Northern Lights Auto Seedsman

Seeds popped and were placed in red solo cups filled with a generic potting soil from a mulch/soil store. This was before there was access to a pretty well balanced soil that was mixed up (still cooking) but this should suffice until they get transplanted from the red solo cups to the 5 gallon buckets they will finish in. Since the soil needs to cook for min 30 days, they will probably finish in some Roots Organic Original Mix with some Earthworm Castings and Parboiled Rice hulls mixed in. Not the ideal mix but should be alright especially if they can get some compost tea/microbe multiplier at some point. These were started just to get something going and if there's any harvest at all, it will be a success. Testing out and getting accustomed to a few new pieces of equipment and techniques is what is being tried on these as well as before the grow room was completed to provide more ideal conditions throughout the grow. All the seeds sprouted within a day or two and look great! They under a very low power/quality LED that was a gift but should work just to get them started while waiting to order the HLG 750 Diablo which will be used for the rest of the cycle.

Not seeing as much growth as expected this far in. It seems like in the past plants have been bigger by week 2 but then again it has been a while. Starting to see a little bit of yellowing on the biggest leaves of the largest 2 babies (#1 and #2). Was suspected this may be due to the soil they were started in. With it just being generic garden soil (black dirt/mulch) maybe it was too "hot" for the seedlings. Either way they will be going into better soil and bigger pots soon.

The yellowing got worse and there were even spots starting to show on them so they got new homes in larger pots. When they were removed from the cups they were completely rootbound which was not expected given how small they were but that ultimately was the issue. After a day in the new pots, they immediately showed sings of improvement and healthy new growth. They also are now under the HLG 750 Diablo which is a far far superior light to what they were under. Dimmed to the proper light for these young seedlings.

After a week in the new pots they have really looked a lot better and grown significantly more than they had been. Being so small, it was underestimated how much root growth they were capable of. All of the new growth has looked very good. They seem to really like the Roots Organic Original mix that they are now in. #3 has a tiny bit of the soil mixture that is being cooked for a larger grow. There was a little bit of leftover which was mixed in with the roots toward the bottom of the pot for the plant to grow into. It had only been cooking for 2 weeks so definitely not finished yet. Hopefully it doesn't pose too much of an issue but this is also a good test. #1 is still the tallest and growing the quickest it seems #2 is still odd looking and its leaf structure is unique #3 is still staying short and compact A soil moisture meter is used to tell when to water. When it gets down to the lower end of the moist and into the dry area, a good watering is given. Not measuring exactly how much water is being fed to each plant, but just giving them a good soaking being careful not to overwater. The measurements above for water are just estimations. Going to put them in their final pots (5 gal buckets) in the next week. Initially wanted to go from cups to final containers but was a little behind in gathering everything after starting these girls. Gonna get more Roots Organic Original Mix and amend with EWC and rice hulls for the final containers. Compost teas and molasses diluted in water will be the only feeding/"nutrients" they get. The next grow will be done in a composted organic soil mixture that will be done after 6 weeks of cooking. Those will only be given compost teas and water so the plants in this grow diary are kind of the guinea pigs for trying some of that.

Transplanted them all into much bigger containers. #1 is in a 5 gallon bucket and the other 2 are in about 3 gallon nursery pots. Finally able to acquire more food grade 5 gallon buckets so the remaining 2 plants will be in those by next post. Mixed in some organic rice hulls to add some more drainage as well as a good amount on the top soil to help not disrupt the soil too much when watering. They were getting to the point of rootbound again so they were transplanted just in time. They seem to be liking their new containers and have been growing pretty steadily especially for only being in bagged soil with nothing but water so far. Plants #1 and #2 were topped and then tied strategically Plant #1 has started to show some pistils at the bud sites Plant #2 has still retained its unique shape and it has actually helped shaping it, not requiring as many tie spots. Seems to naturally be growing bushier and the lower bud sites are getting enough light to be even with the top ones. Plant #3 did not get any topping or training. This one will receive no training or topping and be used to compare to the harvest of the ones that were topped and trained. This one is also the one that has a little bit of the organic compost/soil mix in the bottom and a little bit more was added when doing this transplant as well. Staying very bushy and compact but looking very healthy.

