Help! My 1st Indoor (Northern Lights auto)

[Sunzi]

I've just started my first indoor (Northern Lights auto) and I was wondering if you guys can give me a hand, as I'm an amateur, just to make sure that I make things right

I got a 250w MH bulb for veg and a 600w hps bulb for flowering. I've just germinated the seeds and I've put them in their plant pots.
At this point, I have a few questions:

¿When should I switch on the 250w bulb?
¿At what distance should I place it?
¿What kind of light/darkness cycle should I do? ¿20/4?
¿Is there any other things that I need to take in account at this point?

I would really appreciate all kind of help/suggestions you guys can give me at this point. I want to make sure I do things properly and that I don't mess up, even if it's my first time.

Thanks in advance!

 

[SPG*]

Hi sunzi
I do 18/6,12/12. [+]
I.e. 6 am-12 midnight and then 4 flower say 6-7 pm - 6-7am
N Yea
Njoy ya self.

 

[Sunzi]

Hi SPG! You do that cycle for autoflowering plants?

Thanks!

 

[SPG*]

Np never had auto flowers
Realise I can't help no knowledge at all of auto flower plants some one else who knows needs speak.

I expect the SAMs luv. Same lol

 

[Sunzi]

That's alright... thanks for your reply anyways

 

[RonSmooth]

You dont need to do a 12/12 for autos. I would probably do 18/6 or 20/4 and leave it.

The MH until the plant starts to flower than switch to HPS (a week or two after pistils appear)

I would keep the MH far enough from young plants that the heat doesnt cause problems. Maybe start at 18" and see how they respond. Adjust as needed,

 

[Sunzi]

You dont need to do a 12/12 for autos. I would probably do 18/6 or 20/4 and leave it.

The MH until the plant starts to flower than switch to HPS (a week or two after pistils appear)

I would keep the MH far enough from young plants that the heat doesnt cause problems. Maybe start at 18" and see how they respond. Adjust as needed,

Thanks for your reply RonSmooth! I will do 20/4 indeed.

This is exactly why I'm asking this, because I've been told to put the MH at 10" straight away as soon as the cotyledons are out... then I've seen that some people put it far away and then move it down progressively...
My main concern is that I don't want to burn them, so I think I will do as you say and see how it goes... it's better to play safe then adjust on the go...
In any case, when do you think I should start give them light? as soon as the cotyledons open or after they grow a few leaves?

Thanks again!

 

[mack 10]

hi, not to put you on a downer but Auto NL sucks quiet badly ,in my experience.
(which was only one plant, but dam it was bad.)
Do yourself a favour and plant a couple more different seeds, or you can cross your fingers and toes... I only got a few gram's yield. Any normal strain put straight on 12/12 or with 10-15 day veg will get much better results, 9 times out of 10.

rock on..

 

[Sunzi]

hi, not to put you on a downer but Auto NL sucks quiet badly ,in my experience.
(which was only one plant, but dam it was bad.)
Do yourself a favour and plant a couple more different seeds, or you can cross your fingers and toes... I only got a few gram's yield. Any normal strain put straight on 12/12 or with 10-15 day veg will get much better results, 9 times out of 10.

rock on..

Hi mack10! Thanks for your reply.
I get your point (though I also find a bit hasty judging one strain because of a single plant that you grew), and I have to say I've heard good reviews about Auto NL also.
The thing is I'm using Auto NL because it's a beginner friendly strain. So it makes it easier for me as it allows me to commit more mistakes than another fancy strain as I learn on the go. Does it makes any sense?
I totally get your point though...a few more people told me about this already, but I'm doing autos because it's more convenient for me atm, as you may know, the situation/conditions are not the same for everybody, so we need to find the kind of grow that suits our needs best.
In any case, just out of curiosity, what strains would you recommend?

 

[Harry Lime]

Hey Sunzi,
You need to get light over those girls straight away or they'll just stretch looking for it and keel over. only you can tell how close but you're right by backing it off and bringing it closer by bit at a time each day. To far away = stretch, to close = burn. You'll get the hang of it.

