My First Grow - Seeking criticism/advice!

Hello Everyone, As i had stated in my intro, I plan on sharing my first grow experience with you all. I live in maryland to give you an idea of the climate, however, the plants will be growing Indoors in an attic. All of my questions are in bold.

First a couple questions:

Do attics typically face humidity problems?

Does insulation/insulation dust have any effect on the grow? It is a large attic, essentially its another floor, just not finished off.

The first thing I did on my journey was rewiring a Lightswitch / fixture box into a receptacle so I can plug in some fans/lighting. I must say, with having no electrical experience, accomplishing this without killing myself felt fairly accomplishing.

The floorspace we have allocated to growing will be 10 x 10(plywood - Painted white), however the actual attic floorspace is probably 12x36.

I have one 400W HPS light, and I'm fairly certain I need more lighting to sustain what I am aiming to grow(8-10 plants). Unfortunately I can not afford another HPS atm. Other than HPS and MH lighting, what is the best/least expensive lighting setup I could do? CF?

The attic has one exhaust fan premounted I will have to re-wire in, and will also have two 12" oscillating fans.

Because it is still a little chilly outdoors, I started the germination process indoors, using the paper towel method in a ziploc bag, under my mattress. It has been two days and I already have sprouts. For starter pots, I have 3" diameter plastic pots.


I picked up a PH tester as well as a thermometer with a humidity indicator on it. I also picked up a 8 lb package of 15-30-20 organic nutes. ( I got a higher phosphate % b/c I read it was better for the flowering stage). At what stage should I begin applying nutrients into my watering?(timeframe) And at what frequency?

So far do you see anything wrong? I'm sure a few of my questions have already been answered, but I decided to incorporate them into my grow log.

I kinda summed up my plan for you guys, but again, currently I only have sprouts amongst a few wet paper towels hehe. I am sure this experience will not be easy, but very rewarding!

Ill upload pictures as soon as I return to the location of the grow to snap pics.

Thanks in advance everyone!

My portion of the seeds have germinated and I have transplanted them. I used Miracle Grow potting mix for my potting soil, in 3" diameter pots. Placed the root tip up and gave the three pots a good watering.

Note: these three will be moved to the other location along with the rest of the plants.

Heres a pic - No sprouts yet.
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/361/mailgooglecomi.jpg

If that Miracle Grow has ferts in it already, it may be too hot for the young seedlings, and they might die. A more neutral soil would be better to start with.

If they survive, the ferts in the MG will run out in a few weeks. Many soil users prefer a more neutral soil so that they can add the nutrients themselves without having to guess how much nutrients are in the soil. Each time you re-pot with MG, you will have fresh soil with ferts again. Once you are in the final pots, the ferts will run out in maybe 2-3 weeks, at which point you can start giving it other supplements. The amount and frequency depends on the plants, some give is fert, water, water,... and some ferts, ferts, water,...

I don't know about the attic questions...but how about odor control? You say its a 10x10, are you gonna have walls around the space? Maybe just use some pvc and white/black plastic lining and duct tape. That would help with some light reflection issues too. The 400w will cover up to 4x4, maybe 5x5. Thinking for the future, aim for 5000 lumens per square foot. So, one 400w hps puts out about 50K Lumens and could cover 10 square feet nicely.

For cheap additional lighting, get some Y socket splitters and 46w cfls from walmart.

Ya we definitely plan on adding a bit more lighting, from what i've read around so far I don't think you can go wrong with too much(assuming temp is regulated).

Is the odor that strong? It is in an attic with two outdoor air vents and one exhaust fan ( just in the ceiling) and two 12" oscillating fans. As long as the odor's won't seep down we should be fine.

Yeah the odor will be quite strong. I live in a one room apartment on the second floor of an apartment building. At the end of my first grow, I could smell my ONE plant from when I walked into my building, not to mention my apartment! Really depends on your exhaust. If that exhaust fan can clear out the whole basement in 5 minutes, it might be ok. I'm just thinking that it is such a big space, and with the fan that smell with blow around all over the attic and COULD leak into the house. If your growing some real dank, you might even be able to smell it venting outside.

You know that you will need to invest in ventilation, so when you do, just get a carbon filter and you can just "plug it in" with the rest of your setup. Better safe than....

Just thought i'd give you guys an update. A recent snowstorm kinda delayed our moving of plants from one location to another. We do have sprout's and they rocketed! It seems like their growing an inch a night! I'll be sure to get some pictures soon to show you all!

you placed the root tip up? looks like they found there way to the surface. next time its root tip down. also your going to want to put your light closer to your seedlings or its going to stretch. you may think its growing fast but infact it maybe stretching searching for more intense light. if its florescent then put it about 2-3 inches from the tops of your sprouts.

