1st time, been studying, need some feedback

Ok so i have been going around these forums lately and ive learned alot. I also have gone to other sites and they have taught me most of what i know.

This build is pretty much ghetto rigged but with some class to it. I started with a 10gal fish tank but when i repotted the plants i realized it was too small. so i emptied an old 22 gal or something tuberwear container and hot glued some construction paper all over the inside. Then i found some old christmas wrapping paper that is very close looking to mylar and covered the entire inside in it.

i cut a hole in the top of the lid and strung up a flourescent light that i took from an old reptile cage. the seeds are nothin special, just mexican brick weed seeds that i got from a bag, but i hope they will turn out good.

i have been fertilizing them with some "peters all purpose plant food"(its for tomatoes and such, should i be using it or at what stage should i use it.) i found in my garage. i started out with 4 plants, but one died (upon investigation i found half way down the root it rotted or dried up.) 2 of the plants look healthy but 1 is looking grim, maybe the same as the other that died.
I hope im not over fertilizing them. i tried flushing them with some water and i havent been ferting them since. I think it might be day 6.

total cost of this setup $0.00 because everything is just what i had laying around. I intend to keep it at $0 cuz i dont really want spend any money. lol

i took a ton of pics check them out and tell me what you think.

Sry about the pic quality, i have no cam just a 1.3mp cell phone.

Pic1 is from the outside, pic2 is the lid open with the custom cardboard sticks to keep the light postioned, pic three is the top view, pic4 is a custom carbon filter(a computer fan, pipe fitting,metal screen,rubber band,hot glue,couple socks, small amount of kitty litter, and activated carbon) pic5 is a close up of the wall(the red and black string is the computer fan cable)

i have no exhaust, just a piece of cardboard on the back corner to allow air to circulate.

ill put up more pics on the next post. looking forward to any and all comments. This is supposed to be a very stealth build, so any additions have to have no noise or light emiting.

I just found a timer and im going to set it at 18/6. so far its been at 24 constant.

Here are some more pics.

Pic1 is the same as previous but its just to show which are which.

Pic2 is the plant on the far left. i think it looks healthy(just about the healthiest i have)

pic 3 is the plant on the far right. im worried about this one as one leaf is drooping down.

pic4 is the one in the middle. i think this one isnt going to make it. its just leaning over kinda sickly. i think it may be doing what the 4th plant i had did.

Your plants looks fine (even the one thats leaning).. however, I would recommend that no more nuts are used yet - the root system on these plants is not established enough - whatever nutrients they need, they will get from the soil.. which leads me to my question - what soil have you used? Looks a bit peaty to me.

Cannabis plants require a very light airy medium - and it doesn't look as if you have any perlite or vermiculite in there, which helps drainage and root devlopment.

Hope all goes well though! :thumbsup:

Thanks. at what stage can i add the nuts? im using just regular poting soil with some dirt/sand mixture. the potting soil by it self was not draining at all very much. i awoke today to find that the plant that was leaning has now stood upright. I noticed a big growth in all the plants. also i think i might need more exhaust in this setup as when i opened the case it was very humid in it(the walls were wet.)


What do you think of my setup, building wise?

they're cute....:)

lol thanks ive got some updated pics below. much improved. i think 7th day.

pics are in the same order as previous. 1far left 2far right 3 middle

As far as nutes go, it will depend on how much good soil you have... Get em in somethin good and you wont have to worry for a coupla months.

Thanks for the advise. i would like to get new soil, but my current situation wouldnt allow me to get new soil. anyways they look good to me in this soil. the first two pics have the mix of potting soil/dirt/sand and the last pic is just the potting soil.

i started em all out in those jiffy pots with just potting soil. so far i still have the last one to re-pot. but until an opening comes up in my schedule the last will have to wait.

I hope that at least one plant is female. my plan is to keep 2 plants and throw one out.

Looks like acidic, low PH soil.

how can u tell?

Bark/Peat=low PH

the plants seem to be doing fine. is this something that could kill em or turn them male? were the jiffy pots a bad idea?

