First Grow, T5, Northern Lights

This Friday I will get some updated pictures... I think I will update this journal once a week to show the changes.

A lot has changed with the two remaining healthy plants. They are growing quicker now. This Friday I will also plant 2 more seeds to replace the one that did not sprout and the one that decided to stop growth. The newest sprout still looks healthy and is on its first set of leaves. (thus reaching the 5 plant goal, even though they will all be kind of varied in the stage of growth... Due to me making mistakes/having a screwed up plant all will go 12/12 at the same time.. Won't matter much since I wanted to keep them kind of short... Also I need the seeds so I can get that 12/12 from seed going.. At least that's the plan right now.)

If i get 1-2Oz from this grow I will be happy.. I know not to expect the most because this is my first grow.

lookin forward to pics

Are you just planting the seeds straight in the soil? If you are, maybe you should try germinating them a different way(ie paper towel, or soak method).

Not directly in soil. I let them soak for 12 hrs in a cup and then put them in moist soil.. The issues I was having was because the soil was very hard I have to watch to make sure it's airy or else it seems the taproot doesn't come out. Yea, I suppose I could let them in the cup till the tail comes out, but I'm afraid of killing them there as well. In the future, I think I might try the paper towel method.. Thing is, I'm afraid of handling them when the tail comes out for fear of damaging them..

I think so long the soil is nice and airy I won't have problems with this method I just didn't have all the kinks worked out.. First time I tried it I had 3/4 success.. Second time 1/2.. This was due to the hard soil I had one of them in, I'm sure, and the first time wasn't ideal either since I planted them kind of deep in the soil.

The only reason I need to plant 2 more is because one of them decided to stop growth, so that one needs replaced. Otherwise it would only be 1 more.

In total, 1 defective seed and 2 seeds I killed by mistake.. It's not that bad.. I've seen others have a harder time with their first grow..

Like I said, I'm glad I didn't pick out a more expensive strain to start out with, because I'd be more upset about the loss.. Northern Lights is on the "value menu" so to speak lol

I like the paper towel method. I just use tweezers to put them into the soil. I usually do it in a bowl with a plate over it and make sure when you put the seeds in the towel you lean the pt on the side of the inside of the bowl so they aren't drowning in the water. you can still soak them for the first day or so though and then transfer them. also when you put them in the soil, your only supposed to put them about a quarter of an inch down. good luck

Yea, the second time I made sure they weren't too far down in the soil, and it sprouted the next day, but the other one didn't because the soil was too hard. I'll be experimenting with other germinating methods. I'll go and look for my tweezers.. Probably have to sterilize them somehow?

I boiled mine for a couple of minutes, then let them sit in a dish with some alcohol in it for about 15 minutes once they cooled off of course. Since they have been "sterilized" I just make sure I wash my hands before I use them, and then keep them in a little tupperware bowl. I'm not sure if they are sterile, but I figure it's the best I can do. You're posting pics today hopefully?

Yep, I said friday, I'm a little lazy so it won't be every day..

Here's some updated pictures!

Pic #1 is of the first good plant Top View Pic #2 is the same plant with a side view Pic #3 is my other plant Top View and Pic #4 is of my newest sprout.

Pulled the one that wasn't growing at all yesterday and smoked the 2 leaves.. Got a *really* slight buzz.

Germination of 2 more seeds will begin shortly.

commin out nice jetset...hey is it normal to have a yellow green coloration on the northern lights in the new middle leaves they are about 3 weeks old

All new growth that I see is usually completely green, you might have a problem :\ You might need better lighting as well because mine started on the second set of leaves after about a week. The two plants I posted are only about 2 weeks old. (from sprout)

I think mine are even stretching, but I'm not sure since this is my first grow.. Can't tell.. anyone want to chime in?

Still no noticeable smell from them even when I put my nose almost on them. When I killed that one plant the leaves really smelled even though they were really small. Seems like I will experience odor problems mostly around harvest time, though I'm sure they'll smell a bit when they're flowering. I'll implement whatever odor control is necessary though.

No comments/Suggestions? Everything look good so far?

