Growing on a budget of $0.00

Yup, had most of this hanging around from previous grow attempts, the rest only cost $40 bucks that I asked the mum for (I'm in college w/ no job, the funds be low). Anywho, the box is 2 identical bookcases with reflective insulation wrap around the whole shi-bam. The fixture is bottom of the line 3 socket bar/bath light. Picked up 3 of the Y dual apadters, and threw:

-4 14-watt CFL Daylight (6500k color temp.) 800 lumens each
-1 23-watt CFL Daylight (6500k color temp.) 1100 lumens
-1 random CFL (will be replaced soon) I think its soft white = no bueno
-1 14" t-5 UV reptile light

Dimensions:
25" x 18" x 21" = 832 lumens/sq.ft.
Does that sound sufficient? or should I get bigger lights.

The seeds are mainly from just nice stuff thats been around and happened to have a seed or two in it. The one in the dark green pot (mine) is from one of my buddies homegrown from last year so it should be delightful(its also about a month younger than all the others, its only about 2 weeks old and prier to this set-up was only on one single tube). The other plants are from my other buddies house, they were/are struggling but we are getting some nutes in acouple days. WHAT TYPE/BRAND DO YOU GUYS RECOMMEND?

Thanks, Jim

So what I understand is that a couple are 2 weeks old, and the others are 6 weeks old (?) They are very small and stretching for light. :(

3000 lumens/sqft is the minimum... aim for over 5000. The lights should be an inch or two away, as long as they aren't scorching the leaves.
http://boards.cannabis.com/indoor-li...-lighting.html
http://boards.cannabis.com/indoor-li...uch-light.html

But what can I really say, if you don't have any money :( Buy one less 12 pack and get some more Y adapters and stronger bulbs (min. 23w, preferably 42w, depending on how much your sockets can handle). Don't eat out for a week or two, and there's your ventilation (oscillating fan, and a bathroom exhaust fan). If you're already not drinking or eating out, then I don't know what to say other than putting them outdoors is always an option (just don't bring them back inside).

Good luck:thumbsup:

Yes, the one small plant is mine, I have been keeping good care of him and hes (hopefully a she) good n dandy. The others are my friends plants. He doesn't really knows what to do, he thinks if its alive, its doing good. I brought my box over so i could try and keep his plants alive as well as mine. We are most likely going to get some better stronger lights, but these are whats going down now.

Just my :twocents: but those look terribly stretched! For the age of them they should be more stout and bushy if anything. Just like said above keep the lights a couple of inches from the tops. Personally, I'd rip them and start over you are going to be unsatisfied trying to grow those to potential.

Also it looks like three of them are in the same pot. That's not good for them as they will be all looking for space to grow. You never want more than one in each pot! Either way GL with w/e you decide to do! If you look at anybody else grow logs you will see how it should look around that same age! Here is what mine looked at 18 days..... Yours should be similar at that age!

as i stated before he believes "if they are alive, they are doing good". We are on the second day of this grow box so it does still have components we need to get and specifics we are still working out. chiiiill:jointsmile:

Yes I read and understood everything you said, but you being a complete n00b I'm just here for help and criticism whether you like it or not :D It's what I like to call my tough love. We could all be complete s*** heads and not respond to anything you may have problems with and just to tell you to find it yourself. Is that what you would like or would you like some criticism who has been where you are in the past? Forget what your friend thinks as he obviously has no idea what to do as you stated before, so I'd take everything we (people w/ prior experience already) into consideration. Sorry if I'm coming off a bit harsh, but like I said before it's my way of tough love!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ForgetClassC

Anywho, the box is 2 identical bookcases with reflective insulation wrap around the whole shi-bam.

