A Tale of 2 Northern Lights Autos

Seedling phase happening up in here...week 1 of Veg, Day 11...Seedlings have their first real leaves and are working on their second nodes. Lights are giving them ~300umol and neither has gotten super stretchy, but enough that they'll have decent node spacing. No nutrients yet, but they do have some root-solution to help them expand their roots. Same as my other grow, Pro-Mix HP+ no amendments or anything. Water is our well water that comes in at 220ppm and is pH'ed to 6.5. Temp/Humidities are controlled to a nice range during lights-on to be 78-82 and 65% humidity. These have been watered to run-off once (yesterday AM). I really like this pot size...it allows you to let them build decent roots before transplanting and hold a good amount of soil so you're not watering every-day and over-watering. 12/4: Day 13. Another round of watering. Starting next week, I'll be feeding mildly but they should be solid for one more round of water with rooting stimulant. I do know that ProMix HP+ does have a 'charge' but that it's very light and mild, so I'm not comfortable beyond 2 weeks. The Tangerine Dreams in my other concurrent diary worked well with 1.6ml per gallon of water of GH Trio across the board, so we'll hit their next round with that. Today it was just water to run-off and making sure the soil to the outside of the pots was where it should be. Still little guys, with their first nodes and working on their second sets.

Week 2: Day 16 (12/7): soil is still fairly damp from last week's watering back on 12/4, so not much in the way of new content. They're holding in well... 12/9: Day 18: Last night I decided that the soil had dried enough to give these two their first feed, being week 2 of veg and in the 3rd total week (considering germination). So they got the same formulation of GHE Trio that the Tangerine Dreams I'm running got last week. Seems to be enough to keep them happy and boost their development without any burn...and the leaves take on their more 'adult' color and look. This morning they were entirely unphased by the feeding so that was good. I've dialed back the humidity in the tent from the 70% range down to about 60%, by bringing the AC Infinity Controller 67 into more play... it now triggers both above 82f for temps and anytime it gets above 63% humidity, drawing dry air from outside the tent. The moisture in the soil is providing enough evaporation that the humidifier (on inkbird) isn't triggering at all. After the next watering, I'll up-pot these into their 5g bags. That should be early to mid next grow week.

12/12: Day 21, Veg. week 3. Today was transplant & water day. You can see from the picture that the plants have expanded nicely this past week. The greens have extended to the edges of the 3/4ths gallon pots. So I prepared the Pro-Mix HP+ with some Xtreme Gardening Mykos and water and up-potted. At the same point as the two Tangerine Dream (a week ahead of these) showed some roots at the edge, but these Northern Lights have well more root development at the bottom edges of the pots. Both bags, though both prepped with over a half gallon of water (easier to deal with when it's not powdery dry) got another gallon and a half each and had at least 15-20% runoff. Plants have also both been adding half an inch to an inch every 24 hours. Leaves responded to their first feeding mid last week by greening up nicely but not too much and there was no burning. Lights have been bumped up to about 480PPFD and maximized DLI for the age/week. 12/14 (Day 23) a bit more growth as these little ones start finding the root space in their new 5g bag homes. Not much else has happened in the past couple days. One of the pics shows the soil 'cracking' but that's just happening as the soil dries and it's still plenty moist suggesting that we'll water late on day 24 or probably day 25. 12/18: Day 27: I held off an extra day on watering these since last week's transplant. I'd not only wetted the soil for transplant but further 'watered them in' to the 5g. bags and they didn't love that much wet across the week. They yellowed off and lost a couple lowers. So I waited a bit longer than normal (and probably could have gone another) before their feed. I'm trying to get these to align with the two older tangerine dreams I'm doing but so far they're being a bit pissy about that. They did get fed 1.5g each at ~480PPM. The lights have also been adjusted for a bit more PPFD to keep 'em pushing. Sitting at 670ppfd.

