1st Cabinet Soil Grow -- White Widow, Bubblegum

Hey all, I have been a big fan of these forums for a while but this is the first time I'm actually making a contribution. I figured now is a good a time as any to start a grow journal.

I am currently running a (not-so-stealth) cabinet soil grow. I say not-so-stealth because I'm really not worried about security in my current situation. I'm not a dealer and this is for my own personal stash -- in a state where possession is no longer a crime like mine, personal grows are fairly common these days. It's pretty simple to just keep my mouth shut about it and live the dream . However, I am well aware that cultivation is not decriminalized so the unassuming utility cabinet ended up being my approach.

Setup:

30in x 19in x 36in Resin Utility Cabinet
250w HPS w/ Reflector
68w CFL (just happened to have it lying around)


Fox Farm Products: Big Bloom, Grow Big, Tiger Bloom, Ocean Forest
Plastic 8" pots with a bottom reservoir for superfluous water
Home-made carbon filter (garden fence, vent duct ends/joints, activated carbon, duct tape)

Currently starting week 2 veg for the WW and week 1 of veg for the Bubblegum. These guys got off to a slow start because I had them running solely off the CFL for the first week or so. The entire cabinet is sealed with window sealant and painted white on the inside. There are some light leaks currently that I will address once I line the entire cabinet with mylar. I'll fix the leaks before flowering of course.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some mats or part of the setup. I'll take an additive approach.

Thanks in advance for any guidance you all can give me. This is not my first grow entirely -- but it is my first time going it alone as well as indoors in a cabinet. I haven't finished building the exhaust system yet, so I have been using a household fan to circulate the air in the cabinet.

Edited by steviebrutal, 14 February 2009 - 07:49 PM.

Pic of the carbon filter -- wasn't too hard to make. I'll have that stored outside (behind) the cabinet hooked up to a 125 cfm AC exhaust fan. I'm currently waiting for that piece in the mail.

Here's an update on the 3 White Widow plants. I've been seeing some issues with wilting and some (what i think is) nute burn. I switched to only watering every 2 days (soil dryness permitting) with ph 6.5 water. They seemed to perk up a bit, but I think alot of their stress has to do with the low humidity in their environment. It's very difficult for me to get it up above 25% in the winter.

I had a recent SNAFU that almost cost me my ladies. I woke up at 6am to a buzzing noise coming from my cabinet. When I checked the thermostat on the outside it said 110 deg (F)!!! The exhaust fan had fallen from its mount, rather the adhesive had degraded, so the air circulation pretty much died. With the HPS on, it got toasty in there. I have temporarily duct-tape repaired the exhaust sytem and I kill the hps for 4-6 hours a day leaving the CFLs on for some low temp light in the cabinet.

It is now 4 days since the stress and I have uploaded pics of the ladies feeling much better. This will no doubt slow their growth a tad, but the new growth looks healthy. So much so that I have officially begun fimming the new growth! It sounds dorky, but this is the first time I have attempted any fimming/LST grow method so I'm pretty excited.

Soon I will start training them to the sides of the pot and try to make a pretty even canopy between all the plants.

I have a general question though for anyone that happens to read this journal: Will the heat stress have any effects on the sex of the plant?

Looking good. I don't think the heat will cause any change to the m/f ratio, but I suppose it could bring out hermie properties in plants that have that tendency. I wouldn't sweat it though, looks like you caught it in time.

Looking good. I don't think the heat will cause any change to the m/f ratio, but I suppose it could bring out hermie properties in plants that have that tendency. I wouldn't sweat it though, looks like you caught it in time.

I had read about that kind of stress being controversially linked to herm properties in plants, but I couldn't find the article after the fact. It's good to hear that they look OK, thanks!

I had read about that kind of stress being controversially linked to herm properties in plants, but I couldn't find the article after the fact. It's good to hear that they look OK, thanks!

I think of it this way: A lot of plants have hermie tendencies in them. Under most circumstances, those tendencies don't manifest and all is well. If they come under stress, however, something in the plant triggers and BAM - balls.

Whats the kelving rating on your CFL yo?!

For a "1st Cab".... I like, and keep it growinG

whats your temps normally at in your set up?

Whats the kelving rating on your CFL yo?!

For a "1st Cab".... I like, and keep it growinG

I actually have a somewhat different setup with more CFLs now. Instead of giving the plants 20/4 of light dark, they get 24 hours of light with 4-6 hours w/ HPS off. This gives them a little break from the heat of the HPS, but they can still get a small amount of light to grow. The white paint on the inside of the cabinet has been surprisingly helpful in their 'pesudo-dark-time' production.

I don't know what you mean by kelvin rating, but here is what I know about the bulbs:

68w 2700k CFL; 4200 lumens
42w soft white CFL; 2600 lumens
30w bright white CFL; 2000 lumens

Thanks for the support!

Edited by steviebrutal, 09 February 2009 - 04:59 AM.

whats your temps normally at in your set up?