All 3 are in 5 gallon buckets now. Seem to be really liking the extra room as they were getting to be too big for their former containers. #3, the only one that was not topped or trained at all started showing some discolored spots on some of her lower leaves. Brownish/yellow. It was the only one with this issue so my guess is it was due to having some of that composted mix that wasn't fully cooked yet mixed into its new container so its possible its getting a bit burned from that. It isn't severe and doesn't seem to be spreading or getting worse. It has already showed improvement since these photos were taken. Otherwise all seems pretty healthy especially given the circumstances and only being fed water. Some compost tea/microbe multipliers will hopefully be used within the next few waterings. A 5 gallon brewer was just built but finding a spot to brew has been a challenge as it needs to run for apprx 36-42 hrs and is a bit noisy. #1 and #2 have started flowering. #3 is still in veg which is interesting since they are all the same autoflower strain from the same batch of seeds and all started the same day. The LST being done seems to be working as intended. Lots of evenly distributed bud sites/colas on each plant that was topped and tied/trained. 1 tbsp of molasses is now added into each gallon of water when watering. Each plant is getting about a gallon of water each time they are watered which is about every 3 or 4 days now.

Buds on #1 and #2 coming in strong and looking pretty healthy overall #3 still hasn't started to flower yet which is interesting, maybe in the next week or so it will start showing signs Curious if not topping or training it had anything to do with it as this was the only one that wasn't topped or trained and is the only one still vegging

#1 and #2 have shown significant bud growth all around but are running into some issues #1 has turned particularly yellow/light green with some leaves turning purple #2 is much greener but has more of the brown/burn looking spots on most of its bigger leaves. One of the smaller colas leaves surrounding the site are completely purple. The buds on each look healthy but #1 is becoming concerning. #2 while healthier is hopefully not turning as bad as #1 so far. Really would have liked to give them a compost tea but still have yet to brew one as finding a spot where its possible has been challenging atm Might try to topdress with more EWC and see if this helps at all When looking at the trichomes on some of the buds from #1 and #2, there was surprisingly a good amount of milky trichomes observed. A lot remain clear still but to see a good number of milky ones was nice to see yet. Hopefully this indicates being closer to harvest than initially anticipated. Any help identifying what is wrong is greatly appreciated. To reiterate from previous weeks, this is just 5 gallon pots of Roots Organic Original Mix, some Parboiled Rice Hulls, and top dressed with Earthworm Castings. Fed nothing but rainwater or dechlorinated tap water with some Organic Blackstrap Molasses every few waterings. This being the case, it is assumed that there is some deficiency mixed with the smaller pots aren't allowing a proper microbial ecosystem to form and thrive. #3 is still vegging, although when looking closely had some very small pistils showing which will continue to be monitored. Leaves are looking fairly healthy minus the burn/brown spots on a lot of the larger ones. This has seemed to be an issue from the get go with #3.