These lil' plants are definitely having a struggle compared to the Tangerine Dreams. The Northern Lights ended up being too wet last week after I transplanted I watered them in, and really should have given them a few days before doing that. I'm trying to get them on the same schedule as the other plants and they're just not wanting to do that. I did trim off the bottom leaves that yellowed due to the over-water. I try not to snip anything that doesn't need it, but they were cooked. I fed back on day 27 with a hefty 480ppm feed. It that doesn't burn them, I suspect I'll see the week-5 stretch and the leaves darken back down to where they should be. 12/21: Day 30. You can see that both plants have 'greened up' from their feeding a few days ago. They liked the nitrogen and aren't drooping or any of that after giving them some time to dry and stabilize. Here, mid-week 4 they're noticeably starting to stretch. They've started gaining about an inch a day. They won't be dry enough to water until tomorrow at the earliest. 12/23: Day 32. And we're back on track with these two. The feeding back on day 27 gave them the nutrients they needed (with no sign of burn), and holding off a few extra days to water has helped the plants return to their color without any droop. Watered today to significant run-off (20-30%). Each 5g pot took 2 gallons and I ended up with about 1/4 of a gallon of runoff each. The plants are in the early pre-flower/transition stage, and are starting to stretch a bit. No training yet, but within the next week as the branches/colas start appearing I'll start movin' them around.

Week 5, and we're into transition to flower for both of these. As of yet they've not stretched enough and any nodal branches haven't grown enough for LST, but later this week I'll get them armed-out a bit. Overall, these seem happy but I think I can be a bit more aggressive on the feeding schedule. I think they can darken up a little more and that may help them stretch a bit more. I adjusted the tent and lighting on Day 37, getting their DLI into the mid 30's for optimal exposure. I also changed the lighting schedule so that they're in 'lights out' from 11am-5pm so that they'll stay a little bit warmer at night, since they were dipping down to 62f or so. We'll water tomorrow morning (12/30), and I'll add in a bit more Micro for the nitrogen just because.

Week 7; First REAL week of flower. These two got watered back on 12/30, then I hi-tailed it out of state for some holiday fun. Right on schedule, they were thirsty/hungry today, 1/3/22 (Day 42). I'm bumping up my feed schedule for both Northern Lights & the other grow (Tangerine Dream). The Hardwater GH Micro is awesome, but I was mixing the 'light' schedule and ending up only in the 400ppm range. The Medium feed was giving me closer to 615ppm, so I just kept those ratios static and bumped up the feed to 740 across the board. Spent some time fidgeting with the setup as always, LST'ed both plants with ties though I've left the main stems untouched on all of them. Adjusted the humidity UP a little bit to about 55%, which will keep the VPD on track in the 1.2 zone on average. Lights were actually dimmed slightly, as Photone is suggesting something in the 30's is now more appropriate than the 45DLI range. Removed the last few ratty lower leaves that had been holding on since the early overwater about 3 to 4 weeks ago. 01/05/22 (Day 44), Was working on the other two (Tangerine Dream grow), so did a bit with these. They're looking good to me. This time I went with less shaping (no topping) and have just been LST'ing as needed. The one on the far left is full stretch mode and has nearly hit 3' (28 or 29 inches). I adjusted the tie-downs and bent over it's main to bring it in line with the rest of the canopy. It was starting to be in the 15" from the lights range. Not too much work and not bent too aggressively, but enough that I think the other stems will get a chance, but that the main will be more aligned with the rest of the plants. When I went into the tent at about 6pm (lights on is about 5:15pm), the plants' leaves were all in 'praying stance'...something I didn't see last grow. I believe it means the grow environment is good and that the VPD is in a happy place. I'm averaging a 1.1 VPD across the day...BTW, the folks at AC-Infinity have added VDP & associated graph to the readout of the Controller 67, so that's pretty awesome. 01/07/22: Day 46: Watering day, each plant got 6L of 6.5pH water...and a runoff of just around 1L. If they haven't stopped stretching, they soon will. The Main on one of these two is LONG but has been LST'ed over pretty aggressively to maintain a shorter more even canopy. Adjusted the rest of the ties, and I'm sure in the next week they'll continue to work upward. Pretty happy where these are. First of the new trichomes have started to appear.

