Journal: Poor College Student Cultivates in Closet

Alright, from the title you can see that I'm poor and I don't have much space. I also don't have much time. I'm moving out by July. But I think I'll be alright. This is my official first grow. I'll be using an ebb and flow system that I bought off ebay for 75 big ones. It came equipped with grow media, pots, water pump, nutrients, 2 reservoirs, and a whole lota love. The system can grow 9 small plants. For lighting I have a 95watt 6100K cfl and a 30watt wide spectrum cfl. When I get some more money I'll be buying either a 250watt hps or a 400watt hps ( I don't know how hot it will get in my closet with a 400hps ANY opinions).

I sprouted my seeds 5 days ago (everyone sprouted) I have 2 juicy fruit and 7 middie seeds. It sucks that I couldn't find anything better but I am very interested in seeing if I can grow good chronic without dank seeds.

I put the plants into the system yesterday, but to make things simple I'll use the first of the month as the official day 1 of VEG. woohoo. I'll be putting pics up this weekend so ya'll can check it out.

I would also like to note that I am doing this grow more or less for a little experience. I'll be moving to a state with much more lenient laws soon. So if your willing to give me some advice, I'll be more than willing to listen.

I hope this turns out to be a learning experience for everyone and I make out with some nice buhda.

On the 400w question. I have a 400w digital ballast and "cool breeze" reflector. I set the ballast on a high shelf, and I have a thermometer mounted on the wall right above it and it's never gotten over 79 degrees.

All I've ever used is a small Vornado brand desk fan, lol. Blowing half through the reflector, half over the canopy it's worked perfectly. I could lay my hand right on the reflector and it's just warm. However I do have attic access in the closet ceiling which I've left half open which is allowing tons of warm air to rise out.

Also, those ballasts come with long cords. You could put it outside the room entirely if you absolutely had to.

Alright I have some pictures to share with you.

MisterE how small of a space are you growing in? I haven't got a thermometer yet but the temp is not a probable right now. I'm thinking a 400watt is probable the way to go but I still can't make up my mind about the heat.

On another note I went to Lowe's today and found a 150watt hps and a 70watt metal halide but they are for outside and need to be hardwired to the circuit board or whatever. Anyone know if its pretty easy to do or not. I'm not to sweet at the whole electrical thing. I would imagine I could buy something where I could bypass wiring it up to the circuit board, but I don't really know. It kinda seems like it would be to much trouble to install a light since I'll be moving after this grow.

And on another note I came up with a plan to grow in 2 cycles in a small room with a closet. I won't be doing this now but for my new house I think I'm gonna try it. The plan is to veg in the closet and then build a loft for my bed out of 2x4's and then close it off on 3 sides, except for one side where I can put a hatch. I'd be able to put the side thats not closed off right next to the window and wallah I'll have a good ventaltion system and constant fresh air.

thanks for listening

My space is about 5 x 7 feet, 8 ft ceiling.

get a roof reflector on that envirolite, losing alot of light up into the top of your room

the 400 could work running through a cool tube with a good fan.

suggestion: build a carbon filter to take care of the smell, because i guarantee you it will get awfully smelly in there.

Get that cfl as close to those plants as possible, keep eum short and stout. Also blackout your rez somehow, roots dont like light, and you will run into algae problems. Why they dont sell them like that is beyond me. Good luck Peace

Yeah I bought a aluminum foil cooking pan and put it up over the lights. Seems to work alright for $3. I also lowered my lights right after I took those pictures. Their about 4-5 inches above the plants. I'm hoping to get a deal on some nutrients today. I'm hoping my tax refund comes soon so I can get that hps. Right now I'm kinda leaning toward getting another 95watt cfl and then a 250watt hps. Total that would cost about $190 w/ shipping. I forgot my camera today but, I'll try to get pics up tomorrow. I think it looks much nicer than it did from the first day. Still working out the kinks but I think its gradually coming along nicely.

I'm getting another 95watt CFL and Cutting Edge Solutions Grow, Micro, and Bloom nutrients. I am also getting a product called Sweet ( supposed to enhance aroma and flavor) All of this with shipping is gonna set me back about $130.

