Hello Grasscity Folks. I'm a first time indoor grower who finally decided to make the move and start my own. I've dabbled with the idea for several years asking friends and other folks who grow. After much research , good and bad, I decided to go organic, simple and cheap (budget limitations and first timer concerns). I decided on low cost method just to see if this is a hobby I really want to continue doing. Btw... I'm in a algal state in the SW where temp reach close to 115 F between June and August with humidity ranging in the low teens (thus the reason to use a swamp cooler). Setup: Tent - 4x4x6.5 Hydrokracken Tent Lighting - DIY Light fixture with 16 23w CFLs plugged into Y connectors on a utility power rack. 300w Viparspectra LED with UV and IR. Diy foil reflector for cfl only days. Cooling and Ventilation - DIY Swamp cooler since my tent is in a hot garage @ 100 to 110 F (made with cooler and pond pump), 2 clip on fans 6 inch and 1 7 inch floor pivot fan. Pots: Solo cups for seedlings, 1 gallon tubs for vegging and additional grow space, 5 gallon smart pots for future flowering. Soil: FFOF for seedlings, Ecoscraps with added Perlite for vegging and flowering. Fertz: Alaska Fish Emulsion Fertilizer 5-1-1 for Veg. Alaska Morbloom 0-10-10 for flowering. Mollases for taste and fun every 3rd watering. Water: Tap left open for 48 hrs in gallon jugs. Seeds - Critical Kush (unknown sex and not really 100% on the strand, obtained through a kind grower friend) I started with a dozen seeds in solo cups and my first version of swamp cooler using a 5 gallon bucket. Seeds sprouting , tent temp good considering garage is baking at 105 F. Cooler upgrade and week 3 since seed planting. Transplanted to larger pots. First feed of Alaska Fert at 1/4 strength per gallon. Week 4. Topped all plants. Gave a few away to some buds of mine. You can see additional CFL being used and LED during my 18/6 light cycle.
Update ... Day 30 since I planted my seeds. I'm going to veg them 2 more weeks then flip to 12/12 flowering.
Day 1 Flowering 8/27 Week 1 Flowering Day 15 Flowering pre bloom nutes Day 18 Flowering Day Nuted with Morbloom and Mollases Reserving for updates....
It's going well so far. Just waiting on some colas to start forming. I will post pics as soon as I see a substantial change in the plant. I'm currently using the 12/1 method after I got hit with a crazy electric bill last month. Lol. Which seems to be working. I'm also thinking about going strictly LED on the next rotation (more efficient to run). As of now, my tallest plant is about 20 inches and bushy as ever. I've been experimenting with my first indoor organic grow. One set of 2 plants are strictly under CFL and they are about 14 to 17 inches tall. I have two other plants in 1 gallon jugs and those are getting 50/50 LED and CFL and they get turned 180 degrees every day. And I have another set of two plants under an LED only and these bad Girls are about to hit 20+ inches in the next few days.
How much did your power bill go up after the first month? If you don't mind me asking. Just so I know what to look forward to lol.
$35 with the lights and 2 inline fan blowers and 2 fans for air flow. I'm guessing it will be less now since I started flowering
I will upload them tonight on this thread once lights turn on. But these are from week one flowering. Day 5 flowering under led Day 5 flowering under CFL ... excuse the burnt leaves (didn't realise the 4 inch stretch in 12 hrs. )
Oh man they're looking pretty beautiful! lol when I started vegging my first plant and was still under CFLs I often burnt the leaves, getting the balance right between closeness and overnight growth can be tough lmao. I'm hopefully getting my COB setup ordered and built within 3 weeks wooo
Haha I think i had more fun building my setup than the actual grow. I had to overcome some heat and low humidity issues since the start but took care of it within a few weeks of planting seeds. Had to build a swamp cooler and a somewhat diy light fixture.
Yeah it's a whole different world indoors you look like you did your homework tho. Good luck and holler if ya need anything
Could u check this out. Made this post last night. One of my plants is turning brown. https://forum.grasscity.com/index.php?threads/1422438/
How is the viparspectra treating you in comparison to the cfls? Thats the same led I'm planning on getting as well, also how far have you kept it from the top of your plants? Thank you!
Do far so good. What I've noticed r the buds being more dense that the buds under cfl. The Viparspectra is also a great alternative if heat is an issue. I'm going to be adding an additional 1 or 2 more led's for the next grow.