1st Grow, CFL Rubbermaid

Discussion in 'Indoor Grow Journals' started by mlbud420, Jul 17, 2009.

  1. What up GC.com. So I finally decided to give growing a try and I decided to use the CFL technique. Since this is my first grow I used bagseed before ordering some online. My girls are actually at 16 days now from sprout and they seem to be doing great! I used Miracle Grow Organic and mixed it with perlite. Probably used about 60% MC and 40% perlite. My light schedule for the first 2 weeks was 24hr lighting. After the 2 week mark i moved it down to 18/6 so my electric bill wouldnt suffer too badly.

    I bought 2, 35gal rubbermaids from walmart and stacked them on top of each other. I have 6 CFL's currently running and they are all the 26watt daytime cfl's. I only have 2 plants in there now. I have a total of 3 fans going, 2 being exhaust fans and 1 being intake. I also surrounded the box with an emergency blanket until i can save up for mylar. The temp is usually around 82-86 degrees during the daytime and at night it will usually fall to around 79 degrees. My one question is that the first set of actual leaves that came in are now turning yellow. Everything above those leaves is green and looks fine, havent added any nutes or anything.

    Let me know what you guys think. Questions, advice, or criticism is welcome.

    Heres a pic of them at 16 days old
     

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  2. WHAT UP DUDE!!!!

    glad to see you finally made a journal! they look really good! is the yellowing bad yet? the first time i grew, i did it in Miracle grow as well, and the same thing happened. It seems that everyone that uses it starts out ok with MG, then eventually developes a nutrient deficiency which often causes yellowing leaves. You could either get a PH test kit and try to fix your PH which can be complicated to do, or repot them in better soil. I'm using Fox Farm Ocean and Forrest soil which i've been told is the best for growing MJ and i can agree, it is working wonders. It comes with a PH perfect for MJ and It's only like $20 but can only be found online, so you'll have to wait to get it... too bad your not closer, i have some leftover from my pots i'd hook you up with. good luck, hope you get it figured out, ps, those pics from your phone aren't too bad! nice
     
  3. So I transplanted my plants around day 14 and as of now they still have yet to grow. The first 2 weeks it seemed like they grew so fast. It has yet to develop another node since i transplanted them. It's been 4 days now, anyone have any ideas?
     
  4. I'm growing plants with a similar set up and the plants are about 3 weeks old. After 2 weeks, my plants slowed down as far as main stem growth goes, but in the last week my undergrowth has really started to come in. Are you going to lst your plants? It helps the undergrowth come in because you can tuck the big fan leaves underneath so the new growth gets the most light. It's working great with my plants. Your plants are looking really healthy, I look forward to seeing what happens.
     
  5. That is actually what happend in the past couple of days. As far as my main stem it slowed down considerably, but I did notice that my undergrowth has started to grow more. Since this is my first grow I decided not to LST, I wanted to get at least one successful grow under my belt before I would give that a try. Definetly something I will do in my 2nd grow. I will be posting pics of my setup and an update on my ladies tomorrow. Stay tuned in!!
     
  6. This is my first grow too. I'm gonna subscribe, we're about as far along so we may be able to help each other.:hello:
     
  7. #7 nomel90, Jul 18, 2009
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 18, 2009
    Hello fellow rubbermaid grower :wave:

    The yellowing of the Cotyledon & first set of leaves turn yellow because the plant no longer needs them. It cuts nutes to those leaves and they aren't getting any light to make chlorophyll (basically light makes them green). Just snip them off and new growths will replace them in 24-48 hours

    Also, my grow was done using a similar mix of Miracle Gro Organic / Perlite. I am on day 48, no nute burn or any pH problems. I am 4 days into flowering :D

    Please check out Dankohzee's Ultimate Seed Starting Guide, he uses Miracle Gro Organic as well. MG Organic contains a very, very small amount of organic nutrients. Just enough to keep a sprout healthy, it will not cause nute burn.

    I too am using 2x 35gal rubbermaids. I can tell you that this grow box is amazing... But you're going to need to do LST to get the most bud out of this grow. I can tell you for a fact it that it's much scarier than it looks, all you do is bend the stem down and put a paper clip down to hold it to the soil. A day later the plant will grow upwards, bend it down again... repeat until you flower.