^^^^agreed^^^^^ :thumbsup:

have you checked the temps in the attic day/night? You might have to finish off that room or build a smaller one within, like a flowering room and then later a veg room or vice versa. I'm pretty sure Maryland gets cold this time of year so you'll need a heater if you want to have fast growth. at the least put up that plastic sheeting like finn said.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cigarettes42

you placed the root tip up? looks like they found there way to the surface. next time its root tip down. also your going to want to put your light closer to your seedlings or its going to stretch. you may think its growing fast but infact it maybe stretching searching for more intense light. if its florescent then put it about 2-3 inches from the tops of your sprouts.

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Ya I soon realized I placed them in wrong and I did very much luck out on my first few pots that they straightened up. Also noted and adjusted my lighting based on your comment and it's greatly appreciated.

Quote:

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have you checked the temps in the attic day/night? You might have to finish off that room or build a smaller one within, like a flowering room and then later a veg room or vice versa. I'm pretty sure Maryland gets cold this time of year so you'll need a heater if you want to have fast growth. at the least put up that plastic sheeting like finn said.

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The temperatures do still drop down pretty low right now. The attic is fully insulated and we plan on enclosing a portion of the attic by hanging quilts from the rafters. It will kind of make a make shift room of which we can regulate the temperature a little easier. With a 400 watt HPS and quite a few CFLS we should be good. We have a thermometer and will be monitoring the temperatures, and if needed well get a space heater.


FYI: I say we because this is a team grow of a friend and mines.


Thanks for all yalls inputs!

Ok Guys I have an update! Unfortunately I was only able to germinate a few seeds in my location. Pic #1 is a Picture of the best looking plant of the three on Day 5. As well as picture #2

Today I will be moving it over to Location #2 where my buddy had the privelage of germinating another 16 seeds. See pic 3.

We are putting a flooring up today in the attic which will help alot, as well as hanging white drop cloths for makeshift walls. Were also gonna center the light and bring up fans. Already got a thermometer/hygrometer and the light is working wonders for our temperature situation :).

Pic1 Sorry for shitty quality
http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/7188/cabinet1.jpg

Pic2
http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/2295/closeup1.jpg

Pic #3
http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/9127/location2.jpg

i might be stupid, but to me it looks like that seedling is stretching towards the light. you may have to move the lights closer, but get a second opinion on that.

Hey, Is that fiberglas insulation? If so, even with the backing on it, you will get an ass-load of glas coating your sticky buds. At night time and with lights out, shine a flashlight from floor up. If you see a particle cloud in the beam of light then I would move them to a different location. Or finish the entire attic and vaccume every inch when done. If the space does have a ton of particulates, Even with an enclosed/sealed space within the attic, the amount of air that rushes in when you open it will heavily contaminate the bud by the end of bloom. Trust me, it will make your bud taste like total ass.(tried to convince a buddy one time, wouldn't listen) I use a sealed space with filters on my passive intakes and even though mine are in a pretty clean living space, I have to change the filters several times durring flower, they catch all the fine lint and carpet fibers that are always floating around. I'm very maticulous and maybe a little OCD too though. Just something to consider. Just noticed pic #2, what is that soil? Looks like it has pine bark and rocks in it.

perlite + organic potting soil. We will be making some major modifications. I will have to check on the insulation situation. Stay tuned.

You haven't ONCE mentioned what strain you are growing. Care to share??? :thumbsup::hippy:

Good Luck.

The seeds we have started are bag seed from some very decent buds. We will also be ordering some white widow seeds.

Out of the seedlings started , 7 survived and have been transplanted into 12" diameter plastic pots.

All the plants are looking great, around 6-7" in height except one.

Please look at the pics below and tell me if the plant will be ok. Its completely healthy but the stem is S shaped. Look at pics.

Pic #1 is the original.
Pic #2 is what I did to prop it up to encourage straight growth.

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/179...oglecomhvg.jpg

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/874/mailgooglecom1m.jpg


Should I not prop it up or should I keep it propped up?

Personally I wouldn't prop it up i'd tie that to the side of the pot (LST them) You should be able to get better yield and an even canopy that way, but do whatever your comfortable with first.....

^^ Same here. It looks like it LST'd itself from that first pic. I would just leave it and let it grow a little more, and LST it in that same direction. Once it hangs over the edge of the pot, I train it to grow around the edge of the pot. That's what I would do, but do what you think is best and everything should still turn out just fine :thumbsup:

Thanks for the input guys. I don't know whether or not I should LST this sole plant. I wasnt going to mess with any training techniques this time around, given its my first grow ever. Maybe I should though? Im just nervous hehe

I had to LST because I didn't have much headroom. I think it helped my yield a little too. But if it makes you nervous then let it go naturally, at least if a problem arises you can eliminate stress from training.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bigtopsfinn

I had to LST because I didn't have much headroom. I think it helped my yield a little too. But if it makes you nervous then let it go naturally, at least if a problem arises you can eliminate stress from training.

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Just do it you'll be satisfied I assure you, it's simple really tie the top down to the sides of the pot and if need be poke a hole in the pot and run the string through it so that you have something to hold the top down! I wish I would have tried it my first time! Who wouldn't want many "main" colas rather than one main cola....Don't be scared cannabis is actually pretty sturdy plant they can take a good bit without dying....Plus it's not like your stunting any growth tying it down....your just forcing light to hit the sides of the main branch which ultimately can get a SOG going, but that I wouldn't mess with as of yet. Either way, whatever you decide to do, I wish you the best of luck and keep us posted!

^^Yeah, it's pretty hard to fuck up actually :)... I have been pleased with the results so far. When I tie mine down in the morning, they are already growing upwards towards the light by night time. First link in my sig has a couple different instructions for doing it, and you can see the results :thumbsup:

First off, once again I appreciate yall's input more than anything! Especially u bigtops uve been a great insight to the project hehe.

We are starting to see some awesome growth!!!

Our lights are on a 18-6 timer. The plants are essentially more than 5 weeks old. They grew very slow during their first few weeks.


Question Is a 15-30-15 h2o soluble fertilizer good? We picked up a package of it at homestead a few weeks ago without doing much research into nutes. I would prefer fox farm's trio pack obviously but unfortunately no local stores sell it and I cant order it online.

NEW PICS

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plants are looking nice and healthy. I will stick around for the action:thumbsup:

hey man it looks good so far. i live in Delaware. i too am a new grower. im doin a CABINET GROW, from bag seed. but i have white widow seeds i ordered that r just waiting to be planted.....im about 1 1/2 months in from seed.

Ya this is still just bagseed. We never got around to ordering nice seeds unfortunately. Its on the to do list along with get a window air conditioner to throw up there.


Question: does a window air conditioner have to go in a window?

Window units generate quite a bit of heat through the motors and needs to exhaust to the outdoors. >.< I'm not too keen on ac/freon cooling. either frame up a light proof room up in the attic or seal off the attic from outside and hang a big ass window unit out of the gable. Unless you have central air, in that case, just tap into a duct and point it at the light. But take lots of safety precautions by securely mounting the unit in the gable. =P And make sure no one is under it if it takes the 12 foot plunge to Earth. :jointsmile:

beSafe

Befree your a genius. I just realized the central air system has air ducts running through the attic, despite them being sealed off.

What damage could I do cutting into one? Does my air flow need to be directly on the light?

Its not for cooling the light its for cooling an entire attic. We have a portion of the attic enclosed(not 100% air tight) with blankets hanging. Its a big attic... Probably close to 8ft tall. As of right now on a 70 degree day outside the inside of that attic temperature rises a gooooood bit. . For that sole reason we have the light off from 12-6 to help regulate the temperature, which is already hard enough in an attic.

I was thinking a small window air conditioner in the opposite corner of the attic( easily 30ft by 50 ft) , but if tapping into the existing air vents is a possibility I might do that.


INPUTS PLEASEEE???

It is possible to tap into ductwork and just ducttape a piece of 6'' or 8'' duct from a good spot and just double up your blankets and seal it as best as possible without causing a fire hazard. but, someone at home will need to be monitoring, alot. Due to the thermostat being (guessing) the first floor hallway...and I promise the thermo doesn't give a shit if there is a 400watt hid pushing out 160+ degrees in the attic. =)

another thing, I would advise more input from fellow canna.commers on you interfering with your airflow by cutting holes in it. I don't wanna be held responsible for you having to turn your computer room into a sauna during the summer because of a hacked up duct. :jointsmile: Hope I helped a little by rambling.

beSafe

NP Mike... glad to help when I can :jointsmile:

They look very nice! :greenthumb:

Not sure about that fert., but it sounds quite strong. I would definitely dilute that a lot before giving it. Sounds like a general fert, and could work, but you're instincts are saying fox farm, and that's what I would look into also :) CVS has prepaid credit cards, just don't send them to the place you grow and you will be happy with the results, I'm sure :thumbsup:

today is going to be day one of implementing the fertilizer. Ill also snap some new pics in a little when I head over to the grow location.

There are a couple places within an hour away that sell it I suppose Ill just make the trip hehe. I really want these bad boys as nice as can be :)

Here are some pics for ya. The first picture is of one plant not growing as fast as the others. The leaves are also, and have been, a slightly different color. Theres more of a yellowish tint to them as you can see in Pic #1. Any ideas as to why?

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/1835/april71.th.jpg
http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/9931/april72.th.jpg
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Looking good! What sort of fert did you start them on?

We didnt use any fertilizers when starting the seedlings. We implemented a 20-20-20 fert 7 weeks into vegetative.

I do apologize for not updating in a while. Unfortunately due to the varying temps, we lost a few of our plants but the three we have are growing amazing. About 2 and a half feet tall, and bushy as can be ill post pics later