---

nothing wrong with the insulation wrap, but make sure you watch out for heat build up inside the box... some of those wraps are just as good at holding heat in as they are at reflecting it away. - as long as you have an exhaust fan running through there you should be fine though

Quote:

---

-4 14-watt CFL Daylight (6500k color temp.) 800 lumens each
-1 23-watt CFL Daylight (6500k color temp.) 1100 lumens
-1 random CFL (will be replaced soon) I think its soft white = no bueno
-1 14" t-5 UV reptile light

---

are you sure those lumen counts are correct? I;m not sure about the 14watt one, but the lumen count on the 23watt seems low... or are they maybe just older bulbs from when CFL bulbs just weren;t as good as they are today?

all the 23watt CFLs i see on the shelf today are in the 1600-1700 lumen range.

with the random CFL you have - you should be able to figure out what it is... most CFLs have a model number written somewhere on the balast, take the model number and google it for lots of info... also most of the time you can tell the approx. colour temp just be looking at it while its lit up... this is by far not accurate of course, but its enough to get you in the right ballpark... 6500K bulbs are much strong in blues and the bulb itself will look very bright white with the smallest tint of blue seen if you look for it... while the 2700K bulbs have more red in them and when they are lit up, almost look like they have a very very faded salmon colour tint to it.

of course... they do make bulbs inbetween these 2 levels as well... i have some 5100K bulbs, and I have also seen some on shelves that are in the 4000K-area

If you can find them... i have seen some 29watt CFLs that output 2200 lumens... i have only found them in the 2700K spectrum so far though... these so far are the most effecient CFLs i have found on store shelves here (75 lumens per watt), where as 23watt (1600 lumen) bulbs are 69 lumens per watt and 43watt (2600 lumen) bulbs are 60 lumens per watt.... not sure if electrical usage is an issue for you, but if it is... i;m sure you can see the effeciency benefits of the 29watt bulbs... if effeciency is not a factor to you, then i'd go all out on the 43watt bulbs to max your lumens... just be careful on heat... the more effecient the bulbs are at producing lumens, means they also produce less heat per lumen outputted.


as italiano said... your plants look pretty stretched, try getting the lightts closer if you can... CFLs should be kept about 1-4" away from the plants... less than 1" and you'll scorch the plants, more than 4" and their effectiveness starts to decrease... you can also help with effectiveness by making some home-made reflectors out of pop cans... check this link Text for some great info on CFLs and how to make the reflectors (might need to find larger cans for the 29watt or 43watt bulbs though, as they tend to be fatter than the 23watt ones)


I;m also not sure about the reptile light... do you have the specs on it? T5s are great, but you mention its a UV light... it might be outputting tons of light, but it might be in a spectrum that the plant can;t even use.. so you might just be wasting electricity with it... i couldn;t say without knowing its colour temp though...

Quote:

---

Dimensions:
25" x 18" x 21" = 832 lumens/sq.ft.
Does that sound sufficient? or should I get bigger lights.

---

You need alot more than 832 lumens/sq ft - but also remember for your square footage, that really only the amount of square footage that your plants are occupying is imporant... if you put a single plant into a 4' by 4' area (16sq foot) it would be kind of silly to put 80K lumens in there for a single plant thats only actually occupying maybe 1' x 1' area. this is a detail that I think most people often don;t pick up on... but then again, most people often grow the max their box can possibly fit, so to them, cab area = occupied area... not so in your case however... well at least... not yet

What are you going to do when school is over? Which is soon. Also, I trust your not growing in the dorms; since you had to borrow $40 bucks from your mother, I highly doubt that you are paying any rent or bills.

My advice is get a job on campus or in town somewhere, your in college now, you can support yourself. Don't go spending your mom's money on your little grow, I doubt she would like that too much.

Bottom line growing in dorms is not allowed on here. Growing in your parents isn't either and I highly doubt your living off campus w/ $0. Not trying to be a dick, just don't want you to do something dumb and get caught.

For the chatty guy, italiano, beleive me, since I started the box and found this site, nothing but improvements. Here is what I just recently added to the box and such:

-4 15-watt CFL Daylight (6500k color temp.) 800 lumens each
-2 23-watt CFL Daylight (6500k color temp.) 1100 lumens each
-A FAN!!!!!
-IRONITE 12-10-10

and for Lit Up, its at my buds house(yes, he owns it), i live at home, go to community college and have no job. But I am getting an internship at an architectural firm so awwwwwwesome.

forgot to say:

syde00

thanks for all the input, really helpful, really diggin the reflectors idea. The t-5 is a reptile growth assistor. It makes it so that animals that get there ability to grow bones from the sun, can still do so. Its what I vegged my little buddy in the green pot on for about 2 weeks till we moved him here.

