The only other time I tried doing anything on my own was...well, a long damned time ago...probably late 80's with some bag seed. And those didn't get very far since I had a sudden trip come up right as I had the seeds germinating in a wet paper towel. So they never even got a chance to make it into a pot for a window grow. This go-round involves seed from a bank, although I am starting with just a couple of them so I don't completely screw up I was at least happy to determine that ISC didn't screw them up as they came through... I've got one of my freebies (psycho crack) and also a bubble-gum that I got started last week with a wet paper towel...less than 48 hours later, they had a nice little tap root. They went into peat containers the size of a solo cup over the weekend and this morning are both showing green through the soil. So, at least for the moment, yay me... I don't have any special set-up for the grow room since I'm just dipping my toes in the water before ponying up on more expensive equipment. So they are just in a spare bedroom for the time being. I'm not sure if I will stay inside the whole time or if they will eventually move outside (I'm in an area where it stays relatively warm for another few months).
I took a couple of pics last night...now I just have to figure out the attachment process. Granted, it isn't like there is a lot to see at just a week, but still...well, hell...it IS what it IS ya know
View attachment 160031 View attachment 160032 Here are both of them at one week...the bubblegum poked through first and is the larger of the two. And yes, I realize the peat pots might not have been optimal, but they were convenient...since I am already seeing some signs of breakdown after less than a week, I am hoping they do as expected once I drop them into a larger container.
It has been an interesting few days watching how quickly they can start turning towards side lighting...literally within a few hours they will start moving. They also added a few inches in height already from the other photos. I guess that is a good sign...at least it suggests I haven't screwed them up too bad... This weekends project becomes one of rigging something to hang tube lights from...which means I finally have a use for a PVC laundry bag frame that I could never find a replacement bag for LOL! Yeah, I am one of those people who keeps stuff like that to re-purpose at some other point in time... Also on tap for the weekend will be dropping the peat pots into a larger container.
What kinda lights are you planning on rigging up? Your laundry frame sounds like it will be a perfect "repurposed " light hanger. Lookin forward to seein the progress
View attachment 160117 View attachment 160118 Took these this evening when I got home from the office...they'll be going into a larger pot tomorrow, which is one week after they had been started in the peat pots shown in the two pics. First one is the psycho crack and the second is the bubblegum auto...nothing fancy to my grow compared to what some of y'all have going. They simply sit in a spare bedroom right now amongst some boxes I am storing in there.
The repurposing isn't happening...couldn't find the pieces, so I may have tossed them when I moved lake houses. BUT...the notion has stuck in my mind and so I will just use PVC furniture fittings so that I can expand in any direction at any time. Looking probably at 3/4" but may go 1" but all of the connectors are available in both sides and I can get 8' lengths of PVC for next to nothing. Other advantage to that route is easy takedown if I need to move it for some reason...the fittings are such that I wouldn't even need to use PVC cement for it to be sturdy. Biggest nuisance is that the Home Depot/Lowes sorts of places don't always have a good selection in-store on the three, four and five-way fittings...so I may have to order online and wait a day or two for them to arrive in the store (there are other places online but shipping may rule them out on a pure economics basis). Lights are just basic tubes at the moment...
Need to move some stuff around in the room to get a decent picture, but after transplanting the babies, I finally got the structure pieced together. I only have two plants going, so I kept it relatively simple with a combination of PVC and 3/4" wooden dowels (oak). Corners are standard PVC three-way's and then I am using slip-tees on the sides of the top to hold the rods that serve as light supports. I have the lights in place using some small link chain that was about 40 cents a foot...got four lengths of it at 4' each along with the D-rings to clip it at the height I want. Mylar is on order to put around three sides and to drape the top. As the plant grows, I can expand the frame by using another of the PVC connector, sort of like an old erector set or something...at the moment, it is about 18" by 36" and two feet high. Quite possibly not what some would have done, but it will hopefully work for what I am doing...and if I were to decide I didn't like it, I don't have any real financial losses. Let's face it...the PVC connectors were a bit over a buck a piece and the slip-tees were about 40 cents each. Cost on the framing only went up since I decided to use wood...the oak was about $3.50 for a three-foot length, compared to $2 for an 8' length of PVC.
