Catt's Semi-auto Northern Special Grow #1

calicatt79

Well-Known Member
Hey there friends and fellow RIUppers :leaf:

Got me a nice garden going again this winter in the closet :) Now let me tell ya the details as not too much has changed in my closet since last year.

Got 2 freebie beans from a grower who got them for free from "The Tude". First one is a FEM G13 Labs Northern Lights Auto, the 2nd is a FEM Royal Queen Seeds Special Queen #1.
Now...the equipment!
KISS method all the way around as I don't like to complicate things too much.

Fafard 1PV growing mix, sold at my local garden store.
3 gal pots
Neptune's Harvest Organic Seaweed, Fish Seaweed, and Straight Fish, also from the local garden store and very inexpensive
SNS 604 A&B (kelp and plant extracts) Organic soil supplements, sent to me as (5) 16oz bottle free samples, which I've just been mixing with the Neptune's when I feed.

586 watts of CFL, 37,670 total lumens
2 68w 2700k = 8400 lumens
5 42w 2700k = 13500
2 55w 2700k= 7720
5 26w 6500k= 8050

6" inline duct fan pulling air in from attic window vent to the closet floor, and 2 exhaust fans in the ceiling sucking air up into the attic. Someday I'll show you that setup :)

Small heater set on separate timer for when lights are off (it was -20 degrees here the other night :O )

Nice oscillating tower fan in front of my fresh air intake. And when I need some fresh cold air I just flip the switch to my attic light and viola!

Water from the mountain spring I haul home twice a month.....oh it's just THAT good!

Now....the story of their life so far:

I decided that since I had only 2 beans, good beans, I would just ignore the word "AUTO" in front of the Northern Lights and just make her go along with the Special Queen's photo period. Not sure why I decided this, but the decision was made none the less. After about 4 weeks of 18/6 the NL AUTO began to show pistils....2 weeks later after seeing a few of the Queen's pistils I threw them both into 12/12. So about 5-6 weeks veggtime.
Now.....when these were growing I LST 'd them with rope and scotch tape to the pot. It didn't take long for me to get the hang of it either. I made adjustments here and there to keep the tops as even with each other as possible and the main cola bent 90 degrees all the time. I pinched massive amounts of leaves off the NL while in veg to get the light to the inner canopy. And let me tell you.....as soon as I pinched one off....another 3 grew back. I had this plant almost bald....you wouldn't know it by looking at her now!!! LST ing these girls was wicked fun. Just bending them down and tying them up.....then looking at them the next day was amazing. I could literally count the new shoots everyday. And as soon as the new shoots grew as tall as the main cola....I tied those down too. I like the way it turned out. Glad I didn't LST too much cause my closet isn't very deep and I'm having a hard enough time getting her fat ass to fit now.....lol! Oh...I also bonsai'd a bunch of the NL's larger fan leaves while veggin to let light get down into the plant as much as I could.

Now....here we are, just finishing up week 3 flower. I started LSTing again just a little bit. I feel like I have so much to say about this grow but I'm all over the place right now, so if you have any questions.....don't hesitate to ask!

Here they are in all their glory....Happy Gardening Everyone :)
The NL Auto is the bigger one believe it or not.

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Sincerely420

New Member
I'm 3wks behind you with similar plant structure lol AND I'm growing an auto amongst photos, so I'm running my "auto" flowering plant on 12/12 too!
Have you noticed any adverse reactions yet with your auto? Due to the fact that you're running it 12/12?
I should be able to answer that question in a couple weeks.
Also maybe try some molasses? Good source of carbs and soil food!
Good luck Catt, I know you got this in the bag! I'm just waiting to to see the outcome! :leaf:
 

ChiefsitandChief

Active Member
Bravo these are LST'ed perfectly, nice and even hell I wish mine looked like that, I cant count all your tops. Im here for the ride, also I have a auto seed im goingng to try its a critical+ auto, so I got my pen and paper for note catt good luck even though you dont need it.
 

xp0c

Well-Known Member
That's a really nice grow, So healthy looking :)
I will be following along for sure. Good luck!
 

