Hey Guys and Galls! I've posted some material on other pages but decided I should start a Grow Journal as I'm keeping a close eye on my first grow and taking lots of pics. Really lovin' it! Here's the deal: - First grow (eastern county in the UK - to give you an idea of temps). - Three Magic Bud femminised seeds germinated on wet paper towel. - All three germinated after about 5 days. - One failed to make the transplant to seedling pot. - Using a multi-purpose seed compost with perlite (50:50) - Built a stealth cabinet from MDF + 2 computer fans - Approx size is 70cm x 70cm x 80cm, lined with foil - Wanted to use a semi-hydro system to maintain water, so I used capillary matting and caly pebbles to retain water. - Bought a GrowKing 125w flourencent lamp with reflector These Buds were born on 4th March. More pics and news to follow... "there is no such thing as a chemical reality"
Lookin' so nice, I think I'm in love all over again...! "there is no such thing as a chemical-FREE reality"
Some closeup... Also, just to let you know, the plan is one of these will stay in the cabinet and I will try to LST it. This seems like the ideal way to reduce height, which is going to be restricted due to the size of the growbox. The other will stay in a warm and private place and may then be planted outdoors later (probably keeping it in a pot so it can be moved/hidden as required). Thanks to all who help us newbies to take the first steps on our growing mission!
I really like Ur grow cabinet..any light leaks? and U should think about ventilating it, it needs to have fresh air pulled into the box..even with the door closed. great design...props for creativity!
Hey Spittn4Chash, thanks for your comments. Glad you like my grow!! There are some very minor light leaks but as it's well positioned and hidden I've no problem with light coming out and giving it away. However when I switch to 12/12 I'll need to use some tape to seal a few bits and will need to think of some way to allow the fan to work but not let light in. In on 24 hour light at the moment - I read this is do-able when using flouro(?) but I've also read they actually grow faster if they are given some 'sleep' - any thoughts on this anyone??? I cut a much bigger hole today for the fan as the heat was kinda building up a bit and I was worried, however I've got another smaller fan on the plants (see the pic above) and this is keeping my girls in a gentle breeze. I'm looking forward to seeing them in another week and then thinking about how I'm going to LST one, probably the bigger of the two. - haven't had so much fun since keeping tadpoles at school!!!
I've always read that aluminum foil can be bad for the plants, because of the uneven reflections, causing burns sometimes. You'd probably be better off painting the inside of the box white or use mylar I think. I'm just a newb, but perhaps somebody else can chime in on that.
Yeah, I've read this too. I going to stick with foil for a while and get some mylar from our local Head/Grow shop in a week or so. The surface of the foil is quite uneaven, which I think should cut down on any of the problems with burn - plus I'm only using a 125w flouro (GrowKing from Green's Horticulture in Bristol, only £45 including shade, cables and postage - great deal I think!). I'm feeding very lightly with Seaweed growth promoter - does anyone think I'll need to go for nutes? I've read that hydroponic nutes are also excellent for soil grows but I've also read that over feeding is bad news... ... thoughts
sorry i cant answer none of your questions but im wondering what the dimensions on that are. Edit:nevermind i found it
Well, as you might have read in some of my other posts I had a real problem with some brown spots and yellowing on the leaves - and I really thought this growing lark was going to be easy!!! So I changed the soil after I read the label and realised it had nutes added to it - fuckin' numbnuts!! Anyhow, babies are growing well now in loam-based soil and enjoying themselves... They are starting to really smell now! I kinda worry about it and I kinda LOVE it!! I'm going to give them a few days to settle in and get used to their new home then next week I'll try them with some Phostrogen. Anyhow, it's going well - I just wish I could put the whole thing on fast forward, this is fun but I need to learn some patience!!! Wish me luck and Take It Easy!!
