Yet another CFL grow log....

[theeviltrees]

Well then....

I have being reading monkeybones and secretgardens grow logs for a couple of months now and they both seem to be coming to an end (or ended in the case of secretgardens)

I decidided it was about time i started my own grow rather than just slobbering over theirs.

This is my first indoor grow too.

So....

This is what I started with...

Started germination of 4 seeds on the 12th Jan
Light = 125 watt, 6500k CFL on 24 hours a day
Soil = my own mixture of Generic grow bag compost, my own compost, Grit and, do you know those peat briquettes that you use on your fires? well i soaked and broke down with a spade, one of those over the course of 2 weeks. This stuff holds moisture very well. pH - around 6.7 (pH spike thingy)
Seeds = AK48 from nirvana
Grow room = modified wardrobe - painted matt white inside, insulated with styrofoam, a "curtain" on the inside of the door on the outside an old dust sheet and inside, one of those emergency blankets (the silverish things).

Temperature/humidity = 25C/30-40%RH.
Water = spring water pH - between 6-7 (only have litmus paper so no exact reading)

They emerged on the 16th Jan!! whoop!:thumbsup:
(well 3 did, the next came on the 17th)

I changed the lighting to 18/6 when this happened.
I also started giving a low dose of "babybio plant food"

On the 1st of Feb I did the following things:
Repotted in the same mixture of soil.
Added an extra 65watt, 6500k CFL in the middle of the plants
Made a "reflector" and put the 125watt CFL horizontally
Put a permanent fan (I had been using a travel fan but got tired of recharging the batteries so i purchased a 6" 18watt desk fan.)
Started giving a "full" dose of Babybio plant food whenever watered.

On the 6th of Feb I added a 20watt 2700k CFL (i noticed most people in the threads started with these so thought I had better add one too)
I also changed the lighting schedule to 17/7 as a lot of people were running this too.

The pH of the Plantfood/water mix is between 6-7 (like i said, only litmus paper) and the soil is the same as when started (about 6.5-7)

The temperature stays between 25C and 28C when the light is on but drops to between 15C and 18C when light is off.

They are now 25 days old and about, on average, 9" tall, have 5 lots of leaves, good growth on the secondaries and smell B-E-A-U-tiful!

Right.... The main reason I have started this log is to make sure I am doing it right (I think I am, just want some confirmation - I live in a very isolated place to say the least!!! so i cant pop around to a mates house or invite them over)

ANY imput would be greatly appreciated! If I have missed anything out that you would like to know, just say.

oh and I have a 85watt and a 125watt, both 2700k for when i get around to flowering.

If somebody could point me to the thread of how to post pics or tell me how, I have pictures of everyday of growth so far (except the 31st of Jan and 1st of Feb) and would be more than welcome to share.

L8rs Guys!

theeviltrees Reviewed by theeviltrees on 02-09-2009. Yet another CFL grow log.... Well then.... I have being reading monkeybones and secretgardens grow logs for a couple of months now and they both seem to be coming to an end (or ended in the case of secretgardens) I decidided it was about time i started my own grow rather than just slobbering over theirs. This is my first indoor grow too. So.... Rating: 5

[theeviltrees]

So I figured out how to do the pics (I actually had to search on google as I got no joy with the search engine on the forums!)

Here are my 3 close up pics first - the dates for the picture names are the dates they were taken.

They were taken with a Fujifilm finepix S5500 but resized with picasa as I havn't made 50 posts yet so had to "gallery them".

Close up, 16-01-09

Close up, 30-02-09

Close up, 07-02-09

Hope they work???:thumbsup:

[theeviltrees]

Here are all 4 plants:

All 4, 16-01-09

All 4, 30-01-09

All 4, 02-02-09

All 4, 07-02-09

Just realised that the Year is wrong in all the 16-01 pics (the just emerged pics) oh well... they are this year.

[theeviltrees]

These are a couple of pictures of the whole cupboard, enjoy!

Whole cupboard, 30-01-09

This is how I had the cupboard until the 1st of feb when i said I changed it around.

Whole cupboard, 07-02-09


Oh - yes that is a spider plant in there - needed to get it growing well so where better to do it?

May start my tomato plants in there this year too? does anybody know any reason I shouldnt? - I do only mean start, they will be in there a week after they emerge maximum....

So... Any feedback on anything would be great, Cheers guys and gals!

[oSecretGardeno]

hey eviltrees, you have no idea how great it feels to hear that I could be some inspiration to you. The CFLs are truly a great way to start growing and mine definitely turned out well.

