Northern Lights Grow: ATribute to the Rollitup Community

[silk]

This grow is dedicated to the community. Throughout it I will be using techniques recommended by members here. I will do my best to cite which member made which suggestions. It is my goal to make this journal fun and interactive. Please feel free to participate as you see fit.

Kickoff

Germination - 10 Northern Light seeds were place between 2 sheets of paper towels and misted with water and BioBizz root juice until heavily damp ( almost saturated). The towels were then placed in a quart size zip lock bag and placed under 2x60 watt shop lights.


4 days later they were planted into pint size solo plastic cups with Miracle gro moisture control potting mix. These were then placed in a propagation tray and put under 4x60 watt shop lights. They are about 4 inches away from the lights.

Day 1 pictures below

 

[Spittn4cash]

hey silk, welcome to rollitup. i wish u the best growin, im interested in the techniques ur gonna use so ill be sure to stay tuned to this journal
pz

is this ur first grow?

 

[TillthedayiDIE420]

Very nice will there be bud sent out since it is deticated to the community?!

Good luck with your grow, i hope to see some updates

 

[silk]

Answers:

Spittn4cash this is my 5th grow if you count the 6 Afghans that are flowering now.

TillthedayiDIE420 , if only it was that easy!

Day 2:

All 10 seedlings are emerging from the potting mix. All in various stages. If I took 10 pictures and ordered them from smallest to largest I would have a seedling flip book. In any case the pic attached is the superstar of the bunch, grew over 1.5 inch in 24hrs.

I have been misting them twice a day with water ph 6.5 with Biobizz root stimulator. The potting mix has a good amount of moisture in it, I am just maintaining the top "soil" for the next few days.


Game Plan

After I read through the Newbie and Indoor forums I found that there was some range of approaches for light cycles during seedling and vegetative growth. I personally learned to use 24hrs. What I will do is go from 24 to 18/6 in the 3rd week. Between week 3 and 8 I will take cuttings to clone and identify sex, depending on how that goes I will either flower the seed start or the clones; more on that when I get there.

There were only a few variations on what light cycle do use. However how long to keep the seedlings growing vegitatively is another story. Most recommendations I have read here either refer to the physical height of the plant or the amount of nodes it has.

babygro on the other hand has recommended many times to veg for 8 weeks to reach maturity. I'm sure there are many members here that do that and believe that, babygro 's advice in multiple threads was just the first, second and third time I came across that suggestion. So I will in fact veg for 8 weeks.

 

[7xstall]

looks like you're doing a pretty good job of sifting through all the opinions here and finding some of the diamonds!

best of luck, i'll stay tuned.

 

[silk]

Day 4
I noticed two things odd today. First it seems that my potting mix is drying out faster than before. The season has changed and it’s a bit warmer and more humid as compared to the last grow, but my temperature is well regulated and stays between 75-80F constantly. So I don’t really know what is up. I’ve increased the watering to a few tablespoons and a bit of misting.
The second odd variation is this one seedling which has grown about an inch in the last day. The picture is attached below. You can see part of the tap root exposed. Bugger was either making a break for it or trying to snuff it. I gently buried the emerging tap root and labeled the cup.
I will be upgrading to 1000 watt for this grow. I’m researching exactly what package to get. I’m pretty sure I need an enclosed reflector and air cooling. I don’t know how to run the ducting properly yet for it and there is the interest in adding C02.
I’m not ready to invest in the CO2 equipment so a DIY solution such as:
[FONT=&quot]videoman40 ‘s https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/8498-co2-breakthrough.html will be what I will try. In general I am skeptical of all the DIY approaches, I just don’t think you can get the PPM high enough with vinegar or yeast, but hell, if mushrooms don’t work, at least I have mushrooms![/FONT]

 

[silk]

Day 5,

My camera is M.I.A. .. only users lose their cameras???

I suspect my ph pen has shit the bed, general hydroponics testing kit in route.

Picture of the suspect attached!

 

[jokersmoker]

Hey silk, mate Northern Lights was the first smoke I had in amsterdam and I have some damn good memories of wandering round the red light district thinking it was the most beautiful place on earth! Then later realising its a shit hole........ You couldn't have a better tribute!

Ta for the advice in my grow, and one question, how big is your grow room mate?

 

[silk]

Howdy jokersmoker

My grow setup is in two sections. Flowering room is 4x4x6.5FT, seedling/clone room is 2x3x4FT.
https://www.rollitup.org/../members/jokersmoker.html

 

[silk]

Camera came back from vacation. Made it to South Beach without me!
Attached is a shot of the seedling tray. All have sprouted except one which is dead. The two plants that appear to be invisible still have the seed intact and are standing over 1 inch high.

 

[silk]

Day 11

Been having trouble getting this post to stick. Hat's off to server load...


The 1st 2 pictures are shots of the propagation tray. 6 plants are clearly growing nicely. 3 are not doing well. 1 is still trapped in it's shell, one just got out of it's shell and the third is still trying to grow it's first set of leaves. The last pix is what's left of a Yellow Jacket that some how got into my grow room.

 

[DJ720]

After I read through the Newbie and Indoor forums I found that there was some range of approaches for light cycles during seedling and vegetative growth. I personally learned to use 24hrs. What I will do is go from 24 to 18/6 in the 3rd week.

Hello,
Yes, I was wondering about that myself. I'm on day two of seedling stage. I will keep the lights on 24/7 for the next three weeks after finding this info. I had been looking for this info.
Thanx,

 

[bigtb]

^ thats what theese forums are all about right there^

 

[silk]

^Yup! No doubt! ^

 

[silk]

Day 17

I am now 2 days into a new light cycle, the infamous 18/6. I’ve had 2 casualties since the last update so the magnificent 7 are shown below. In the first pic you can see the runt of the litter. To it’s immediate right is Section 8. The discoloration on the plants is just mild staining from the Root Juice. Plants do need a good drink, they are droopy.

 

[patch0i]

i'm doing something wrong. my plants about 3 weeks old and it still looks like your plants in day 4. any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[primeralives]

take some pics and start a thread, it dosent sound good if they are only that big after 3 weeks

 

[videoman40]

Dude, I am a little confused, to be quite honest. I read a previous post where you say that in less than one month, you get plants over 3 feet tall, while I feel this is a bit optimistic. I also read where you want to veg tham for 8 weeks now? At that rate of growth, you'll have monsters! lol

May I make a suggestion? I wouldn't recommend using age as a way of determining maturity. The best way to determine maturity, and when to flower should be, knowing that there are 2 features that distinguish mature vegging plants from immature ones. They are alternating nodal arrangement and leaves with 5 or more blades. You can flower before those features are present, but the plants perform a whole lot better if you wait. Growing larger than this may present other problems, like light penetration.
Just watch for these 2 features.
I hope this helps you.
Peace

 

[silk]

videoman40, I am using techniques and tips I have found in this community. I'm not worried about the height because I will be taking cuttings (also my grow room has more than 6ft of headroom ). 2nd in past grows I have used the method you described. The point of an 8 week veg is people claim thats around the true maturity of most strains. Doesn't hurt to try something new.

I will be flowering under 1000w HPS and I am only really concerned about the top 12 inches anyways. The rest can make good butter

I'll use mollases in flowering as well. Stay tuned!

 

[drochoker]

I let mine veg for 9 weeks...only becuase i'm lacking alot of light..