I have been wondering what I'm going to do about CO2. I'm thinking either by the pellets that you mix in water and it releases CO2 into the air (about $20 on ebay) or i'm gonna go to the make your own beer store and get sugar and yeast and combine it in a large jug. Then use a rubber stopper with a 8ft tube coming out of it. I'll have the tube's end coming right out at the canopy. If you dump out some of your mixture every couple of weeks and add more yeast, water, and sugar then it should be a constant supply of CO2. If anyone has tried doing this or has any knowledge they would like to share I would like to hear it. I don't think there would be too much CO2 from doing that but I don't really have any idea on the range of ppm would be released.

Here are some pics. The last one seems to be growing its leafs a little odd. I dunno thou.

Why are you gonna get CO2? How hot is it getting in there? Do you have a ventilation system? The only reason I ask is that - if you are about to move anyway and that grow is small - its probably not worth getting CO2 unless you really have no ventilation whatsoever and your temps are higher than 80. Its more of a pain in the ass to try to fit more stuff into that small space than its worth. Poor college students unite!

In response about CO2... I was looking at this stuff on ebay that has a little bag of microbes and a little bag of activator. You mix a little of each together in some water and sugar and wallah you have CO2. It costs 18.93 plus 8.95 shipping on ebay. This is the formula.... C6H12O6 ..+ ....6 O2 ..--> ...6 CO2 ...+ 6 H2O .+ ...Energy. Pretty simple stuff and it also releases a fragrance that is supposed to mask odor. I think this would do just fine in a little area like mine. heres the link... eBay: Co2 Kit / HYDROPONICS/ Generator /Grow more 4 less $$ (item 190090384810 end time Mar-10-07 15:17:28 PST)

I started low stress training today. I just wanna test it out a little, so I did it on two plants. Its only day 10 but I think they'll be ok. Actually its day 9 but whatever. I can't wait till I get my nuits and my light. I've very interested to see how this Sweet shiznit works out for me.

I have some pictures for ya'll... And feel free to tell me if It looks like I'm doing something stupid with this training........

Ok. Let me help with the LST if I may. You should really wait until the plants have a few (5 or 6) sets of leaves until you LST. The reason is - the point of LST is to get the lower sets of leaves to turn into growth shoots and grow to the same level as the main growth tip so that you have an even layer of growth tips. If you tie down a seedling with only the top two leaves, there is nothing under the first set of leaves to grow even with the main growth tip and #2 you are taking away the plants ability to grow as the only leaves performing photosynthesis are the tops - which are now pulled over. So please - untie them and wait a little while!

Ok that makes sense tomashinho. The reason I did it a bit early was so the plant wouldn't be very top heavy yet and I thought it might be able to turn its leaves up easier. I also was thinking that the new shoots that are exposed to light right from the getgo would do better and I would be able to trim the shoots that are groing on the underside off. This seemed to work ok but I think the stress on the plant is what caused the edges of some of the leaves to curl up on the sides. I wanna get some pictures up today so someone might tell me if it looks bad(but I can't so I will tommorrow). The only plant to have the leaves curl up is the one that I LST'd.

I'm not quite sure when I should top my plants. I am considering doing it here in a few days though. If anyone thinks I'd be doing that to soon please tell.. before I do it.

You remind me of me on my first grow! You have obviously been doing a great deal of reading and planning because you know a lot about the techniques but now you just need to learn when to apply them! Good job - you will be good at this growing thing because you are willing to do your homework! About topping and LST - for clones you can top when they are shorter but seedlings need a little more time to develop. Just let the seedling grow for a bit - it will get a lot bigger very soon. When there are at least 4 or 5 sets of leaves then you can top or LST. IMHO - topping is kind of a waste of time - LST has worked better for me when I have used it. You wont even need to cut off the underside branches - most of them will turn up towards the light - its actually pretty amazing to watch it happen. The key on the first grow is to let the plants do their thing and have patience. Peace out homie!

