NOOB CABINET

[ZeldaG.]

Some quick questions:
Can i grow without a fan?
Best Reflecter for the walls?
The soil says not fur use with acid loving/lime hating plants... should i change fast?

Now for the essay:

I guess I am a noob but i think this setup aint that bad...

I got a "Arcadia" Fresf water fish lamp (14W, 15inch, (360mm)) that seems to really be bright i got a '2 feet' fluorecent tube (18Watt 230v (1150Lumen)) from "Wickes" and a 60W bulb from B&Q (yes i am in england) i got Cristal and Super Thai skunk seeds and some unknowns i got 4 seeds planted (i dont know which are which because i germinated them together and now its just the ones that rooted first are the ones that are planted...
I still got 9 germinating.

I got soil form B&Q its called "John Innes Seed" and its meant for seedlings but not for acid loving or lime hating plants... I am guessing it should do... :confused:

I painted the walls of the cupboard white (the paint is to be used on outside of the house walls so i reckon it cant be too good) a lot of friends are saying get art class plastic mirros or foil any advice would be great on that subject.

the door remains black...

I am obviously not going to fit all 12 plants in the little closet once their bigger so i will only keep them there until i can tell which are male which are female, than i shall put the rest outside or give em away and stuff (get rid of em) only keep the best 2.

So here are the long questions:

Is it enough light?
What food/fertiliser stuff would you recomend (UK high street not web or us pls)?
Should i use plastic mirrors/foil/white paint/real mirros etc. etc. for the walls of the cupboard?
If i dont get a fan what will happen? And if i really need one than does anyone know a mains fan thats small enough to fit in there cos all i can find is really big ones... (again UK pls)
Thanks all!
Sorry about so much writing...

ANY ADVICE WOULD BE MUCH APREACIATED...

[partcleguy]

Hey, lots of stuff to cover. From what i've read, you should have some sort of ventilation (a fan). This can be complicated further if you're planning on using CO2, but it doesn't look like it. The CFM (cubic feet per minute) of the fan depends on how big your closet is (you don't say) and on how quiet you want it to be. This brings me to the next topic, lights. You don't really have enough light to get decent bud. I would recommend getting an HID (high pres. sodium at least, maybe also a metal halide). If thats too expensive, get a few more higher wattage cfls and make sure to put all the fluorescents you have only a few inches away from the plants. You want about 40-50W of HID lights per square foot or about 2000 lumens per square foot for great bud. (I'm pretty sure thats right... :) )

Based on your description of the soil, it sounds like its meant for neutral pH loving plants which is perfect for now. I like a soilless mix (vermiculite, perlite, and worm castings) which drains more easily. When you transplant your plants you may want to add some perlite for better drainage.

You'll want to put mylar or some reflective material on the walls. Paint is the absolute minimum... paint the door for sure. I can't say how big your closet is, but 12 plants is a lot.

Happy growing :thumbsup:

[ZeldaG.]

Oh thanks mate didnt expect an answer that fast,
Well I am not planning to grow all 12 in there only keep them there while they are young than replant the better ones in there and the ones that arnt so good maybe elsewhere (maybe give em to friends or plant some in garden see how they go)

wouldnt buying 3 or 4 more floresent tubes do? maybe two on either side (2 foot ones) (one on each side i mean) cos now there is only one up back (the arcadia light is gonna be right near the plants and get lifted as plants grow.)
I can paint the walls and door with mylar or osme other reflective paint as i dont know if we even have mylar in england (lol havnt had much paint experience in my life)
And if you look at the image below the 2 feet lamp is the one in back so thats 2 feet along hte back, and its pritty square like the isdes and door are the same length diagonaly but htere is a draw at the bottom aswell whcih enlarges its height, so i need a little fan to fit it (only 2-3 plants will be kept in closet) you know what kind of shop would sell that type of fan cos so far all i find is big office desk fans lol and i cant fit one of them in.

Thanks again for all the help!!