#1 is showing a little sign of improvement. A little more green this week than when it was really yellow. Hopefully it can improve more in the next few weeks before harvest. Otherwise the buds look pretty good and healthy still which is a good sign. The leaves that looked the most damaged have been removed. The bottom branches, nugs, leaves that were stealing light and wouldn't produce have also been removed #2 is looking a lot better and thicker. Still some discoloration but not nearly as bad. The lower and inner leaves actually look a healthy green. Buds look really good on this one! Some purple coloring on some of the buds and especially on one of the side colas. Probably due to some deficiency but the buds still look nice and healthy. Cleaned up the remaining lower leaves/branches that were too small and or underdeveloped and were just taking away from the larger bud sites up top. #1 and especially #2 are looking really tidy and cleaned up after the defoliation and rearranging some of the ties to really expose as much of the larger colas to light as possible. It has been determined that #3 was in fact not an autoflower. Interesting because it was grown from a seed that came out of the same Seedsman Northern Lights Auto seeds pack the other 2 came out of. Almost 10 weeks in and still vegging strong with no flowering starting at all. It will eventually be flowered to see how and potentially what it is but for now it is sitting off to the side slowing its growth so it doesn't get too massive as it wasn't topped and has already outgrown the small 5 gallon bucket. Still looking healthy and lush for the most part but some discoloration on a few of the larger fan leaves which have since been removed. About midway between week 9 and 10, all 3 plants received about a cup or a little more of Earthworm Castings as well as a cup to a cup and a half of some fungal compost from KIS. Plants have been receiving water with the molasses and fish hydrolysate (Neptune's Harvest Orange/Yellow Bottle) every other watering (1 tsp each per gallon). The last watering some fresh aloe from a live aloe plant was mixed into the water. Leaf was cut in half, the aloe gel scooped out and mixed into the water as well as a few pieces of cut up aloe skin. While likely the EWC and Compost may take more time than is left to really take effect, it at least should provide some nutrition for the plants and potentially help improve these last 3 or so weeks. A dehumidifier will be added to the next post as was just added to the room to lower humidity. The target will be 30%-40%. Temperature is more difficult to get much lower as ideally it would be 60-70 degrees versus the mid 70s its typically been in the room. Overall, it seems turning down the light intensity and dialing in the DLI along with staying on top of watering better is helping. pH will be taken off water runoff next watering.

Some really nice buds stacking now on #1 and #2. Both have some discolored leaves still but seem to be improved over the past few weeks. Dialing the light back with the proper DLI has seemed to help. Was running 31K lux = 770 umol @ 18 hrs so the DLI was too high at about 50 during this period of flower it seems. Now it has been turned down to 21k lux = 539.48 umol @ 18 hrs so the DLI is now 34.96 which seems more appropriate at this stage. This may be incorrect but have read that during late flower, a DLI between 25-40 is optimal. Would like to get the humidity down around 35-40% but even with the dehumidifier running it still stays around 45%-50% since the room is so large and its rather humid in this environment. This should be a lot easier to manage during the next run once the grow room is complete. Defoliated majority of the larger fan leaves that had discoloration and or were lower on the plant not contributing much. Alternating watering with the 1 TBL each of Blackstrap Molasses and Fish Hydrolysate per gallon and plain water every other watering. Buds are getting really frosty and have a nice color to them. The hairs all around are starting to really show that reddish amber color and trichomes are really forming nicely. Have been monitoring with the scope to check the trichome colors. #1 has more milky colored ones and just observed a couple amber colored smaller trichomes (could be either bulbous or capitate sessile trichomes) but the stalked trichomes are still milky or clear. #2 has clear and milky trichomes and no amber colored ones have been observed yet. Will keep monitoring this to see when to harvest. #1 and #2 both have healthy nice frosty looking buds but the plants and buds look entirely different despite supposedly being the same strain. Given that #3 wasn't an auto at all I am wondering if all 3 are different strains now. All 3 were started from the same unopened seed pack, the same day, same soil mix, same watering/feed schedule and all have produced different results. #1 has produced smaller buds, smaller leaves and has taken a much lighter color. Was pretty yellow at one point now has mostly a lime greenish hue with some purpling. The buds on #1 resemble the overall color and have a lighter shade green with more of a fluffy structure to them it appears. #2 has been darker green and much more dense. The purple hues have really come out in most spots and the buds seem thicker and have a different shade to them. The differences could all be due to different issues or deficiencies encountered but interesting since they were both essentially grown in the exact same environment on the same feed/water schedule. No disappointment or anything, just an observation that was made note of. This after all has not been the ideal environment throughout the cycle for these plants which has attributed to suboptimal health. Nonetheless, happy with the results so far. #3 was getting too tall so it got topped and then the taller surrounding tops got supercropped/bent. Cleaned up more of the lower leaves/branches so it is looking nice and clean at the base now with good airflow. Took a few clones off her too which can hopefully flowered and finished to see what kind of flower it produces since it was obviously not an auto like the other 2. Might flower out #3 as is but since it has vegged for so long and gotten too big for the 5 gal bucket, its a worry that the plant will run into issues during flower so may be best to just root a clone, veg for a few weeks then flower out. If any good, could keep the #3 as a mother. Here's some up close bud shots!

