'Northern Lights' by i49

Welcome to the End Everyone! Holy smokes, that's the ball game folks. This was a great ride and both girls gave me far more then I could have imagined. All the changes to methods and techniques, all the changes to nutrients and supplement additions, and the inclusion of the SF-2000 has made for two very large and heavy yielding girls. It isn't and can never be perfect, but growing these two was a very rewarding and satisfying journey. Now we're at the end, they have given me their fruit, taught me new lessons and been a treat to have around.😃 **Let's get to the numbers:**(Note: LARF and milled flower weights were halved when calculating final totals in the "Outcome" portion of this entry. I do not personally count excess LARF and milled flower as whole bud. This is only a personal preference. The numbers listed below are the full numbers weighed, but are different/higher then the final "Outcome") Northern Lights #1: -Whole bud- 98 grams (3.5 ounces) -Milled Flower- 52 grams (1.86 ounces) Northern Lights #2 -Whole Bud- 88 grams (3.14 ounces) -Milled Flower- 49 grams (1.75 ounces) Totals: -Whole Bud- 186 grams (6.64 ounces) -Milled Flower- 101 grams (3.60 ounces) NL #1, Jar #1- 35 Grams (1.25 ounce) NL #1, Jar #2- 30 Grams (1.07 ounce) NL #1, Jar #3- 33 Grams (1.17 ounce) NL #2, Jar #1- 30 Grams (1.07 ounce) NL #2, Jar #2- 29 Grams (1.03 ounce) NL #2, Jar #3- 29 Grams (1.03 ounce) NL #1, Milled Flower, Jar #1- 43 Grams (1.53 ounce) NL #2, Milled Flower, Jar #2- 40 Grams (1.42 ounce) NL #1 & #2, Milled Flower, Jar #3-18 Grams (.64 ounce) YES! Yes a hundred times, man. I couldn't be happier to see these massive numbers, especially at this quality and potency. It's always about quality, first and foremost, but I was looking to seriously up my yield in order to really carry myself and my needs. It seemed to have paid off/worked and these plants average yield is triple that of a single GG#4 from grow #1. Unbelievable😃. Bonus; the tent and all equipment has been paid off after this haul and half of this grow was money in the bank. From here on out, just power and supplies (as needed) and it's all money in the bank. The feeling of not being dependent on tonnes of sub-par medicinal or recreational cannabis is a huge relief. Table of Contents: Week #1- Full Equipment Lists week #7- Keeping Notes and Records Week #10- Low RH, Cold Weather and Cheap/Free Remedies Week #12- Praying and "Soil Priming" Week #13- Pruning and Defo in Flower. The 'Myth' Week #16- Flushing Experiment and Procedure Week #17- Flushing Update #1 & #2 Week #18- Final Flushing Notes and Final Thoughts **Grow #1 Vs. Grow #2** Long story short, in Grow #1 I was really hesitant to push the envelope in any way. I used a basic Nutrient Trio and Cal-Mag. I didn't do anything but what the schedule told me and I usually only applied 3/4's of the recommended dose. I was walking on egg shells and scared to hurt/kill them. They continued to look healthy and put out a great product, but it was clear that a lot of changes had to be made. The yield wasn't there and if I was to grow my own, to carry me and my family between grows, I needed to up these numbers, man. This was my mission and I made a lot of those changes. Below are most all the methods/techniques/nutrients/additives/equipment used to increase these numbers over my first go. 1. Nutrients/Supplements/Additives Grow #1: -Standard GHE Flora Series Trio & Cal/Mag 0-0-2 by manufacture's recommended doses, or less Grow #2: -Standard GHE Flora Series Trio & Cal/Mag 0-0-2 at full dose, advanced schedule -Introduction of Humic/Fulvic Acids (Diamond Nectar), Molasses (Floralicious Plus), Potassium Silicate (Sturdy Stock), a PK Booster (King Kola), Root Stim #1 (n/a) and Gaia Green 2-16-0 Bone Meal 2. Medium Grow #1: -First 3 gallons, Fox Farm's Ocean Forest. Last 2 Gallons, Dutch Treat w/ perlite conditioner (Soil was under conditioned and had high water retention) Grow #2: -All 5 gallons a 50/50 mix of Canna Terra (Peat moss for aeration) and Dutch Treat w/ 1:10 ratio of perlite added. (Sorry could breath, feeds could be applied faster and water logging was no longer an issue) 3. Lighting Grow #1: -Single 245 Watt, Blurple LED by Phlizon. (Specs in week #1 of this diary) Grow #2: -Addition of Spider Farmer-2000 Quantum Board LED for vegetation and both the SF and Blurple used in tandem for Bloom. (Larger output, higher PPFD rating and adequate footprint) 4. Environment Grow #1: -Held an almost constant 70% RH and 26-28 degree Celsius in Veg and 50% RH and 24-26 degrees Celsius in Bloom -Light cycle held at 24/0 for the entire grow Grow #2: -Held an almost constant 55-60% RH and 24-26 degrees Celsius in Veg and 30-45% RH and 21-24 degrees Celsius -Light cycle at 24/0 for seedlings and moved down to 20/4 roughly 3 weeks into Veg. 5. Training Grow #1: -Topped multiple sections, trained out, ran out of room and by the end they were not very sturdy and needed to be propped up with ribbon/yoyos Grow #2: -Topped the main once and once only. All other tops accomplished w/ LST. Additional bamboo sticks and strapping were planned ahead of time and by end game they carried themselves very well even with far more weight then the first go. 6. Trimming/Pruning Grow #1: -Did very little trimming, pruning or Defo. Was uncertain and this was more of a natural grow. Many, many tops with finite product on each Grow #2: -Planned for 8-10 Mains, max and pruned to accomplish this. I was not as hesitant to prune and defo as needed to help larger cola sites flourish. Achieved the 8-10 tops on both. Less LARF, easier trimming, more product, big win😃 So! That's the end of er'. I'd like to thank EVERYONE that has supported this project and helped me along at every little step...or misstep. There's too many to name individually and I'm positive if I attempted too, I would miss some very key people. So instead, if you're in the thread down below or you've checked in to help in PM, whether it was just to say hello, give a thumbs up or advice, I appreciate's allllll of you and I wouldn't have these successes without you. Glasses up to all of you. On a special note, there is someone I'd like to specifically call out and thank for all they have done for me. @Mrs_Larimar has been a beacon of knowledge, advice and a positive attitude in my grow experience. The large majority of changes I made (*see above) were from her direct guidance. So, just the biggest frigging thank you to you, Mrs_Larimar. I see her all over this site helping other new comers, ushering them into a lifelong and rewarding hobby/passion. I don't know where she finds the time....but Cheers to that: 1: Thank you all. I truly appreciate everything you've done for me and taught me. There's a lot more to know and a far ways to go, but with the solid set of contacts I've made on here, I'm positive my future endeavors will be fruitful. I feel like I have a great inner circle of like-minded people and I'm not going anywhere😊. Cheers everyone.