Week 7; Week 2 of flowering. 01/11/2022, Day 50: Fed with the medium strength GH Trio schedule, did some basic upkeep, removed some of the older leaves that were done, but other than that it was just a look-see at progress. Overall not showing signs of any major issues. The taller of the two has stretched about all it wants to stretch and it's a lanky one. Both look healthy and I've LST'ed them to get light to as much of the lowers as possible. 1/15/2022 Day 51: Watering day. Did add a little bit of Trio Gro & Bloom (2ml/g each) to the water. Each 5g bag got 2 gallons, and each bag had 1.5L of runoff, making just about exactly 20%. Did trim any leaves that were blocking bud sites and/or that have been damaged.

Week 8 01/19/2021 Day 55: Fed with mid-strength/mid-flower GH Trio formula, Added a little Cal/Mag to the mix, mostly because these two were showing some deficiency; small brown speckles that eventually turned into bigger spots and yellowing. Pretty sure it's a mild calcium deficiency. While I'm using hard well water, the calcium carbonate isn't necessarily in the form the plants can use. Pushes my TDS PPM up to 745ish. This next watering I'll go a little heavier on it and see what happens. I don't think it's a lock-out because I've been careful to water to 20% runoff. Each plant got 2g with a 1.5 liter waste.

Week 9 (Flower week 4). 01/23/2022: Day 59. I wasn't super enthusiastic to pull the plants out to check them over and water, feeling like there was some issues around either cal/mag or slight lock out...But when I pulled the plants out they looked pretty darn good. Snipped a few leaves that were ugly, but really not bad. -I've been watering 2g per 5g bag and decided to do a full look at the runoff PPM/EC to see if I was running into problems. My concern being the well water at 221ppm and whether that was causing trouble for P/K absorption. I checked run-off at 1.5g, 2g and then again at 3g (one gallon more than my usual watering). At 1.5g I had a PPM at ~850 (1.7ec), so not awful. At 2g (my usual full water) the PPM was down to ~675ppm (1.35ec), then at 3g I was down to ~500ppm (1ec). Good suggestion that its not lock out. -I've purchased a ZeroFilter and will be processing some of my water through, in hopes of pulling down my overall hardness, and more important using it to pull out sodium in the water that I've already softened. 1/27/2022-Day 63: -The two Northern Lights couldn't be farther phenos from each other. NL#2 has less stretch, but overall is healthier with better leaf color and less difficulty with what appears to be either a Ca/Mg or P/K issue. Last watering I checked for lockout (unlikely, since it had a EC of 1.7 at runoff), but in terms of tail-chasing for nutrient antagonism, I decided to try filtered water instead of our straight well water. This feeding I ran all the 'softened' well water through a ZeroWater filter to remove any remaining hardness but also any sodium left from the process. Initial TDS reads at 1ppm. From here I added Ca/Mg (supposedly in a better more available form than the calcium chloride that is in hard water, then nutrients. Ended up a little heavier than I wanted (around 730ppm/ 1.46 ec), but we're going with it. Hopefully it will clear up those paler green/yellow leaves and any of the rando spotting that looks like Ca/Mg issue. -ZeroWater filter will take some adjustment. Removing the natural Ca/Mg means that the pH lowers to around 5.2 meaning a good amount of pH Up is needed to hit 6.5. Will probably move to a schedule where I Ca/Mg the watering water and use minimal amounts in the feed water.