[partcleguy]

Ok, I gotta say I don't have any experience with fluoros, but what I can say is you should go ahead and buy 3-4 more high wattage fluoros like you're planning. Are they cool (5000 kelvin and up- white/blue light) or warm (2700 Kelvin- more reddish)? Cool fluoros are best for vegging/seedlings and warm are the best for flowering. So the best thing would be to have both the entire time or to switch them out between veg/flower cycles. I think you may be able to veg under warms or vice versa, but its only a small amount of light from the spectrum you need so you would need a whole lot more lumens. Definitely keep the fluoros as close to plants as possible without burning them (which is where the fan comes in).

If there is a hydroponic store or a big general plant nursury near you, you should try to look for some HIDs- high pressure sodium or metal halide. I think it might save money in the end rather than having to have 5 or more various fluorescents esp. if you have to change them out between cycles.

Mylar isn't a paint, its a reflective, silvery material. You can go to a hardware store, though, and look for some kind of insulation meant to reflect light. Probably ask someone there for help with that. Otherwise, if all else fails, paint everything white for maximum reflection.

As for the fan, I would recommend a computer fan or two. You could probably pick some up for cheap from a computer store assuming you have one where you live. You could put one for intake and one for exhaust or have two for exhaust and nothing but a hole for intake (passive intake). Calculate the cubic feet of your grow room. The CFM= cubic feet/minute of the fan. If the grow room is 40 cubic feet, a 40 CFM fan clears the entire volume of air in 1 minute. Try to get something that clears the room at least once a minute, probably more.

Good luck!

[Stellar]

That looks so not-gonna-work.

Go buy a couple 5" shoplights... The brackets that fit two flouro tubes.

I use 4 of those brackets coupled together in my basement to grow cherry tomatoes still, and it gets the job done.

that 14 watt stuff and what have you... Don't waste your time. Buy some real shoplight reflectors, and some 40w flouro tubes. I used 4 5" reflector brackets with 8 40w bulbs total when I was living with my parents to grow dope and grow dope it did rather well for a setup that cost a total of about 40 USD for all of the brackets and bulbs brand new. I would get a pound and a half easy every 4 months off of flouros in a small closet off of even shabby grows where I was still learning what I was doing, out of a closet with flouros.

The reflectors I still use from my first pot grow to grow tomatoes these days were called 5" Basic Reflectors. They work. They're cheap (9 USD a peice). About as cheap as you want to go if you are going to try and make any kind of plant grow.

And you will want some fresh air flow and a decent fan for ventilation, to boot.

[Stellar]

You might as well ditch the smaller stuff.

The 60w bulb is really only usefull to act as a litle heater if your grow room gets chilly in the winter. It seems like you have it all the way at the top of the set up? Not gonna work all the way up there. Your basic idea, when working with flouros and other low wat lighting, is to keep the lights no more than 4" away from the plants at all times, from what I know from growing with them for a few years when I used flouros for flora. Thus, you will want your lights to be adjustable, in order to move them up and down, accordingly. I used to try keeping them real close and kinda far. In the end, I learned that you want hem about 3 or 4" away from the plants for best results.

I've seen people actually rear a plant off of a 60w bulb, however. But, its really not worth the half a year wait for less than an ounce you will get. With your setup, it almost looks like your bulbs are going to be too far away to inspire phenomenal or even basic growth, considering their low wattage. I mean, you might still be able to get all of that to work without really changing anything... Just expect it to take about 6 months per 1/8 ounce of bud.

[L3G10N]

ZeldaG. Do you live in USA? If so, i bought two 4 foot flouro shop lights (the kind that hang) for like $8.00 a piece from Wal-Mart. Then i got 4 GE ecolux daylight bulbs to go with them, each bulb puts out 3050 lumens. I dont rememebr exactly how much the bulbs cost but i know its less than $10 a pair. Also, wal-mart sells the CFL bulbs (compact flourescent) Get some that are 150w equvilent. They also sell those shop lamp fixtures with the shiny reflector dome.. like $5 bux a piece. Also in the sporting goods section, they sell theses things called emergency/thermal blankets, line the inside of your box with that. Make sure you get cool white bulbs for vegging and warm white for flowering. GE sells ecolux kitchen and bath bulbs that are 3500 lumens each (i think).

[L3G10N]

Dang, i just realized from your other post, you live in UK.

[ZeldaG.]

