My First Closet Grow. CFL's Top44, Afgani

Hello I just started my first serious grow.

Converted the closet in my home office to a make shift grow room.

here are some details so far.

2 CFL's 65 watt 4200 lumens each. (8400 Total)
Top44 and Mazar/Afghan seeds.
Rockwool grow cubes.
Drip system made from a 10 gallon rubbermaid storage bin.
40 gallon air pump with 15 inch bubble stone.
80 gallons per hour water pump.
Walls lined with foil.
Digital Temp and humidity meter.

I am three days into the grow.. just starting to see the sprouts of the two Afghan seeds today. Should be open and seeing the first leafs tomorrow I would think.

Germinated in a cup of water mazar/afgani seeds split in 2 days the top 44 took 4 days.

watering with distilled water no nutes at this point.
Could use some suggestions of what to use.

Will post some pics soon.
Just wanted to get this log started.

talk soon.

Today is the first day using my thermometer and noticed that the closet is hovering around 95 degrees and 55% humidity.. from what I have read the temp is to high and the humidity is just about right.

I rent and cutting holes in the wall for a exhaust system is completely out of the question. how can I get that temp under control? I have placed a few fans in the closet and am blowing them on the lights. that does nothing to help. any suggestion would be helpful.

OK here are a couple pics of my modest start as promised

OK I see I can not add photos because I created a new account to use for the grow log. I guess I will have to wait 13 more days before I can post any images..

Anyway ..

Today I took the seedlings in the rockwool cubes and shaped the cubes to fit in my cups that are in the top of the Rubbermaid tote. and started the drip system. I have a question about the drip system. I have it set to run 3 times a day for 15 minutes. what is everyone's thoughts on this. is this going to be enough or too much? the drip is steady at about 2 drips a second. Seems to me that the rockwool is holding a lot of water is this normal?

Being a Newb sucks LOL but I am looking forward to this and learning from all of the users here and their input.

thanks in advance.

Go to a bunch of growlogs or to the cannabis lounge and do a bunch of posts, i think at 30 you can post pics, also dont use tin foil it absorbs. Paint the inside of the cabinet with a flat white, not glossy or sharp or w/e use flat white

yeah rock wool holds alot of water and is good for seedling. Dripping is a good idea so when they get to that magical 5 node like 6 inch tall stage check them before the drip starts and check how wet it is, you want it to be at the point where its wet about an inch down *remind you this is when you go into like a 5 inch deep medium* if its still wet on top adjust your times

And also remember that once they start getting really big your going to have to amp up the water supply so it stays like that * 1 inch on the top drys out between the waterings.*

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stinkybudz

Go to a bunch of growlogs or to the cannabis lounge and do a bunch of posts, i think at 30 you can post pics, also dont use tin foil it absorbs. Paint the inside of the cabinet with a flat white, not glossy or sharp or w/e use flat white

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Humm the walls are already white. I could have saved the cost of the 5 rolls of foil. LOL live and learn.. You think that might help with the heat problem too if I remove the foil?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stinkybudz

yeah rock wool holds alot of water and is good for seedling. Dripping is a good idea so when they get to that magical 5 node like 6 inch tall stage check them before the drip starts and check how wet it is, you want it to be at the point where its wet about an inch down *remind you this is when you go into like a 5 inch deep medium* if its still wet on top adjust your times

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After they mature I was thinking of moving to an ebb and flow type setup... Since I will have to gt them in bigger pots anyway.

thanks for the input I am looking forward to learning alot about this stuff.. I have done several plants around the house but never for budding or anything just for looks. now its time to get serious and grow some buds.

Flat white paint is more reflective than foil and mylar is the best. CFL's actual wattage is 65 each? Cool but spectrum needs to be as close to the sun as possible. 6000K veg and 3000K bloom. Usually people grow soiless or soil first but I have never tried hydroponics myself. I am into organics. Peace wish you fat flowers.

Yea 65 watts.. they are 200 watt replacements. they are like 3 times the size of most CFL's found them at manards here in town. never seen them anyplace else before so I grabed them on the spot.. they burn pretty hot thought..

