Indoor DN's World of Seeds Northern Lights x Big Bud Grow - Soil - LED - Area 51 XGS-190

[DirtyN0rth]

Well...I've started ordering beans from Herbie's Autos because I only grow autos so I figured... Why not get free seeds that I can actually use?

Anyways... I ended up with five or so of WoS' Northern Lights x Big Bud Autos and its stats were promising (Medium Height, High Yield, High THC, Fruity). Well a couple of grow journals have cropped up for this strain and the results looked promising. I also heard good things about the smoke. So...I tossed one in a paper towel a few weeks ago and here we are.

Soil - Fox Farms Ocean Forest
Container - 5 Gallon Smart Pot (Fabric)
Space - 35"x35"x79"(or so haha) Tent
Temp - 70s to low 80s
Humidity - 40%-45% light on 55%-60% light off
Water - Recycled from dehumidifier
Light - Area 51 XGS-190 Grow LED 100w Veg - 190w Flower | 21HrsOn 3HrsOff | 18"-24" From Lady

I use a wide variety of nutes and I am constantly trying to fine tune the "perfect" feeding schedule. I'm a bit obsessive about it actually. I've also started using Green Pad CO2 generators. I don't start them in the tent until flowering usually. The levels in my other tent run between 500-1200 throughout the day. Depends upon humidity and when a sheet is close to needing a change. Better than nothing I figure. For a small operation I think they're about as good as it gets in terms of price and ease of use. That shit in the bottle for $40 is just too expensive when I'm only running two plants.

This is my first full LED grow and I'm pumped as hell. So far I've noticed a difference in how vibrant and full and just green the plant is. It's currently on 100w at 24". I wait till it presses 20" then raise it. So far no issues whatsoever.

I guess that's it...Here she is at Day 16. I'll update again in a little more than a week. Push some good vibes my way and pray to Demeter for me!

Blood.Sweat.Tears

 

[virginia gent]

Good luck and good karma. You will love it, I did.

 

[thetreeman]

bery nice!

 

[DirtyN0rth]

Quick update - It's two major fans have extended beyond the edges of the pot which means it's over 14" in diameter. Every time I've had a short, bushy, or indica type plant that is this big this soon it ends up being a beast. In fact, I haven't had a plant progress so much so quickly. Although, I hope it doesn't progress too quickly and end up being a 65 day plant. I'm hoping for 85ish...seems to be the best mix of yield and potency vs. time grown. I don't want to jinx myself but considering it's still got two full feedings and over a week before I switch into flowering mode... I'm excited.

 

[DirtyN0rth]

!!!Update - Day 25!!!

Well Day 25 has arrived so I'll be starting the flowering section of my feeding schedule. This is of course when things get truly interesting.

She's been looking great, definitely a low ryder...not getting quite the height I'd like but I still prefer the power bush over the ol' spindly tall tree. This baby is going to be a bush for sure. I may have gone a bit heavy on the Grow nutes, but I get paranoid about burning and it's still early to tell. Also, the previous strain took the same amounts no problem but from strain to strain you just never know.

Regardless, she is going to have a bunch of top buds that look like they're going to grow even with the cola. So, I should end up with some really consistent bud development with such an even canopy. So far...I'm really enjoying the grow. I've also just purchased a UV-B bulb that I'll incorporate later into the grow. I still haven't decided exactly when...more research needed.

Blood.Sweat.Tears

 

[DirtyN0rth]

Another Update - Day 30

I liked the way she was looking tonight so I took a few pictures. The main nodes (the Cola and the "Tops" or w/e...I try not to get too technical...I'm more of a math/physics/computer guy than biology/chem type) ... anyways all the top buds that are hopefully going to be effin boulders - The Tops - are extending out past the leaves and really reaching for the XGS-190. I also make sure that I get those nodes seeing the light as soon as I can, even if it takes some jamming around/training of fan leaves.

I love the XGS-190 so far...no issues whatsoever. Can't wait till buds start really forming. I haven't had a stocky indica like this in awhile so I'm excited. The leaves are such a lush green. They seem thicker or tougher in a way...they're almost plastic-like. Gotta love LED. The transition wasn't bad at all... a bit less water usage and I use GH CaliMagic now which I probably should have already been using in the first place. I'm dying to see the difference throughout flowering.