... Crap thats alot of mistakes i made... lol

Okay i will leave it like this for now, and take notes form all 3 replies than see whats happening...

2 seeds have come out...

Legion thanks mate i reckon i will be able to find most of that stuff littered around different shops in the high street (lucky americans get it all in one shop, i need to look around half the island...)
Anyway than i shall set it up better and ill let these plants grow here but it seems like this attempt is just a test, edit ,change, improve. run so ill post more pics once i sort it out a bit...

the problem with computer fans is that i can get the 3 pin plug ones or soemthing but htose are for computers only... if i cut the wire and connect it to a plug and stuff... would that work or would it make it run too fast... :S

Thanks again all youve been really helpful

[ZeldaG.]

... hate to double post so badly... so sorry, but just need a question answered
if i get 4: '20w equivelent to 100w' CFLs would that do for 2 plants... or 3...

this is what i am talking about:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?TabID=1&criteria=compact%20fluorescent%20light%20&ModuleNo=46292&doy=20m6

[E Man]

Turn off the incandescent bulb. Use it for a heater if your cabinet gets too cold. The hanging fluoro fixture is good as long as you can move it up once the plant's height requires it. Get a couple of swag lamps (the ones that hang from the ceiling by the cord or a piece of chain) and discard any lampshade or globe so you just have the socket to hang free. Get those "Y" shaped adapters that screw in where the bulb goes and allow you to use 2 bulbs. Thats why you don't want the lampshades, they'll get in the way. Hang them from the top of the cupboard so they cover the area that's not under the hanging fluoro. If you could see down through the top, it should look like this [%]. The slash would be the hanging tube and the circles would be ths swags. Put a CFL in each socket and you'll have an array that can be adjusted as needed. Check out threads by jdog and bobbong and you'll see the results that can be obtained with CFLs. The key is, as Stellar said, to keep the lights as close as you can. Keep the tube that's mounted on the back wall, it'll provide light to the lower branches. After they get big enough, just turn the pots a quarter or half a turn every day. For ventilation start simplest first. A 3 or 4 inch hole in the top and a couple in the bottom and see if convection will do the trick. Simple and quiet. If not, add a computer fan or some other type of quiet fan mounted on the inside blowing out. Have a good grow.:thumbsup:

[L3G10N]

yes, what E Man said. I forgot to mention those "Y" shaped adapters, i have a couple myself, and to keep the lights close. There are lots of CFL on buylighting.com, im not sure are lights over there different sockets than here in the states? There are some 105w CFL equiv. to 400w puts out 5900 lumens.

[ZeldaG.]

yeah i think i can get the 'y' things they should be available in uk, and i think the sockets are probably the same around here as the ones you have, but the thing is i cant shop online... :S and the best i can do on the steet is the 20w = 100w i mentioned above, i got rid of the useless top lamp and i am working on getting a computer fan setup, three of them are out of the ground now :D so yeah, thanks alot guys! and if you could just cofnirm how many of those 20w things i should or shouldnt get (i can get 4 i guess but more if you reckon i should)
I am also working on getting mylar or something else more reflective than white paint...,
I believe that by the end of the week i should be able to sort it out...
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?C=SEO&U=SiteMapByDept&ModuleNo=46292 (here is the light i can get)

[Mnoutdoorz]

Hey zelda. I'm not sure if they seel it in the U.K. but for my box I got this stuff called reflectix. It's about half the price of mylar and around 1-2% less reflective. It's 95% and I think mylar is 97%. just got to your local lowe's, home depot, whatever you have and go look in the insulation and see if you see a big roll of shiny silver stuff. Good Luck!! Check out my grow in this section I'm using cfls only right now but have 400hps on the way.

[ZeldaG.]

reflectix!!?? judging form the photos on you thread thats like bubble wrap but shiny and not poppable :S lol if so i think i got rolls of it in my garden :D bloody hell feel so stupid lol thanks man gonna go find it right now :D

ill post pics soon as i put it up also i found a 100w halogen lamp :D dont know if that any good or not but put it in there, exept i cant leave it on alot cos i am scared that it might cause fire :S... but as long as i am in the room i leave it on. so cool thanks.