You've been a great deal of help tomashinho, thanks for all the advice. Yeah I try to do as much research as my schedule allows me. I figure that anything worth doing is worth doing right. Especially if I'm putting my hard earned dollars into this project.

I've started to think twice about topping at all. I need this stuff to grow as quickly as possible so I'm done by the time my lease is up. It seems that if I top it will postpone the overall time it takes to harvest by at least a couple days. But I think I may try it on one or two plants because this is a learning experience for me and I'd would like to get as much knowledge out of it as possible.

The root system has been growing like crazy lately. I forgot to take a picture of them but I will get one up eventually. I am however going to post some pics of my plants. The one that I LST'd has a curling problem on the leaves still but I moved the light back a couple of inches and I hope that was the problem. It has been getting the most intense light because it was sitting right under the middle of the CFL. I am also getting my 3 part nuits today and another 95watt'er. When I add that light I'll be getting around 5000-6000 lumens per feet squared. I have read that around 3000-4000 is ideal, but I think that more is better up to a point. PLEASE tell me if I am wrong in my logic here.

The plants have been starting to smell kinda skunky as of late. Its not bad yet but I imagine in the next couple weeks it will really start to skunk the room up. (I love the smell, but I don't want it to stink up the house for my roommates sake. Plus the whole detection thing.) I've been considering getting a ionizer to cut down smell. Or possible building a ozone generator. I think either way it will cost under a hundred dollars. I'm interested to know if people have had good results with either of these two methods of odor control and which one you all think is better. I have to get some CO2 and a pH meter before I can afford to buy that though so I still will have some time with my smelly plants. OK here are the pics............

you think the smell is bad now... Your plants are still babies. they will get exponentially smellier in the coming weeks. You will need a carbon filter to control the smell. An affordable ionizer or an ozone generator will not be able to handle the stink from 9 plants.

In an earlier post I linked you some plans for a DIY carbon filter (it's in the FAQ section). The parts are inexpensive, and most of the money will go to the activated carbon itself. Expect to spend around $50 for the parts, which is about half as much a fabricated carbon filter would cost. I too am a poor college student and this is definitely a worthy investment, as it will eliminate the odor for good.

peace brotha and good luck

Yeah I still have that link saved on my computer and am planning on using it when I move and put an in and out take exhaust system in. I can't think of an easy way for me to implement a carbon filter at this point. Any ideas? The closest window to my closet is about 10feet away.

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL FOR THE QUARTER. Since my last post I've done some stuff. I've added my new nutrients. Also started adding Sweet to the mix. I cleaned out my res and it was f'ing filthy. I had no idea. All the dust from the clay rocks made the bottom res very dirty and was starting to clog up the pump. I'm glad I changed it when I did. I don't think that problem will be a reoccurring one because I think the dust has been washed off. It was probable some what responsible for my pH drifting up to around 7.4. When i put the new water in the system yesterday the pH was at a cool 6.3. After two days the plants look even greener than before and the curling that occurred on some of the leaves has stopped. Also a couple of the plants were starting to get some yellow spots on the oldest leaves. This also seems to have been reversed.

I also added my other 95watt light and a 42watt cfl that shines pinkish to the setup. Other than that things have been looking pretty good. I've starting to keep track of the temp in my closet and it ranges from around 70 when the door is open and I have a window open in my room to as high as 88 when the door is closed and no window is open. I've been trying out a couple of ways to limit the light of the closet from being visible outside my room when I have the closet door open. Hopefully I'll find something that works and can start leaving my door open all the time.

These pictures were taken 2 days ago when I changed my res, so some of the leaves still look curled. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get some new ones up. I'm going to be leaving for about 5 or 6 days for Spring Break to do some hiking, climbing and if weather permitting some snowboarding. I'm gonna hope for the best. I really need to rig up a way for me to keep the door open the whole time I'm gone without having any light escape my room. It sucks cuz the door of my bedroom does not go all the way down to the floor and light leeks out the bottom into the hallway. Has the potential to be a major issue when people come over to the house and need to go upstairs to the bathroom. ALRIGHT picture time.............

