First of all, puff puff, pass and hello to all. Long time reader, small time grower, full time stoner. So that that you all know me... I recently moved from a small country'ish town where I grew a couple plants outdoors every year, deer got a couple over the years but all and all I had decent success and ok yeilds. But outdoors is no longer an option so I am now going for my first indoor stealth/closet grow. Here's my indoor setup so far: -Home Depot 2x2x3 cabinet (with the adjustable shelf) inside a 4x4x8 closet. -Cabinet is completely wallpapered with mylar and wired with 2 4" computer fans top back corners for exhaust -Dayton 265 CFM blower w/ Can Filter 2600 next to cabinet -6 x CFL 6500k for Veg (currently for my test bagseed) -250 HPS w remote ballast for Flower - waiting to pop its cherry -Nutes - FF trio everybody uses -Soil Mix- Scotts Potting Soil and Perlite (home depot). Mixed about a 75/25 ratio soil/perlite - Radio shack $20 Thermo/Hygrometer -(probe sits on the dirt of the center plant) -clip on fans to keep constant breeze on the babies This setup is mainly going to be used to grow 2 maybe 3 plants at a time, all autoflowering dwarfs (Blueberry mixes and Lowryder #2 probably my first grow). Attitude seed is gonna love me very soon... haha... Before I get slammed, yes I have read and read and used the search a lot. This will be my first experience with any autoflowering plants, wish me luck. To test my new setup I germed a couple bagseed from some decent herb and to my surprise I have 6 2 week old beasties. Temp at plant is 76-84 night/day (havent turned the 2 exhaust fans on yet since the temps are perfect atm), humidity fluctuates from 35%-60% depending on if I forget to fill the humidifier or not. 24/0 CFL grow atm. Have fans both blowing on the plants for a nice breeze and another sucking fresh air in the closet. Gonna grow these until sexing and then go from there. If any fem's take off they will be moved to a bigger closet under a 400HPS. Would be a sin to just throw away a bagseed fem just because it was an experiment. So forget my experiment, strictly autoflowering dwarf strains is what I'm aiming for in my small cabinet. Here come the questions: 1. Everywhere I read, an autoflowering plant germs then basically skips veg and goes straight into Flowering. Does this mean CFL grow for maybe 1-2 weeks then switch to HPS, or just HPS the whole time (seems to easy)? Should I still keep 1-2 CFLs in for side lighting? Also lighting schedule for autoflowers. 12/12? 16/8? 2. 250 HPS in my 2x2x3' cab enough for 2-3 autoflowering dwarfs? For the size of the closet I think I went a little overboard with the 265 cfm blower/filter, but odor is #1 concern to the wifey so its my #1 concern too I guess... I know once I switch to the HPS the temp will shoot up, but I think with the exhaust inside the cabinet and the blower/scrubber in the closet next to it I should be easily able to control temps. Remote ballast also helps, will be sitting outside the closet. 3. After I decide on which autos I want to grow first, is my soil mix completely terrible? Should I just bite the bullet and go buy FF Ocean soil since that seems to be the soil medium of choice? I bought the scotts strictly because it doesnt have any time release nutes. I have all the FF nutes and like to control feedings myself. 4. These auto dwarfs only grow 2' tops for most, so 1 or 2 gallon pots ok? Thats really it, I have general ideas on everything and some experience with growing, but like I said this will be my first attempt at an indoor grow. I've been following a lot of the grow journals here but most are a much bigger scale then mine. I'll try and post pictures later on when I get home of my experiment. Then once I get my auto seeds I'll start a journal so everyone can yell at me if I screw up. haha Thanks in advance for any advice, help, or bashing me. Smoke on! - J
pics pics pics. Haha most of us have done this before and can help you through the process. Looks like your box is almost the same size as mine. My box is 32x32x36"
I know, I know, tonight when I get home I'll try and find my camera and snap a couple pics. Quick question though, what is the purpose of completely sealing a grow box? I built the cabinet and left the top off so I could easily swap lights when the time comes. With my fan/filter setup and the fact the growbox is in a closet that I can close (during 12/12 flower) I dont think I should have an odor problem. Keep in mind I will only be growing 2-3 plants max at a time. To seal or not to seal, I got no fucking clue.... heh Thx in advance - J
Seal it up. You are going to need an odor control system, otherwise come flowering time you WILL BE FUCKED. Close the top and run the air through a carbon filter thats inside the box and then out the fan. This will make it lightproof and keep it stealth as well as completely controlling smell.
Ok I snapped a few this morning. Still groggy, my buddy brought over some purple stain stuff last night and I thought it would be a great idea to roll up the whole 8th in a honey dutch. Thing looked like a friggin gorilla finger. Remember before you bash me, this is just a test run with bagseed. This cab will be used to grow 2-3 autoflowering dwarfs mainly... - J
*Update* They are taking off faster then I could have imagined bagseed would. So far 4 out of the 6 are just about to be repotted into 3gal pots. Still just watering with distilled no nutes yet. Waiting on my FF trio to arrive then I start a feeding schedule. Its been 5 days since I posted pics so here are the girls now (fingers crossed)
You got most of it down. the only thing I'm stressin is the height, but that's solved with the autoflower's. Looks like you got the lighting down and everything. Good Luck. Hope there's a few gal's in there.
*Update* Another week, another update... First off, Smokeitdown, I took your advice and pretty much have the cabinet sealed completely now with the exception of the 2 exhaust fans at the top and 1 intake at the bottom. I started with 6, but my cabinet was only ever intented for 3 tops so I parted with half my original bagseed crop. My buddy took my 3 smallest and put them in his grow room. Today I added my Can 2600 Filter w/ Dayton 265 cfm blower in the attic pulling the air.
Pics.... Pic 1 - My biggest, looks to be a definite girl. About 10" tall, 5 weeks old Pic 2 - Another girl hopefully, Same height as the first but not as bushy, 10" tall, 5 weeks old Pic 3 - Too young to tell sex yet but its a darky compared to the other 2. 8" tall, 4 weeks old Bagseed is like a box of chocolates... Pics 4+5 are family shots Enjoy - J
looks like you took the time to make yourself a nice setup... and your plants look like they are doing great good luck
Wow man, great job! Seriously. Looks like you took my advice well, and put it to good use. I'll bet the inside of that closet smells fresh through the whole grow now. I don't have a filter yet, I'm gettin it next weekend. There is actually a little planty-earthy smell (with a hint of that skunkiness) in that corner where my box is. So I took one of those tree car freshners (black ice smells AMAZING) and put a 3 pack hanging behind the box. You could just tack a few to the wall inside the closet. It would just barely leak out into the room, but believe me, you'll love the smell. Its got a really clean almost smells like a nice cologne. But haha it will freshen your shit up to the max. You can also buy these "odor killing tablets" or one of those industrial air sanitizers that spray every 30 mins in resturaunt bathrooms and shiiiit. My buddy has one of those. Even if he opens up the doors for a few minutes and messes with his flowering plants, you still can barely smell it.
Thx man, they are amazing little plants. Been 4 days since adding my 250HPS to the lighting scheme. As you can see by the pics, they are vegging like crazy. In about a week I say goodbye to all 3 ladies. My buddy has a pretty large flowering room and I want to see how big these 3 get. I just dont have the room for 3 beastly girls New Closet/growbox bagseed test grow I think passed with flying colors. My auto blueberrys should be here next week!!! HPS was on in the pics. They look a little droopy only because I flushed them yesterday so they need a day under the lights to dry out a little. I'll start up a journal once I get those auto BBs. Peace - J