[E Man]

If it might start a fire its probably not a good idea. I'm not certain but I think the benefit of the halogen might be outweighed by the heat that it puts out. I had a halogen worklight, I think it was a 100, bright as hell but REAL hot. :smokin:

[Mnoutdoorz]

Yep zelda that's exactly what it is and it works real well. I wouldn't use the halogen buy some cfls if ya can. Good luck I hope they grow like crazy! Can't wait for some more pics!

[ZeldaG.]

yeah it is really hot but i have decided to keep it on when i am about and than off when i leave also if i am about but cant keep checking on it than i keep it off when i have it on i also prefer to keep the door open, but now i went and looked for the reflectix stuff (if thats what i got) and sadly my dad used most of it but i still found his scraps, lol (yeah i live with parents and their like totally anti-drugs lol so i have to keep it stealthy too lol)
i put the scraps up (it was enough to do the whole thing just not very neatly.) here is some pics of the seedlings and the stuff i acuse of being reflectix and the halogen (lol also the closet from outside and the way i disquise it form parents eyes lol by the way its the black draw and the black door the white draw holds my ps2 lol :P)

[Mnoutdoorz]

Very nice looks like it's starting to come around nicely. I bet you notice a huge differance when you open up the cab now as far as how bright it seems. I can't tell if those are light leaks or just the relfection off of the hinges. If they're leaks just make sure you get them fixed before flowering. You're well on your way keep up the good work!

[keeko]

i dont recommend growing in your parents house with out them knowing, especially if they are anti-drug...anyway, goodluck with all of that

[ZeldaG.]

yeah they are leaks ive fixed them best i can for now (with paper and reflectix covering the gaps) but one thing i do realize is the straightforward importance of total darkness in flowering, and by that time i plan to fully sort out the leaks (the leaks is why i have to keep the folded chair and jumper ower it leaning against the door lol) yeah i am sitting with the door open now (parents asleep bedroom door locked) and i keep having to put my hand up because it really is bright :D thank alot for showing me what reflectix looks like ive heard of it before but thout it was some kind of paint too lol (well not really just didtn know i had loads of it in my garden)
Well as i said i should get it soem lights and a fan sorted out in there by the weekend, again thanks all for all the info and help and stuff!! Ill keep you all posted with new pics soon as there is more progress.
(oh yeha my parents arnt total totaly against drugs, they jsut dont like them, they dont let me smoke, but know i do, lol , and if they find the plant the most theyll do is tell me to get rid of it, where it will go down to a debate and than an arguement which i cant predict the ouutcome of... lol)

[ZeldaG.]

hi just got myself 2 20w=100w cfl's which is only 1200Lm each, but the thing is the box the bulb came in says i am not alowed to use timers with it ... :S
why?
I have a timer and i prefer to use it because i want to do the 16/8 cycle, so my setup is: the lights are pluged into a four hole extension and that plugged into a timer that is plugged into the mains...
(well acutally the timer is plugged up into another extension to which my pc, ps2, tv, arial, monitor, modem, printer, lol are plugged into which i find to be a fire hazzard so ill need more longer extensions just for the setup lol but that will be sorted out by the end of the week too.)
but i was wondering because the timer just turned the lights off a second ago to test and nothing went wrong, why could it not work? it also says no dimmer swiches and not for 'photo cell circuits' whatever they are...

Anyway the bulb replaced the halogen which was really hot and even more of a fire hazard lol. also is the cfl meant to make a smell when i leave the door closed than open it?(like burny, hoty, sort of smell) I mean it oculd be due to bad ventilation...
Now i just need either one of those Y adapters or another socket to hang my second cfl bulb, (proabbly another socket, than y adapters, as sockets are 1pound each lol and i havnt yet found any adapters but a while later ill get the adapters too to hang 4 :D)
than i need a fan (i found a nice computer fan which can take 240v so ill be able to conenct that to the mains) plan to sort that out by end of week,
and than one more job left to sort out he gaps in the door before flowering... that i havnt thout out fully yet but i got some ideas going (like carpet bending inwards around the door edges lol)

Thanks all here is some pics!
the first one is the packaging that says no timer ,the second is the cfl, the third is the timer, the fourth is how i plan to do the cfls and the last one is how the right seedling looks (left one is fine too i guess middle one has been moved to the left bu is still called mildde one as i think i gave it light too soon after sporuting or something (maybe too much water) cos his just shriveled up and staying that way... :( the right one i hope isnt too tall its currently about 3 inches and only has 4 leaves (including those round ones... :S)

[L3G10N]

you could put those bulbs like 1/2 an inch from the plants... get cfl's as close as possible without burning the leaves. Pic #2 looks like the light is kinda far from the plants.

