This is my first post on GC, but I have been reading here for a while. Finally I am in an appropriate living situation to try this out. I have an upstairs bedroom in a two story house. It is the only room upstairs and my roomate is a longtime friend. We rent the house from a family member of his who never comes over and would never go in my room. My friend suffers from a severe back condition and has had multiple surgeries. He has a good deal of daily pain just being active. He has struggled with painkiller addiction and side effects in the past, and the good herb truly is the perfect medicine for him. So needless to say he would never backstab me. I was going to buy a tent, but I decided it would be funner to build something myself. I decided on a 5 growbox made from 2X4s and plywood. I went to the lumber yard and got three 4X8 foot sheets of plywood and ten 8 foot 2x4s, total $42. I borrowed a Skilsaw and jigsaw from a friend, and did the beginning cutting and assembly. I now have the frame built, with top, bottom, and 1 side attached. I still have three sides to cut and attach. Two of the sides will need circular ventilation holes about 6-8" in diameter. One will be a passive intake and the other an exhaust, which I will have to rig up with a fan and DIY carbon filter. The basement had a ton of T12 lighting in it. I grabbed two light fixtures, each fixture holds 2 40W Cool White bulbs. I hear T12s really suck but hopefully they will get me by until I can buy this T5 fixture I saw at the store for only $75. It holds 4 bulbs and the bulbs come with. Then eventually I will have to throw down on the HPS for flower. I plan to grow 3 or 4 plants so I guess I'll need a 100-200W HPS? I hung the lights with eye hooks and some string. I ordered some seeds called Crystal Paradise from the Attitude. Come to find out they are an outdoor strain I think, and it says they grow tall. Oh well, we'll see what happens. I cut some red solo cups to half height, drilled drainage holes in the bottom and filled them with FoxFarms Ocean Forest potting soil to the top. I planted all ten crystal paradise right in the soil and watered them in. I had another 5 bagseeds from some really good bud. The seeds were dark and solid, so I gave them a shot. So I have a total of 15 seeds planted. Hopefully at least 3 or 4 of them will turn out healthy and female!!!
Looks like you get it planned out well. You should get more than 3-4 chicks with 15 seeds, probably half of them I'd think. Once you get going, we want to see pics!
Made some progress on the setup today. I cut and attached two more walls, and left the last wall open for now. I need to figure out a way to have a side that easily detaches but is light/air tight. I bought a 4 bulb T5 light, bulbs included, for $85 at the hydro store. The guy who ran the store was really cool, we had a long discussion and I told him all the details of my setup. He gave me some solid advice. Also bought a temp/humidity meter while I was there. The seeds have germinated and popped above the soil! Looking good so far.
I lined the box with plastic today. At first I tried to use one continuous sheet to line the whole thing, but that was a disaster. So i covered each wall individually, making sure to overlap the sides. I hung the temp and humidity gauge, which is reading around 80 degrees F and %50 RH. I have the oscillating fan off in the distance gently blowing some air around until I can get the exhaust figured out. I also installed a lock on my door today. I can now rest A LOT easier when I'm at work knowing that nobody could walk right in. It took all day just to get the old knob off without destroying the wood around it. This house is old, really old. Which leads me to my next point, the wiring. I was changing lightbulbs in an incandescent fixture in my ceiling and this sticker pops out. "WARNING most dwellings built before 1985 have supply line rated to 60 degrees celcius. Consult an electrician before installing" ??????? I asked my buddy at the hydro store and he said as long as the wires were rated to 15 amps, which they are, then I was fine. And anyways, its one T5 light fixture, cmaaaaaaan. Still unnerving. Of the 15 seeds I started with, 8 have germinated and are looking good!
Hey Greenbeech, nice setup you've got going on. So what's the deal with talking to the people at the hydro stores? Is it like a smoke shop where you can't say the word "bong". Do you have to keep referring to your "dank indoor tomato grow"? BTW, it might be too hot where your seedlings are. If the temp is 80 degrees away from the lights, then it's probably at least 85 where the seedlings are. That's how I kept killing off my seedlings until I finally got my current grow working. The stems would not thicken the way they should and then they would turn red/purple.
BongAttack, I think I may have fried these seedlings. There stems are red/purple like you described. One of the seedlings has yellowing on the end of its leaves. 2 of the seedlings that were in the middle of opening up have halted, the seed casing still partway hanging on there. I probably shouldn't have dropped the light right down on them like that. I hiked the light up a good two feet. Im not sure if they are gonna pull through or not. I have more seeds on the way though. The thermometer has a probe that I put right next to the plants so the "outdoor" 80 degree reading should be accurate right? I moved the oscillating fan closer and that in combo with the lights moved up dropped the temps down to 75. They were ready for water so I did that. I bought a micron filter and hooked it up under the sink so I'm not using straight tap water. I also let it sit out for 24 hours to let any chlorine evaporate, I think I remember reading that somewhere. The hydro store guy, man he is a fucking character. He has been running different hydro shops for 20+ years. He keeps his dog right in the shop with him. Every time I've gone in, its been completely dead, so we can talk totally openly. He always initiated it though. I came in there with the "water-pipe not bong" mentality, but his wife hit me with "what nutes do you flower with?" right away, so it was laid back from the get-go hahaha. Awesome people. I had no problem giving them my full name for rewards program upon checkout, every $150 I spend, I get $20 store credit. He cut me a good deal on my T5 light too, a very good deal. Overall awesome people, hard-working, down to earth, small business owners.
Hey Greenbeech, Judging by those pics I don't think they're fried. One of the plants I'm currently growing had a purple stem for the first couple weeks... so it can be genetics. I didn't realize you had a probe near the plants, so I'd imagine your thermostat is right and you're in the green when it comes to temperature. Did you already throw those new bulbs into the mix or is it just those two 40W tubes? I'd imagine those tubes would be enough for the first week (don't want too much light in there yet). And I'm thinking two feet away might be too far cuz you certainly don't want them to stretch. That hydro shop sounds pretty badass, especially the discount. That kind of surprises me, though, that they would initiate the weed conversation. Maybe you just seem really trustworthy. I'd be paranoid about the damned cops if I were them. Good luck on your grow! I'm subbed
Your right, two feet was excessive. The lights are now about 1 foot above the top of the seedlings. The light I'm running is a 4 bulb T5, using high output 54W bulbs. Further discussion with the epic hydro store guy has convinced me I can flower with this same light, using the different spectrum bulbs. I like that it doesn't put out much heat, and not buying another light would be ideal. I really need to get the ventilation figured out. At the store, there were two different fans, one about $35 the other $75. The guy said that if I wanted to use a carbon filter, I should probably get the more expensive one. I need to go back and look at the CFM on them. Also not sure if I should make a DIY carbon filter or buy one. Once I have the ventilation set up I can put this last wall on. Then I can conceal it with a tablecloth or something so theres not a massive cedar box in my room. With christmas right around the corner there will be family over at times no doubt. However the lock is giving me peace of mind. Its like having two layers of security, the house locks and then my own little apartment. Also put the oscillating fan on a timer so the plants have a break from it for a little. Should I 24/0 or 18/6? I've been doing 24/0. I'm bummed my plants may have taken some damage, but I'm optimistic. It might have something to do with this nice looking hash oil I just obtained
The plants survived and are doing great! I'm gonna make a thread over in Indoor Grow Journals where I should have made this in the first place. Peace!!!