Buds are really starting to fatten up and the scent is getting a little stronger. #1 is definitely looking much greener and healthier all around. Only issue was one morning one of the larger colas started exhibiting signs of bud rot or something (see photos). It was just affecting the very tip of the cola so it was removed and the area was cleaned of all bad looking bud/leaf. Haven't ran into this issue before while still growing (only seen after harvest when too humid and hot) but the one cola started looking a little discolored and the leaves were getting really yellow/brown and moist/rotten feeling. It has been a few days since removing this affected area and things seem to be alright elsewhere on the plant and no signs of this anywhere else. When cutting that affected part of bud off the plant, despite being not the best it still had a very pungent fruity aroma which was nice. Hopefully this emerges more in the next week or two before harvest #2 is still going strong and has been very resilient to any issues. Not too much changing other than the buds fattening up a little more and lots of frost coming in on all the buds. The bigger main colas are rather thick and seem pretty dense. When checking trichomes of each, very few amber trichomes are starting to emerge but it is predominantly milky now with a decent chunk of them clear still. Seems more and more clear and less milky each time they are checked. Slowly observing more amber each time but really only a few here and there not enough to harvest yet. When checking the trichomes, the buds are very sticky!! Planning to harvest in the next week or 2 once almost all the clear trichomes become milky and there are a few more amber ones observed. Praying no more issues with the bud but at least it's good to know that there is a good percentage of milky trichomes if it has to be chopped in an emergency so it should at least be mature enough to produce something. Just set up the drying tent but having trouble getting it below 70F. Only portable AC units seen are $500+ so really not looking to spend that. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated. How do you guys get your rooms down in the 60s or as close to 60 as possible for drying? Getting the 55%-60% humidity will be no issue. These next few weeks are going to drag out probably lol too excited!

Day 85 (12 weeks) - Not too much changing at this point, just observing the nugs getting a little fatter and hairs turning more and more orange. Smell is slowly getting stronger and the trichomes are slowly getting more amber. Anticipating harvesting in the next week or so at this rate. Recently moved them into the 4x4 tent that will be used for drying. Was able to invest in an AC Infinity controller, fan and filter. Not using the filter currently but have the fan set up inside the tent. Running an LG dehumidifier in there but when the tent is closed the dehumidifier emits too much heat and the temp hovers between 80-85, but when the tent is left open even slightly with the dehumidifier running the humidity rises to between 50-52% which is too high. Luckily they are close to being done and the temp will be easier to regulate once the light is not going during drying. Any tips on cooling the grow room/tent without investing in a $500+ portable AC unit? Thankfully it is getting cooler where this is located so that should help, also thinking of introducing an intake fan that blows cool air from outside the house into the room/tent once the temp outside is consistently below 70F which should be in the next few weeks. This will work all winter but during summer next year it will need to be addressed again. #1 has really gotten a lot greener each week. The nugs are starting to fatten up a lot more and the hairs are starting to turn more orange. There is still a good amount of clear/light colored hairs on her especially compared to #2 which is almost entirely orange hairs. The area that was removed from the top piece of one of the colas that was exhibiting bud rot or some other issue is looking much healthier. Cleaned it up even more since the last photos and now it is looking a nice bright green and no more signs of issues. #2 is really maturing nicely. Very thick dense buds and seems to have more weight on each cola than #1. This plant seems more resilient and has not ran into really any issues. Buds are looking very frosty and continuing to pile it on. Hairs are almost all orange and the nugs feel very dense. Obtained a sprayer (one you would spray weed killer or something in your yard) which works phenomenally for watering plants. Allows one to stick the nozzle right into the plant without having to poke and move around branches/leaves. Can evenly coat the entire container and the spray action really minimizes disturbing the topsoil which tends to occur when directly pouring water on the surface leaving holes and crevices. The plants seem to enjoy being watered this way and instead of getting a good drenching every other day or 2 days are preferring the slower watering which is probably a little bit less than they were normally getting each watering but more often. Just started adding 1 tsp of Freeze dried coconut water powder every other watering. Started this on day 85 since it was just obtained otherwise would have been using entire flower. Will be running a lot different soil mix with a full amendment line next round! Enjoy the close ups!! We're getting close now!! All comments/likes/questions are GREATLY appreciated!! Thanks everyone for viewing this journey and adding any input!!

