# 54 days old northern light auto stuck in preflower **URL:** \ **Category:** Autoflowers\ **Tags:** flowering, genetics, autoflower, indoor-grow\ **Created:** [February 2, 2023, 6:32am UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/54-days-old-northern-light-auto-stuck-in-preflower/97621 "2023-02-02T06:32:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FromFarmToCouch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/96bed5/32.png) [@FromFarmToCouch](https://ilgmforum.com/u/FromFarmToCouch)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 6:32am UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/54-days-old-northern-light-auto-stuck-in-preflower/97621/1 "2023-02-02T06:32:41Z")
Hi fellow auto farmers! Need some advice for my Northern Light auto (ILGM). She is 54 days old today and not showing enough progress on the buds. Each day she grows bushy and spends most of her energy on fan leaves. Its almost like she is vegetating even though I am seeing pistils near cola sites. I have done mild defoliation on her a couple times but I am worried that if she is a true auto, its a bit late for another round of defoliation. I am a new grower but from what I can tell, she looks healthy. I’ve been reading on forums that ILGM autos are notoriously late bloomers. Am I doing anything wrong or did I just get seed with terrible genetics? I wanted to check with y’all if you had any luck waiting it out. I’ve been given the advice of flipping to 12/12 but I couldnt find a post where someone flipped it and it was a successful grow. Tent: 2’x2’x4 Light: AC Infinity Iongrid 130W Nutes: Advanced nutrients PH perfect (micro, grow and bloom), Bloom city Cal/Mag, StumpTea Schedule: 18/6 Pot: 5 gallon fabric Substrate: FoxFarm Coco Loco ![20230201_182158](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/original/4X/c/4/2/c425c7abe225a458bb6538d694a1628711977e45.jpeg) ![20230201_182119](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/original/4X/d/7/f/d7fe3fe5d4bd2da3b23e82099b99312bba198477.jpeg) ![20230201_182031](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/original/4X/a/3/2/a3292a9d66785a09c5f69d89cd32ef2b57eb8737.jpeg) ![20230201_182013](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/original/4X/5/7/3/5730b73eff46b18afdc8da6b546769f991843ba6.jpeg) ![20230129_173539](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/original/4X/9/0/0/90058aa7950495e841bb78d015800458b96a875f.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Tophat](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/user_avatar/ilgmforum.com/tophat/32/773941_2.png) [@Tophat](https://ilgmforum.com/u/Tophat)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 6:39am UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/54-days-old-northern-light-auto-stuck-in-preflower/97621/3 "2023-02-02T06:39:08Z")
You can try flipping your lights to 12/12 and that may motivate her to flower. ---
**Author:** ![FromFarmToCouch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/96bed5/32.png) [@FromFarmToCouch](https://ilgmforum.com/u/FromFarmToCouch)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 6:44am UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/54-days-old-northern-light-auto-stuck-in-preflower/97621/4 "2023-02-02T06:44:34Z")
Thanks! Have you or do you know someone who had success with flipping auto to 12/12. I dont mind treating it like photo but folks are saying that if you have to flip autos, your yield is gonna be shit. Seems like a lose-lose situation for me. I honeatly feel like thse seeds are from a weakly bred plant. ---
**Author:** ![Tophat](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/user_avatar/ilgmforum.com/tophat/32/773941_2.png) [@Tophat](https://ilgmforum.com/u/Tophat)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 6:46am UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/54-days-old-northern-light-auto-stuck-in-preflower/97621/5 "2023-02-02T06:46:09Z")
I haven’t personally done it but I have seen folks on here having to flip to 12/12 to initiate flower then back to 18/6 once flowering is underway. I can’t say as to the effect on teils. ---
**Author:** ![MidwestGuy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/user_avatar/ilgmforum.com/midwestguy/32/914277_2.png) [@MidwestGuy](https://ilgmforum.com/u/MidwestGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 9:30am UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/54-days-old-northern-light-auto-stuck-in-preflower/97621/6 "2023-02-02T09:30:35Z")
I would have patience. We’ve seen autos flower as soon as 2 weeks and as late as 12 weeks, though most will flower at some point between 4 and 7 weeks. Welcome to the forum. ---