P.S. The nuits I added made the water redish so I guess I can't put pics of the roots up anymore. sorry

The plants look great! Good work! What kind of nutes are you using? Probably GH huh? GH turns the water red. Its the micro.

Day 16
I'm using Cutting Edge Solutions. It's pretty cheap and I figure that most of them aren't all about the same until you start going organic. I decided to top a plant yesterday. I think she'll do just fine. Also I LST'd more of the plants. I wanted to do it before I left, so when I come home there will be a nice full canopy.

I came back from my trip yesterday. The plants are still alive and doing really good. They doubled in size in the last 6 days and the stems are huge. When I got back the pump wasn't working. And I dont' know how long it wasn't working but there was only about an inch of water left in the top res. That scared the shit outta me.

I need some serious advice though. I commited the ultimate sin of growing while being gone. My digital camera with all these pics on it is missing. I lost it at a campground and I think a park maintenance guy picked it up. But maybe not I really don't know who might have it. I left a friends phone number at the parks office and gave them just my first name. I don't know what i should do if a police station calls and says they have my camera. I had about 700 pics on my camera and all the pics of my setup were in the middle soo hopefully whoever has it doesn't look though all of them, but I bet they do. IF ANYONE HAS ANY ADIVICE ON WHAT I SHOULD DO PLZ TELL ME. This has been driving me crazy. I have pictures of my house and of my car (license plate) on the camera aswell.

I don't think that this is enough evidence to come and bust down my door but I really dont know. I have been contemplating shutting the whole thing down. I did lose it out of state which I feel a little bit better about then if I lost it in state but regardless I'm scurred. I really wish I could show you all my beautiful plants but I can't. I'm a dumbass. PLZ HELP

Damn......thats incriminating. Hope it got ran over by 6 dump trucks and its laying in pieces someplace. I am probably one of the least paranoid people that visits here, but my nuts would be shrivled up if I lost a camera with all the info on you did. For that very reason, I never take pics or post pics of my grows. Who wants to see tomato's, peppers, and basil anyways ?

At minimum I'd move my grow. Nothing may ever come of it. But an ounce of prevention is worth a kilo of cure.......I aint been in jail for over 22 years, but I bet it still blows.


b0nger

Well - they are probably not gonna look through 700 pics. They probably wont look through the pics at all. Sucks that you lost your camera though. Sorry bout that. Did you get it back yet?

Don't wait move them now to another place before they get bigger. Do a search on my name and see my story. Better safe than sorry. It's called a knock and talk and if they say they can smell anything it's all over. do it now.

My plants are pretty much dead now. I cut the males out and tried to get all the roots out but they were so damn tangled with all the others that I couldn't. I had to leave the next day for the weekend and when I came back one plant was dead and the others were in bad shape. The bottom resivour had some f'd up water in it. It was brown and had a skin layer on top. There was also a huge foam thing in it too. I'm figuring that it was caused by me leaving some of the dead roots in the system but I can't be positive because the day before I added molases to the mix for the first time. I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on the subject.

I had 6 out of 9 plants become female, but two of them died after the incident. One other one has started to look really bad. The leaves are getting very droopy and there are brown spots all over all of the leaves. The other 3 plants are still recovering a week later. I had to cut off all the old growth because it was dead. The new leaves are looking pretty good except for the middle leaf in almost all the plants has turned brown at the very tip.

For some good news 2 of the plants have actually started growing hairs. It really is the most beautiful thing I've seen, even after I f'd it all up.

Sorry I quit posting on here, but when I lost my camera I kinda gave up with this. I really wish I had it know though to show you what happened to my girls. If I can bring them back to life I will be very proud of myself but It really sucks that I'm gonna take a huge loss of the yield amount.

If Anyone is still reading this thread... I recovered and have 3 plants 2 of which are doing good. I think I'll start harvesting in about 2 weeks and I'm looking at about an ounce. Not very impressive but the shit is all crystally and has a sweet skunk smell. I put about 250 dollars into this and will be getting about 400 dollars worth of chronic out of it. So for my first attempt its a success in my book.

P.S. I've only been using 187 watts total for my operation and its on only half the day. Which is pretty damn good.