The first of my two Northern Lights autoflowers have sprouted up. The first to pop its little head out of the soil is the seed that I put in the five gallon pot. The seed in the seven gallon pot should be sprouting up within the next 24 hours.
Sometimes when they first come out of the soil, they still have a little membrane attached that keeps the little leaves closed, so I usually get in there with some tweezers and give the little seedling a helping hand so that it can spread its leaves open.
When removing the membrane, you need to be extremely careful not to pull the seedling out of the soil. It is really easy to pull with too much force, so you just need to make sure that you have a good angle and it should slide right off.
It is pretty cool to think about how this shell of the seed encased the embryo and it contains all the genetics for the plant. Seeds are pretty amazing when you think about them. This little thing is going to grow exponentially over the next few weeks and then in about a month to a month and a half, it will begin the flowering process.
With the membrane off of the little seedling, it will be able to open up and head towards the light, while under the soil, its roots will begin stretching down in search for water and nutrients. I am not a fan of the seedling stage because there are so many things that can go wrong and it doesn't always look like there is a lot going on above the soil, but the real magic is happening under the soil. The seedling must reach down deep and spread its roots out as much as possible so that it has a strong foundation to support all the weight of the plant over the next few months.
This is going to be a pretty exciting grow, so I hope that you will follow along. Thanks for stopping by and checking out my little seedling. You are awesome.