**Author:** ![BudzMS](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/user_avatar/ilgmforum.com/budzms/32/747857_2.png) [@BudzMS](https://ilgmforum.com/u/BudzMS)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 11:05am UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/54-days-old-northern-light-auto-stuck-in-preflower/97621/7 "2023-02-02T11:05:41Z")
welcome to the community ---
**Author:** ![Vtbudz](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/user_avatar/ilgmforum.com/vtbudz/32/626737_2.png) [@Vtbudz](https://ilgmforum.com/u/Vtbudz)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 11:34am UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/54-days-old-northern-light-auto-stuck-in-preflower/97621/8 "2023-02-02T11:34:16Z")
@FromFarmToCouch I grow autoflowers what I do is run my lights 20/4 or 18/6 on/off I always had good results with growing autos with that time schedules yours looks good though ---
**Author:** ![Vtbudz](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/user_avatar/ilgmforum.com/vtbudz/32/626737_2.png) [@Vtbudz](https://ilgmforum.com/u/Vtbudz)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 11:36am UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/54-days-old-northern-light-auto-stuck-in-preflower/97621/9 "2023-02-02T11:36:18Z")
![IMG_20230130_205621150](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/original/4X/5/4/3/54361d96eef1be05e61fe42c7c68ce942dd39575.jpeg) ![IMG_20230129_203554544](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/original/4X/8/2/6/8264e4b8ea920229504e7881b82679530f97cbf4.jpeg) @FromFarmToCouch here’s two pics of autos I’m growing at the moment and my light schedule is 20/4 they are both glueberry autos ---
**Author:** ![OGIncognito](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/user_avatar/ilgmforum.com/ogincognito/32/475294_2.png) [@OGIncognito](https://ilgmforum.com/u/OGIncognito)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 11:39am UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/54-days-old-northern-light-auto-stuck-in-preflower/97621/10 "2023-02-02T11:39:06Z")
Welcome to the community Growmie. She looks to be showing signs of preflower. Is the 54 days counting germ? If so back out 20 days for the germ and seedling period. My experience with autos is they can flower as early as 21 days in veg and as late as 40ish plus days. I would say she’s on track for a late bloomer and you can flip the light schedule to push her. You should start seeing some flowering stretch over the next few weeks 🤟 ---
**Author:** ![MattyBear](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/user_avatar/ilgmforum.com/mattybear/32/536479_2.png) [@MattyBear](https://ilgmforum.com/u/MattyBear)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 12:04pm UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/54-days-old-northern-light-auto-stuck-in-preflower/97621/11 "2023-02-02T12:04:29Z")
Your plant looks healthy. Most people complain that their autos start flowering too soon and are mad when they get a small plant. Most would love their autos to get as big as yours before flowering. ---
**Author:** ![Flitme](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/user_avatar/ilgmforum.com/flitme/32/716125_2.png) [@Flitme](https://ilgmforum.com/u/Flitme)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 12:49pm UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/54-days-old-northern-light-auto-stuck-in-preflower/97621/12 "2023-02-02T12:49:30Z")
Welcome to the neighborhood. You are being taken good care of. Happy Growing 😊✌ ---
**Author:** ![Bunger64](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/user_avatar/ilgmforum.com/bunger64/32/1076104_2.png) [@Bunger64](https://ilgmforum.com/u/Bunger64)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 1:26pm UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/54-days-old-northern-light-auto-stuck-in-preflower/97621/13 "2023-02-02T13:26:10Z")
Welcome the this great place I have both going autos and photos, i just have been following and learning like everyone else. My veg closet was 18/6 until I reached out to Alex my support angel on why my autos are Flowering so soon. He suggested 20/4 to prolong the Flowering didnt really matter. Like MattyBear mentioned they pretty much do what they want. The sprouts are all from seeds ILMG and the previous runs reache 3-4 ’ this is what I have on this run 8 of them all Santas sprouts transplanted from solo cup on 16th. 6 weeks since tap root. ![IMG_20230202_075117](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/original/4X/c/5/d/c5d94acdea94418eeae47e2f0313c5b024719ce0.jpeg) ![IMG_20230202_054623](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/original/4X/3/3/0/330bb0d54182bc0904cd70567f518910bfadc12c.jpeg) ![IMG_20230202_054504](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/original/4X/1/a/b/1abad1f0a9f0002223204b936b6849fcf4c56d9a.jpeg) I love them all so they will continue to bring a smile to my face 😌. ---
