A micro cfl nl#5 harvest log

This is a harvest log by an inside newb for other inside newbs. My current harvest was made possible by what I've read here, so I'm passing the torch, so to speak.

Setup

grow chamber - Something a little different, a tube made from aluminum flashing. This flashing was prepainted white on one side, brown on the other. And aluminum is very easy to work with. If you aren't a natural with power tools, this stuff is for you. I cut sections, then rolled them up with screws to make circular sections. Stacked sections with duct tape to make a tube. Nice part is you can make a tube of any size you like. Mine was 38 x 15 inches.

fixture - A steel pizza dish with porcelein sockets, total of 3. Total cfl's were 3 26w, 5500k for veg, 2700k for flower Tiny wattage by the standards here, but you can get a worthwhile plant - or so I hope to show.

soil - 2 gallons MG Organic Garden soil + 10% perlite + 2 tbsp dolomite + 2 tbsp bone meal(6-9-0)

nutes - 3 feedings of bone meal/molasses tea + 3 feedings of molasses tea - this is a low nute setup by most standards - but it worked well

seed - nl#5 from highgrade-seeds

Current snapshot of plant - about 7 weeks into flower - the breeder recommends 8 weeks

This is an out of the tube profile shot about 4 days ago - the continuous upper cola measure 7 inches so far - plant's overall height is 29 inches


This is inside the grow tube taken this AM. There are still a lot of white pistils up on the main cola. Pink is the ripe color for this strain. It's not ripe yet, so patience. You can see the lower buds are whiter and fluffier. Plan is cut the main cola 1st, then ripen the lower buds after. I've waited quite a while for this smoke, no sense in cutting too soon and getting a bunch of 'green apples'.


More pix every few days. Hope to show a nice harvest from a micro setup.

Looks good man...subscribed...

I can finally claim to show a bit of canna porn. I've been waiting for this for a long time. I've had a job for years that required a hands off policy with my favorite plant.

Looks like I'll be popping an 8 inch main cola when the time comes. 56 days is the 'book' on this strain. It really has a very nice blue/white color to it. The breeder web site has a lot of very nice porn of their own, and this is just this plant should look like at this point. Again, this was grown with 78w of cfl, not a bit more.

wow impressive for such low lighting, i have done similar grows in the past, also with decent results. i also like the lavender hue it seems to have from far away. can you get any closer pics of the bud? thanks and looking good.

thnx jact,

that's as close as i've got at the moment - camera is mediocre but i'll try for some close ups
that'll be on monday, that's the next time i take it out of the tube - bit of a chore - tube makes good use of light but does come with a bit of extra labor

Looks great...keep it up!

CrockPot - thanks for the encouragement - need all the good vibes i can get

now for the plant situation - had a large change in the pistil hair overnight - a good 10-15% went red/brown

that's great and what i've been waiting for, but the speed kind of scared me a bit - don't want that main cola going over ripe on me either

my 'ideal maturity' is a relaxing smoke, but not too much couch lock - i know this strain might not be ideal for that goal but nl#5 has been a good newb strain otherwise for getting a harvest

so tric checking time is plainly upon me - tomorrow plant comes out of tube for watering and tric check

i think i'll start updating this harvest log every day - idea is for other newb harvester's to get a feel for the changes you will see

Day 53 of 12/12
Checked out the trics through a 20x jewelers loupe. Wasn't sure what I was going to see. Well, saw a lot of clear trics, some cloudy, but a lot of clears. Shows the value of doing the tric exam. I had myself half convinced that main cola had to come off right away. Would have been a classic inside newb mistake.

Back in my 'old days' of outside grows, this check wasn't a luxury where I grew. Waited as long as could, which meant waiting for just before the 1st frost, then pull it in before it got whacked.

Pix is from a little further back. Cola color has definitely darkened, but as I have seen, the cola color can be deceptive. Use every tool you have to get your best harvest

Day 54 of 12/12
I was determined to show some tric pictures, though I had a feeling it wasn't going to be easy. It's not easy, real bitch getting focus and lighting just right. Flash is too bright, covered with paper to cut down, finally managed to get a mediocre picture. But hey, practice makes perfect.

The lower middle of the pix shows the clearest trics. Look mostly clear. Think they are all clear from what i saw through the loupe by eye. No amber showing either way.

Hoping to show the color changes as maturity progresses.

Day 55 of 12/12

It's all coming down to the wire. Upper fans are getting yellow. My tric picture seems to show much whiter trics than i saw 2 days ago. I keep thinking the main cola won't get any bigger, but it does.

Used the camera flash for pic in tube. Better color than what the cfl light was doing.

The big issue for me is I would like to see if I can get an 'up high' from nl#5. So I'm trying to hit what is probably a pretty narrow harvest window. Examine trics out of the tube tomorrow, and maybe that will be the main cola harvest.

Day 56 of 12/12. This the 'book' for maturity by the breeder guidelines. In all fairness, those guidelines are based on a 400 watt hps.

I've been determined that I'm a day or 2 from cutting on every update. The trics have kept me straight. Did a close exam today, and not sure there was a single cloudy one in view. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure I saw a few with some color, might have been a purple/red tinge. Definitely interesting viewing. But with the number of clears I saw, I'd be a damm fool to cut yet.

Plant pic outside of the tube. Looks pretty chunky. 2nd pic is the tric view. Best focus is near center and slightly to the left.

Day 57 of 12/12.

I check out the plant today, and a LOT of pistils turned. I'm sure at this point I had a big jump in maturity. Pull the plant out of the tube, which is a chore, to scope out the trics again. If there was a change, I couldn't see it. As they say, pistil color and maturity don't necessarily go hand in hand.

So take another pic of plant in tube. No more tric pictures for now, too much of a chore. Bud is really getting a browner look.

you dont need to pull the plant out. just clip a small portion of leaf on the bud and examine it. take samples from differnt parts of the plant if you want to harvest diff buds at diff times.

thnx for the advice beav, i had thought of doing just that - was worried i might butcher the plant though that's unlikely - just couldn't bear to cut her yet

some more pix - she really is looking lovely - going to have to get around that - when the time is right, the cutting must start

seeing a few cloudy trics - very few but some - also saw 1 or 2 dark colored ones - mostly clear ones though

looking good brah.. how much weight r u anticipating of your lady?

the big question - been obsessing on that one for a bit
feeling good i'll see an ounce - maybe more - i doubt it could go more than 2 oz

Day 61 of 12/12. I think the expression 'watched trics don't ripen' should be part of the grower's bible. Or at least not watched obsessively. So I decided to let the bud 'cook' for 3 days before the next tric check.
Anyhow, this may be the last 'in the tube' pic of the uncut plant. Tomorrow, out of the tube for what may be the last tric check and pictures before the main cola cut. If I see significant clouding, then off with her head at the end of the dark cycle.

looks good, how many watts of cfls did you have?

i know this may seem 'out there', but 78w from veg to flower - 3 26w cfl's
the tube functioned as a circular reflector, and seemed to perform very well

Day 62 of 12/12. Gave her 3 days to ripen, ripen properly I thought. Not yet! At least that's what the trics seem to show me

So i give her a thorough going over. I see some 'amber' trics, and more than 1. They are not amber though, they are a clear dark red. Damn few of them, well less than 1% of the total. And they don't seem to be 'out in the open'. Found them in the more recessed part of the bud. So maybe these are trics that formed 1st, are older, and so finally turned color. Just a guess.

The front and foreground trics are still mostly clear, but cloudy are definitely increasing. Maybe 1/5 cloudy, if that. I just can't cut a bud that is in that state. If I get couch lock, so be it. I'll have learned something anyhow.