OK, here goes... I think I will make this grow log for the sake of anyone else like me who might be trying to do this indoors in the cheapest way possible, short of a pot on a windowsill (or if you already have a full-size greenhouse). I'm avoiding big expenses for supplies and equipment, and trying to keep the power bill under control. I have no idea what will come out the other end but there are not a lot of extras I can add. Iā??ll try and document what it costs along the way as best I can for those who might be trying to find out how inexpensively they can do this.

First, I am growing some kind of Afghan Indica hybrid. It is a hybrid of 2 Afghan strains, or so the "label" said. Supposed to be something like an 8-9 week flowering period. I donā??t know much about this stuff, I just know this is what was recommended for my particular illness & symptoms. We purchased 10 seeds for a little under $50.

Now, we join the process already in progress, about a week inā?¦

6 of the seeds were planted in peat pellets in a simple tray and placed near a south-facing window very late on July 12. In spite of the fact that whenever I plant seeds to grow vegetables or flowers I always pre-soak them, I didnā??t do that with these because I was afraid of overdoing the moisture since they were going into peat pellets and, to be honest, I REALLY am a total noob at this even though I have grown more traditional plants all my life. The seeds popped up very fast, and by the 16th I was getting worried because they were getting to be overly spindly little seedlings and I hadn't prepared for them to grow so very quickly. I figured when we put the seeds in we would have at least a week before we needed to worry about anything, but the roots were starting to come out of the bottom of the expanded peat pellets by the 17th. So, it was time to start improvising.

On the 17th we bought some cheap potting soil, perlite, and then mixed in some peat moss we already had in roughly 1/3 proportions. I had no decent-sized pots or money for pots, so as a temporary measure I chopped 6 2L Coke bottles in half, drilled numerous small drain holes in the bottom, and put the soil mixture in, then transplanted the peat pelleted seedlings into them. These were then placed into some small windowsill-type flower boxes to catch any drainage and put into a mini (W:80cm D:45cm H:130cm) greenhouse (which I had moved indoors) I use for starting plants in the spring. Why the greenhouse? Because a) I have it b) I donā??t have a closet available and c) it is portable if I ever need to move the setup someplace else.

I scrounged up some swag chain from an old light, and mounted an old Daylight fluorescent mini-shop light (or maybe it is a grow light) on a piece of wood, stuck a couple of cup hooks in it and hung the chain over the top bar of the greenhouse so I could adjust the height easily. By now the plants were about 7-9cm tall. Since the light is the type that you have to hold the switch until it starts, a timer is out of the question so I just figured I would start with a 24/0 schedule. Since we live on the edges of a very small town and there are not a lot of vehicles or people around, I figured I might need a little boost in CO2, so I took 4 PowerAde bottles, filled them with a sugar-water mixture, sprinkled in some yeast and put pinholes in the lids to let the gas out and stuck them in the greenhouse (might not help, but it couldn't hurt). I pointed a small 6" clip-on fan at the plants to provide some air flow and to agitate the seedlings a bit to strengthen them and closed up the greenhouse for the night.
PottyBear Reviewed by PottyBear on . Low-cost CFL Grow - My First Growing Attempt OK, here goes... I think I will make this grow log for the sake of anyone else like me who might be trying to do this indoors in the cheapest way possible, short of a pot on a windowsill (or if you already have a full-size greenhouse). I'm avoiding big expenses for supplies and equipment, and trying to keep the power bill under control. I have no idea what will come out the other end but there are not a lot of extras I can add. Iā??ll try and document what it costs along the way as best I can Rating: 5