calicatt79

Well-Known Member
Bravo these are LST'ed perfectly, nice and even hell I wish mine looked like that, I cant count all your tops. Im here for the ride, also I have a auto seed im goingng to try its a critical+ auto, so I got my pen and paper for note catt good luck even though you dont need it.
Chief...I feel like I learned from the master - YOU. I used your tutorial except used scotch tape and soft rope, cuz I was a little nervous. I found that by LST-in like that gave the plant more time to recover quicker cuz her branches would slowly turn up making the rope slip from the tape just a little bit. Then...when the main branch's stem turned back up....I just pull the rope back down a little. And when the new branches would get 2" bigger than the main I tied them down too until I had what would fit for the depth of my closet. I could of made a giant bush if I had more room....but still happy with what I've got! I love tending to them so I didn't mind the daily adjustments :)
This will be your first auto right?


I'm 3wks behind you with similar plant structure lol AND I'm growing an auto amongst photos, so I'm running my "auto" flowering plant on 12/12 too!
Have you noticed any adverse reactions yet with your auto? Due to the fact that you're running it 12/12?
I should be able to answer that question in a couple weeks.
Also maybe try some molasses? Good source of carbs and soil food!
Good luck Catt, I know you got this in the bag! I'm just waiting to to see the outcome! :leaf:
Sweet...I thought I was the only one! It's funny cuz the auto is so far ahead of my photo Special Queen and they were treated just the same....Except I pinched the hell outta the NL Auto's leaves. Even bonsai'd a bunch too to have single bladed leafs....and she really likes it! Now that they are flowering I've stopped tending so much.....afraid I'll stress em' and I can't go through picking nanners again...lol! And I've got the jar of Grandmas robust waiting for the right time:)

And so far....no adverse reactions to the 12/12. She's chuggin along rather nicely...plumpin up all pretty for her Mumma ;) Glad you found your way over to my corner of RIU ;)

That's a really nice grow, So healthy looking :)
I will be following along for sure. Good luck!
Thanks ;) They sure are healthy.....I think I've got the "reading the leaves" technique down to a pat!
KISS method baby.....no chemicals...no bud candy, just kelp, fish, plant extracts and a whole lotta LOVE. Oh...and music too! I take the ladies out at least 2x's a week and we JAM!!!
 

Sincerely420

New Member
Pfffff.....I F.I.M'd my auto Bubblicious and LST'd it for a while.
At some point during all the LST, I broke the apical stem.
Between that and the F.I.M cut I feel like I stressed my her a lil too much, and may pay for that....
The good part about that tho is the other side of all that haha..The super cropping and the later flowering may bring out everything that this plant has in her haha, so I could get lucky..like you :joint:

Slowly but surely my auto bub is catching up to the other two...It's been a while since I could say that...So....fingers crossed +

Thanks for throwing the word "bonsai" out there..I've seen it a couple times but never got around too looking in depth for wahtever reason..
Right now I'm gonna give it a moment haha

Ciao :joint:
 

giggles26

Well-Known Member
Looking good cali! Now that I know your a girl it makes more sense to me why there is painted fingernails and fingernail polish in your pics lol
 

ChiefsitandChief

Active Member
Yes this will be my first auto, and I know some of the do's and don't do's but I never watch a grow but like I said I'm you student Ms. Catt now give me a lesson. Anyway from my first impression of yours I'm going to enjoy this bean.
 

dabumps

Well-Known Member
O I get it, chief... Now that I'm only vegging in CFLs and flowering under hps you don't know me anymore?! I have a thread. I asked about you and shit and nothing. It's like I don't even exist! It's like I apprenticed under you and you don't even speak to me anymore.
 

