first indoor grow

[dryst]

today i started the germination of 20 bag seeds my goal is to have at least 10 females at cultivation. ill be starting them off in small cups using miracle grow organic soil and watering with tap then transplanting them into 5 gallon buckets. i just have a few questions...i plan on using 3 400w hps lights, would home depot have these? and if they do how much would they be around? i cheked the website but couldnt find anything but a 27 watt light bulb. also drainage is very important...should i drill a few holes in the bottom of the buckets and prop the buckets up on something high enough to fit like a pan underneath to catch water that drains out? and finally i planed on not using any ferts or nuts just watering about ever other day, but if i have any money left over after the soil and buckets and lights i plan on getting at least a little something...any ideas?

ill be updating this grow with pics as soon as i plant the germinated seeds

thx

[chisme]

i dont water as much so it drains out the bottom i just top it up untill the pots heavy and damp looking but only a couple of times i coem sout the bottom.

[LIP]

YES. Make sure your soil has about 30% minimum of perlite and alot of holes at the bottom and 2 inches up the side for good drainage.

And yes, prop it up so the water can leak out. I normally water untill its dripping from the bottom and then leave it.


Chisme, hows your plants doing man?

[dryst]

ok so i stopped at the local hardware shop to see what they had and the most powerful hps bulb they had was 250w, but i was lookin around and i wondering if halogen bulbs on flood lights work. also i have miracle grow potting soil which comes with perlite but i dont think its 30% so i guess i could just buy a bag of perlite and mix it into the soil

[sjacobs713]

i have heard a bunch of negative things about cannabis and miracle grow.. not sure how good that stuff is to use..
check w/ others, i'm a newb and could possibly be wrong..

[dryst]

hmm...ive heard the same, it was just sitting in the back yard and i thought id use it up...but anyone have any suggestions on the type of soil i could use?

[sjacobs713]

fox farms is suppose to be a real good mix for our type of plants.. a little pricier though, i believe..

[Login Failed]

Most peoples problems with Mirical Grow is the PH. Make sure if you use the MG that you check the PH in the soil.

[TheHump]

I personally have been using MG without any reall issues. I will know how it is for sure when i am ready to cut them down.

[stinkyattic]

Hello Dryst.
Halogen lights are useless. They have the wrong wavelength, put out a ton of heat, and suck electicity like a Tribble! ; )

Home Depot does carry HPS lights but they are the little 70w security lights.

The 27w you saw was probably an incandescent p[lant light, also one step up from useless.

They do carry both compact and tube flourescents, both of which should have a place in your grow room.

Compacts (CFLs) are excellent for small seedlings. Cram as many as you can above the seedling tray.

Tubes are nice, I find, for the late seedling stage, when they have 3 sets of adult leaves, until they are ready to go under HID. Keep the fixture on chains, and raise it as the plants grow, to 2 inches above the plants.

One cool white and one aquarium tube per fixture works for me. 2- 2tube fixtures side by side is even better.

[stinkyattic]

then transplanting them into 5 gallon buckets. i should i drill a few holes in the bottom of the buckets and prop the buckets up on something high enough to fit like a pan underneath to catch water that drains out?
5 gallon pails have that solid ridge on the bottom so even if you drill holes in the bottom they won't drain unless you prop them up. I always drill holes in the SIDES of my buckets too.


and finally i planed on not using any ferts or nuts just watering about ever other day, but if i have any money left over after the soil and buckets and lights i plan on getting at least a little something...any ideas?



You have to fertilize if you want to make growing indoors worthwhile. Wait until the plants have at least 2 sets of leaves, not counting the cotyledons. Start them off with a weak solution. Fertilizer is CHEAP. Good fertilizer isn't, but it's worth it.

Oh, and you can usually find free buckets- Chinese restaurants get soy sauce by the 5 gallon pail. Mexican places get sour cream in big 3-gallon pails. Got any friends who are line cooks?

[dryst]

i bought 2 27 w cfl bulbs today to hold me over for a week or 2 is this enough or should i get a few more untill i get the hps in place?

the highest wattage bulb the hardware store had was 250 hps and it was 29.99 a bulb

[dryst]

* 2 26w cfl bulbs

[dryst]

ok so...bad news...i found out the person i was going to grow with just fell threw and doesnt want to do it anymore...w/e...so ill take the first 6-8 seeds that germinate and put them into a little started pot kit thing i bought for like $5 at the local hardware shop. id grow it all al my house but if my mom finds it im pretty sure she'd call the po on me...so...once they start to smell ill move them out doors...

i have a question with lighting...do u think 2 26 watt cfls and a 250 watt hps is enough to hold 6-8 plants with enough lighting for about 2-3 weeks until im able to move the grow outdoors?


oh btw i placed the ziplock baggy with the germinating seeds underneath a heating pad which i have to repeatidly turn on...and so far 3 of the 20 seeds have crackednd are showing a small sprout, should i take those 3 and plant them now or wait a little longer for a little more growth before i plant them?

