Gordo's auto Northen Lights grow

[Gordo41]

Hi guys and gals, I've been absent for a while because I had nothing to post about,, but I've started a new grow with 4 NL seeds.
I soaked them for a day, then into grow starters in a solo cup half full of coco/perlight mix.
I like to leave a lot of room above the grow cube so I can back fill with more coco as the seed grows.
this serves two purposes,
1 it supports the stem while its getting stronger
2. Adds coco around the stem so roots can develop along the entire stem.
For the first watering i use a weak (200 ppm) solution of A/B and continue that until the second week, only watering when the cup gets light.
It"s very easy to over water seedlings and drown them.
I have the cups under 4 T5 lights with about 1-2" of space above the seedlings. No harm done. They seem to love it.
they are 11 days old today and as soon as I get my new lights set up, they will go into 3gal cloth pots.
Here are pics of Day1,, 5,, and 10 days old.
i will be posting pics every 5 days during the grow cycle if anyone is interested.
please comment or ask questions if you ligh.
I never can get them posted in the right order but you can figure it out.
happy growing.

[OzBud]

Hey Gordo, looking good so far. Which breeder's NL have you got there?

[Gordo41]

That would be,, 00 seeds

[OzBud]

Will have to browse their strains. There's some good stuff coming from Spanish companies!

[PuravidaC]

I am about one week ahead of you with my current AK-48 photo grow, soil and cfl's. Would love to compare grow rates with your autos so keep posting! A lot of folks have been raving about autos so this will give me a good comparison. Good luck My Friend!!

[Gordo41]

Great,,, we will see the difference. I have been growing autos ever since they came out in force and some have been great plants and others have been just so so. But its all good. I dont find much difference between the two in taste or the high,, but a well grown Photo will produce two to three times the OZ if you have the room for the plant or if you grow it outside.
I usually put my girls outside during the day if it's not too hot and back into the tent at night so I can give them the full 20 hrs of light. Nothing like the Sun to grow the best plants. And it's free.

[NebulaHaze]

Your plants look great so far!

[Gordo41]

Thank you. You are always so positive and encouraging.

[Tika]

Yeah! Nice to see you posting again Gordo! I'm subbed

[Gordo41]

Hi all, it's day 15 5 days since the last pics and i see some difference but not as much as i thought there would be.
They are looking a little pail so I upped the nutes to 700 ppm but I'm only adding it a little at a time for now.
the new lights are in and I'm working on them today and should have them done soon. Once I get the tent set up I will transplant the seedlings into thier permanent 3gal homes

[Dagmar]

I am eagerly watching your grow as I have just started my first autos - one Northern Lights and one Short Rider. They should both break soil tomorrow. It will be good for me to follow someone who knows what they're doing. Thanks!

[Gordo41]

That's great,,, I love autos and have been growing them for about 10 years. The NL is a great plant to start with,,, the SR might not have much yield but is fun to grow anyway. Stay tuned.

[Gordo41]

Ok, it's transplanting time so I'm off to move the baby girls into 3 gal pots of coco perlight mix.

[NebulaHaze]

They look good though I agree they're just a touch pale. Upping the nutrients slightly is perfect especially when plants are pale or lime green all over without any spots. Just be careful of going overboard as a little goes a long way!

Also are you checking the pH? The number one cause of deficiencies is the pH is too high or too low so that might also be a contributer. In coco you want it to between 5.5-6.5 pH. When the pH is higher or lower, the nearby nutrients take on a slightly different chemical form. Although the difference is small - it just adds or removes an H atom (the 'H' in pH) - it makes it much harder for the plant to absorb nutrients when they're not in the right form near the roots.

One last thought that comes to mind, since you're in coco are you using a Cal-Mag supplement like CaliMagic? Just about every nutrient company offers one that's compatible with their nutrients. I don't see any signs of a Calcium deficiency (small brown spots - most common) or Magnesium deficiency (lower leaves turn yellow between the veins), but just something to keep in mind if you see those symptoms down the road as its very common to see them in coco without a supplement

Your seedlings look great! I think they're developing nicely and will do even better with the extra nutrients and a transplant!

[Gordo41]

Thanks for all the growing tips. I do a PPM and PH check with every feeding and PH the plane water when I use it.
I do add cal-mag with every feeding also. The color is looking much better since I have been feeding @ 900 PPM.
As you can see in the latest pics. Thanks again.

[Beach_Town_Brit]

Which nutes are you using Gordo?
You mention A/B, is it canna?

[Gordo41]

Yes Cana at this point but I switch around a lot depending on what I have the most of.

[Gordo41]

Today is day 30 in this grow,,, 2 of the NL died of unknown causes so I'm down to 1 NL and 1 THC Bomb. They are doing well and should be going into flower soon.
I have trimmed off the lower 2 nodes so far and back filled the pots up to the bottom of the remaining leaves. The first 2 nodes never seem to produce worthwhile buds anyway and now the plant will put out additional roots from the nodes that were trimmed off. At this point I will not add any more coco mix and just let the plant fill the 3 gal pots. I find that a 3 gal pot works well for autos and doesn't take up too much room in the tent.
The weather has been so nice here I'm thinking of moving the plants outside during the day and only using the tent at night. But I'm more interested in how well the new lights will do on thier own without any help from the sun.

[Beach_Town_Brit]

Sorry to hear about your losses but the remaining girls look good. I like 3 gal pots too.
Do you have more seeds? You should pop a couple more in there, looks like you have space.
I just got some Mephitso seeds so I'm chomping at the bit to plant again
Exciting to see how your new light performs. Is it generating a lot of heat in the tent?

[Gordo41]

I have more seeds and I have two replacements sprouted already. No heat at all. The tent is running at 72 deg right now with all 5 lights on and set to 40,000 lux. The heat sinks are working very well. I have a small 4" exhaust fan going when the lights are on. If it gets very hot in the grow area like in summer,, I have another vent hooked up to my AC window unit that pumps cool air into the tent when needed.

[Tika]

Yes those that survived look great

[Gordo41]

Hi all,, yesterday was day 40 and it's amazing the difference 10 days makes in the plants development.
I have removed a lot of the fan/sun leves that were blocking bud sights from the light. They are not nessesary for indoor grows.
I thought about moving the girls outside during the day to save electricity but I'm only using 3 of the 5 cob lights as it is so it's not a big deal to have them under lights the whole time. As of today I have the lights turned up all the way and 12" above the tops of the plants. They are getting about 60,000 lux now.
Here they are as of today.

[Beach_Town_Brit]

Looks great, love how these autos just barrel on through their growth cycles.

[PuravidaC]

Hey Gordo, looks like your girls like your new COB lights... and you're only using half of them! Once I expand my grow area it will be 3X3. Do you feel like 4-50w COB's would be sufficient? I know you got 5 but currently only using 3. I'm still debating if I will upgrade to COB or LEC. Leaning towards 315 LEC but I like the idea of COB's not needing to be replaced every year or two like LEC bulbs...

[Gordo41]

First,, thank you for commenting on my grow.
Now to your situation, at the time I decided to go with the COB setup I didn't know much about the 315 LEC,, but after checking them out on you tube I can say I would still go with the COB setup and mostly for one main reason.
With 4 or 5 seperate COB lights I can put them where ever I want in the tent to get the light just the way I want.
The COB has an adjustable damper that I can choose the amount of light I want without raising or lowering the light.
The single 315 LEC light has a lot of fall off in a 4X4 or even a 3X3 area. It needs to be replaced every 10,000 hrs and you can't adjust the amount of light. It is a nice light so dont get me wronge, it's just not right for how I want to use it.
I dont feel that 4 COBs would give you the ability to have even lighting over a 3X3 area. 5 lights would be better for sure.
I only have 3 lights on because I only have 2 plants and one seedling in there now. If I had 4 plants in there I would have all 5 lights on. In the end it;s up to you and I wish you luck which ever way you go.
G

[Gordo41]

Here are two charts showing the LEC 4200 vs 3100kv .

[bobsakamoto]

me too, thanks Gordo41

[Gordo41]

Here ya go.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=w4n6VZTMf04

[NebulaHaze]

Thanks!