    Eventually you will have several main 'cola's where as without LST you would only have one main cola. Right now my plant has 14 main cola's growing. I know you don't want to do it because it's your first grow but for the rubbermaid setup it's necessary. It improves airflow to the bud sites and created potentially up to 5x the yield at harvest time :eek:

    Goodluck to you, I'll be checking in often :bongin:
     
  8. Thanks Nomel. You were a huge help with knowing why my 1st set of leaves are turning yellow. I was getting nervous I did something wrong. Your journal was actually one of the ones I used in my research for this grow! :hello:

    I think i will def LST in my next grow. I thought about trying it with just 1 of my plants but figured it would take longer for that to finish vegging compared to the one i didn't LST. So an update on them, around 19 days old from sprout and still doing great. Noticed it started to grow a bit faster again, im pretty sure that the transplant shock is what made it slow down for those few days. Thanks for all the advice/comments so far, please keep it coming
     

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  9. No problem.

    And yes, transplant shock usually makes the plant look droopy and stunts its growth for a few days. Don't worry though they look great today

    Have you considered topping or fimming?
     
  10. I have been doing some research on topping and I will most likely do that, but I do have 1 question, what exactly is fimming? And also is it too late to start LSTing?
     
  11. Well, fimming is like the exact same thing as topping, except you only cut off 80% of the new set of leaves growing when they are still 'praying hands'. Fimming basically halts the plants upward growth, while it focuses on the undergrowth more for a few days. It will return to its normal upward growing after a few days. I did it with LST to make it grow out several main branches faster. If I were you, I'd top it a few times to get 3 or 4 main colas.

    Judging by the stem thickness in your last update I wouldn't try LST. I never realized how thick your stems were :eek:

    Here's the guide to topping & fimming: http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/122559-how-fimming-topping-made-easy.html

    :smoke:
     
  12. So my one plant seems to be doing a little better than the other. Looks a little taller and a bit more bushy. I plan to top my plants to try and get the most yield I can for this grow. I was also wondering when do you think I should start to flower. I've read from other people's grow that they start to flower at only 20 or so days?? I've also heard when using a rubbermaid that you should start flowering when the plants get up to about 3/4 of the 1st rubbermaid. I was also wondering what kind of nutes people use if they do not buy fox farm. I know they are the best to buy but was just curious if anyone used any cheapier brands that they know work well.
     
  13. #13 mlbud420, Jul 21, 2009
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 21, 2009
    So bad news... I discovered I have pests in my grow box. They are little flys. I researched it a bit and all i've found was to use insecticidal soap? They also say use sticky traps and neem oil. Anyone have any ideas :confused:

    Also I noticed on the bigger plant that the undergrowth hasnt grown much. I think it's due to the fact that the fan leaves are bigger and more spread out and they havent been able to get much light. On the other plant is fine but they are more open to the light. Can i trim the leaves at all maybe to help them grow? I assume it's just another spot that will produce bud so i want it to grow as much as possible.
     
  14. hey man im doin a cfl rubbermaid grow too! except im using the cfl grow lights with a wing reflector. well see how it goes! o yeah and id go ahead and build yourself a carbon scrubber to remove the odor of a flowering plant. they will stink out your house
     
  15. So an update... On day 24 and both plants are doing great! Still have a pest problem tho. Seems to be getting worse, getting sticky traps tomorrow to see if it helps a bit. They are just small flies or gnats and they are everywhere. If anyone has any suggestions please reply, I've heard people using insecticidal soap? If that works where would I be able to purchase some? Anyway I cut off 2 fan leaves so the undergrowth could get more light. Seemed to respond very well the undergrowth is coming in very nicely. Also when is the best time to top the plant? I've read anywhere from after the 3rd set of leaves come in and after the first week of flowering. Comments/suggestions are greatly appreciated, please help me with my pest problem!!

    The first three pics are of plant 1 which is the bigger of the 2.
     

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  16. So I have officially started flowering today, the plants are looking good. The one is still bigger than the other. It's moved locations to the basement. It's a lot cooler down there and now my temperature stays at 79 with only 2 fans going. I have switched all bulbs over to 26 watt soft white 2700k bulbs. I'll have pics later on
     
  17. Update: Day 12 of flowering, things are looking good so far. I have been fortunate enough that they are both female! I am unbelievably happy that they both came out to be female. I have also topped the plants and as you can see in the pics both plants were a success. I topped them when they reached the top of my first rubbermaid box. Let me know what you guys think.
     

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  18. Nice job man. Awesome grow. +rep for havin' the same set up I got!

    Good luck with Harvest!

    -Kyung Yi
     
  19. anyone else? bump.
     
  20. i have to post lol they look sick man! those hairs look big! it's nice to see your indica's doing well... i wish my indica would have been female :'( it looks big and mature but i'm confused as to why it hasn't grown more secondary colas? maybe somebody else knows cuz i don't, is it normal of an indica to not have as many secondary colas as a sativa? i see like 2-4 additional bud sites lower on your plant, while the sativa i have flowering has probably 12-16 secondary colas all over the place. I don't understand why...
     

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