Atkeni's First Grow

[Atkeni]

So A week or so ago i started my grow, i am using an old equipment box, with the foam padding torn out, to grow in.



The top compartment is atm being used to store random bits, but later on will likely be used for storing the ballast and venting the cooltube the lighting will use.

speaking of which, the 20w CFL is temporary, as my 150W HPS is late in arriving. the 150W HPS will be used with a cool tube (so the plants can use all of the available space)

Right (Frankie) and Left (Samantha) are Bubblegum's, 8-9 Days old, in the center (Tesco) is an auto Hindu Kush, about 1 day since it sprouted. the bubblegum's are increasing in mass about 20-40% per 12 hours :) . on Stinkys advice i have stopped adding any milk to the mixture (2 teaspoons milk, 1ml urine/pint- same as my legal herbs)

All of them are potted in a compost mix, with bone meal mixed in (none at the top, light amount, then medium, and a reasonable amount at the bottom) the compost appears to have some sand mixed in, and drains fairly reasonably. eventually they will be put in square containers, which will have a touch of perlite mixed in.

Currently, the only ventilation is the hole cut for an 80mm fan (no fan yet). the temp in the box raises by 3 degrees C when 60w of heat is put in, with no fans- the box acts like a giant heatsink, i dont expect any heat problems with the 150W.

When the 150 Goes in, i will add a lower intake fan, and fit the exhaust fan, both with thick dust filters, which nullify the light. the plan is for the air to come in via the lower right of the case, and move diagonally up and across to the left hand exhaust. the fans will be on 5V, as full airflow (as there is a cool tube) will not be required, the lower noise will be appreciated.

Oh, and i do intend to finish clearing the foam out, its stuck in bloody hard :P

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/9929/img9907yo1.jpg

some proper pics coming soon, as soon as i work out how to disable auto focus so i can force it to stay on macro, stupid camera! :wtf:

All input appreciated :)

[Shovelhandle]

Welcome to the Grow Log Forum, Atkeni. I'm anxious to see what you grow, especially the bubblegums (a fav of mine)

Shovelhandle

[Atkeni]

Welcome to the Grow Log Forum, Atkeni. I'm anxious to see what you grow, especially the bubblegums (a fav of mine)

Shovelhandle

Ty Shovel, as promised, pictures :jointsmile:

L->R= Frankie(Current favorite, better not be a Frank :P), Samantha(I have no idea why it looks like a leaf has embers, the plant looks fine), Tesco

HPS is now a good few days late, darn x-mas post, if it doesn't come tomorrow, I'll bung a 150W Halogen lamp i have lying around up the top

[Shovelhandle]

Cool, here's my Bubblegum (http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-log/93435-shov-s-bubblegum-grow.html?highlight=Shovelhandle+Bubblegum) Grow I finished up last March.

Shovelhandle

[FlyGuyOU]

I don't think halogens are what you want to use....pretty sure they put out too much heat and not the right spectrum

[Atkeni]

I don't think halogens are what you want to use....pretty sure they put out too much heat and not the right spectrum

Heat shouldn't be a problem(kept above the plants, to supplement the current 20W CFL), its just a temp fix till this damned HPS arrives :mad:

[Atkeni]

Hey, Few updates due to relatives in the house, so also no pictures for the same reason

plants are at 13 days for the bubblegums, and 6 for Tesco. Frankie has doubled in size, and is exploding with growth :) , Samantha is getting not enough light in her corner, so has only increased about 40%, tesco is on about 10 leaves, expecting her to flower soon.

the stems are finally nice and tough, they needed a bamboo support before, now they stand fine :)

HPS Still hasnt arrived, and wont for the next few days due to holidays.

Argh!, bloody Useless royal mail

[Jerry Garcia 2007]

They are looking good so far, you have a very unique set up, it will be interesting to watch this one.

Keep us posted!!!

[Atkeni]

Merry X-mas all :) (ok, so its the 26th now, Shh!)

Just checked on them before i go to bed, this HPS really cant come soon enough, its over a week overdue, and this 20w CFL really isnt going to cut it much longer >.<

Tesco isnt minding too much, shes almost doubled in size today.

some of the bottom leaves on Frankie turned yellow, they are getting almost no really quantity of light, so i gently plucked them off.

the bubblegum leaves at this point have a faint but distinctive parsley smell on them, whereas the kush has no smell as such yet.

i figure the smell is likely a lot due to the foam still in the box (once the HPS comes, it'll get a proper scraping, soaping, and washing out :)


hurry up hps!

[michaelpeg]

im on the same boat as you. I am currently waiting on 150 watt hps and it is about a week late. have had my 2 plants under 26watt cfl for a week. how long do you think is too long to keep them under there?

[Jerry Garcia 2007]

They won't die on you!
just slow growth maybe some streaching. Don't worry once you get them under some real light they will catch up.

[Atkeni]

im on the same boat as you. I am currently waiting on 150 watt hps and it is about a week late. have had my 2 plants under 26watt cfl for a week. how long do you think is too long to keep them under there?

