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Northern Lights Micro, 16"x16"x32"-- 97 watts LED, Low Odor.
- Thread starter singlecoiled
- Start date
singlecoiled
Active member
I'm not a believer in the "flush" for the final weeks of flower and feed to the end. Ive never noticed any bad taste, but I can tell you this, they taste a hell of a lot better than the dispensery bud I buy and smoke. Northern Lights isnt the most tasty weed, it tastes like---really good weed ! (not Cake, Cookies, or a Banana Daiqiri)... Its amazingly smooth though, you can take monster rips without feeling it at all.
I obsess over curing and really work hard at this. I hang all colas in a paper bag (one small lunch bag per cola) and hang them to dry for around 7-9 days at around 55 RH. The bags keep the wind off my buds and allow them to marinade for a while while my fan is on low. Then I buck them off the stem and jar them burping daily for a few weeks, keeping RH in the jars around 60%. I cure for around 3 months before smoking. After this, I add Boveda packs at 58 RH to maintain freshness..
So, while I have you. Lets talk about Northern Lights a bit, as many dont consider it a very potent strain. I disagree. When you grow and cure this bud properly, it will knock you on your ass. They say 18%-24% (more commonly 18%). I'd really like to test mine. I'd guess 24% THC easily. My friend told me he had to go down on a knee after sampling it. I tried to warn him !
Also, on the Low odor thing. Yes, Northern Light is very low odor compared to most. Very low on odor until weeks 6-9 of flower and even then its not that bad. BUT !!! After curing, when I open a jar it blasts the room with the most pleasant odor of Pine, Honey and Citrus. It is NOT low odor after curing. I swear I'd roll around in it if I could, it smells that good. If they ever come up with a Cologne called Northern Lights, I'd be all in !
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singlecoiled
Active member
Ive grown Nirvana Northern Lights 4 times now and all of my plants have been very similar without different phenotypes or variation. I would say that Northern Lights takes 65-70 Days in flower after 12/12.. (9-10 weeks). Ive gone 11 but that was a bad move, she was done, stopped drinking water and the buds went downhill fast...
Interstingly, my buds never ambered up much. The sugar leaves ambered up, but not the buds. So, I harvest now at around 9 weeks give or take. When the hairs curl in and I'm seeing 90% cloudy, a few clear and a few amber, its time. Could be my growing skills, my light or the strain who knows, but I dont wait for amber anymore.
that's a relatable issue I had with my NL grow, first grow with nl#5 seeds, 1 pheno
what I did see were trichs that went honey yellow
electric rocket fuel that was a little too strong
crimsonecho
Active member
i dont wait for amber either never have just seeing a couple of ambers signals to me that they are in the window. some wait for more amber i take it down at the first sign of it. but with this gal the top node is all ready and pretty but one node down it still has white pistils and could benefit from a week more. hell partial harvest makes for a more enjoyable trimming experience anyway. who want to sit there trimming 150gr dry northern lights in one night? i dont haha.
by the way taste and smell profile you described is completely different from these sensi nls. this is overwhelmingly grape. so much grape that i have this grape flavour e-cig and i smell the cig and smell the bud and i really cant tell the difference lol
singlecoiled
Active member
Interesting, how was the odor in flower?....
OK, let me nail the odor of Nirvanas NL for you. Have you ever had juicy fruit gum? I guess it could lean towards a grape type smell, but I wouldnt describe it as grape. All of my 4 Nirvana grows smell like juicy fruit gum with an added pine smell..
Now, Grand Daddy Purple is pure grape, so much so I swear I'm smoking welchs grape juice...
So, I grow in a mainline/manifold so that all tops stay even in height and mature at the same time. I dont bother at all with lower buds or popcorn, just the tops. They are all ready for harvest at the same time no reason to stagger harvest with my grow methods.. If it was a big xmas tree type grow, it might be very different,,
Thanks for the description of your Sensi NL, I dont see much talk about NL and love to hear about others opinions on this AMAZING strain.
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singlecoiled
Active member
Nice ! Too strong is good just means you need to smoke less.. An ounce of my Nirvana lasts me a LONG time. Just a puff or two or I'm too lazy to reach for a remote control. I can see it from the couch a few feet away, but it might as well be 100 miles away !