Could become a problem. I would certainly re-pot.

id re-pot them but i have nothing to re-pot it with. hopefully it wont cause too much of a problem. as long as it grows im happy.

i found a post about peat and it said to add lime to fix the ph problem. How should i go about adding lime? (like sqeeze lime juice in the pot or add some to the water? if so how much lime, as they are still infants.)


lol oops just found out its not the same type of lime. lol.

The lime you're needing is the mineral, not the fruit. I think there's other stuff you can use to lower your Ph but you'd have to read about it.

They're referring to mineral lime ( calcium carbonate, limestone), not citrus fruit lime. Normally used in this context as a fine powder which is mixed with the peat before potting.

I've never seen a peat-based potting mix that wasn't limed. When folks have probs w/ peat mixes, it is usually later in the cycle. The lime is used to buffer the pH up, and is consumed by the tannic and nitric acids released by the peat as it decomposes.

Just keep an eye on your soil pH as the mix ages- at some point, suddenly, it may decide to bottom.

i realized it was the mineral after further reading, but thanks for coming to my thread.

What if i add sodium bicarbonate to the water so i can riase the ph

Im going to measure the ph of the soil, and my water aged and striaght from the tap. ill report back in a little bit.

ok quick update my straight fresh tap water has close to zero chorine and a the ph is 7.2 ,then my aged water ph is actually 7.5 an increase of .3 woohoo. so if i just water it then it should be ok right.

just checked the run off from the plant still in the jiffy pot and the ph was 7.2
not bad seeing as the prefered ph is 6.8-6.9 (also just for reference i used the aged water to check the runoff)

new update

ive added a co2 generator (viniger/baking soda), 900 lumen cfl bulb, and i re-potted the last plant.

iv also raised the lamp and the cfl to the highest position because of the new cfl.(i adjusted after the pics)

here are some pics.

the plant pics are now in order from left to right

the last plant is stretching cuz i was too lazy to re-pot, but all is well.


Do you guys think that the plants will over grow the box even if i lst them? Or will they stay below the light.
(i plan on flowering them as soon as they get a couple nodes just so they dont overgrow)

I found that at the seedling stage and for the first few weeks less is more.
No nutes. Good soil. Good water. Lotsa fresh air and decent light.
If you start screwing with their environment every day, it is hard to isolate what caused the problem.
Do you log everything? Date, PH, temp, humidity, growth, amount of water given etc. This will help in the future if you clone, and will also help determine deficiencies.

I'm still new though so if anyone want's to correct me, I take well to it.

thanks for the info im a little impatient, but im trying not to love them too much. well just so you know the co2 generator is a very slow drip maybe too slow(about a drop every 5 mins or longer).

Ive taken the thermometer out of my car and put it the box and i am recording temps of 92F because of the new cfl light (its mexican weed so it should hold up to the heat.) although im really unsure of where it came from, but it looked like good shwag.

i found a post about people giving the plants 17/7 light schedule and set it up that way a couple of days ago. I think ive been pretty consistent with the plant nothing is changing much(except for the new light and stuff).

Also do you think that the plants will out grow my box or will they stay below the light?(soil to light is 6inch)

is there only one cfl in there? you'll need more than one with that many plants....that's why they're leaning, they want to grow towards the light

otherwise good work !

Remember i still have the flourescent light too. so that equals one cfl and a flourescent light. i checked the tube on the flourescent and it said it outputs uv-a and uv-b light, but im unsure of the wattage(its for a reptiles)


id add more if i could find more fixtures in my garage. i think there might be more. But then there is the heat problem with those lights. the temp is already 92F. o and i forgot im using up all the plugs on the timer(ive already put a 1-2 outlet converter thing, im trying to find the other 1-3 converter but no luck yet.)

Also do you think that the plants will out grow my box or will they stay below the light?(soil to light is 6inch)

im only planning on keeping one or two plants just so you know. i will be very happy if only one is female. then i could concentrate on her and do a crazy lst across the tub if the lights can get me that.