Jerrys right, mine are 2 weeks under a 20w (to the three of them) and all thats happening is growth is slowing, i wouldnt sweat ;)

pictures tommorrow :jointsmile:

[Atkeni]

Ugh, Had a stomach bug for the last 72 hours, regular throwing up has lead me to discover new muscles i never knew you could pull :(

Heres the belated Pictures,

1:Frankie is covered in these, i could be wrong, but i think they are pre-flowers? Cant see too well so please correct me

2: Frankie, Excuse the crappy job, i cant hold the camera still (too shaky after not eating or drinking for 3 days) and photoshop is not on this fresh windows install - about 20 days

3: Tesco - about 12 days , Nothing much to report.

4: Samantha- Recived rather nasty burns thanks to me not being able to get out of bed until today, has about 6 of what i think are pre-flowers- stems look a little purple to me?


HPS Still isnt here, Woe is me >.< sent an email asking for tracking info, hopefully it will be here tues

[Jerry Garcia 2007]

Man Give them a good watering if you haven't yet, they will recover. Your light arrive yet?

[Atkeni]

Man Give them a good watering if you haven't yet, they will recover. Your light arrive yet?

Nope no light, gave em a good drink today.


I can hear them, Craving the light! :(

[Jerry Garcia 2007]

One other thing that may help prevent your leaf burning is use a spray bottle with just plain water, occasionaly spray your plants leaves with a fine mist it will help cool them down and give them water to the leaves that your roots cannot provide quick enough under hot and/or dry conditions.

As for sexing it is a little to early to tell.

[Atkeni]

One other thing that may help prevent your leaf burning is use a spray bottle with just plain water, occasionaly spray your plants leaves with a fine mist it will help cool them down and give them water to the leaves that your roots cannot provide quick enough under hot and/or dry conditions.

As for sexing it is a little to early to tell.


Ok, hows once every evening sound?

Cheers for the advice.

Ive noticed frankie has very short, fat Indica leaves, whereas samantha seems to have much shorter, thinner Sativa type leaves, although this could be due to the light differences

[Atkeni]

just chased up my package, turns out the delivery depot never got it (ah well, shit happens) new one is in the post, hopefully it'll come tommorrow/friday

my luck sucks, but at least the company was fast to help and polite :)

[Atkeni]

And its here XD

got to figure out how to replace the reflector (far to large for this box, and i want to save it for if i do a grow in a larger space) i figure i'll just get some thick metal and paint it white, i got a big ass can of matt white paint here anyways.

[Atkeni]

Well the Cabs been painted white, and the HPS is in (Damn is that mofo bright, still burned in my eyes :P) unfortunatly one of the fans sounds like a jet engine taking off. in all seriousness there is nowhere in the house you cannot hear it, i have never heard such a noisy fan (ripped from an old burned out PSU)

the guys at silentpcreview.com would be rolling in they're graves (if they were dead :jointsmile:)

number 1 priority is to replace that fan, apart from the noise the ventilation is fine, plants should be able to grow within 4 inches without heat stress (only gets hot on the back of my hand 2" from the lamp after 12 hours on)

Priority 2 is to get some square pots to maximise soil in the bottom, current pots wont cut it forever (7" for the bubblegums, about 5" for the kush)

pictures soon, they are all looking healthy, tesco is recovering pretty well from pretty severe heat stress from being so close to the 20W CFL :)

[Shovelhandle]

Bless your patience. Now you'll be ready with a top shelf flowering set up.
Good luck, can't wait to see some pics.

Shov

[cwesto]

Atkeni, I dont know if ur Q: has been answered yet, but that pic where u were saying Frankie was covered in the lil green things by the branches, and u thought those were pre-flowers. I thought the same thing too when i had my first plants, those lil things are not pre-flowers, im actually not sure what they are, but i think all MJ plants have them when they are relatively young plants, then i think they shed them when the pre-flowers start comming in..

Plants look nice so far tho :rasta:

[Atkeni]

Atkeni, I dont know if ur Q: has been answered yet, but that pic where u were saying Frankie was covered in the lil green things by the branches, and u thought those were pre-flowers. I thought the same thing too when i had my first plants, those lil things are not pre-flowers, im actually not sure what they are, but i think all MJ plants have them when they are relatively young plants, then i think they shed them when the pre-flowers start comming in..

Plants look nice so far tho :rasta:

Cheers, I've decided to triple the current size of the bubblegums before flowering, so hopefully they'll pop soon :)

Tescos 3 weeks old now, so hopefully there will be flowering soon (should be 6 weeks odd left)

[Atkeni]

Disaster! :(

Mum mentioned my plants with my sister in earshot without thinking, who then went and looked at them with her freinds (they're 14)

i'm going to scrap the grow until i move out, i dont trust that word wont get around.

i'm moving out this summer, so its not a total disaster, once i am out i'll be spending good money on a proper setup. my mate just picked them up, he's adopting them. if it wasnt so cold atm, i'd keep them out under a glass bowl

*sigh*

cheers for all the help so far anyways, i'm sure i'll be gorwing on in 6-7 months, for now my box will be used for old fashioned tomatoes. (and in the meanwhile, i'll be making just about anything into a growbox :P)

i took a leaf+stem from frankie and samantha, and put them in an ice cube tray and in the freezer with my herb cubes, im sure i remember being able to take tissue and make plants out of em in solution