Outdoor Far north experiment - Nirvana SR and NL in a Solexx greenhouse

[Nördlich]

Hey all ~ first post here. I'm glad I found this site, especially after what I've been up to this summer. I've only been growing for a couple of years, having learned some tips and tricks while living over in Europe. I recently moved back home to AK and am just now wrapping up my first autoflower grow. As a medical patient, the autos hold appeal simply because of how easy they are to grow and take care of. My goal this summer was to find out just how well autos could do during the long daylight hours this far north. Contrary to popular belief, it's actually quite tough to do a full outdoor grow in AK with regular strains because of how short the growing season is. This is where the autos - and using all the free sun - comes in!

Strains grown: Nirvana Short Rider and Northern Lights
Pot / Soil : 3 gallon Smart Pots with local organic potting soil
Nutes: Fox Farm Organic Veg and Organic Bloom
Grown in custom-built wood-framed Solexx Greenhouse
Daylight hours during grow: 18-24 hours

I am now sitting at day 87 of this grow (week 12). Short Rider is advertised to flower in 6-8 weeks, Northern Lights 7-9. The two SR plants are getting close to being finished, so if you add 3 or 4 weeks of veg time, this seems to be close to predicted. The NL's are right behind the SR's. I'm sure the cooler temps up here slow the growth a bit, too.

As far as yield, I'd guestimate that each plant will produce 100-120 grams per. These gals were on the tall end, all around 1 meter +. Buds are tight and dense and smell oh so nice. The main colas are filling in very nicely now, too. Excited to see what the next week brings!

As far as problems, I should have used better soil. Nutrients were getting bound up due to the compactness of the dirt. I should have listened to my instincts instead of the bro-brah that recommended the dirt at the garden store. Lesson learned for next time. I'm sure yield will be affected somewhat, but the flowers have looked healthy from the get-go.

Watering did get to be a hassle, especially on days when my back and other physical problems were really acting up. This weekend, my wife and I are setting up a water collection system just for that greenhouse which will make things so, so much easier next year. Simply turn a nozzle and.....done!

I will better document my grows in the future. I still did want to share this grow, however - for posterity's sake. This was one heckuva hectic summer which is now just calming down. I just ordered a bunch of new autos to try out this fall, but it will be a few months until I can get those going. I'll make sure and post up total yields when I harvest this current grow.

Peace!

 

[Dominas999]

Welcome to AFN Nordlich, guys gave me a great welcome here and sure you will get the same...

Your babies are looking very healthy indeed, cant wait to see end produce and journal of future grows...

Happy Growing

Dom

 

[Nördlich]

Thanks, Dominas! I appreciate the welcome!

I'm going to head out and take some new shots of the girls in a bit. I did chop the top half of a Short Rider two days ago and enjoyed my first taste last night. I was blown away by how good it was! Better than the meds I was buying locally before I had produced any of my own. I kind of thought of Short Rider as a safe, easy, and typical variety to just try out for my first autofem grow. I'm happy I have a few more seeds of this left now! I'm enjoying some pulls from my Silver Surfer right now and am surprised at how hard hitting it is, yet I'm still retaining my cognitive abilities (for the most part). Exactly what I need during the day! I can't wait to try out the Northern Lights next. Funny enough, I've never had it before. I have one girl that is just about ready to be taken down, though.

This has been a fun grow this summer and I've learned a lot. I'm kind of a non-conventional fella, so basically have been going against the things people have been telling me about growing where I am in Alaska. I was told not to do autoflowers outdoors here by quite a few people. Well, in the greenhouse I built this summer, and with me even making a horrible soil choice, the plants are thriving! I'm very much looking forward to doing this again next summer!

I'll put up some new pics later today or tomorrow. Enjoy your Sunday, all!

 

[Nördlich]

Two pictures from today is all I have time to post now. One is of of the shortest auto northern light in the greenhouse. It's about a meter tall and is only a few days to a week from being finished. I think today is day 89 from seed for her. My flash was going wonky, so the light is a bit weird.

The other picture is of a photosensitive white widow i have growing in my tent under a 300W LED and a few 15W LED spots. Oh, and I finally caught a glimpse of the plant's protector. She's doing a good job!

 

[Dominas999]

Never had Northern lights before :O shame on you lol..

Nah its a brilliant strain one of the original "high" grades...

