Soft Secrets
Grow report
Grow disaster becomes top harvest
61
By Bart B.
NLX on coco Better and better; it just keeps getting a whole lot better each time, and that’s as it should be. Whether it is down to experience, luck or just plain coincidence, who knows. Do what you like to do and do it well, then you will get good results. What had threatened to be a screwed up grow turned out with the passage of time to be a top harvest. This time it was the supersonic NLX (Northern Lights Cross) that turned out to be a real winner under the lights. This is a story about what an amateur can achieve if he comes through a heat wave having started with too long a pre-growth.
NLX, just before she goes into bloom.
The story begins in the Spring of 2003. The temperature had become nice and warm. Now and then it was actually very hot. After a poor start early in the year the spring sun was beginning to get to work and the temperature barely fell below 20 degrees. This was then an outstandingly good period in which to stick some more clones inside, because you don’t even need to keep them warm. Many might have problems with the heat, but as long as you provide sufficient ventilation this should not necessarily lead to a failed crop. Hang a few fewer lamps, use a heavier-duty ventilator, or hang water-cooled or air-cooled lamps - these are simple solutions for bringing the temperature in your space down a
A few weeks in to the bloom. Lovely, elongated buds.
and ventilator working flat out. But that is a situation that cannot be compared with the bigger growers who have 10, 20 or more lamps hung in their spaces. To these people I have only one word to say: airco. This because time and again I hear from growers that if it’s cold you can warm things up but there’s nothing you can do against the heat. But with a small (or large) investment in an airco installation, even with the most roasting hot of Summers you can safely continue to grow in a nice fresh indoor space. This is obviously not something for everybody, but it is an investment that quickly repays itself in bud yield. The technology what’s more never stands still. Also available in the growing scene at the moment is a piece of equipment on sale that can
With a small (or large) investment in an airco installation even during a scorching hot summer you can grow in nice fresh circumstances indoors. few degrees. I personally set my lamps to burn at night, like most people probably, as so long as no heat wave comes along to nudge your night time temperatures above 30 degrees, everything runs pretty smoothly. The ventilation does need to be on continuously though, which will make sure the cool evening air is drawn fully through the grow space. By the way, I have replaced my old 400 watt lamp with two 600 watt lamps, a question of looking ahead rather than looking back. And the temperature is kept nicely under control, even in a reasonably small grow space. It stays under the 30 degree ceiling and there is sufficient ventilation thanks to a vacuum pump
cool off the inside temperature of the your space before you enter. At the same time, the same piece of kit can keep the air warm in winter, so that your growing space can be continuously kept at an ideal temperature.
Reliable clones I went in search of decent, reliable clones, and boy did I find them. This time around I got hold of some NLX. Just how good they really were only became fully apparent in retrospect. Evidently I have to-date had good luck on the clone market. But many growers have less luck. The quality is not always satisfactory, certainly in the spring and
summer months, when it is advisable to take especially good care. Watch out particularly for clones infested with spint or other pests. I planted 17 NLX clones in four-litre pots filled with coco substrate. I have already mentioned how happy I was with them. For a healthy, vigorous start I added root stimulator and enzymes to the feed water. The pre-growth was started under a 400watt lamp that was switched over to a 600-watter after a few days. Once they had burst into bloom, I added another 600-watt lamp to the set up. Apparently the heat suited them well, despite the fact that everyone complains about the heat given off by a 600-watt lamp. It was not actually that different, but this does come down to the same point I made earlier: ensure good ventilation. Had mine not been powerful enough, then I could still have bought a stronger one. That is why you will frequently hear how important it is to buy a unit with a more powerful suction than you actually need (at the moment). Suppose that you start your first grow with a few plants during the Winter months, and you calculate the capacity of your grow space and the ventilation you will need for it. If you buy your ventilation perfectly tailored to this then you will certainly be fine during the crisp Autumn and Winter months. But what happens when the temperature begins to rise in the Spring and Summer? Then it will become apparent to many that they have bought too feeble a ventilation capacity, and after a few months they will either have to buy another one or stop with growing altogether. One other advantage of buying a larger capacity than you need at the moment is that the ventilation will be fine
just turning over at half speed, which will considerably reduce the noise created. The alternative is to have a smaller ventilation capacity and have it run flat out, and that will make much more of a racket. Are you also going to have to spend on hefty noise insulation as a result?
Pre-growth: indoors or outdoors? Normally I would let the clones go through their pre-growth outside, but because the sun was not yet up to scratch I had no choice but to do this indoors. Nonetheless, I remain a firm supporter of letting everything simply complete its pre-growth outside. But anyway, this time I let the clones have a week and a half of growth. This was a little too long, it later turned out, because the NLX is a very powerful plant and a great grower. That extra half week of growth came about thanks to a problem when a timer burnt out, thanks to which they continued to grow. Fortunately I discovered the problem quite quickly and was able to sort it out. This incident prompted me to ponder how important it is to always check your lamps regularly and make sure they really are turning on and off at the right time. In the growth period this can not do too much damage, but what if I had been at the flowering stage? Just imagine, you don’t keep a good watch out and after a week you see your plants going back into growth instead of continuing to develop their blooms. This is not a nice thing to witness. So make sure your equipment is in a reasonable state, and don’t spare the pennies when you’re buying your timers. Using cheap gear will sooner or later lead to problems.