[mad5387]

Soon as possible you need the FLO as close to the seedlings as possible without overheating them. Put your finger between the light and the plant if your finger gets uncomfortably warm its too close. If its not to warm to keep you fingers there its not to warm for a plant. I keep 4x 4foot 40watt flo within an inch of my 8 week plants with no problem. This seems to have gottet them to preflower stage very well. The main reason to keep the lights as close as possible is if you dont the plants will stretch. The will try to grow tward the light as fast as they can witch means there will be too much space between nodes- where the leaves come out. There may not be a sturdy enough of trunk or stem to support them juicy buds your looking for. The more the stretching the less nodes. The less the nodes the less the buds. And also the less the lower folage the less energy to the flowers. Make sense? Hope this helps. Good Luck
Sweet Leaf Dreams

[ZeldaG.]

yeah i realizing how the streching works but the big probemis that they grow fast i left the light an inch away before going out (the arcadia tube light) and when i came back the tallest one was touching the light the cfl bulb is just impossible to keep close as it is really really hot, i keep it more to the side of the plant and than the 2 feet tube does the other side and the arcadia hangs above, today it seemed to slow down with the growing so i will lower the arcadia light closer for tommorows light session (01-35 am here)
but yeah as you said legion i will try 1/2 inch for the arcadia, the 2 feet isnt going anywhere as it only fits diaganoly there (i know my cabinet feels so small) and the cfl i cant even leave that on without being paranoid about my house burning down while i am out, (yetserday i rushed home like 11 ocklock to turn it off than went back to the bar my mates where at lol)because of the weird smell that is either the cfl itself or the cabinet melting lol,
but i will try to get that closer for when i do have it on and i will hopefully get rid of the paranoia when i get my fans :D as is said by the end of the week, hopefully that means by sunday. :D
Thanks and i will try the warm finger technique instead of mesuring 4 inches lol (i heard its 4 inches now realize that everyone is talking about cfls not tubes and i thout they made the smae heat lol now after getting an actual cfl i realize they do not cause the same heat... lol)
thanks to all and to all a good night!!

[ZeldaG.]

:D :D :D well guess what!! I have got my fans :D and i got a socket for the second cfl lol but it was a £1 one and it really didnt seem to fit for some reason and i ended up breaking the socket and the bloody cfl's screw thingy of the acutal bulb :S but plan to get another cfl and another socket, the fans are only 12v computer fans but they keep the cabinet cool so now i can leave the lights on all the time and not get paaranoid :D and they make the plants sway a little bit, lol so now i have pretty much everything, but everything is currently being held in place by large large large amounts of scelotape...

i think this is not good, (and doesnt look profesional at all...) thing i want to do now is wait for a really sunny day, and take the plants outside and sort of take it all down and use a combination of nails, screws, and staples to get it together instead of that ugly scelotape, (also i think my dad will sonner or later bust me and there is more chance of talking him into letting me keep a nice organized cabinet instead of what i got now.)
also i have been thinking of the gaps of light... any good ideas on how to make the door tight with no gaps maybe not even for air now that i have the fan blowing in? because as little as it matters now (as mentioned above) i wil need to get rid of the light by flowering...

cant post pics...

