Northern Lights Auto Tin Shed Grow

Got myself a new light the other week, thought I'd do a quick auto before the summer heat hits making it impossible to grow in a tin shed. As per all my Tin shed grows the environment is never ideal, I normally do during winter so cold temps are always a factor. Just manage it the best I can with heating bars but when nights are cold, as last night was close to 0 I'm lucky to maintain the temp of the tent any higher than 14-16c. Oh well, a nice quick easy soil grow this will be compared to my last where I used coco coir

Its been a pretry stable week this week. One sub zero night and the temp was a challenge to maintain thats for sure.. To assist with temps during the cold nights I have installed a timer to only activate the exhaust fan for 15 minutes once every 2 hours during the night. The heating bars are performing well. Until today it hadn't been watered for 8 days. As this is planted in living soil, I'm still debating whether to add any nutrients, as she's healthy and progressing well I'll leave for another week and reassess then. The big addition of a remote cam is really making my life easier anyhow. As this grow is out the back corner of my yard in a garden shed if I can avoid attracting attention continually going there then its a good thing. Temps are visible and progress can be seen.

Smooth sailing this week. Started LST and will continue to adjust every day or 2 until flowering. Still no signs of flowering starting, the longer I get on Veg the better. Currently I'm debating whether to continue with LST or introduce a SCROG net that I've had for a while but yet to use, I guess if Ai do use then likely it will be in place by next week. Happy with the progress anyhow, I haven't watered for a week and still a few days off I'd say from giving her a drink. Also decided not to use any nutrients as I just want to see how this plant goes without anything extra and just use what's in the living soil, an experiment you can call it.

Just a little LST every day and the canopy is nice and even with plenty of future bud sites.

The plant went crazy this week, easily doubled its size. Really happy with how its going, nice even canopy after the LST from weeks 2-4. I decided to fertilise this week with some left over Mills nutrients I had from a previous grow. Really think the plant appreciated it. Hopefully it shows me the appreciation with fat juicy buds.

2 weeks ago I was having challenges maintaining a temp because it was too cold. This week has been the opposite, it's like summer in the first 2 weeks of spring. Internal temp in the tent has consistently been over 30c for the first 3 hours when the lights switch on, way too hot. Wish there was something I could do to drop the temp but when growing in a tin shed it's impossible. Warm days forecast for the next week anyhow. All I can do is water and not let the roots dry out. Oh well she's looking very nice anyhow, a massive growth spurt this week, possibly as a result of the increased temps.

The plant went crazy with growth this week, easily doubling in size (probably more). My tent is only a small one at 80*80*160 and this thing is now fully populated by plant. Can't beleive I managed to get 4 in here with my last grow, I guess they will grow as big as the space they are provided with when they are healthy and happy and this plant is definitely both. Things continued to warm up again this week, a few sunny days of 26c outside which meant my tent once again crept into the 30's for 2 or 3 hours of the 18 hour lights on cycle. On top of this, just to add salt into the wounds there were cold nights as well where the tent heaters were going full whack keeping things warm. To tackle the heat I ended up using a CO2 bag. CO2 was recommended to me by the Hydro shop and could help with the plant dealing with the high heats at times, guess I'll see. The plant also received the gift of automated watering, with the higher temperatures but also as I'll be away for a week for work next week I had to get something setup in advance. No idea why I didn't install an automated watering system with previous grows, was so cheap and makes things so much easier. Best of all the plant is loving more frequent drinks/feeds. Currently set to 4 a day at around 500ml each feed. When I started this gro my plan was to go nutrient free, and just use what the living soil offered. That only lasted through veg anyhow, now that it's flowering, I can see how much the plant is loving the Mills nutrients. Based on the growth in the last week I'd say the plants loving them a hell of a lot!!!! I think all the hard work shaping the plant is done now as the stretch is nearly over. Had no other option but to install a net during the week just to keep it down as much as I could. Only took a few days to fill it out and there's way too many bud sights now. If the plant had of stretched much more it would have to move into a larger house, but now the buds are starting to fatten I'd say it will be safe now. Couldn't be happier with this grow anyhow. Now just have to wait and see these buds fatten up.

Really good week but the plant is still stretching. It really needs to stop otherwise I expect problems. Really loving the extra feeds made possible by the automatic watering, which will really be tested this week as I'm away for work. If anything goes wrong nothing can be done to rectify until Saturday. Fingers crossed it's smooth sailing anyhow. Bud sites a plenty anyhow, just hoping they continue to grow and finish off fat and juicy.

The plant got very little care this week as I was away for work. I installed a automated drip system 2 wewks prior and it had been working a treat...until I leave that is as I suspect after the first one or two scheduled waters the timer flipped out and reset itself🤬 I have no idea why. Eitherway the plant got no water at all for 4 days., about 1.1 litres to be precise, well under 1 days requirement . As I have a remote cam setup I could see what was going on, I could see the plant suffering from underwatering but I could do nothing about it. And as this like all my grows are stealth grows because of the kids and wife I couldn't exactly have mates drop by to do🤣 Super painful it was to watch anyhow, captured for my suffering in the video. All ended well after a feed and everything is back on track. Maybe the plant thrived from the brief period of underwatering as the growth was crazy immediately after. As far as temps were concerned this week, there were 2 hot days where internal tent temperatures would've reached 30+ and cold nights just over zero. Honestly I've given up monitoring as there's nothing I can do about the heat when growing in a tin garden shed and when cold the bar heaters easily increase the temp by close to 15c from what it is outside. Good news is the cold days out numbered the warm and helped alot especially with the lack of watering. Thank you gunja gods 🙏 A beast this thing has become! Way bigger than I hoped for, way bigger than I need but I'll accept it's offerings eitherway when the time is right.