Id say night time only for NL... If I smoke NL during the day, its game over. I even tell myself, OK, just a little puff and drink some coffee. NOPE, I'm on the couch almost 100% guarateed. This may or may not be a good thing. Depends on what your looking for I guess, I smoke at night before bed so NL is perfect. THe high is magical and in its own world if you ask me. Great for "night time" activities as well. I know of no strain that can beat NL in the bedroom...
singlecoiled
Active member
I took a better look at your bud there, very pretty. You seem to have some skill with a camera, is this a DSLR or just a phone pic? It looks like it was taken with some good glass... (Nikon guy here)
phunkeeboodah
Active member
mr nice ortega (nl1 x nl5) on the check in, had only grown one plant of it last year and it was minimal to no odour. hope to get some flavour out of these though under 150w hps and a touch of led. bottom left is cat pee, top is almost no odour maybe coffee and the bottom right is coffee
singlecoiled
Active member
Man thats nice ! Ive been curious to try NL 5 or NL 9. The mix you have here has my interest. Love it !
Your making me think I might be giving a little too much N to my plant, or maybe I over did the rabbit manure a bit, I'm not sure. I just took some pics a few minutes ago, we can compare leaf color. Your strain looks a lot more indica than mine with the fat leaves.
Thanks for sharing..
singlecoiled
Active member
End of week 3 flower.
number 9 is lagging behind and not keeping up with the circle but I'll keep her..
Im feeding Dyna Grow Foliage pro, Thats it, nice and simple. Around 1/2 -1 tsp per gallon of water every feeding. (with an occasional plain watering)...No cal mag used.
Leaf tips down a bit but no signs of nutrient burn. They look healthy to me but I'm far from an expert. Maybe a little too much water or N I'm not sure.
5-6 weeks to go, these colas are going to get super fat if I dont screw up. No bloom nutrients allowed this grow ! Check the space between my filter and my light, thats all the vertical space I have left. Luckily, the stretch should slow and stop soon, I think she'll fit nicely.
You gotta love a mainline, I havent had to train at all and the tops are exactly 15 inches from the light. (except number 9 who is staying low).....
Odor report: Scale of 1-10. 1 almost no odor at all...yet.
number 9 is lagging behind and not keeping up with the circle but I'll keep her..
Im feeding Dyna Grow Foliage pro, Thats it, nice and simple. Around 1/2 -1 tsp per gallon of water every feeding. (with an occasional plain watering)...No cal mag used.
Leaf tips down a bit but no signs of nutrient burn. They look healthy to me but I'm far from an expert. Maybe a little too much water or N I'm not sure.
5-6 weeks to go, these colas are going to get super fat if I dont screw up. No bloom nutrients allowed this grow ! Check the space between my filter and my light, thats all the vertical space I have left. Luckily, the stretch should slow and stop soon, I think she'll fit nicely.
You gotta love a mainline, I havent had to train at all and the tops are exactly 15 inches from the light. (except number 9 who is staying low).....
Odor report: Scale of 1-10. 1 almost no odor at all...yet.
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crimsonecho
Active member
grape grape grape. since it started throwing trichs it has a very sharp artificial grape smell. exactly smells like anything grape flavoured. though the smell only comes out when you rub the trichs or break up a bud. otherwise very low odor profile. so dense nugs too very small and heavy.
the different maturation process only applies to this one all others are maturing pretty much together as they are screened and have very little to zero lower growth but this one is a little strange on that end haha
for some reason couldnt upload my nls but for reference this is a dinachem growing next to it and matures pretty uniformly from top to bottom
i miss my dslr. stopped using it as phone cameras are much more convenient than my old dslr. this is just a iphone 13 mini pic with macro lens attachment. it does a decent job and man i love my mini haha
singlecoiled
Active member
Beautiful plants ! Very nice looking grow. I hope my little micro grow produces some bud like that, I'd be very happy.
Grape sounds tasty to me, I'd be happy with that.
That little macro lens does a great job, I might have to look into getting one.
crimsonecho
Active member
no grape is just fine dont get me wrong no complaints on the grape its very sharp and cuts through any other smell very vibrant and artificial type grape smell (never had grapes that smells like grape flavour for sure haha) i love it.
i’m sure your grow will produce some fire too. i’ll be visiting your grow room from time to time haha
yeah macro attachments are very cheap but work very well. definitely a recommended item.
phunkeeboodah
Active member
i'm just using promix herb and veg mix and promix 4-4-8 pellets btw, also a few inches of sand which helps regulate the moisture in the soil to the edge of the pot. also i learned to always use new soil/fert with each planting and now things are consistently healthy
singlecoiled
Active member
It seems like I keep swapping soils, I've been using Fox Farm but see a lot of people growing in Pro-Mix HP. I'm considering this for my next grow.
