is 50% of the pot is at least leca, because it gives me better drainage, and a lot more oxygen to the roots.
I know people say 30-40 %.
You should be able to use this soil, and then flush it a good time around flowering phase starts. Then you wash the last of the NPK it didn’t used. And then just give bloom nutrients. If you want of course

My autos are only water feeding. Did not give them any extra nutrients because there is enough in the soil actually

[Philou38]

Awesome, thanks again for all your replies.
I will probably stick with water feeding all the way through if the plants look healthy.
I think the drainage in my pots is ok. I have many holes and clay balls in the bottom to improve drainage.
As you are not feeding them anything, do you flush them 1-2 weeks before harvest, or is it not necessary?

[CaptainWiese91]

No I don’t flush. The only thing I feed them with is cal-mag, forgot to write that. But that’s it.
I have a motto saying ; if it looks happy and healthy, I don’t give them anything. And for a beginner it’s a good start, not to overload them with nutrients, most end op having nute burn, my opinion

[Philou38]

So here is the picture of my first plant. 4 weeks old.
I have two others that I planted a bit later.

[CaptainWiese91]

It’s not very big 🤔. I’m thinking is maybe a little too small when the plants its getting bigger .. maybe.
Not that it can’t be done, but you must take good care for the plant if you decide to keep in that pot☺️

[Philou38]

Yeah I know... But as I'm having three plants, I supposed if they all get too big, the window might be too small for them.
Of course I could have grown only a big one alone, but as it's my first grow I preferred to grow several at once in case something goes wrong.

[CaptainWiese91]

I know your way of thinking 😆. I have grown a lot but I still have as many as possible. Just in case if some of the ladies is getting sick or something.
But cool you are prepared then😎

[Philou38]

Update on the main lady. White hairs growing in many places. Rainy day today, should be sunny again tommorow.
Fingers crossed

[CaptainWiese91]

Looks healthy 👍🏻

[Philou38]

Update 1 week later on my main lady: bud sites growing in many places

[CaptainWiese91]

Looks good 👍🏻

[Philou38]

Sooo.. I noticed yesterday that on my first plant the leaves from the first three bottom nodes are yellowing.. The rest of the plant looks healthy.
It has been flowering since ~2.5 weeks.
Are these normal signs due to the flowering stage? Is it a nitrogen defiency?
I have a second plant which is ~1 week behind the first which looks very healthy (just like the first plant was last week actually).