Well, here we are; one month in. I put three seeds in to germinate exactly four weeks ago. Two of the the three made it and here they are today... I've just bought a new light - a 225 GrowKing - after comments about my size(!) I've been kinda paranoid about the speed of growth of my babies so I decided to splash out on a bigger unit... The lamp and shade were sent from Green's and despite being really well packed the courier managed to break the bulb!!! Arrrrghhhh!! Anyhow, Ben at Greens was brilliant and said he would get another one in the post for Tuesday. This will put my girls under some serious light (remember this grow cabinet is only 60cm x 60cm x 70cm (internal). More pics to follow..
... as you'll see these babies are looking quite good, I think. They grew very slowly to start with and it became obvious that I had the wrong type of compost - too strong, with nutes and that actually damaged the early growth. Then I switched to loam-based neutral compost (no ferts) and they LOVE it! It seems what I've ended up with are two very healthy but compact plants, which is exaclty what I want as there is no room to grow two giant species. I'm planning to top them next week - is that too soon? I've read that I should be doing this after the fourth growth node. I've got five already and I want to keep these plants compact and get the growth coming out sideways to fill the cabinet... Thoughts and ideas please?! I've also just started some folar feeding - photrogen (which my Dad has always raved about in his garden); it's N:K 16:9:22 - so probably more suited to flowering than veg but I'm going to give it a try and see how they get on with it. So guys, what do you think?? Take It Easy!
My Super Stealth Grow - and nobody knows....!! (and let's keep it like that!!! ) Beautiful in my eyes... Take It Easy!
So I'm not sure hat to do now - do I not top if I LST? I guess I keep the main stem and then just gradually bring it down and tie it in - I've read DierWolf's thread and that's what I get from it. What about topping one of them - the shorter of the two - and try to get it to bush out? I also would like to create a clone from one or either of them, as I'm also hatching a plan for an outdoor grow through the summer - I've found an ideal location!
... come on guys, tell me, what do you think I should do: top them and try to get them to bush out, or set up a SCROG (I've seen some amazing results from others on here with SCROG), or should I tie the little bitches down and make them suffer LST-style? Your thought...?
Thanks for dropping by DierWolf (it feels like having the Master check my work!). As I'm only going to be growing in a very small space how soon should I top them. See these photos to give you some idea of where they are up to right now... Also I've just started to LST one of them, is this right or should I top it first??? ... Take It Easy!
Well, after a bit of messing around I got my new GrowKing Monster light, it's only 225watt (although on the box it says it is the same as a 600w HPS?!?!?). I went for the red spectrum as I'm going to be thinking about switching to flowering in the next few weeks and I can afford to buy one of each at the moment. I put it in and must admit on switching it on I was a little dissapointed; now I know why everyone's pictures in flowering make the plants look yellow. The bulb didn't seem to be that much brighter that my 125w (blue). Anyhow I set it up and then went about more bondage on 'Leggy Blonde' as I call plant two. I've increased the angle of the LST after getting some good advice from DierWolf (thanks man!). This is how it's looking now... I decided that for a short while I'd try running both lights to just see how this goes. As I'm still going to be in veg for a few more weeks - I want to complete a good LST with my main plant and top the second so it bushes out - I dedcided that using both bulbs with both spectrums should work (?), then when I switch to flowering I'll just use the main light. However on coming back and inspecting the set-up later this afternoon/evening I found the temperature had gone up like a rocket (not suprisingly, it's obvious) - the temp had gone up from 80 to 100 degrees! However the plants were looking amazing, they were obviously enjoying the tropical light and heat. The humidity had also dropped dramatically and was very dry. I think I can sort all this out with better ventilation, which I'll seek to address this weekend. My next request for help and advice - two questions: a) what is the maximum temperature that I can safely get away with? b) what is the lowest humidity I can also get away with? Thanks for any advice and help... Take It Easy!
i cant answer the last 2 questions BUT if you put a bucket of water next to the plants then it will higher the humidity. i would try n get that temp back to 80 cuz i dont think they can handle 100 but i am not sure