I got a northern lights X blueberry on atm day 37... Cant wait :

Yours are looking good so far tho mate :five:

Cheers Dom

 

[Nördlich]

Thanks!

yeah, yeah, I know.....:Stones slap: I've been to coffeeshops all over the Netherlands have sampled goods from all over the PNW and Northern California, Alaska, and Hawaii, but I've never tried Northern Lights before. So many strains, so little time! I'm sure I'm tasted hints of it in some of the hybrids I've tried out, though.

Bummed - found some grey mold in a couple of short ryder buds. I quickly cut them out, then took that plant down to get it up to dry. Lost a few nice, nice buds. I was going to chop her tomorrow anyway. Damn. It's been super wet here, though. Temps in the mid 50's with 1/2" of rain each day for the past few days with no dry spells. I put two more fans out in the greenhouse to circulate air better. Didn't find mold on anything else, thankfully, but will be diligent about it from here on out!

Should be harvesting the Northern Lights in the picture above in the next day or two. It's close. Hoping for some amber trichomes, but don't know if I'll get them. Lots of cloudy, but nothing close to amber.

 

[Dominas999]

The leaves will tell you when she is ready if its an Auto or is this the photo you got??

Sorry to hear about the mould issue and hope no further buds were affected...

Sorry for late reply been working alot recently..

Have you chopped her down yet, would be good to have a smoke report

Dom

 

[Nördlich]

These are all autos. The Short Riders have been taken down, but I still have a couple of the Northern Lights. Funny thing - I've got all yellow leaves on one plant, brown and yellow on another, and another looks like a brand new baby with bright green leaves still. All are ready to harvest in the next 24 hours, and all look really good! It's been a busy few days, and the next couple are going to be incredibly busy as well. We also have a large veggie garden, and it's nearly harvest season in my neck of the woods. Now, if my fracking back would just hold out. Hard to do this type of work when it's so hard to stand..... But, I just cleaned my grinder using the heated milk method (coconut milk, actually), and drinking this magical elixir should help

I'll come back with a smoke report soon. As the Short Rider cures, it's gotten better and better. Really like it! Haven't had a chance to try properly cured NL yet, but very soon!

PS - I've taken a ton of pictures and will post some when I get a little time! Cheers!

 

[Dominas999]

Get that smoke report up Nordlich, Did the THC filled coconut milk help with your back in the end?

 

[Nördlich]

Very sorry for taking so long to update (again). For a physically broken up dude, I've been busy and just haven't been online much the last week or so. Also, when my back gets really bad and my chronic pain starts to flare, it's really hard to be on the computer for any length of time.

First, the smoke report = :gthumb: I love the piney smell of the Northern Lights. I find the taste differs substantially between cured and uncured buds. Freshly dried, there is a very strong fuel taste, especially if smoking out of a pipe or bong. It's a bit more subtle out of my Silver Surfer Vaporizer. After a couple week cure, however, it tastes like I'm smoking a coastal Oregon rainforest filled with sword ferns, 250 year old Sitka Spruce, and the droppings of virginal ferries and sprites. It tastes really, really good, and I find the taste to be pretty consistent from the different plants and phenotypes I grew. One difference I do notice, however, is the length of time the bud takes to hit from one plant to the next. The more Sativa-dominant plant seems to sneak up on ya, and at times, surprise you with just how stoney the high is. The Indica-dominant plants have the same stoney effect, but just seem to hit almost instantly. At first, I tended to smoke a bit too much from the Sativa jar, causing some couch lock syndrome that I just rode out and really enjoyed.

Dom - the coconut milk was great! This is something I will definitely be doing on a regular basis. It cleans the grinder great and the resulting milk is extremely potent! Perfect for a day when pain is high and couch lock is wanted (and needed). I've noticed that my grinder is getting coated and clogged much quicker with all of the sticky Northern Lights going through it recently. I'll take a picture of it tomorrow when I make the milk again.

Here are a few pics from the harvest. I didn't get accurate weights for each plant individually, but each one did average about 50 grams per dried, cured, and de-stemmed. Not bad for a first, lazy-man's try. Really, all I did was water the things and give them a bit of food every now and then and maybe read them a bedtime story twice a week. I'm looking forward to actually cultivating, not just growing, some of these autos indoors this winter. I'm sold on them! Now, to finish up my current photo grow, then put the photos I'm vegging into bloom, then more autos. It could be a few months..... Thanks for reading!