Tell us what set up you got;- medium, grow area, nutrients, extract ect. We all love to know this stuff anyway but it will help with any future advice/tips.

Good luck. You're gonna love this.

 

[Sunzi]

Hey Sunzi,
You need to get light over those girls straight away or they'll just stretch looking for it and keel over. only you can tell how close but you're right by backing it off and bringing it closer by bit at a time each day. To far away = stretch, to close = burn. You'll get the hang of it.

Tell us what set up you got;- medium, grow area, nutrients, extract ect. We all love to know this stuff anyway but it will help with any future advice/tips.

Good luck. You're gonna love this.

Hi Harry Lime! Thanks for your reply!

I'm loving the vibe that I'm getting from the people in this forum... much better than other Spanish forums where I've posted before (btw I'm Spanish living in the UK).

That's how I'm gonna do then, then adjust on the go... I hope I don't mess up!

Of course, it will be a pleasure my friend. For this 1st adventure I've choosen:

Mylar Tent 120x120x200

Lights: 250W MH / 600W HPS + Regular Bat Wing Reflector

Extractor: 5" EXTRACTOR + CARBON FILTER KIT TT TWO SPEED
Air movement: 280 M³/h (high power)
Air movement: 220M³/h (low speed)
Noise level: 37dB @3m (high speed)
Noise level: 28dB @3m (low speed)
Rated Power: 37 watts (high speed)
Rated Power: 23 watts (low speed)

9 x 11L square plant pots + saucers (filled around 85%)

Soil & Nutrients:

Biobizz All Mix Organic Soil (40%) + Canna Coco (25%) + Perlite (10%) + Worm Hummus (25%) (approximatedly)

Flowering: will just use Bat Guano, as I want to keep it simple & organic

Water: PH regulated Brita filtered tap water


I think that's pretty much everything... please let me know if I'm missing anything!

Thanks so much, I'm loving it already

 

[Harry Lime]

Looks like you've got it all sorted.

Of course, we all love pictures too...

 

[Sunzi]

Thanks Harry, I think so too!

I will upload some pictures when I can, you can count on it

I have one question though; because when I placed the germinated seeds in their holes, a few of them had fairly long roots already (around 1cm or 1.5cms) and they were a bit curvy, so I couldn't bury too deep as I didn't want to force them, so their heads remained buried with a little bit of soil on top, but not far from the surface (probably around 5mm)... ¿is that a problem? ¿should I raise the level of soil as they grow a bit in order to support them?

 

[Dank Demon]

Hey Sunzi,

Never done autos myself but good luck with your first grow I will keep checking by for pics as you go.

Peace

 

[Sunzi]

Hi Dank Demon, thanks for your support!

Peace brother

 

[SAMSEED]

i with mack on this one , weather he grew one or not all autos are fooking shite , but theres alot out the for beginners such as gypsy and sensi classics .

peace bro

 

[Sunzi]

i with mack on this one , weather he grew one or not all autos are fooking shite , but theres alot out the for beginners such as gypsy and sensi classics .

peace bro

Hi SAMSEED, I take it in account, thanks for your suggestion

 

[Sunzi]

Guys, I'm a bit worried because some of them are not growing at all... it seems like they don't want to pop out or they are finding it hard to... but as you can see, some others are growing normally (I already raised the level of soil on the ones that grew normally, just to support them)... what can I do? should I just wait or is there anything I can do for the 'lazy' ones?

 

[b0nZai.b0b]

first rule of growing - is calmness!

u need a lot of endurance - that´s first and sublime virtue, get used to it!

give time a chacne, do nothing ´till keep soil slightly humid, not wet and stay tuned

don´t make that mistake to pull them out and have a look or something, u just make it worse.



don´t panic - let time raise... spreading can be up to 2 weeks, if then no head is in sight, then u can wish them r.i.p.s, not now

 

[cliffy]

Stick to the ABC's of growing and crack some REGULAR seeds. AUTO's and DANK don't go hand in hand.