Week 10! 01/31/2022: Watering day! With these two looking somewhat off still (a bit pale with the tallest, though both show what looks like a cal/mg issue in some of the lower leaves that I haven't been able to shake...though I know that Ca/Mg issues are not quick to resolve; I got some Real Growers Recharge and hit all the plants with 1tsp per gallon of filtered water that had been PH'ed up to 4mg per gallon. For the rest of the grow I'll keep Recharging every water. Ran into an issue where my cheap 'yellow' pH meter gave up. I do what I always do, which is calibrate with fluid and it wouldn't 'grab' my middle range (6.86) fluid and kept locking it to 9.0. I could get the calibration to 4.0 to work though and used that, though I know things may have been funky. I think the Recharge should buffer the pH with it's bacteria/fungus so I'm not too worried. 2/3: Note that Recharge seems to be somewhat magic. It's not only got mycos, but also fulvic/humic acid, kelp, molasses and other beneficials. I used it for the 'tent plants' but also fed our houseplants with it, especially a few sadder ones. The 48 hour results on houseplants was VERY noticeable in a positive way. On the Northern Lights it also gave the plants a definite look of better health. The paleness is fading and they just look happier. Will continue with them. I also received my new Bluelab pH meter...looking forward to using an industry standard-ish pH meter though the cheap yellow did well for a grow and a half. 2/4/2022: Feeding day. Nutrients are cut back to 550ppm...since the recharge works really well, I'm dropping back on pushing the Trio and letting the Recharge take some of the duties. Really happy with how it's worked...plants look healthier and there's fewer spotty or dead leaves to remove. Plants are greening up well and seem to be overall happier. Lights have been adjusted...they're now running at 15h and at 650ppfd and reaching full DLI while saving a bit of electricity by trimming back by 3 hours of light. New Bluelab pH meter works wonderfully...happy move from the 12$ cheap one to a 'real' one, though once you buy the meter and the calibration and storage fluid the end price is closer to 100$.

Week 11 2/8/2022: Day75: Watering Day Back to using well water, as the ZeroFilter was well killed in less than 20g of filtering. Used Recharge again, no other big changes or new info. Didn't take pictures due to time-crunch. 2/10/2022: Day 77: Just some updated pictures. One of the two NL's is still ugly. Yellowy-green that I can't shake with either feed or recharge. Only a handful of weeks left though, we'll just run with what we have. The other one is fine, minus what I thing was a cal/mag issue weeks back.

Week 12: 02/16/22: Day 83: Plants are persisting, but not looking great. The bigger one is suffering from P/K shortage, and I've been trying to fix that. Today was a watering day, so no nutrient changes until next feed (that'll be 2/20, Day 87). I did start giving them some 0/10/10 fish emulsion for a bit of support and I also gave about .5g of epsom salts along with their Recharge. Moving over to Maxibloom this week, so hopefully that will help sort out some of the deficiency problems that cropped up mid-flower.

Week 13: Day 91(2/24/2022)...I missed posting earlier in the week, but things are really just about the same. These are nearly there...The tent-mate Tangerine Dreams are in full fade mode and these will be hitting that mark in the next week. Looking good and the colas are mostly happy. As the first of the leaves get cannibalized I've been trimming them out. The tent will stay in action for the next week then lights out for a few days and harvest/hang time. Although it's really a weird time to do it, I moved over to GH 'maxi' series as well. Just got tired of having to measure and mix the 3-part series along with all the other stuff in the mix (pH adjusting, adding Mg, etc.). Note that I won't be 'flushing'...No actual scientific proof that it does anything, and I'll keep caring for the plants until the end. I'll run through the next week then I'll chop/defoliate and hang until hopefully low 60% range then cure. Interested to see where this ends up. First round of 4 plants was about 8oz total, this looks to be more. Would be happy with 12oz or whatever since it's not really about volume for me. The fan/filter/tent is having a hard time controlling smell, and its probably a good time to go another round soon. Next round of seeds is incoming. This batch is all photo/fem and leans heavily on modern versions of classic sativas that are probably as close to landrace stuff as you can get. I'm going to start with some Durban Poison, but have about 8 different strains on the way including things like Lamb's Bread, etc. Also some classics like Super Lemon Haze and Blue Dream to mix it up.

Haven't fully harvested yet. Chopped and hanging, defoliated all fans and most of the larger single leaf material. Drying now as full plants at 65f and 60%RH. Will probably be all week long before it gets trimmed and in jars to cure. DRY WEIGHT (After hung & jarred): 6.07oz plus 2oz trim/larf