hey little brother, just keep at it and you will succeed. personally, i learned
way more from my mistakes than i would have thought.

anyway, if you look in your local phone book you might be able to find a
discount builders supply house or a builders salvage yard both of which
have wonderful bargains.

here are a few pics of a light bar that can be bought, for under $20.00 even
at full retail and the splitters are about $1.50 at Walmart.

also, i'm a disable vet living on a very, very tight budget as well, shit, i'm
so broke i can't afford to spend the night!

and, as has already been said, you need to get the lights as close to your plants
as possible, hold the back of your hand up to the bulb, when it starts to feel
hot to you, it'll be hot for your plants. with CFL's you can get to within about
an inch without hurting your plants.

http://boards.cannabis.com/northern-...-bugs-off.html<-- Going back to my outdoors suggestion... Those were rooted clones planted less than a month ago...not sure what area you are in, but it might be worth a try. Just don't put any outdoors and bring them back inside. That will bring unwanted pests into your home and garden.

Just wanted to throw that out there, because the more plants you try to have indoors, the more $$$ you will need to invest to get anything decent out of them. Might not be a bad idea to put one or two outside, weather permitting of course (and after you have done all your research about it). :thumbsup:

Good luck to you and keep us updated :jointsmile:

bozo:

you are actually the person that gave me the idea of the bar/bath vanity light and the splitters. I got the light fixture from LOWES for $9.95. And the splitters were 2.99 each.

big:

I do actually have one outside. I live in MD so it should get me something, but I tried to pick it (super noob move) I forgot that you have to wait till around the 5th or 6th node to pluck it. But its recovered and is starting to grow again; got pretty stunted when I plucked it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ForgetClassC

bozo:

you are actually the person that gave me the idea of the bar/bath vanity light and the splitters. I got the light fixture from LOWES for $9.95. And the splitters were 2.99 each.

big:

I do actually have one outside. I live in MD so it should get me something, but I tried to pick it (super noob move) I forgot that you have to wait till around the 5th or 6th node to pluck it. But its recovered and is starting to grow again; got pretty stunted when I plucked it.

---

Also, if you ever decide to to bring a indoor plant outside, you must bring it out there gradually (outside during the day;inside at night) until the plant toughens up to be able to handle the heat and sunlight. Also, I'm glad to see your making improvements! Keep us updated with how they turn out! :thumbsup:

gonna take pix tonight when i get outta class....lame 2:40-5:20 class.......

.......NO!!!!!!! I think I way over fertilized........Everything is shriveling and turning yellow-white-ish color.


Actually, only my plant is doing bad. All of my buddies plants are doing way better and they are looking very happy. I replanted mine in some unfertilized soil so hopefully it will be doing better tomorrow......I'm hopeful.....but not to sure anything good is going to happen.....any words?

BOZO PLEASE HELP!!!!!

My plant is just dying.......like my previous post, i think theres way to much fert, im completely replanting and probably just starting a new today, whats your reccom. for fert to soil ratio or should i not worry about that till i got a bigger guy.

Did you try flushing the plant you over fertilized? With corrected ph water?
This has helped me during my first grow when I gave too much nutrients.

relax my friend, even if they die, that won't stop you, you're a grower now
and all growers suffer losses, especially when they are new growers.

now, in trying to save what you have, don't transplant as that will just add
more stress, instead you need to flush them thoroughly.

what that means is to run lots of water through the plant to wash out those
nutes you fed them with. so, if they're in 16oz cups, run 32oz through the
cups, just let it run out the bottom.

then all you can do is wait a couple of days to see if they recover, and you
should see signs of improvement within a day.

if they die, it wasn't a failure unless you give up. if you keep at it then this
loss is a learning experience leading you closer to the day when you will be
self-sufficient.

personally, i popped 30 seeds on my first attempt and i managed to kill them
all. my second attempt i popped 30 more and only managed to keep 5 alive
through harvest. now, when i pop seeds, they almost always all survive. for
example, last year i popped 5 White Rhino and 5 Pure Power Plant seeds (Feb
i think) and all are still alive and providing me with cuts to feed my SOG. (i
got 5 WR females and 4 PPP females so quite a good ratio)

the main thing for you to remember is to relax and start reading the FAQs and
all the sticky's and just read read read, lol.

another thing to remember is that, until your plants have at least 5 or 6 sets
of leaves they are infants and so you shouldn't feed them anything at all.
also, once you do start feeding, always start by using 1\4 dosage to see how
the plants react before increasing the dosage to half.

and really, just relax, if they die you've only lost a few weeks time and you've
learned a lot in that time so it wasn't a waste.

i should have mentioned to ph the water myself, thanks to the other poster.

also, this is the exact reason i always suggest that new growers start with
bagseed rather than buying expensive seeds.