ChiefsitandChief

Active Member
Who the hell is this bumps jerk busting in here like owns the place. ... lol Omg where the hell have you been hiding, and I know I left there for a while man how is it hanging bro? You got anything going, man I feel all nice seeing you guys and girls again makes me want to start a flowering thread which I'm 12 days into as of now so it seems strange starting now but you know what the hell with it man I'm going to start one up to finish this out I do have 8 weeks left I could add in the drying and curing portion also, everytime I get excited to do a very detail grow log on it breaks my heart still from what happened with my other grow log but whatever I feel like doing the proper thing and help to elevate other peoples ability to elevate themselves.
 

calicatt79

Well-Known Member
Pfffff.....I F.I.M'd my auto Bubblicious and LST'd it for a while.
At some point during all the LST, I broke the apical stem.
Between that and the F.I.M cut I feel like I stressed my her a lil too much, and may pay for that....
The good part about that tho is the other side of all that haha..The super cropping and the later flowering may bring out everything that this plant has in her haha, so I could get lucky..like you :joint:

Slowly but surely my auto bub is catching up to the other two...It's been a while since I could say that...So....fingers crossed +

Thanks for throwing the word "bonsai" out there..I've seen it a couple times but never got around too looking in depth for wahtever reason..
Right now I'm gonna give it a moment haha

Ciao :joint:
Aww :( I'd freak if I broke the main stem :o but you'd think that it would only make the others stronger with nicer ladybud cuz all that energy needs to go somewhere now right? Fim shouldn't have stressed her out too much, I'm sure she'll be just fine.
I don't think I've supercropped before...I'll have to look into that. Is it when you break and squeeze branches and stuff? That's scary :o
Bonsai is cool, I saw a youtube video with this crazy scientist guy trimmin up his plants before flower, and the results looked stellar...gives more light to inner canopy :)
 

calicatt79

Well-Known Member
Very nice, well trained plants. I suck at training.
Thanks :) I think using the scotch tape and rope made it a lot easier and more forgiving. The tape held them down good but eased up slowly and you could just pull the rope back down and press the tape back in place.

Looking good cali! Now that I know your a girl it makes more sense to me why there is painted fingernails and fingernail polish in your pics lol
HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Yes this will be my first auto, and I know some of the do's and don't do's but I never watch a grow but like I said I'm you student Ms. Catt now give me a lesson. Anyway from my first impression of yours I'm going to enjoy this bean.
:) Please bring 2 #2 pencils and arrive 15 min. early for a private pre-screening!
 

calicatt79

Well-Known Member
O I get it, chief... Now that I'm only vegging in CFLs and flowering under hps you don't know me anymore?! I have a thread. I asked about you and shit and nothing. It's like I don't even exist! It's like I apprenticed under you and you don't even speak to me anymore.
I know right? How messed up Chief to do that to your little homeboy.....You are our Chief, Chief....our SENSAI, he who guided us on our path to greatness. Please visit b's thread, he's hurt Chief....YOU MEANIE!!!

Who the hell is this bumps jerk busting in here like owns the place. ... lol Omg where the hell have you been hiding, and I know I left there for a while man how is it hanging bro? You got anything going, man I feel all nice seeing you guys and girls again makes me want to start a flowering thread which I'm 12 days into as of now so it seems strange starting now but you know what the hell with it man I'm going to start one up to finish this out I do have 8 weeks left I could add in the drying and curing portion also, everytime I get excited to do a very detail grow log on it breaks my heart still from what happened with my other grow log but whatever I feel like doing the proper thing and help to elevate other peoples ability to elevate themselves.
Just messin Chief :) You know I love you :hug::hug::hug::hug:
 

ChiefsitandChief

Active Member
It's going to take more than 15 min Catt ;) and I bumps know I will be there when he needs me also check it out I started a thread you should stop by ;) and you have my love to Catt!!!
 

calicatt79

Well-Known Member
Is it OK to continue a little LST now that I'm a few weeks in flower (as long as I'm careful)???? Any tips?

I forget when to start my molasses.....Was it after 6 weeks flower?

Just waiting for the camera to charge up, I'll have some more pics up soon!
 

ChiefsitandChief

Active Member
Yes do not bend them completely over as you would in veg tie them down closer to the main stem about halfway down or so and the molasses can really have started when they have a good amount of flower on them or some start when flushing.
 
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