[E Man]

This won't make it air tight but it should make it light tight. If you have any reflectix left (if not, use carpet that's a good idea but I think the wierd synthetic man made fibers would be better. They don't absorb moisture like natural organic fibers) you'll need 2 pieces the length that the door is tall and 2 pieces the length that the door is wide plus 2 or three inches. Make them all 4 to 6 inches wide. The first long piece goes on the back of the door. Open it up as far as it'll go place 1 edge about an inch overlap on the back of the door where the hinges are attached so most of it is out past the door. If the door is wood I'd use a staple gun or nails. If it's metal or glass you might have to use screws or glue. Now close the door so its parallel with the sidewall that it's mounted to. At this point the carpet should be flat or almost flat against that sidewall. Keep the door there. Next take a short piece and fold it in half lengthwise and pinch the long edges together and staple them or maybe super glue or something then do that to the other 2 pieces as well. Take a short one and put it on the floor of the cabinet, with the pinched together edges facing in, so the rounded side will touch the back of the door when it shuts. Might take some trial and error but when you find the rught spot, nail it. Make sure the end that touches the piece that's on the back of the door has enough room to allow the door flap to slide by. Repeat those steps with the other short piece on the top, then put the last one upright between the upper and lower. Shouldn't leak light. Later. Me:thumbsup:

[Binzhoubum]

You need to get the lights closer to the plants...fl's dont give off much heat so you dont have to really worry about heat damage much as long as you keep them an inch or so away.

[ZeldaG.]

Hell yeah!
Thanks for the advice, i am still to work out your guide on keeping light in/out but i think i understand what you are saying E, but i am going to alow it to be like it is for the time beign than sort it out some time through veg state, (and probs use left ower reflectix, than if it screws me ill try the other idea...)
I have got the light proper low and i dont think it is strechign any more, i figured it is 8 days old today, and isnt going up much, but there is now 10 (12 with the baby ones) leafes on the right hand side plant, which i have now decided to name (only a bit of fun so pls dont giv me shit about it) i called it RASKILA and the left one LEEF lol as in R= RIGHT ONE and L= LEFT ONE which i have been calling them for the time being,
anyway thanks for all the help everyone has given me but also IE or my comp, or some part of it, or soemhting i downloaded is messing about with me so i cant post any pics, but i did make a blog here is the site if you are really interested in looking at pics, or if you dont mind clicking on the link and looking to tell me if their okay and stuff... lol thanks

http://my.opera.com/zeldag./albums/show.dml?id=91373

[silver 112]

sweikas gali man kaip nors y skype parasyti nes man reike foto kur pas tave kompe yra gal kaip nors tau iseitu atsiusti.

[E Man]

How's your grow goin'
How's your go growin' :D

Erlich

[ZeldaG.]

YAY!! GOOD TO BE BACK!!!YEAH ITS ME AGAIN! rememebr me saying that i cant do much on my browser like watch videos and post pics.. :S well than my internet went all together and only set it up again now :D :D :D
SO my site hasnt been updated... nor has this post but i am back, and surprisingly i had no advice from anyone here for the last 3 or so months and my plant is my height and growing buds!!! :D :D you cant imagine how happy i am about that!! Oh yeah the issue with my parents finding out actually happened :S lol they chucked them out (told me to get rid of em) but i put it in a obvious position behind the house and garden next to a stream and in the end it got on their nerves me going back there so often because they thopu the neighbours would get suspicious, but i am now so happy about getting chucked out, cos i would have never had the space in my house for plants this big. also i said above my plant as in ONE because 'Raskila' the bigger plant was a male, and the smaller one was female but i seperated them in time and everything without no help from anyone here or elsewhere, and that just feels like such an amazing achievement (i know its no biggy for oyu lot but to me this is soming!! :D :D)

Anyway thanks for all the info you did give me about the cabinet and all that it has been wicked, and i wouldnt have made it without the initial knowlede of it all especially legion and e-man, thanks alot and if you need to know anyhting just ask ill be happy to help lol :P

here soem pics too

ps: its not that i dont trust anyone here but i did think it would be more sensible to paitn my face lol...

[ZeldaG.]

oh yeah i did have a little problem when it was very windy for a few days i came down to find it swayed to the side the actual stem had moved sorta with hte root ball and was leaning to one side, all the leaves where hanging and it looked near dead, but wiuckly replanting it and adding more nutriens than usual seemed to bring it back to the above state, *dont know if the nutriens where the right hting to do i think replanting it might have been enough but i did both anyway*

vvvvv THE FIRST WO PICS ARE BEFORE THE REST ARE AFTER THE DAMAGE AND THE PICS IN THE POST ABOVE ARE PRETTY MUCH SHORT TIME AFTER RESSURECTION

(all potos taken with a sony ericson K800i the 3.2MP cybershot videophone...-pretty good huh?)