Awesome, yeah I wasn't too worried that they were gonna die, the way they are looking, it would be a damn mirracle if they survived. We are actually looking for another place to grow, or just flipping my box on its side, so its tall, and get another identical set-up to what i have no on the other side, and prolly only grow about 2-3 plants.

Oh and these aren't expensive, they are just from what I have scrounged up over the years, prolly just some dirt but if I get a male from one of them, then I just have some nice homegrown seeds. Thanks for all your guys' help, ill post whats up tonight or tomorrow

LoL sorry to laugh but it's better this way....Those lil things looked hopeless....Now when you start again you'll see a dramatic change from this experience to the next. All you can do is get better!

all the other plants are actually doing amazingly better, mine just died.....lol

Well, my plant is completely dead, started germinating some more yesterday, here is a pic of the new cover to the grow box, the large shoe box on the one side is actually covering up a fan that is mounted to the foam-core panel. In the bottom right hand corner of the panel there is a vent that intakes air and the fan blows it out. We are going to wait a little bit(his choice not mine) on replanting, I couldn't really figure out his logic to why not to transplant the female, but yeah. I'll tell ya what happens when we do that, heres a pic of her, shes alot prettier now than when I first saw her.

Here's my buddies girls. They nicer then I thought they were going to get compared to when I first got there.

Got some new pics, they are looking awesome. Pretty sure the big one is a female. Also started 3 more on Cinco de Mayo. Very hopeful. Here's the photos.

Can anyone tell me why the one that had been topped has yellowing leaves on the bottom? They are slowly progressing towards green but is there something I can do in order to fix that problem?

ALL PLANTS ARE IN SEPARATE POTS AS OF LAST NIGHT!!!!!....these pix are from the night before last.....

Bad soil there friend. No pearlite, no drainage = big problems. You should have let them alone, try not to go slicing and dicing the first time around. LST Low Stress Training read and learn about it if you don't already know it's a great technique for closet cases. Words of wisdom i received was to take is slow and persevere. Before you post up looking for answers show us that you have done your research. (unless your growing autoflower you aint seeing sex for a while my friend)

Best of luck and happy growing.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anything i write about here is purely fictional, i am taking part in an on line Role Playing Game (RPG) about the cultivation of marijuana. In no way do i condone the cultivation, use, distribution, or consumption of the plant with genus "Cannabis" followed by species "Indica" or "Sativa" or any other breed or hybrid of said genus.

As for the drainage, yes sir, I know, i wish i had some, but, we didn't, will get some next grow around. But these plants are actually around 2 1/2 months old. Before I brought my box over, these guys were struggling to survive on 2 13 watt soft white CFL. My buddy really doesn't know ANYTHING about growing, so I thought I would help him out with what I do know. I have learn books worth from this site and the plants made an amazing turn around in the past 2 weeks from being in my box.

As for the cinco de mayo plants. chucked 2 of them and kept the big one. Its got some STRANGE ass growth. I'll take a picture today to show you what I mean. The first true leaves are like....rounded then go into normal form, who knows. Heres some pix of our flowering box. Only going to flower 1-2 at a time so that the others can veg out more. Heres the spex on the new box:

-2 30 watt daylight(5000k) cfl = 2000 lumens each = 4000 total lumens(in mail)
-2 12 watt 3 1/2 inch fans; bottom = intake, top = exhaust
-Matte white finish of interior

If I forget anything, I'll post it up next time.


-C

You'd be better off using 2700K CFLs for flowering, 5000K+ is mostly for veg.

also, for 2000 lumens is really not great for 30W CFLs... its not bad, its just not great thats all.