In the "This Certainly Sucks" category...the air conditioning for the bedroom zone of the house took a crap over the weekend. Hoping it is just low refrigerant and everything is back to normal today after the repair guy gets out there...but in the meantime, it means that temps are floating between 85-87 degrees...humidity is in the low 60's. I've kicked the ceiling fan up a notch to try and move a little more air around in the room, but I am worried about this being a stress event that causes harm given it is barely two weeks since they poked their little green selves out of the soil...
Damn that sucks about your ac. I've def been in the same situation. Hopefully it won't stress your little ones too much with the heat. I like the idea of being able to expand your box. And I'm all about cheaper investments. Do you plan on LST or topping to keep them a desirable size?
A/C situation got a little worse last night after the tech was out...compressor is shot and they aren't sure if they can source a replacement for the antique system my house has for downstairs. Space is not really an issue, especially with just two plants in the room...however, I will probably look at trying different things for yield, to include both LST and topping.
Photos to come tonight as week three comes to a close from the time that the seeds were first put into a damp paper towel for germination... No change in the A/C situation other than I now have a couple of numbers since they found a new condenser unit compatible with what is in place. Second place is due out today to give an estimate and then I need to find a third. Saving grace is that it hasn't been completely miserable this week... And my Fox Farms trio arrived on Monday, so they got a feeding last night. Only other thing besides water that they had prior to the Fox Farms was some of the Alaskan fish stuff that is a 6-1-1.
Had to go by the house at lunch...these are just shy of three weeks from the seeds being placed into the paper towels for germination. Went into peat pots the weekend of the 8th and then into some larger plastic pots about a week ago. View attachment 160500 View attachment 160499 Lighting is still with just the T5 multi bulb plus an additional short T8 resting along the edge of each pot.
continuing to tinker with my framework...although I liked the look of the wood better than non-furniture-grade PVC, it didn't have the good fit in the connectors that I felt should be there. So the top rails have been replaced by a couple of pieces of PVC cut to size. Bottom frame rails and the supporting pieces are still wood, but wrapped at the ends to fit better into the PVC fittings. Have also decided to add some diagonal cross-bracing for rigidity. This will add another few bucks to the total. The 4' x 25' roll of mylar film arrived yesterday, so it will be going in place over the weekend. I never was good at including everything in a conceptual design...I keep over-thinking things and making changes, which is of course why places like Lowe's and Home Depot probably love me...
Lighting change...instead of 2x two tube 4' 54W T5, I decided to go with a single four-tube due to a better reflector...cost difference was negligible since I have to hard-wire them...so instead of 2x ~$40 plus two plug kits, it is ~$85 and one wiring kit. This is in addition to the 2x two-tube 3' 21W T5 units being used alongside the original T8's that I had used the first few weeks. These came with bulbs and ran about $25 each from a local big-box building store. And yes, I know that this is not the conventional approach to lighting...but it does seem to be a work in progress that will satisfy my needs since I am not looking to do more than a couple of plants at a time. With the 54W unit going in, the twin T8's will be going back into the storage unit until they are needed again. Quick math would suggest that the extra wattage from them wasn't going to do much in the big picture since the other three units will combine for 300W from the sides and above.
Finally got the pics of the frame...sort of. It is still a work in progress since I want to get my diagonal bracing in place before I hit it with the mylar. But, it is a basic wood/PVC box frame. 2' high at the moment with 2' wide and 3' long. Lights are a 4' 4-tube 54W HO T5 hanging with two 3' 21W T5 units resting on the edges of the pots (300W total from top and sides combined). View attachment 160598 View attachment 160597 Although there is enough other stuff stored in the room to keep a lot of light from showing towards the street, I do throw a towel over it at night just to reduce a little bit of the light. Won't have an issue with light getting in at night once I go to flowering...
Had to cut the HO T5 from overhead until I can get my A/C fixed...temp in the room was hovering around 90 and the babies were showing signs of stress. I was also getting the claw starting to set in and so my guess is the heat combined with a recent feeding was more than they can take at the moment...I know claw can be indicia of nitrogen issues, but I am also concerned about overwatering- its like a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. So...at the moment, I am just running two of the 3' 2-bulb T5 units from the sides (84 total watts, 42 each front and back of the plants). Tonight when I get home, I will work on raising the HO T5 unit and cut the side units and see what temps look like after a night to stabilize.