3rd set of leaves now looks much bigger than the last picture.. Seems like growth is taking off I'm amazed when I see how big these things get from something so small.. Then again, all life kind of works that way

I'm trying to decide when the 2 new ones come up if I should veg them for 2 weeks or 4 weeks. Thing is the 2 that are already 2 weeks old will be 6 weeks old if I let the other 3 go for 4 weeks.They might get kind of big, and then my T5 might not be able to penetrate very well :\

I can now smell them very slightly in the room.. When do they start changing to leaves with 4 or 5 points? the third set still only has 3 points. (Yea, they've already formed the 3rd set since the last pic..)

Well I got my digital thermometer in there and it reads 100F with the door closed (it's about 88f in the room outside according to it though) Not sure if it's accurate because it really doesn't feel that hot. I locked myself in it for awhile and wasn't really sweating.. Then I went to the attic, and if my closet is 100F then the attic must be 120F, because it's sweltering up there, it made my closet seem cool. Humidity in room outside is 40% and humidity in the room is 36%. I dunno they might just have to struggle through it till the temps get lower here.. Going to start running the fan all day everyday and see if that helps, before I was just running it on and off. We'll see.

The one is growing like crazy though even with the high temp. I'll have to raise the lights a little on that side so it doesn't hit them. It's about an inch away right now. Working on the 4th set of leaves, and it looks like 2 smaller leaves are coming in on the 3rd set. Wouldn't it stop growing or look less green and happy if it was really 100F? I really hope it's female.. It's been growing the best since the start. Maybe I can try taking clones if it's female..

I think it might be off by about 10 deg, but who knows.. I think if it was 88F in here I would feel pretty hot, and turn on the AC. 78 sounds more reasonable :\

I think I've definitely decided to go 12/12 after 2 more weeks. I don't care if the two I just planted will be small.. I want more seeds sooner so I can play with them

Dude I would go to walmart or somewhere that you can buy another one and try it out and return it, just to see if it's off. Just because it doesn't feel like 100, doesn't mean it isn't. Is your thermometer at the canopy level? That is where it should be, or close to there. You don't want to let them go like that for too long though because you may stress them and cause them to herm. If you think it's 10 degrees off that means it's still 90F, which is still too high. Alot of people say (in books and on the internet) that above 85F growth pretty much stops. You need it about 10 degrees lower than that. Do you leave the door open when the lights are on?

Well, growth is still happening (very quickly actually) at that heat level so it's strange. Even on the outside of the room, in the general apt, it reads 90F.. Which doesn't seem right. I'm amazed that I can stand it if it really is that hot. Yea, it's right under the light, I think if i leave the fan on all the time it will blow the heat from the lights around the rest of the room (it's a large closet really).. I can't leave the door open all the time when the lights are on because I'm not around 18hrs a day and I'm paranoid the landlord or maintenance guy might come in. I leave it locked during the day. Even though that's never happened to my knowledge when I'm not around I'm still paranoid about it. It would stick out like a sore thumb.. (Hey look there's a bunch of bright light coming out of that closet..)

In a month or less it will really start to cool down here, so I won't have to worry then.. (I hate the weather here.. sometimes hot as hell, then in the winter below zero some days..)

I will get some more pics and see if you can find any signs of heat stress :\

The first one doesn't really look that sideways etc it's just the angle I took the picture at Let me know if you see any issues... The other 2 (I just got 1 new sprout today) are still young and don't really show any problems yet. The only leaves that look "burned" are the first 2 leaves.. The cotyledon leaves.. Which I've read doesn't matter. Everything else is green.. I just watered today so that's why it looks wet.. I'm not over watering as far as I can tell.

they look good so far

doesn't look like those are growing in 100 degree temps to me

[quote=JetSet; The only leaves that look "burned" are the first 2 leaves.. The cotyledon leaves.. Which I've read doesn't matter. Everything else is green.. i would like to know where u read that at because i got my seedlings 2 1/2 feet under a 400 watt hps in a damp and ventilated basement and my leaves are yellow so if that dont mean nothing then im gonna not even worry about because they still growing mind the yellow leaves