**Author:** ![Dave101](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/user_avatar/ilgmforum.com/dave101/32/398878_2.png) [@Dave101](https://ilgmforum.com/u/Dave101)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 2:50pm UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/54-days-old-northern-light-auto-stuck-in-preflower/97621/14 "2023-02-02T14:50:56Z")
Welcome!! Your plant looks great 👍 ---
**Author:** ![FromFarmToCouch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/96bed5/32.png) [@FromFarmToCouch](https://ilgmforum.com/u/FromFarmToCouch)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 4:08pm UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/54-days-old-northern-light-auto-stuck-in-preflower/97621/15 "2023-02-02T16:08:02Z")
Hi @OGIncognito , the seeds sprouted on Dec 9, counting 54 days since then. Is that correct way for calculating age of the plant? ---
**Author:** ![HMGRWN](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/user_avatar/ilgmforum.com/hmgrwn/32/632189_2.png) [@HMGRWN](https://ilgmforum.com/u/HMGRWN)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 4:11pm UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/54-days-old-northern-light-auto-stuck-in-preflower/97621/16 "2023-02-02T16:11:01Z")
> [@FromFarmToCouch](#): > > 54 days old When do you start counting? 📅 > [@FromFarmToCouch](#): > > folks are saying that if you have to flip autos, your yield is gonna be shit first I have heard that. 🤨 > [@MattyBear](#): > > Most would love their autos to get as big as yours before flowering. I am one! 👋 From what I can see in your pics, that plant is just barely showing sex. Preflower has not really begun. I think I would try raising the lights to make it stretch out a bit before trying to make it flower. She could become a beast! ---
**Author:** ![HMGRWN](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/user_avatar/ilgmforum.com/hmgrwn/32/632189_2.png) [@HMGRWN](https://ilgmforum.com/u/HMGRWN)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 4:15pm UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/54-days-old-northern-light-auto-stuck-in-preflower/97621/17 "2023-02-02T16:15:30Z")
> [@FromFarmToCouch](#): > > seeds sprouted on Dec 9, Most of us count emergence from soil surface as “seedling” stage, first set of true leaves as start of veg stage, first pistils as maturity and “hedgehogs” are full on flower. Time is relative and varies from plant to plant. ---
**Author:** ![Deepsix](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/user_avatar/ilgmforum.com/deepsix/32/855169_2.png) [@Deepsix](https://ilgmforum.com/u/Deepsix)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 4:51pm UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/54-days-old-northern-light-auto-stuck-in-preflower/97621/18 "2023-02-02T16:51:10Z")
Welcome to the community. ---
**Author:** ![OGIncognito](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/user_avatar/ilgmforum.com/ogincognito/32/475294_2.png) [@OGIncognito](https://ilgmforum.com/u/OGIncognito)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 5:25pm UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/54-days-old-northern-light-auto-stuck-in-preflower/97621/19 "2023-02-02T17:25:28Z")
I count the first 14 days above ground as the seedling period and transplant at day 15 and count that as day 1 of veg 🤟 ---
**Author:** ![Bluntsmoke](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/user_avatar/ilgmforum.com/bluntsmoke/32/1186531_2.png) [@Bluntsmoke](https://ilgmforum.com/u/Bluntsmoke)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 6:12pm UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/54-days-old-northern-light-auto-stuck-in-preflower/97621/20 "2023-02-02T18:12:04Z")
> [@MattyBear](#): > > Most people complain that their autos start flowering too soon and are mad when they get a small plant. Most would love their autos to get as big as yours before flowering. Then they complain it’s 10 weeks in and still no buds. I’d rather have a earlier flowering than a delayed one ---
**Author:** ![Bluntsmoke](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/growingmarijuana/user_avatar/ilgmforum.com/bluntsmoke/32/1186531_2.png) [@Bluntsmoke](https://ilgmforum.com/u/Bluntsmoke)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 6:15pm UTC](https://ilgmforum.com/t/54-days-old-northern-light-auto-stuck-in-preflower/97621/21 "2023-02-02T18:15:06Z")
> [@FromFarmToCouch](#): > > true auto It isn’t imo > [@FromFarmToCouch](#): > > I’ve been reading on forums that ILGM autos are notoriously late bloomers. Facts based on my limited experience [Next page](https://ilgmforum.com/t/54-days-old-northern-light-auto-stuck-in-preflower/97621.md?page=2)