Moved these babies into the finally finished grow room. Unfortunately it has taken much longer than expected to get it finished so they have not had an ideal or even close to ideal environment most of their lives. But its done and ready to finish these and start the next round which has already begun (check the other growdiary!). #1 is continuing to improve its overall color and getting darker green. Has been more difficult to see the fading due to the period of stress early on in flower that led to a pretty severe yellowing but can still see some darker hues coming through some of the bigger leaves. Buds are lighter and fluffier than #2 but still have some good density to them. This plant seems to still be adding a little weight and thickening up. #2 has remained pretty consistent throughout these later weeks of flower. Much thicker and denser than #1. This caused some deeper investigation into the inner areas of the buds/colas to search for any mold/bud rot. A small amount was discovered in some of the thicker colas that weren't getting as much airflow as they should have been. Immediately removed these problem areas and optimistic most of the plant can be salvaged as this issue was (hopefully) confined to just a few areas. Discovering this coupled with finding that cola on #1 weeks ago with a bad spot has prompted a thorough inspection of each nug/cola on both plants. Thankfully it appears the vast majority of each plant is still looking healthy and rot free so instead of chopping now, going to keep them going and hopefully can get the desired trichome ratio before harvest. If harvest is necessary beforehand due to issues continuing then it will be done. Environment has been hard to keep consistent. They have often during flower been exposed to temps around 80F and humidity in the 50-60 and sometimes creeping into the 60% range which has attributed to this bud rot coming up. Another thing determined is airflow has been subpar especially given the excess humidity. This should have been addressed with more/larger fans blowing on the plants earlier on in the cycle which could have maybe prevented it. 2 large 16" oscillating fans have been added and there is much more airflow through the canopy and buds. Another thing that was done to help was trimming/defoliating the remaining fan leaves and any larger leaves around buds that could hold too much moisture or block airflow. Also went through each cola and kind of spread them from the stem a bit to get a little more space in there which hopefully will promote better airflow here as well. All in all, will be monitoring them daily and diligently checking for any other bud rot or mold issues anywhere else. Now that airflow is vastly improved and they are in a much easier to control environment, hopefully the last week or 2 will prove successful or at least issue free.

The final week! #1 is drinking much less water now. Buds are showing a decent amount of amber and milky trichomes. Definitely ready to harvest! #2 is still drinking about half a gallon of water every day and shows less amber but a few still present. Lots of cloudy trichomes though so going to chop at the same time as #1. Have been just giving them water only the last week or two. Want to get the room rolling with the next round so don't want to have it held up for just one little auto to go another week or so. Gonna chop by the weekend!!

Harvested these and dried them for 2 weeks. The largest of the stems were snapping with a clear break and no bend. Did best to keep as close to 60 degrees F and 60% Humidity but it definitely fluctuated a bit during the dry. Smell is fairly mild but is pleasant. Has a real earthy aroma with a hint if citrus. Smell could improve after some jar time so will keep monitoring that. Taste and smoke are alright, definitely could be better and would have been had the drying humidity and temp been consistently at 60F and 60%. It fluctuated up to around 70F at times with humidity dipping to 45% and then sometimes up to 70%. This absolutely had a negative effect on the taste and smell. The overall grow went pretty smooth given the conditions and very basic setup for most of their cycle. Was mostly water only the entire run so definitely happy with the yield and outcome given that and the other circumstances that could have absolutely been better. This was the first time growing an autoflower, was very easy since there is no worry about switching the light but they really did not take any shorter than a photoperiod plant and the yield was definitely less. Would be interested in trying again in better conditions but definitely prefer photoperiod plants so far. Was a fun learning experience that will help the next run go a lot smoother with better results!! #1 which ran into the most issues yielded 55.7 grams #2 yielded 67.7 grams Total of 123.4 grams or 4.4 dried ounces. Thanks for following along the first of many growdiaries!! All input, questions, comments, likes, interactions were greatly appreciated!!