Northern Lights Auto 1st Timer

Aussiegreenthumb82 Hello 👋 new to this forum but have been following many here. Love your shares so I thought I'd share my first ever grow. After loosing 3 seeds to direct in pot germination i tried paper towel method in a lunch container sitting on grow mat at approx 28C. After 48hr germinated like a hulk. Potted her in 1L container in coir peat, vermiculite perlite mix with a little potting mix which I subsequently transplanted out of around day 12. Anyway here is her first photo shoot at DAY 10. Very small amounts of fertiliser and water as I was paranoid of overwatering and root lock. She's a little yellow around the gills here but this improves.

Aussiegreenthumb82 Week 2 and I'm getting serious lol. Set up my grow tent with inline fan pulling filtered air in and 2 little desk fans for circulation. Humidifier to bring that humidity from 30% to above 50% as I live in a dry hot climate. She has responded well after her feed with the budrite formula which has your Cal Mag which is what I suspect was causing the yellow in first week. As mentioned i repotted into approx 15L plastic pot which i drilled holes throughout for air. Coir, perlite, vermiculite and worm castings from my own worm farm. love to know what people think? ✌️

Aussiegreenthumb82 Solid week, she's growing well if I look at a week ago but I'm too impatient 😆. A look back at the week that was. After a trip to my local hydroponic shop I picked up grow bags, SCROG net, Growrite AandB formulation (Dutch apparently although wasn't on the drop down list here?), CalMax and LST tie. Day 19 I did her 3rd and final transplant to 20L grow bag. She didn't seem to suffer from it but will definitely plant into final bag from the get go next grow. It's too stressful on me LOL. Moved my grow tent out of garage and onto patio area as we've had a spell of hot days >35degC and the shed roasts. Wife isn't happy bout it but my girl appreciates it. Introduced CalMax and Growrite into her fertilising schedule. Trying very hard to stick to a watering/fertiliser schedule giving her nothing every 2nd day as suggested in comments (thank you!). Also started LST and at day 21 it's looking like some medieval torture scene! Would like to know people's thoughts on the LST, have I gone overboard? While I'm asking what is the latest consensus on topping Autos? Most people here seem to go for it but a number of vids on YouTube say otherwise? Also I was watching a video that suggested a great way to promote root growth is to starve her of water I.e. let her go dry for prolonged period (>4 days?). What are people's thoughts on this? Anyone tried? I am hoping for big growth in week 4!

Aussiegreenthumb82 She's a funny looking thing, not sure what to make of her. Looks of bunched up growth down low then a giraffe neck before apex. I didn't end up topping, will work my way up to that. Apart from shape she's healthy looking I think. Stuck to a decent water and feed schedule working up greater volumes. Ph of flush consistent 5.8 to 6.0. Weary of salt build up ( thanks to all who have commented love the vibe here). I'm hoping for some stretch in week 5 so I can introduce the scrog plus it still plays on my mind how small she is. One observation I found she makes her best gains on sunny days when I can give her 6-8 hrs of natural light who would have thought hey lol. Anyway hoping for some big growth 🙏

Aussiegreenthumb82 Week 5 down she's bulking up. Steady routine per day of water, nothing, nutes, nothing.

Aussiegreenthumb82 Decent week. More LST and some defoliation. Good advice from community attempting to bring the main stem down further using LST to lower the light and get more into the lower buds. Don't think she'll put on any huge amounts more growth but I love her all the same. Had some issues with smell which made me a little nervous as my tent is outside under cover close'ish to the neighbour. Bought a plug in ambi per perfume dispenser. Actually works well to mask the smell.

Aussiegreenthumb82 Bit of a roller-coaster of a week. Noticed yellowing of leaves at the bottom of plant and yellow in centre of veins on mid to upper leaves. Much love to the growdiaries community 4 diagnosis as cal mag, especially magnesium deficiency. Girl needed food. Now she's canoeing in places, been especially hot week and struggled keeping temp below 30c during day. Lifted lights up 10cm and added some ice to tray in tent. Hope this helps. One question to my growmies looks like I'm getting some beautiful golden pistals but trichomes still clear. What people thinking 2 more weeks?

Aussiegreenthumb82 It's been a week of learning. Learning all the things I should be doing growing in coco lol. Anyway ill improve with each grow. Switched to high frequency fertigation started measuring TCs of run off and adjusting to get within recommend ranges. While I've managed to get the nutrient EC under control after a flush with FloraKleen and h20 I've started noticing a spike in pH to 7.0 despite frequently adding nutes and water at 5.8 any ideas? Could it be bacteria contamination? I've also added some Myco for my roots and some other goodies including silica. Anyway if anyone has any ideas on the increasing pH in RO even though ECs are now steady and in range. Peace

Aussiegreenthumb82 Well what a journey! My first grow! While she only yielded small, she taught me so much which I've applied to subsequent grows. All about light, nutrients, growing in coco, fertigation.... with all this knowledge let's just say her sister is a monster;) major lessons learnt; Popping seeds using paper towel works wonderfully but the key is temperature and humidity 30C is perfect. With coco dropping sprouted seed straight into final pot worked best with her sister but can't say it is superior to potting up. High frequency fertigation with proper run off is key to staying out of trouble with over feeding/ nuit lock out, pH issues etc. EC meter and pH meters are a must if u going to use coco. Anyway this grow was invaluable to my learning, as they say, u never forget your first ;) finally to any authorities snooping around my diaries, All plants and plant material are destroyed after grow is completed. No plant matter is distributed outside my property.

Aussiegreenthumb82 Waiting for seeds to mature.