BKKG's First Grow!

[BKKG]

September 4th, 2007

Alright, after a few setbacks, I've finally got everything I need to start my first grow!

First, I'll show you my updated box.



The two rubbermaid containers are stacked on top of each other. The bottom is cut out of the top box, and part of the top has been cut out of the bottom one, making for a double-height chamber.



Here's the inside. It's got strips of black white poly in it. I couldn't make them seamless, because the bottom and top are designed to be seperable, but they still do a very good job of lightproofing the inside, and will reflect most of the light inside. You can see my exhaust fan in the upper right, which is attached to a hole in the side of the box. If you look really carefully (my cell phone camera isn't too good, but it's all I've got), you can see the three air intakes at the bottom. They have light traps made of black duct tape on the outside, to protect my plants during flowering.



These are the lights. Don't let the cords fool you, it's not very complicated. I have two 2 foot t5 tube lights, as well as two 6500K, 23 watt daylight CFL's. Everything is taped in, since drilling holes in the top of the box would cut down on the stealth element. What I did instead was to wrap a single long piece of tape around both the lights and the box multiple times, so that even if the adhesive fails the lights will still be suspended by the band.

My seeds arrived from hempdepot today (Cinderella-99), and I'll start germinating them three at a time tonight. I'll be using the paper towel method first, and see how that works.

I look forward to all of your comments and advice, and hopefully a smooth and plentiful grow!

[bubonicplague]

going to low stress train?

[BKKG]

Definitely. Even with the second container, it's not a very tall one so I won't have much choice. Plus, with CFL's I'll want as much of the plant exposed to light as possible, since the light's aren't that strong.

[bubonicplague]

yeah so far im still using a modified setup...really just more lighting and a 120mm computer fan



i hoping extreme Lsting will get the job done specially since im not vegging at all

soon as it sprouts 12/12

[Help_Needed]

Wait...so you're using the rubbermaid containers as a grow chamber? That's pretty ingenious . I only skimmed it at first and though "ho hum...yet another rubbermaid bubble setup" but this is pretty cool. It might actually be a good workable solution that solves my question of where to keep a mother plant.

I'll definately be watching this grow.

[mocha]

Looks good! How many plants do you think you're going to grow in that? And it would probably be very easy to SCROG as well. You might want to look into that.

Hope it turns out well! I'll be checking up.

[BKKG]

I forgot to mention everybody, this is going to be a soil grow, and eventually I'll have two plants growing in this box. I also would like to build a second, smaller box for a bonsai mother so that I can clone easily, but that's for later.

To start out with though, I'll have the plants growing in peat pots (pictures later tonight), and hopefully they'll grow big enough to sex before I have to transplant them. This way I can keep my chances of getting two females at their highest with minimal wasted time. The timing may not work out, but Cinderella-99 is supposed to show its sex clearly fairly early, so we'll see.

And I think I've solved my lightproofing problem, by using a pair of old flannel sheets. I can't wait for my first three seeds to sprout...

[OldSkool1010]

Twisted minds think alike:

[Help_Needed]

Originally Posted by OldSkool1010

Twisted minds think alike:

Yeah, but yours looks like some sort of funky contraption. It may not be obvious what you're doing with your containers but it's pretty apparent that you're NOT using them to store stuff.

His setup, on the other hand, looks just like two storage containers stacked on top of each other.

[OldSkool1010]

absolutely true. stealth was not an issue for me.

quote=Help_Needed;1831974]Yeah, but yours looks like some sort of funky contraption. It may not be obvious what you're doing with your containers but it's pretty apparent that you're NOT using them to store stuff.

His setup, on the other hand, looks just like two storage containers stacked on top of each other.[/quote]

[BKKG]

Day 2

OK, my seeds have been germinating using the paper towel method for about twenty four hours, and one of them has a significant root tip emerging. Even though the other two show no signs of splitting yet, I decided to pot the other and get it under the lights. Hopefully, the other two will follow suit in a day or so. I don't want to resort to scuffing them yet, as it's still pretty early in the process for them.

A problem has come up though; with the heat of the lights, the duct tape has been sagging, a lot. I'm not afraid of the lights falling, but I'm not confident that they will be at a steady level. If anyone has any suggestions for how I could easily (and cheaply) mount my lights without it being too obvious that I've modified the rubbermaid containers, I'm all ears. I'm not concerned about them being adjustable, I just need them to be fastened more securely.

Here's a picture of the Jiffy Pots I'm using for the seedlings, although I'll of course have to transplant them to larger pots relatively soon.

[OldSkool1010]

I know you don't want to advertise that there is more to that tote than meets the eye, but you probably will have to use nuts and bolts to hold your lights in place. With a little camouflage you should be able to hide the bolts.

Originally Posted by BKKG

A problem has come up though; with the heat of the lights, the duct tape has been sagging, a lot. I'm not afraid of the lights falling, but I'm not confident that they will be at a steady level. If anyone has any suggestions for how I could easily (and cheaply) mount my lights without it being too obvious that I've modified the rubbermaid containers, I'm all ears. I'm not concerned about them being adjustable, I just need them to be fastened more securely.

[Help_Needed]

Originally Posted by BKKG

A problem has come up though; with the heat of the lights, the duct tape has been sagging, a lot. I'm not afraid of the lights falling, but I'm not confident that they will be at a steady level. If anyone has any suggestions for how I could easily (and cheaply) mount my lights without it being too obvious that I've modified the rubbermaid containers, I'm all ears. I'm not concerned about them being adjustable, I just need them to be fastened more securely.

Maybe you could use some pvc pipe or 2x2's fastened with bolts and wingnuts (for quick breakdown) to make an internal frame to hold the lights?

[BKKG]

I ended up buying some epoxy at a hardware store, which is supposed to be good for up to 1000 lbs. per square inch. I scored the parts I was attaching with a pocket knife, and then set up the lights with the epoxy, and put heavy books on top to simulate a clamp. It ought to hold...

EDIT: The desk lamp lights won't work with the epoxy, they're too small and I can't keep them level while the epoxy sets. So I'm going to have to rig up a harness through the top of the container, I have some nylon lying around...

[BKKG]

One more update tonight, the epoxy was a bust (it couldn't adhere to the plastic of the rubbermaid container, even with the scoring I did, so the lights fell while I was testing it). But I've rigged up a support system with nylon cord, run through to the outside of the top of the box. So I think that my lighting troubles are over.

The third and last seed of this set of 3 has germinated, so I'm putting it in soil tonight, and hopefully I'll see some sprouts soon! I'll let you all know what happens....