[gunge9]

Hi Zelda, been reading through your topic and i too am from the uk, what CFL`s did you use for vegging the flowering ? Gimmie some shopo names and descriptions dude i`m keen to learn. Peace.

[ZeldaG.]

hey you must have heard of pets@home, welll they do aquarium lights, i used those i used the freshwater ones but i think the lizard one might be better, i used a 2 foot tube from 'WICKES' (like B&Q) and the cfls where the stronges tones in Woolworths but they are not too strong they would probably have not worked through vegitation stage unless you got quite a few, but me i was lucky enough to have the summer around and as i said i got caught by parents and was told to take it outside so the rest of the time was done under the sun, now i cant wait for next year when i do my proper outside grow!! :D :D oh yeah you must have seen a 99p store well i used some cfl's from there until i could replace them with woolworths ones but the wollworhts ones are 20w and the 99p ones i think you can only get weaker ones

i used comp fans by cutting off the wires and attaching them to a 12v convertor (the plug that has a little thing you slide to chose your power)

hope i helped!
here are some pics this is just before taking them outside. the last one is a week after being outside, (all pics taken with a NOKIA 6680 1.3MP camera phone(not as nice as the sony ericsson but sitll nice))

[gunge9]

Thanks for the reply, i have loads of CFL`s at home but i`m wondering if they are the correct colour for growing.

[gunge9]

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/5705/dsc06375ti7.jpg

[gunge9]

<a href="http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc06375ti7.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/5705/dsc06375ti7.th.jpg" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>

[E Man]

Natural sunlight sure beats the hell outta fluoros. I ended up with 2 males out of 4 but i can't go outside with them. They would disappear in 1 day. Grow BIG ;)

E

[ZeldaG.]

thanks for the supoport! Anyway i was looking at it today and 2 buds seems to have gone all brown and dead... :S and i was thinking maybe i should just harvest before it all goes down, and anyway i think it maybe ready to harvest anyway i just really am not sure so if anyone could tell me what they think itd be great...

[E Man]

Hey Zelda,

Maybe you could just prune off the dead part of it and see what happens to the plant. If you want to know if it's ready to harvest, get a pocket or hand held microscope (30x) and look at the trichomes (crystals). When they are all cloudy, it's time. They'll start out clear, turn cloudy, then turn amber. You don't want amber. If a few turn amber while you're waiting for all the rest to get cloudy thats OK. Think of it like fermenting grape juice. First it's grape juice. Eh, not bad, but it could be better. If you wait just the right amount of time, you get wine. But if you wait too long.....yuk, vinegar. Those flowers make mine look like midgets....lol

Later
E

[jamstigator]

Yeah, you can't tell just from looking at the plant or the pistils, need to look at the trichomes, no way around it, not if you want to really KNOW when it's the right time to harvest. Any other method just amounts to guessing. Might be an educated guess, but it'll still be a guess. My last crop looked quite done 10 days before the trichomes turned cloudy.

[ZeldaG.]

Hery guys again thanks for all the help, the plant was pretty much ready for harvesting i believe :S and what a day that was :rastasmoke: i brought my cousin around and a mate and we chopped it down bit by bit, (also a cuple of weeks before harvesting i decided to have a go at making a clone :P and that is still just sitting htere on my window sill with buds on it that are just too small to smoke but i like it being there, sorta reminds me of my big little thing lol) than we dried it, cured some of it smoked some of it and i still have a couple of splifff left which i just cant part with lol

:D :D And now with the summer on its way (sooner or later) i have dicided to get ready in advance so i can grow some brilliant buds over the summer.

But before the summer i have the spirng and rest of winter to think about, but for what i plan during that time i shall start a new thread.


the second pic is of the clone, it didnt have buds at first lol and now does, its also losing some of the bottom leaves, and it is the same sie height wise, and stem is same size FATwise (as in its skinny) but it aint getting no special treatment its sitting on my window sill drinking tap water and getting like 3-4 hours of light a day as its england lol and winter is like that ...

Oh yeah i believe i yielded not too much over an ounce... :S