Day five into the grow and I already had to buy new timers.. Discovered that the one timer I had turnd on ok but would not turn off the lights. seems the switch roller that is in the housing is crooked from the manufacture. Had to replace it. This time went Digital no more cheepie anolog timers for me...

Seeing my first set of leafs today.. pretty pumped ... the Afgani seeds seem to be taking off very well but the top 44 has not even reached the surface of the growing medium. all were germinated and cracked at time of planting.. the afgani is definitly out performing the top44 already.

but time will tell...

Sounds good can't wait to c some pics

day 6.. Pulled all the foil off the walls and in the process of re-thinking things just a little bit. going to lower the tote in hopes that It will help with the heat problem being lower in the growing space as heat rises... I currently have then sitting on a few boxes to bring them up enough to oggle them a bit and not have to be on my knees when I want to do something with them..

The foil has been off only about an hour now and the temp seems to have dropped a little. was steady at about 95 degrees. now it is currently at 89.5...

hopeful lowering them in the room will bring that down a couple more degrees.

Tomorrow I will be going into town to grab so nutes. Decided to try the B-Cuz series of additives., any one got any comments on these products? good or bad let me know..

\m/ see you at the next update.

Woo Whoo I just noticed that I can now post pics.. Registered + I feel so special now.. LOL

I will get something up soon.

Ok some pics...

Image #1
Day 3 seedlings in the rockwool cubes.

Image #2
Day 4 After shaping cubes to fit in my cups.

Image #3
Day 4 Blury close up of the two tiny sprouts.

Image #4
Day 6 blury close up of the afgani sprout.

Image #5
Shot of the tote and drip system

Image #6
Same shot but showing the lights above. Notice the make shift hood.

Image #7
My Temp/Humidity Meter.

Image #8
These are the cfl's I'm using. 65 watts each. two of them in a dual socket. 8400 Lumuns total.

Just for kicks I decided to start a few in regular soil today. will be keeping track of both and compairing the results of each.

Last night I started the germ on 4 more seeds 2 top44 and 2 afgani. this morning the two afagni have split already will be planing them tonight. I am on my way to the garden store in a few minutes to pick up some nutes and additives.

I decided to not use the B-Cuz series.
Here is what I have decided on using.

B.C Bloom
B.C Boost
B.C Grow
Thrive Alive B-1 Red
Thrive Alive B-1 Green
Awesome Blossoms
Rootech Cloning Gel
MagiCal
SugarDaddy
ROOT 66

Over kill? I think not.. Want killer budz!

I used those Technaflora organic nutes for my last few grows, I think it's good. I followed their recommended doses and fed every third watering (in soil).

Good Luck, Bub.

Shov

Picked up the nutes last night and started them in the reservoir this morning. also picked up some grow rocks. still waiting on my new seeds to show their pretty little heads from the started cubes.

Tic Toc Doc....

been almost two weeks since i posted. here is an update. I found that the whole hydro thing was not working. got all the seedlings transplanted into soil now.. they are looking much better. I have been using the Technaflora organic nutes and most of the plants are doing pretty well.. off to a little bit of a slow start due to the transplant and starting over with some new seeds.

The temperature in the closet seems to be holding nicely around 85 - 90.. still a bit higher then I would like but will have to do. the humidity seems to have dropped some and has been below 50% most of the time. I will be trying the wet towel trick to try and bring that up a bit more to at least 55%..

I am not very impressed with the top 44 sprouts but the afghan plants are starting to look nice. I will get some pic's up later today as I am currently on my dark cycle.

Good to hear that you've got things in order again. I was lurking in the thread and then you just stopped comin' in for a couple weeks. Glad to hear the plants are doin' well too. :jointsmile:

If I remember correctly, the percentage of humidity increases or decreases the ability for the leaves to breath and transpire per piece of surface area. Lower percentage should result in leaves seeming longer and more thin as to the higher 60-70% making thick, full, bushy leaves. So I'm not too sure if 5% will make a noticeable difference.