I havent seen this yet, but at $40 a bag, I would hope its good stuff. My grow style is to over soak the soil to 20% runnoff. I really need something that drains without holding too much water, my Fox Farm Coco loco is decent, but holds water a little too much. (yes I add perlite too).
Thanks for the tip on this soil, I may check it out for my next grow. Hows the drainage/aeration with this soil?
phunkeeboodah
Active member
only the 2ft bales of herb and veg mix have coco coir btw (i'm using 28L for 13cdn). i am growing in plastic containers no holes. there is no need because the functioning part of the root system is at the base of the stem and all the nutrients are time released premixed or top dressed so capillary action for water/air movement is all that is needed (like in nature). water never would make it down to the bottom anyway
planting in fresh herb veg mix with a good amount of 4-4-8 pellets and like clockwork the plants get green and healthy after about a week. and they show the same results if premixed in the soil or top dressed. that's it though just the soil and the pellets and water. i might swap out the soil and the fertilizer for a local soil company (black swallow in brantford ontario) who designed their mix with a gardening/cannabis expert from seattle and compare. so far though the plants look perfect will see how they smoke
also i like the sand its brilliant no careful watering bit by bit just pour the whole container of water over the sand in one shot and it soaks it right up and holds it and slowly top waters. importantly it regulates the moisture level at the top of the soil and seals it in at the same time all the way to the edge of the container. i realized also the grow space is a dessert environment and this technique is used in those places
i even use sand in the mother/clone cupboard for new clones and mother plants in small tupperware containers and it keeps the plants consistent. also when dry you can pour it from the container and reuse it and it's also easy to move for top dressing
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singlecoiled
Active member
Funny, everyone seems to be using cloth pots these days, but Ive been watching very successful grows using plastic. I think you have to have your act toogether using plastic, cloth is more forgiving. You seem to have your act together from what I see..
Interesting ratio with the high Potassium. I'm using 3-1-2 all the way this grow as an experiment. Its also interesting that your having success using slow release nutrients. As a new grower, using anything time release is advised against by many. Pretty cool that your going your own way here and not following the masses. There are many ways to go ! (and many different skill levels amongst us growers)
I used a slow release Fox Farm dry nutrient for Veg and it was very impressive. I just sprinkled it on the soil top and didnt have to feed for many weeks, some of the healthiest plants I've ever grown...(in veg)
phunkeeboodah
Active member
back in the day in 94 it was soil mix and some fertilizer spikes and some blood and bone meal on the concrete townhouse basement floor in winter with 1000w metal halide on the ceiling studs and blammo the plants were incredible. weed was easy to grow back then though, until tents and full spectrum leds took the fool proof out of it
also i will be getting the other promix pellets i think 7-3-3 either way they would produce probably near identical plants to the 4-4-8 i would guess. it's kind of amazing how consistent these fertilizers are and weed doesn't need any special flowering fertilizer mix just more of whatever was making them healthy already, if needed
it says to apply every six weeks so maybe add a bit more and it's enough to last flowering in one application
as for the containers, there is enough soil in them so the water never would pool or runoff so there is no need for holes. i use them like it's outside in nature. there is no pooling or runoff in nature the soil continues far down below the plant so nothing reaches down there anyway. the water moves in soil mostly by capillary action in nature
with the sand mulch seal on top everything is happening up there. for example i just poured three 500ml glasses of water over the top 2 inch sand layer all at once and it soaked it all up instantly and now it is slowly moving the water downward via gravity and static and capillary action or whatever i dont know the exact science lol but it really makes the plants grow healthy and reduces watering frequency. and the roots wont's grow much below a certain point anyway
singlecoiled
Active member
as for the containers, there is enough soil in them so the water never would pool or runoff so there is no need for holes. i use them like it's outside in nature. there is no pooling or runoff in nature the soil continues far down below the plant so nothing reaches down there anyway. the water moves in soil mostly by capillary action in nature
Wow, your grow techniques are something I'm not used to seeing. Plastic pots and no holes? This goes against what many say to do but you seem to be hitting the ball out of the park. Its interesting to see all the different grow techniques and how they work. I'm learning from many...
Wow, your grow techniques are something I'm not used to seeing. Plastic pots and no holes? This goes against what many say to do but you seem to be hitting the ball out of the park. Its interesting to see all the different grow techniques and how they work. I'm learning from many...