Front closed, HPS on ~83 deg
Front open, HPS on ~77 deg

It also depends on how cold it is on any given day right now. We've been have some temp fluctuations, but the cabinet has remained pretty stable.

Day 1-2 of LST

Plants seem to be doing pretty well. Thanks to my early poor-man's circulation fan on the plants, they have pretty strong stems. I am being very gradual with the training, so hopefully no adverse effects will arise from it.

I am going to train the plant into winding vine-type formation around the lip of the pot (mostly due to my space limitations). I may even have to flower a tad early depending on how limited this cabinet becomes. Overall I am not too worried about it though.

Any veteran LST'ers want to give a rookie a few tips?

General Questions/Concerns:

This is my first time doing an LST, almost SOG-like, growing method. How much longer should I let these plants veg for? The 3x white widow was put into the cabinet as a sprout on 1/24 (about a week into growth under 68w CFL in closet), and the 3x bubblegum were put in the cabinet as seedlings a week or so later. I am worried that I will underestimate the growth that happens during 12/12 and come close to toasting those plants. I plan on training/pruning throughout the flowering process to ensure my yield isn't damaged by my space limitations. Currently, I am looking for decent pruning guides so any guidance in that direction would be amazing.

I will inevitably have to pull some of these plants as I sex them -- which brings me to my next question. When should I expect to see preflowers? How powerful of a magnifying glass do I need to see them? Would my camera suffice for diagnosis?

Thanks in advance!

The WW will double in height in flowering, at least. I don't know about the bubblegum... some plants can really shoot up to 3 or 4 times their height, preflowering. You'll probably not see pre-flowers until you are actually in 12/12, especially if you plan on making the switch early, which you most def should. Here's a journal of a grow I was watching where he ended up having to chop WAY early due to height:
http://forum.grassci...attic-grow.html

The WW will double in height in flowering, at least. I don't know about the bubblegum... some plants can really shoot up to 3 or 4 times their height, preflowering. You'll probably not see pre-flowers until you are actually in 12/12, especially if you plan on making the switch early, which you most def should. Here's a journal of a grow I was watching where he ended up having to chop WAY early due to height:
http://forum.grassci...attic-grow.html

I think the size of my pots will limit the growth somewhat, but I suppose I am just going to have to be hyper-vigilant about my LST work. That's fine with me though.

I am going to upload the most recent pics of the ladies later on today to try and get some educated opinions about how much longer to veg. I definitely plan on flowering early, the question is how early?

Small picture update, I will take more comprehensive shots when my digital cam batteries have recharged.

So after all the small bouts with environmental stress that my plants have had to deal with (exhaust problems, overall high temps in the cabinet, low humidity, not much fresh air), I made the decision to uproot the cabinet and move it to a corner of the same room that has easier access to fresh air. Since I had the opportunity to do so, I stealthed out the cab a little for peace of mind. The carbon scrubber is hidden behind the cabinet on a shelf cluttered with junk (very inconspicuous, haha).

Since the relocation, temps in the cab hover around 73 degrees with the doors closed and the HPS on... much better.

Today I am going to move the plants forward into flowering. I am a little concerned about space, so I am flowering a tad early in the interest of caution. In the case of the Bubblegum plants, they are not mature yet but due to time restrictions I need to flower ASAP. If they both sex female, I will pull them from the cabinet and rig them up for another couple of weeks of veg in my closet with the CFLs -- it would be worth it if they were ladies

My LST has still been fairly gentle so far. My aim here is to make a bushy growth composition so I don't restrict the outward growth. Rather, I keep the main stem under control as it is the main source of height for the plant. As the plants get bigger, I prune and train as needed. As I approach the later stages of flowering, I expect to have to step up my training efforts.

Pics of the plants enclosed. You can still see the evidence of the prior bouts with heat stress, but I think I have everything under control now. Plants seem pretty healthy to me. What do you all think?

EDIT: I forget to mention that I killed the slow-growing bubblegum plant, it barely had a leaf set so putting into into flowering seemed fruitless. What's left: 3x White Widow, 2x Bubblegum -- both unsexed... for now

Edited by steviebrutal, 20 February 2009 - 02:39 AM.

Pics of relocated cab setup

I am learning a great deal about the nuances of carbon filtering. I just went to Home Depot to pick up a few sheets of the activated carbon filter mesh I used to originally make the filter. There was just too much odor coming from the exhaust before, even in vegetation.

So I just upgraded the filter with 2 more sheets of activated carbon -- I will monitor odor closely for the next few days.

Odor control, such a source of anxiety!

UPDATE: New filter material really improved the performance of the scrubber. I also think the fact that there are several layers of carbon that the air has to pass through now makes the filter more effective.

Edited by steviebrutal, 21 February 2009 - 07:05 PM.
odor update

Photo update -- 1 Female confirmed!! (or possibly a herm i guess, grr) I'm pretty happy, but the others don't seem to be showing yet. Hopefully the colder nights (down to 55 degrees F in the case at its lower points) won't slow the growth too much. I am working on getting a space heater near the passive air intake.