I really like these ones - Lighting > Lamps > Compact Fluorescent Lamps > Lamp,FLE29HLX/2/XL827 : Grainger Industrial Supply 2200 lumens @ 2700K for 29 watts. (which is about 10 lumens per watt higher than the bulbs you mention).

I however would not buy them from that URL... thats a crazy crazy expensive price!

Also, don;t bother with an in-take fan, you should only use fans on your exhaust and have a passive intake.

Quote:

---

As for the drainage, yes sir, I know, i wish i had some, but, we didn't, will get some next grow around. But these plants are actually around 2 1/2 months old. Before I brought my box over, these guys were struggling to survive on 2 13 watt soft white CFL. My buddy really doesn't know ANYTHING about growing, so I thought I would help him out with what I do know. I have learn books worth from this site and the plants made an amazing turn around in the past 2 weeks from being in my box.

---

I've came to the conclusion that even though you have READ a whole lot, it's not as useful as getting your hands in there and getting dirty. You will learn a lot more doing it then reading about it! They are starting to look better though I might add. Hope they all turn out females! :thumbsup:

syde-
ill keep that in mind, ill see what goes down them might get some new ones

italiano-
yes, gracias for stayin with my post, same to you syde. will put up more pix when i take them

welcome my friend, as I said I'd be here to the end! I try to keep my word and keep giving the wisdom that was taught to me, to you!

Haha awesome, well, me and my buddy are trying to get at least a constant 2-3 plants going at a time, so hopefully, you will get to see our progression. Here's a pic of our new plant that's got some weird growth. Its not bad growth, its popping up everywhere, its just super weird looking...here judge fo' yo' self.

As for the passive air system, I'll see whats up with it when I get my lights in there, if its to hot definitely, if its good, I'm not too worried about it. On the grow box that these plants are in now, there is a 6" fan mounted to the cover of the box and a hole in the bottom, I'm guessing that's what you guys are talking about with a passive air system? I would switch the intake fan around if it wasn't such a bitch to do, but if it is needed, so be it.

-C

If you would like to see some good passive pics check my thread linked at bottom of this post. basically have double the size of your fresh air holes then the exhaust and you would then shift the static pressure and move the air thru your box... kewl hobby huh.. it leads to working with tools for sure..:)

Well, ran my temp test last night in my new box, got up to 90ish, but where the lower piping sticks out, its very cool, think I might just leave it how it is, and just direct the cooler air where need be., we shall see

Alright, well, change of plans. Turns out he's gonna bud, I'm gonna veg my little guy. My plants growth is nuts, I finally have some good pix of it, but like you will see, its not the normal plant. Made a reflector this morning from an old lamp, was just gonna use the lamp, but it was just too big and bulky. As for him, he's gonna throw his older 2700k spectrum lights in when he starts budding to help a bit more than the 6500k, any suggestions, throw 'em at me. Now for pix.

-C


I REPEAT, THERE HAS BEEN NO DAMAGE TO THIS PLANT, THIS IS HOW IT CAME OUT OF THE SOIL!!! If anyone knows whats up, hit me with the response, I kinda like it, there's tons of growth.

I wouldn't worry about it, as eventually normal growth will develop and continue from there....In my last grow I had a plant that main stalk grew weird. Here is a picture below. See how there is no fan leave on the main, just some single leaves making a cross.

Well, I am going to buy perlite today, when and how immediate do you guys think I should transplant? I'm very good with transplants, have a very good past in successful transplants, not with my own plants, but with other peoples, lol. So yes, give all advice that can be given about transplanting my little one.

How big is the container and how long has it been in there?

6" dia. pot, about 8" tall, and I planted them on 5/5/09, thus, it is my cinco de mayo plant. I purchased perlite today, transplanted the largest plant of the others, and am going to do this one as soon as you all say I should, its doing great though.

If it possible to slide the root ball out without damaging anything? If so, look at it and see if it looks like it needs a transplanting. Depending on the environment, they could need transplanting anytime b/w a couple weeks to a month. It's all really dependent on how fast your root system is growing. Just make sure to mix at least 1/3 perlite to the mix. If it's topsoil then maybe you should mix about 1/2. I like a lot of perlite as to I'd rather be giving my plants watering more often to give them fresh oxygenated water compared to something that takes a week to dry before needing water.