I'll be hanging the Arcadia D3+ 34" 39w 12% UV-B (mouthful) fixture and bulb this weekend. I won't be firing it up yet, but when I do I'll provide a sort of dual update on the plant and the effects (if any are noticeable that is) of the light. I'm a little worried about stressing her initially so I might do a one week introductory period of 2-3 hours a day. If I do that I think I'll start it a week earlier so that no real time is lost. Still not positive as many plants get UV-B a lot more than six hours a day.

Loving the strain so far. Already getting stinky tho. I'm in a fairly populated area but the ozone generator helps big time (they're amazing, great investment). It's short but packed already, which I love but I am a bit worried about penetration. This girl should really put the XGS-190 to the test. I use AN Bud Ignitor and HG MultiZen (both are supposed to increase bud sites) so I'm hoping this baby is stacked from bottom to top. I've contemplated doing some serious trimming (KylieKay has me considering it again) a week or so prior to harvest, but I've never dared to do it. There's a lot out there against trimming autos at all. Is a weeks worth of light worth the loss of the leaves a week prior to harvest? Not sure. I have been surprised at what a difference a few days of light can make in terms of how much buds dense up, develop, and as trichomes mature. I harvest over 4 days and I try to cut buds based on which are the most mature and how much light they'll reveal to the buds beneath. The extra light exposure definitely makes a noticeable difference on the maturation of the lower buds. If I do hack at it I plan on doing it less than 1/3 at a time over 4 days. Seems that cutting less than 1/3 of a plant's/tree's foliage is the rule of thumb to avoid stressing it. Not sure how that applies to cannabis autos but it shouldn't hurt.

She grows around an inch a day I'd say, so she is still pretty short but her growth is steady. I'm very curious to see how long she'll grow for as plants like this have surprised me and chugged along till day 45+ and they end up being decently tall and great producers. I hope so because I could surely use a good yield. It's the one thing that has me nervous about the UV-B bulb is I don't want to drastically sacrifice yields for potency. Hopefully the CO2 pads help to offset this.

Well...that's all I've got for now I believe (sorry if I'm long-winded, no one to talk to about this stuff so this place is my release) so here she is...

Blood.Sweat.Tears

 

[DirtyN0rth]

UV-B Bulb Hung!

Update: She's looking great. Continues to grow a bit less than an inch a day, but she's consistent and steady. One odd note is I thought I overfed a bit at the end of my Grow nutes cycle and it's like some leaves have a bit of nute burn and others don't at all, but it appears to be completely random. Less than half the leaves, new and old growth. Random locations. Kinda weird, but it's not bad at all so I'm not too concerned. More worried about being able to spot possible future burning.

The Tops - the cola especially - are really stretching up to the LED. The cola's surrounded by nodes so you can tell it's gonna be really chunky. The next set of nodes down on the plant are nearly seein' light. I love it when the nodes start growing up into each other and the buds are stacked right on top of each other. Indica's are the shit. Actual buds are almost forming but they're not quite there yet. It's driving me nuts I can't wait to see these buds start taking shape with some crazy hairs, stinkin', fattenin' up, and so forth ha.

Anyways...the whole point of this was to mention that I got the Arcadia UV-B bulb and fixture up. I ended up mounting it in the front-left corner of the tent for a few reasons. Accessibility was one, pain in the ass to reach at the back of the tent with LED and plant in the way. Cord was easier to run too. But, my primary concern was being certain the fixture hung straight up and down. Being hung from the top caused the bottom to lean a bit casting the light downward... at the very least the opposite of what I'd want. This was irritatingly difficult to solve with the provided hardware, so I had to go MacGyver on its ass. It's much easier to re-position the LED and the plant to control the distance from the UV-B, that and future plants will be different widths. So, to ensure adequate space and adaptability to the growth of the plant, I zip-tied the fixture directly to the front left corner's vertical pole. Kinda like a splint it keeps the fixture straight and it slides up and down the pole like a train on a monorail, so I still use a ratchet hanger to easily control the height. When the time comes the plant's width will decide where it sits in the tent to control the distance from the UV-B bulb (about 5" at the closest), and I'll tweak the LEDs location accordingly. It works out cuz I already keep the plant a bit left of center because the oscillating fan is too intense if the plant's too close and the fan's in the front right corner.