And don't bash the top 44 yet. I'm no expert but ya never know. ;)

It's just my 2 cents. Wake 'n bake and try to pass on some info here and there. =D

good luck and sorry for ramblin'. :hippy:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BeFree

Good to hear that you've got things in order again. I was lurking in the thread and then you just stopped comin' in for a couple weeks. Glad to hear the plants are doin' well too. :jointsmile:

If I remember correctly, the percentage of humidity increases or decreases the ability for the leaves to breath and transpire per piece of surface area. Lower percentage should result in leaves seeming longer and more thin as to the higher 60-70% making thick, full, bushy leaves. So I'm not too sure if 5% will make a noticeable difference.

And don't bash the top 44 yet. I'm no expert but ya never know. ;)

It's just my 2 cents. Wake 'n bake and try to pass on some info here and there. =D

good luck and sorry for ramblin'. :hippy:

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I have not writen off the top44 as of yet but they are not even close to the growth of the Afgani at this point. I still have hope for them. Today the humidity is steady at about 58% and holding. Placed a wet towel in front of one of the fans and its helping.

should be some blury photos below. I need a better cam I guess cant seem to get a good pic for the life of me..

The pics above are at day 22 from seed.

Looks like a batch of healthy babies to me. :thumbsup:


BeSafe. :jointsmile:

Transplanted them all today into larger pots. this will be their home for the rest of their lives. I hope they all survive the transplant. I placed my two healthiest plant into pots by themselves and the rest I added multiple plants to a single pot. I know this is not the best way of doing things but I'm short on space and care more about the two best plants then the rest. If I have two that survive the drama I will be a happy camper as I am only growing for personal use and this is more of an experiment then anything.. If I can manage to grow a few decent plants I may move into a larger operation. but only for personal use of course.

In about a week I will be starting their training (LST) and shortly after start forcing the flower cycle.

I will get a few new pics up soon.

Just gave them a healthy misting of thrive alive b1, route 66 and sugar daddy to help them get past the shock of the transplant.. also noticed today that I am starting to small them.. Ah the sweet aroma.. can you smell that smell?

I smell that smell. Our plants must smell the same. :wtf:


Looking forward to the picture update.

Be Safe:jointsmile:

well its been 24 hours and it looks like all but one plant survived the transplant. but the one that did not make it broke trying to get it removed from the old pot it was in..

Will start to tie them down in the next day or two.. time to start their training.

Attached are a few more blurry pictures..

Day 30 from seed. off to a slow start but my babies are starting to look respectable. here are a few updated pictures.

One more... Also as you can see from the images I got access to a much better camera now.. Woo Whoo... They are really starting to smell good will have to look into some kind of odor control soon.

I have been misting them daily with plane water. Do you think I should be misting with nutes instead? Suggestions or comments on the state of the plants are always welcome. I am new to this and can use all the help I can get. Do they look healthy? think they may need something? let me know.

thanks

Day 32.. started them on 12/12 today. I know its a little early but I need to step things up. the house might be sold and I would like to finish them before that happens and we have to move. Last thing I want to have to do is put the plants through the trauma of moving them to a new location because by the time I have someplace new set up to place them it will probably be too late anyway.

I move the lights up a little bit to so I can get them to stretch upwards just a little bit.

Now for the important question. I have been using cfl's to veg and they have been working great. What will I need to add to the lighting to help them flower? I have read that a cheap solution would be to add a few standard light bulbs to the mix to give them some of the needed spectrum. I can not afford to buy HPS, MH, or anything and need to do this on the cheap. Will a standard incandescent bulb actually help or not. can I just flower under the CFL's?

Any comments or suggestion are welcome..

anything new

as for the lighting, if you haven't done so already just buy some cfl's that are 2700k color spectrum those work for flowering.

Well its day 63. Day 32 of Flowering. I am down to a single female plant. and she is looking good. I finally broke down and 5 days ago I bought a 400 Watt HPS Ballast, Hood and bulb. Plant seems to be loving the extra light. The rest of the plants I had started all suffered heat stress and ended up Hermi's or males and had to go. I have some ICE seeds on order that should be here any day now. Will be building a new veg cabinet for the next grow. So far the bud sites are small but growing fast. Looking forward to smoking my first real grow... LOL

I will try to get some new pics up as soon as I can get my hands on that camera again.