[4x5]

Your lighting will be adequate, and plant those seedlings! Please be safe, don't get caught.

[dryst]

so i planted the 3 germinated seeds into the starter pot thing and watered it...thing is the water just collects on top of the soil...i thought about mixing the soil up but i dont want to hurl the seedlings...so u see my dilema...do i just wait and see if it finally soaks in?

i put together a grow box of sort..complied of a card board box about 2x2' and 3feet tall and turned it upside down and cut i hole in the middle of the top and on the side so i can fit my hand in there to water the plants the hole on the side i can just replace it when im finished so it closes the gap...the hole on top is only about an inch square so i could feed the extension cord down into it and then i plugged the 2 26w cfls in and lowered it to about 3 or 4 inches above the soil the only thing is the heat in there...is the any way i can keep the heat from building up to much in there, maybe like an extrmely small fan?

also i plan on puting foil on the inside of the box

ill post pics either today or tomorrow

[dryst]

or maybe cut holes in the box for air ventiliation?(sp?)

[chisme]

YES. Make sure your soil has about 30% minimum of perlite and alot of holes at the bottom and 2 inches up the side for good drainage.

And yes, prop it up so the water can leak out. I normally water untill its dripping from the bottom and then leave it.


Chisme, hows your plants doing man?


2 be honest mate.....really shit i dunno wtf is goin on right but they r a month old and not even a foot high!!!! loadsa nodes but theyre so frigging short its pissing me off....i think it the heat we had :(

[chisme]

lol if halogens worked trust me we'd all have a much easier life lol

[dryst]

heh...just looked on the box of my cfls and their soft white...thats bad isnt it?

[chisme]

thats fine mate :D

[dryst]

http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1894032&cp=1254879.1254954.1304389&parentPage=family&searchId=1304389

these are the bulbs i got except their soft white 100 not 75 and their 26w and 1700 lumens each

[dryst]

i woke up today and checked the temp and it was 93F inside the grow box...i need some type of ventiliation, i got a fan yesterday and stuck it in the but its still hot as hell in there....any ideas?

[dryst]

pictures as promised...sorry their a little late but, beter late then never...also i know the temp says 80...but now its almost 95!...i need ideas on ventilation, perhaps cutting i hole and putting the fan on the outside blowing air into the box?


http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/8251/10011726so.th.jpg (http://img125.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10011726so.jpg)

http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/2453/10011730ag.th.jpg (http://img54.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10011730ag.jpg)

http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/5089/10011747sy.th.jpg (http://img125.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10011747sy.jpg)

http://img489.imageshack.us/img489/4654/10011759zz.th.jpg (http://img489.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10011759zz.jpg)

http://img489.imageshack.us/img489/8251/10011763bi.th.jpg (http://img489.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10011763bi.jpg)

[nonsmoker420]

as far as the heat goes,which is pretty amazing with cfls your whole house must be hot,because cfls barely put out heat,but anyway since your box isn't exactly stealth and you only plan to keep the plants inside a month or so then throw the box away and just set up in the corner of your closet.you will use 3 closet walls then make a removable one out of cardboard wraped in foil.it should keep the heat down plus make it easier to use a fan.also lower the lights to 1 inch above the top of the plants you dont want them to be streatching to get to the light.good luck and keep it up.:thumbsup:

[dryst]

ok...so the weirdest thing happened...i took my baggy of germinating seeds out from under the heating pad a few days ago (maybe 3 or 4) and put it in my drawer...i pulled it out today...open it up and i thought 1 of them had sprouted...turns out what i thought was a srpout was actually a maggot...or some little white worm thing...i dunno wtf it was but it freaked the hell outta me...i look around and theres like 4 or 5 of them just crawling outta my fuckin seeds...i was pissed so i just tossed all those out...

after that i just threw about 4 seeds in that start planter thing and today i wake up look at it and 1 of them sprouted i was like holy fuck...so i transplanted it into a bigger container and threw about 3 more seeds into the soil to see if they grow...ill post pics when i get a chance...

ok so i kept the light off for a few days while the seeds were germinating and the heat problem went down...it stays at about 75 with the light off...so i keep the lighting schedule on track the heat shouldn be a prob...also i poked a few holes behind the fan that blows on the plants so a little outside air will filter in...

my lighting schedule will be from midnight -5 pm the lights on and from 5pm to midnight theyll be off so its a 17/7 lighting schedule