I'm dying to get this bulb going. I decided I'm going to start it around when I start the Bloombastic (Day 50), and run it six hours in the middle of my light schedule up until harvest, I already rotate my ladies 1/4 turn nightly. Any future adjustments to the schedule I'll base upon results I suppose. It's 210 hours of UV-B for an 85 day plant so it must make some difference. From what I've read, I want to keep an eye out for stressing, accelerated maturation of foliage, and increase in smell. Most of all of course tho is crystal production and maturation (I've read they go milky then amber faster). I don't have anything to compare so I can only really go by past grows. Then there's the entire purpose: Potency, which I'll know about when I vape this stuff like a madman! Haha...

 

[DirtyN0rth]

The 35th Day

Things are pretty uneventful. Getting towards the end of the Bud Ignition Phase (haha) of my flowering feed schedule. She continues to look great. Spreading up and out more and more everyday. She's really growing up to the LED nicely and you'll see in the pics that the entire plant has opened up so penetration is improving. It's also showing a lot of bud sites now that have fought their way to the surface to drink up some rays. I'm really hopeful that the lower buds will mature well. With my past HPS grows I've always felt the interior buds that get less light were unsatisfactory.

She still has a few odd spots here and there but none of it seems to be consistent throughout the plant. One leaf has very slight browning edges, another has some yellowing, and yet another has little white spots here and there. But, I can't seem to find anything consistent. Usually, if I've ever had a problem there's some sort of pattern to it. It's puzzling...but still not really prevalent enough anywhere to warrant concern. So, I'll just keep my eyes peeled for any worsening and stay the course.

I picked up the UV-B and got it installed early so that I could tweak it if there were issues. With growing...it seems like there are always issues. So, one thing I learned is to compensate for them ahead of time. Anyways, when I'm doing stuff in the tent I keep moving the fixture unintentionally because it's close to my work area. I love tents' advantages, but despite them they can be a pain in the ass. The corner post is cylindrical so I've gotta shim the fixture with a folded up business card or something to keep it's facing consistent. Then, I'll just be sure to check it each night as I close up the tent. No big deal. Two more weeks and I'll flip the switch on that baby. I'm sure it'll be pretty anti-climactic, after all it's a plant, but I'm excited nevertheless. By the time I start the Arcadia bulb up she'll have really fanned out too which should be advantageous in getting that UV-B beaming on the buds. Right now, you could basically split the plant into four quadrants that have a cluster of buds growing together. With the quarter turn I should be able to focus the exposure of the UV-B on each group every four days. Part of me would like to be able to just leave the plant the whole time and see if one side ends up with more potent buds than the other side. But, efff that ha...

Well... here she is...

|| Day 35 ||

Blood.Sweat.Tears

 

[DirtyN0rth]

|| Update || Day 40 ||

Well tonight is Day 40..or Night 40 rather. Buds are certainly coming...I'm at the "Big Balls of Hairs" stage haha... I'm getting excited because this'll be the first LED grow I've been up close and personal to. I can't wait to see what this XGS-190 does from this point forward. I've obviously watched YouTube videos on LED grows, but nothing compares to being right there and experiencing the plant haha. This baby is so stocky the buds ought to be chunky and dense which I've been really hurting for lately. The cola looks like it could end up pretty beast-like.

UV-B
Ten more days and I'll start the UV-B. I've mentioned before how contradictory my love of growing plants is due to my complete lack of patience. I'm a perfectionist, anal, OCD super-combo too so growing can be almost torturous at times. But, I love it. I don't know if there will be visual differences with the buds. Like I mentioned though (you'll kinda see this in the pictures) the majority of the buds are concentrated into four quadrants so the 1/4-turn nightly rotations should work out perfect. I really like the way this WoS NLxBB grows, if the smoke is as satisfying as I've read I'm looking forward to growing more of this.

XGS - 190
I'm really impressed with the XGS-190 so far. When I cranked it up to 100% I moved the light up to 24" and I haven't moved it since. I'd say the plant's now about 12" away from the LED maybe a bit more. With the HPS I was constantly tweaking the height to keep it as close as possible (toasted a couple cola tips). Whereas, with the LED, I feel like the plant grows up into it more naturally and takes on a favorable "growth shape" I guess. No bleaching. The plant also seems to have spread itself out more to accommodate the lower buds. The nodes are jammed right up against each other (I use Multi-Zen and Bud Ignitor) and I would definitely say the XGS-190 appears to penetrate the plant much better than HPS.

I really love grows from this point forward. The anticipation is palpable haha... I could smoke it. Grow buds...GR0W!!!

||DAY 40 ||

Blood.Sweat.Tears

 

[JAYAR]

Looking healthy man :thumbs: