Auto Northern Lights - Seedsman - very slow to flower

[Probiotic]

Hi,

I got these: https://www.seedsman.com/eu_en/northern-lights-auto-feminised-seeds
It says they should kick in flower week 2-4.
I have had first true leaves on Oct 25th. and i start Veg weeks counting from here.
Today is 2nd day of week 7, i can see some hairs building up but im not convinced if this is flowering yet or still veg.

My concern is that these are either slow to flower autos or even photoperiods, what do you think?
Was thinking leaving them another week on 18h light and if no big changes go to 12h.

I also just put netting in and spread even more out as im running out of LST tie down space slowly.
Latest pictures below.

 

[SoOrbudgal]

Patience.........tell us what kind of light how many watts from the wall?

 

[MagicMike66]

Your plants are just starting to flower, you can see a few pistils coming in now. The timings a breeder gives you is only a guide.

 

[Probiotic]

Thanks for your reply.
Its a Spiderfarmer SF1000 light in a 2x2 tent, my 4th grow.
Light is a 100W rated, so it pulls about ~125W at max inclusive a single fan on low but exclusive the charcoal filter and infinity fan that runs separate power line.
All previous ones i grew were autos and this one is taking its time - just to bounce this off you guys if i should treat em as slower to flower autos.

Picture below is an earlier grow, not this one

 

[dilvish]

Northern Light likes lots of light...hence the name. At 100W it's not getting enough but that might just be one problem. if your temps are in the low end and your soil is taking 4 or more days to dry out then they will grow slower especially in soil.

Your fabric pots may be reabsorbing the run off in the catch trays so I would make sure you are either emptying out the run off or get an air grate or something underneath.
A good temperature range is warmer than 70°F (21°C) at night and around 79°F (26°C) during the day. Humidity around 50% is perfect.

Grow times on seedbank sites are listed for strains grown under optimal conditions so unless you have a perfect formula and set up you will not see those times being accurate for a beginner.

 

[Fjeff]

I don’t have the knowledge that most of these other growers have but my last grow was the same, seedman northern lights. I does look like you are well behind as mine did flower at week 4. You just might have photos there.

 

[homegrown]

Just to clarify, the name Northern Lights has absolutely nothing to do with your grow lights....lol. Northern Lights(aurora borealis) look it up.

 

[Probiotic]

Thanks for all the feedback, appreciated, i will go with one more week as is and re-evaluate then.
I also read one comment in seedsman page for this strain that he also got photos.
I am patient and all previous ones turned out pretty good with this setup but then again every strain has its own preferences.
Thanks again for you time to reply and i will update soon again with new pictures. <3

 

[Going2fast]

Many people have had nl go long. Like 120 days. They take their time for sure. I would barely call them an auto at that stage but yes your are begining to flower. Another week they should begin to fill out.

 

[dilvish]

if you look at the strain specifics this particular strain likes lots of light...you assume it was named after the aurora borealis but in fact it wasn't. Look it up. My point was that in my experience growing it, it loves more light than most auto's.

 

[Probiotic]

Week 8 / Day 58 of Veg.
There is literally no change on flowering, few pistils similar to what was 1-2 weeks ago.
Plant is nicely pushing on and growing.
I will swap to 12/12 from tomorrow.
I'm enjoying this run actually and this strain, its very rigorous and trains well.

 

[dilvish]

decreasing the light won't help if its an auto and as I mentioned before NL likes lots of light...yours may be underpowered...100w isn't much.

 

[Fjeff]

Make sure you have room for the stretch.

 

[TOKABIGONE]

Hey there Probiotic welcome home! My best guess is photo on these. Most autos start flower at 3 to 4 weeks while photos go 8 to 10. The lighter color tops tell me flowering is eminent within a week. You definitely need more light for flower so go ahead and make that investment right now if you can! 12 hours strong light meaning at least 200w actual or better add 200 w for 300w. Otherwise I think you have a good looking grow happening! Happy Pharming!

 

[Probiotic]

I also have an SF2000 Spiderfarmer 202W(actual) Samsung LED from the other tent i use with T5's right now for microgreens.
I might put that in tomorrow. (or all 3 combined, it would fit easy enough.)
But we can agree this is not really an auto, i recon the ruderalis part on this batch is almost non existant.
Previous grows went fine to be fair but on 18h auto schedule. edit: example: https://growdiaries.com/diaries/9599...ic/week/488905
So 12h full blast i believe is the way forward here
Tent is reaching the 50% height mark now, so we should be good, i can always migrate the microgreens into the kitchen to free up other tent as i have them on shelves.

 

[GuitboxTom]

Probiotic, I’m only 69yo, and have not the experience of some of those posting here, but Northern Lights, as I have come to understand (by looking it up) has not got its name due to its love for lots of light. All Cannabis plants love loads of light! Northern Lights name comes from the fact that it produces great amounts of crystal coated buds which sometimes turn purple in cooler climates. It thrives in many climates including northern climates. It does not make sense that it is so named due to loving lots of light. I am in the north, where there is not so much light this time of year! So where is the naming logic? It has been so hybrid that it may be difficult to predict flowering time. My last grow of NLs took nearly 17 weeks to finish, though they did flower very early unlike yours. You may have gotten photo seeds, in which case 12/12 will force them to flower. You’ll do all right. One 100w panel is enough for a small space with one plant. Enjoy!

 

[Probiotic]

Thanks for all your feedback, appreciated.
Usually 100W 1-2 plants was fine. (4 grows)
As i have the spare 200W LED, i just popped it in on 12h now.
Lets force em and crank it up to 200w now over few days, starting a bit lower, same led's just twice the power now so should be fine.
I'll report back in a few days with updates.

 

[TOKABIGONE]

In reality I find that autos in general like a lot of light throughout the grow. My two just finished autos were under 24/0 from start to finish with very good results. Off once when we lost power for 15 minutes.

Upcoming photo grow I will run 20/4 for a little break until I switch 12/12 for flower. I'm running 300w actual in a 30x48 in. space with about 4 feet of grow room above.

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

Good luck. Seedsman's NL Auto is the second-best auto I've ever run and that's not saying much!

 

[Probiotic]

One week later and we got a nice stretch and flowering kicking in.
I likely will keep em running like that and just reducing temps gently over time.
Very happy now, both plants are doing very well.