Newgrow815
New Member
So about halfway through my second grow and just wanted to share a few thoughts and observations hopefully it will help someone else starting out. Both grows are Northern Lights Autoflower from Royal Queen Seeds. I do apologize as I do not have pictures of the first grow.
First grow setup:
The setup grew with the plant. I started with an old phototron for a box, removed the lid, and hung a few CFL's into it from extension cords. All lights used are just regular CFL bulbs purchased from home depot. Originally started with 5X23 watt CFL 5000K. As the plant grew I added more going to 7X23 watt 5000K and then once she started flowering I went to 5X23 5000K and 4X23 2700K. In this final set only 3 of the 2700K lights were able to aimed directly down (this was just due to the materials I had on hand) the other 2700K and the 5 5000K lights were placed horizontally. Lights aimed down are better not going to get into that here but feel free to look it up. Lights were kept on a 20/4 timer. That covers the lights, important note on CFL's they will not burn the plant as long as the plant does not touch them so get them as close as possible without touching. As for ventilation I removed one of the panels and had a laptop cooling station that happened to fit perfectly. 2 CPU fans. I also talked to her and made sure when I was training her (LST only) I pushed the exhale of breath a little harder just to get her a little extra CO2, can't hurt right? Now this was where I knew I was lacking in the setup. The pot I used was just the built in pot from the phototron. It's a 5 gallon pot with no drainage. With the original electrical components still housed in the bottom I couldn't give it drainage (the phototron is not mine and I didn't want to modify it without permission from the owner). I used Miracle Gro moisture control potting soil. No other nutrients were used at all. The water used was strictly Reverse Osmosis filtered water cost me $1 for a gallon, well worth the investment as I do not have the equipment to test pH. I think that covers the whole setup if I missed/forgot anything feel free to ask.
First grow results and notable problems:
Not too bad 1.75oz of dried bud. I know I harvested too early, still great bud though. The early harvest came out of necessity as I started to notice more and more signs of nutrient deficiencies in the newer leaves. Without drainage I didn't want to use any nutes as I had no way to flush before harvest and didn't want to have my bud tasting like shit. After harvesting I pulled her out of the pot to find she was almost rootbound. So in hindsight harvesting when I did seems like it was a good idea. The only thing I wish I did differently was trimming the fan leaves to allow better light penetration as I had a lot of popcorn buds. This is actually the biggest thing I've been going back and forth on for the second grow as I've read trimming fan leaves is a no no for autoflowers? Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.
Well that wraps up the first grow I'll be making a grow journal for the second grow with pictures. If one person reads this and learns something or it helps them in any way then then the time taken was well worth it. I will check back to see if there are any questions or comments and I'll try and answer any questions. As always suggestions are welcome.
Happy growing everyone!
First grow setup:
The setup grew with the plant. I started with an old phototron for a box, removed the lid, and hung a few CFL's into it from extension cords. All lights used are just regular CFL bulbs purchased from home depot. Originally started with 5X23 watt CFL 5000K. As the plant grew I added more going to 7X23 watt 5000K and then once she started flowering I went to 5X23 5000K and 4X23 2700K. In this final set only 3 of the 2700K lights were able to aimed directly down (this was just due to the materials I had on hand) the other 2700K and the 5 5000K lights were placed horizontally. Lights aimed down are better not going to get into that here but feel free to look it up. Lights were kept on a 20/4 timer. That covers the lights, important note on CFL's they will not burn the plant as long as the plant does not touch them so get them as close as possible without touching. As for ventilation I removed one of the panels and had a laptop cooling station that happened to fit perfectly. 2 CPU fans. I also talked to her and made sure when I was training her (LST only) I pushed the exhale of breath a little harder just to get her a little extra CO2, can't hurt right? Now this was where I knew I was lacking in the setup. The pot I used was just the built in pot from the phototron. It's a 5 gallon pot with no drainage. With the original electrical components still housed in the bottom I couldn't give it drainage (the phototron is not mine and I didn't want to modify it without permission from the owner). I used Miracle Gro moisture control potting soil. No other nutrients were used at all. The water used was strictly Reverse Osmosis filtered water cost me $1 for a gallon, well worth the investment as I do not have the equipment to test pH. I think that covers the whole setup if I missed/forgot anything feel free to ask.
First grow results and notable problems:
Not too bad 1.75oz of dried bud. I know I harvested too early, still great bud though. The early harvest came out of necessity as I started to notice more and more signs of nutrient deficiencies in the newer leaves. Without drainage I didn't want to use any nutes as I had no way to flush before harvest and didn't want to have my bud tasting like shit. After harvesting I pulled her out of the pot to find she was almost rootbound. So in hindsight harvesting when I did seems like it was a good idea. The only thing I wish I did differently was trimming the fan leaves to allow better light penetration as I had a lot of popcorn buds. This is actually the biggest thing I've been going back and forth on for the second grow as I've read trimming fan leaves is a no no for autoflowers? Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.
Well that wraps up the first grow I'll be making a grow journal for the second grow with pictures. If one person reads this and learns something or it helps them in any way then then the time taken was well worth it. I will check back to see if there are any questions or comments and I'll try and answer any questions. As always suggestions are welcome.
Happy growing everyone!