Is 95F-100F too hot for the plants? the cfl lights get very hot. although i only have a passive exhuast

Yes, that's too hot. With those temps, even if you get a female, she might grow some balls and seed herself. You need to work on getting that temp down at *least* to the mid 80s, and lower would be better.

thanks, i try and leave the lid proped up on one corner so it doesnt get that hot. im also still waiting on getting another fan and building a new carbon filter exhuast.

here are some updated pics. i know there not growing fast. a snail is faster.

there not in the same order, but if u take a look at the other pics u can tell which is which

Any tips or suggestions will be appreciated

right now im building another carbon filter exhaust ive gotten 2 more computer fans that i salvaged from an old computer. one will be for the exhaust and the other will sit right below the cfl bulb to cool it down.

running out of power outlets so i will have to add a power strip.(crap the extension cord is 2 prong, the strip is 3 prong)


i will post pics when its finished, but for now its time to sleep in.

ok so i scraped the previous idea as i thought that once the smell comes, an exhaust would make my room smell.

I understand wanting to grow your own supply, but in order to get anything out of it, you almost always have to invest some money. Those two fluorescent bulbs aren't going to do much, and if you have passive exhaust, you basically mean there's just a hole for air to come in and out? Also, the temp needs to be around the mid 70's ideally. Over 80 and you are stressing the plants. You should also keep the humidity down or you are going to have moldy buds. I'm not a grower and I'm not trying to bag on you, but I don't think that your end product will be worth the three months of time and effort if the plants even make it that far.

im not looking for perfection in this grow. neither am i looking for success. i Just want to see if it will grow under the conditions i have it in. I figure that since mexico gets really hot that this strain would be used to the heat. The plants are looking very healthy and have 6 very small leaves so far. i water them just enough so that the top of the soil gets wet every day. I know the flourescent lights arent the best but at least they do the job. Also if you think about it i have spent money on this grow or else i wouldnt have these supplies.

I got a couple more pics. so far i have started to lst them. I was woried about height and heat problems so ive started them on 12/12 lights. Ive taken out the long flourescent tube and put in another cfl.

O and one plant died of unknown causes. only the strong shall survive.

The white stuff is not perlite its DE(Diatomaceous Earth).To combat my gnat problem.

Sry the pics r small i forgot to set my phone to 1280x640 and the pics dont look bright because i set the brightness to the lowest setting.

dude let your soil dry a little more before watering and u wont have gnats and eh i didnt know you could Lst a plant that small, maybe not such a good idea, but hey wait for what other people will say good luck man.

Well ive seen one other person on the forums lst a plant this young. so i thought it was ok. Plus cant you lst at anytime? I also dont have much space to work with so i have to keep them as low as possible. ive been waiting longer to water them, but i lose track of the days.

they are more than likely going to outgrow that box. Even with LST.
easy fix is to get another rubbermaid tub the same and flip it upside down on top. Doubles your height instantly.

LST is best done at 5 nodes.

Log your watering, make it a daily routine, take a ruler and measure growth. Learn from your first grow. Clone the plant before flowering and remember that log, cause the clone will grow at the same rate.

Ahh yes but 2 rubbermaids stacked on top of each other increases the suspicion ten fold. remember this grow is supposed to be stealth. I think ill be able to remember when i fed them now, because of school starting. Ill water them every friday depending on the moisture. Im still seeing those damn gnats burrowing in my dirt. they pass through the DE like its nothing. I watch them constantly every day so i can visually see how much theve grown.

Along with lsting them ive lowered the lights so they dont have to stretch. I also put some aluminum from soda cans above one of the lights as a makeshift hood. i cut some smaller peices and put them under the plant to reflect the light back at them.

undo them from their bondage. It's too early for that. They are far too sensitive at this age.
Wait until at minimum 4 nodes.

so far i havent seen anymore of those gnats. i think watering the plants helps the DE get into the soil so it can better do its job.