So after doing enough research on this forum, I have decided to do my first grow. I don't have a lot of money so I went in kind of a cheap route but I think it will work, hopefully it does. This is my set up: Cardboard box in my closet with dimensions: 21"l by 21"w by 50"h. It is lined with aluminum foil. Ventilation: It has one exhaust opening about 3" in diameter, one inlet opening also about 3". I have 2 computer case fans set up to run all the time. One is placed at the exhaust opening blowing air out. The other is placed at the height of the pot to blow air at the plant when it is growing. I may add another fan at the inlet hole to help blow air in if necessary. I will add a diy carbon filter if it starts to stink a lot. Lighting: One square foot LED panel. It is 14 watts, quad band (red, blue, orange, and white). 2 26 watt cfls 6500k, I might add another. I wanted to originally use only the LED panel but it puts out almost no heat so the temp was around 65, so I added the cfls for heat and more light won't hurt. For flowering I will replace the 6500k cfls with 2700k cfls. I will use a 20/4 light cycle for veg and a 12/12 cycle for flower. Medium: I will be using Coco coir mixed with some perlite, probably 70% coco and 30% perlite. I have read great things about coco so that's what I'm gonna use. Nutrients: I will be using General Hydroponics Flora Series. It is FloraGrow, FloraMicro, and FloraBloom, along with Floralicious Plus and Liquid KoolBloom. I will use their Mineral Drain to Waste Keep it Simple Program which can be found at genhydro.com I will also use epsom salt for the magnesium problem with coco. I will use Superthrive and molasses as well. I might also use Cal/Mag if it becomes necessary. I might use some hydrogen peroxide to add oxygen. I might also spray some sparkling water to ad some CO2. Method: I will grow in a cup and then transplant to a half gallon pot and finally a 4 gallon pot. I will attempt to FIM at the third or fourth node, and then scrog when the plant reaches about 8". I made the scrog out of pvc and string. Seed: One Tangerine Dream from Barney's Farm. I ordered from Single Seed Centre about 3 weeks ago, it took that long because of the whole holiday season thing going on. But its here now! Ok so far this is what I have done: I germinated the seed. I tried the shot glass method for 24 hours. The seed didn't sink to the bottom, but if I pushed the seed down it would stay down. If I brought it up it would float. Weird. So then I just tried the paper towel method but instead I used cotton because I hate the paper towel method because it would always dry out. 1 day later, the little root popped out. So i planted the seed in my cup of coco and perlite but with a small layer of coco on top. I will consider day 1 to be the day it actually sprouts. I will update about once or twice a week with pictures but I will check daily for questions or comments if any arise. I may have forgotten to add something so any comments or questions are welcome. I hope my grow will help anyone that wants to start. I am new to all this as well so any help is appreciated. Here are some pics of my set up and things:
Just wait till i harvest and ill go over man. Thanks man. I know ppl were hating on it but i think it will be a great plant. I just hope i dont mess anything up since its my first grow.
I like the foil but maybe get some mylar. It's pretty cheap. If you haven't checked it out I highly recommend the: http://forum.grasscity.com/coco-coir/620656-askeds-coco-guide.html Also you might wanna grab the free available issues of Canna Talk magazine. The marketing is heavy but there is some great Q & A in there. CANNAtalk - Magazine for serious growers Good luck man!
Thanks for the input guys. I dont know much about mylar though. Like how much would it cost to buy enough to line my box? I really dont have much money at the moment so I might have to stick with the foil for a while. I did check out the Coco guide and thats what made me choose coco over soil. Thanks guys.
I just read that the "survival wraps" in first aid kits are mylar. Is that true? I have one that is 48" by 72" but it doesnt say what its made of. Its really damn reflective though! Would this work?
Ok so I replaced most of the foil with the survival wrap. It is more reflective than the foil. It was a pain in the ass to remove the foil and then cut and tape the wrap in there lol but hey it will help out in the end. Well here are some pics showing how it looks. Thanks for the help guys, I appreciate it.
Not for nothing.. that looks GREAT! Nice job man and wow you are getting some nice refection out of that survival fabric. I honestly think that looks more reflective than the the inside of my Sunhut. Impressive.
Thanks man! The instructions that came with it said that there was a specific reflective side but both sides look the EXACT same to me lol i just hope it all works. Tiny update though: I can see the seed sprouting just a tiny bit! Like i can see the shell casing popping up a bit. I watered it a tiny bit just to keep the top layer moist. So I guess its going good for now. Hopefully it pops out completely in a couple of hours. I would take a pic but its kinda hard to see it so I'll take one when it sprouts!
Alright guys Ill post some pics tonight. I took a couple of the sprout this morning and I'll take a couple more tonight so I can see how much it grew on day one. What temp should I try to get inside the box for the seedling? It ranges from 82F to 90F throughout the day without the fans on.
My seedlings have been pretty hardy going from 65F to 85F+ and haven't seen any problems. Additionally I pull the bag/tent off the planting cups as soon as the seed head breaks the dirt. Now I'm using pure coconut coir as my medium so it's fairly easy to keep the medium wet without being completely soaked, which is the trick. So as soon as they break I'm sticking them RIGHT under the 18/6 light about 18 inches away and they seem to take right off. Warning again though, don't let em dry out!
Ok well mine sprouted and its been under 24 hr light. As soon as it grows a set of leaves ill switch it to 20/4 for the whole veg cycle. Is that ok or should I do only 20/4 and not 24hrs? I do make sure that the coco does not dry out. Its not soaked but it is moist. And since I have an LED panel, its not hot at all so its only about 2" from the sprout. Is that too close even for an LED? Should I raise it a couple inches just to be safe?
Your concern is heat so I wouldn't worry about being too close if the temperature isn't an issue. I'm sure their are varying opinions but most of the books I have and the guys I trust say that going over 18/6 is basically just a waste of electricity. Specifically it's in my Jorge Cervantes - Indoor Growers Bible which has been a real asset so that's what I do. Personal opinion only, of course.
Yeah I have read a lot about marijuana bein a C3(?) plant and that it technically needs no dark period unless flowering or something like that. But I am a bit skeptical about that so Im going to do 20/4. Its only 2 hrs more than the 18/6 so it wont waste that much. Thanks for the tip though man.