Smooth sailing it was this week that's for sure. No further issues with the automated watering, temperature was mild and pretty much maintained a good grow temp for the entire week. Unfortunately I know the mild temps won't last, one day of 26c forecast for this week so once again the internal temp of the tent will rise into the 30s. Oh well, can't do anything about it and as long as the plant stays as happy as it currently is then no problems from my side. Gave the plant a minor defoliation at the start of the week, with the intention of getting as much light to the lower bud sites as possible, with next to no impact on the plant. Buds are certainly plentiful, now I'm just waiting for the time to be right to adjust the nutrients to really give them the best opportunity of reaching their full potential. At the moment plenty of potential this plant is offering. The trichome production is still on the low side but also expect this to change once they start fattening up. Not much else to report. This plant is pretty much taking care of itself I'm happy to say.

A relatively hassle-free week this one was with only one minor hiccup at the start of the week when the automated watering timer switch reset itself again. A quick trip to the hardware store to return sorted that out and no issues since with the new timer switch. It may not look like it, but this plant is seriously neglected. I have physically checked on it twice over the last week. With the remote cam I’ve setup I can see when things are going well, I’ve even worked out if I switch on the microphone at the start of the watering cycles I can hear the initial release of water which was how I picked up the fault with the automated watering so soon. It’s like the more I neglect the better this grows! Having everything dialed in, in particular the watering has simplified the process and to date I’ve never had an indoor as happy as this one is. This plant has had to deal with high heat, cold cold nights, cramped conditions, no control of humidity, not a single water PH test (think good quality tap water has been my savior here) and it’s like it’s asking for more to be thrown at it! The weather was everywhere this week. Had a couple of warm days with the hottest October day in 5 years recorded early week which really raised the internal temp of the grow tent, peaking @ over 32c….yup that’s way too hot I know. Lucky I had the shed door open to improve ventilation on the hot day, if the door was closed possibly 40C internal temps would’ve been reached. When a hot sun hits a tin shed with no insulation the heat is only amplified that’s for sure and why all my previous indoor grows have been done mid autumn to early winter. Good thing is as the lights turn on early afternoon the temps were only raised for a bit over 3 hours during the 18 hour light cycle. At least once the sun goes down maintaining a constant temp isn’t an issue. After the hot days, well of course the cold returned and once again the heating bars are busy keeping things warm. The next 7 days the weather is looking very agreeable, just what’s needed for a tin shed grow! Everything’s fattening up nicely, buds are plentiful, sticky and the aroma is getting strong. Amazing progress it’s made the last week and I couldn’t be happier with how it’s going. I’m tempted to say it’s progressing way too well as space is a challenge in the tent that’s for sure, in all directions! A couple of the taller stems are way too close to the light and I’m seeing some foxtailing of buds. I’m sure it would be happier with more space at the sides but there’s nothing I can do about this so not worth worrying about things I can’t fix. I couldn’t be happier anyhow, this is the indoor grow I’ve been wanting as my previous 2 the rewards weren’t quite there. Pretty sure I’ll be rewarded handsomely with this one in 3 to 4 weeks’ time anyhow.

Buds are really fattening up. Now comes the difficult part, deciding when to start the flush and then when to harvest. With likely warming days, quite likely an early harvest is on the cards so I can avoid curing in a hot tin shed. Closely monitoring the extended forecast to hopefully harvest at the perfect time as all will be wasted if curing in a 30c tent. At the moment due to a changing forecast its possible I will only achieve a 5 day flush, and have 3 days to cure in mild temps. Unfortunately from then it looks.like things seriously heat up, if extended curing is required then likely I'll bring in side the house in mason jars during the heat of the day then cure further on the drying rack in my tin shed till during the cooler evenings until ready. No. I know this isn't ideal but I've done this previously and always ended up with good.buds just way more effort that's for sure. This being a secret grow has additional challenges that's for sure. My wife, and 2 teenage kids have no idea what goes on in this shed as to their knowledge only garden tools are stored here, if anyone in my house did gardening apart from me then this grow would be impossible that's for sure

As hot weather is on the way next week, I have not choice but to harvest. With multiple humid days in the 30s forecast I know its either harvest now or contend with grow tent temps close to 40c. Definitely not going to help the terps anyhow. Honestly I think she needs another few days, but super close either way. Trichs are predominantly milky white with just a tiny amount of amber. Managed to get a 5 day flush, not ideal but best I could do before the heat comes. Will manicure really well to speed up the dry time, hoping for a 4 day dry to avoid the hot weather. 🔥

Even though majority of the harvest is complete, there were so many buds under the canopy that I decided to let it bake in the sun for a week. Yup it's been a hot week and way to hot for the grow to continue in tin shed so an outdoor plant she become. Likely I'll get another ounce off it at least and the weather will likely be cooler next week allowing a good dry. Unfortunately, with the heat the last week the drying process was way too quick. Gave it 3 days before I was forced to bring it inside the house in mason jars partially dried as the temp was too hot for daytime drying in my grow tent and continued drying of a night time on drying racks for 2 additional nights just to finish off. Happy with harvest anyhow. Around 235 grams of dried bud and about 40grams of trim, with at least another 30 grams on the way. Should be a nice addition to my stash of GSC that I al4eady have from my last harvest.

Grow is finally complete. Left the plant outside for a week after the bulk of the harvest was done just to ripen up some of the lower buds. Ended up with another 20 grams so was worth the wait. All up over 255grams of bud and 40 grams of trim. Considering the tent size of 70*70*160cm, a 150W light and growing in a tin shed I couldn't be happier with the outcome. Super sweet frosty buds they are with a heavy stoned, was literally out like a light on my first try so ticks all the boxes as far as I'm concerned 😁