From the looks of things you have done your research pretty well and it looks like your girls are doing great.

Keep up the good work dude, I will definitely be keeping an eye on this log.

Let me know if you have any questions, I'd be very happy to help you in any way I can.

Peace man!

-sg

[theeviltrees]

Hi Secret!

Yeah I did a load of research before I started, got fed up of reading people asking what CFL's should I get etc... So I didn't want to do the same.

You were deffo an inspiration into starting one myself!

I do have a couple of questions,

I have read people talking about LSTing and FIMing?

The closest I can gather is these are methods of Topping (taking of the top growth to encourage branching growth, kinda like polarding a tree almost?) But what do these stand for, and would it be benificial in my situation?

Also, I have plenty of seeds left, but would it be worth cloning a plant rather than starting from scratch again? Would the plant I clone still be viable for production of the good stuff or would it render the plant useless?

Thanks for the reply, nice to know someone is watching!

Peace

[GoldenGraham84]

there are more watching now! looks good, trees! to answer your question on LSTing and FIMing...
-LST = low stress training. basically the idea is to lower the top of the plant to encourage the side shoots to grow. the side shoots will grow and compete to become the primary cola. awesome technique, fairly simple if you're careful, and increases yield.
-FIM = "fuck, i missed." a method of topping the plant. instead of removing the entire growth tip, you leave 10-15% of it left on the plant. up to 4 (i've heard more) tops will branch out from the FIM site, instead of just two. a more advanced technique thats harder to perfect, but does increase yield more than LST if done correctly.

as for your question on cloning versus seeds, i'd definitely clone and save the seeds for backup. both the cutting you take and the mother you take it from will be fine to produce "the good stuff." the cutting will need time to root before you flower it, and the mother will need time to recover after you take the clone, but they will both produce.

so now, questions for you:
the wattages you're giving. do you mean you have a 125W equivalent CFL? or does the CFL actually use 125W? big bulb! watch your temps.

nice to have another CFLer join the ranks. good luck, trees!

[theeviltrees]

Hi, GoldenGraham!

Thanks for the info on LSTing and FIMing, very much appreciated. Love the meaning of FIM! I thought it was going to be a very technical meaning!

I don't know if you have ever laid a hedge? but thats the image I am getting for the FIM method (kinda), I will look it up further now I know what it means.

I probably will clone then I think, I have the space.

Now for your answers, Yes its a 125watt 6500k Horticultural bulb, Envirolite to be specific, they also make 200watt and 250watt bulbs too, But I wanted to spread my available wattage around the room to get to all areas of the plants, I'm not sure what the equivalant wattage would be for that bulb but if a 20watt = 100watt equivalant then I guess it would be 125watt = 625watt equivalent?? Oh, yes it is a big bugger of a bulb. about a foot long. I have the same type for the 2700k stage too.

I was going to experiment with a CFL version of a vertical grow as the bulb was so big, I was a big fan of that, but i chickened out and decided to do it the traditional way. probably for the best.

My 65watt CFL said it was equivalent 400watt but I dont know??? that one is branded "nulight".

So technically I have over 1000watts of light (have a 20watt CFL in there too)

I do have another question now,

When I get around to flowering, would it be worth using my 65watt 6500k light as well as the planned 125watt 2700k and 85watt 2700k or would that mess things up?

Cheers guys/gals!

[GoldenGraham84]

balanced spectrum can't hurt. i actually just posted this earlier today. i've read again and again that a 1:3 ratio is best. so (hypothetically) if someone was vegging with 12 bulbs, it'd be 9 6500k & 3 2700k. flower would be 9 2700k and 3 6500k.

one more note on FIMing... doing a FIM requires the plant to recover and therefore increase veg time. take the good with bad, right?

oh and on cloning... justanotherbozo has a good thread on a DIY bubble cloner. i made one from this and it works rather nicely. perhaps a thought. let me getcha a link here...
http://boards.cannabis.com/hydroponi...ml#post1873609

[theeviltrees]

Thats good news, will make sure i do then, will keep what I am using now though but make sure i use that extra 65watt 6500k for flowering.

Thanks for the link to the post for the bubble cloner, just going to read it now.

I forgot to say that the bulb does kick out some heat, but i do keep the temperatures well i think. Day = around 25C give or take 2C

I did try and raise my humidity the other day as it dropped below 30%RH for the first time so i put a moist flannel in there, it worked, it went up to 45%RH but it also dropped my temps to between 21c - 23c.

I may leave the FIMing and just do some clones, let the plants grow as naturally as I can seeing as it is my first indoor grow.

Thanks for the help. :thumbsup: