Linen Closet Personal Grow Journal

Discussion in 'Indoor Grow Journals' started by sudo toke, Aug 2, 2012.

  1. Gonna keep a little grow journal for my first grow. This grow needs to be done on the cheap, so we'll see how successful it will be. Going to be CFL's all the way through. I realize this may not be ideal for yield, but this is really just for me and the missus and we aren't that picky, so as long as this works out half-way decent, I'll be happy.

    Started with 5 feminized Northern Lights seeds which are germing as I type. Been about 32 hours since I started germing (did a 24 hour water soak and then moved to damp paper towels inside of tupperware in a drawer). Three have cracked already and are showing their little roots... the other two haven't yet cracked, but I think I see a crack forming, so fingers crossed this will be a 5/5 germ.

    I was going to go with a DWC, but the air pump requirements and cost kept me from it. Just gonna be a little soil grow. Picked up some Empire Builder soil at the grow shop along with Jungle Juice nutes and basic soil testing kit that came bundled with ph up and down.

    I want to do a little mini-SoG, but if they end up not all germing I may scrap that and go with a ScroG. I know with SoG 5 plants will not have an amazing yield, but again, this is just for me and the missus so I think it will be fine for us. If SoG goes as intended, the shelves of my linen closet are perfect; almost exactly 1 sq ft per plant. Just need to pull out one shelf for vertical space. Got a tip on cheap-o cfl rig here: power strip + power to light socket adapters + Y light socket adapters = cheap, modular lighting rig. I have a couple of Paul Bunyan-sized daylight CFL's that are 68 operating watts each, and am planning on adding either 2 or 4 more 26 watts for good measure... this may be under shooting it, but it's all I got, so if it won't support them all then it just won't support them all.

    Nice thing about the linen closet is I can use the shelves above as the cloner shelf. Planning on putting velcro and tarp material to cover the front of each section of shelves so they stay on their respective light cycles. Still undecided on if I want to mylar coat the inside or just paint it white... this is on the cheap, so if mylar is pricey, it'll be paint.

    Kinda seat of the pants compared to a lot of the really cool setups here, but I'm a po' boy :p. Everything so far has cost around $130 (conservatively), not counting the seeds. I was budgeting $125, so I'm pretty happy with that. We'll see how it goes.
     
  2. The 3 that fully germinated have sprouted and seem to be chuggin' along so far. One is a bit stumpy and further behind, in terms of growth. No sign of the other 2 popping yet... I just threw them in the pot and figured if they sprout they sprout, if they don't they don't. If they do, I can just transplant them to their own pot. So far, so good.
     

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  3. Ill sub along an watch..gl on yr grow!
     
  4. I'll be here for advice and to watch if you're a picture taker. It's quite boring without lots and lots of pictures :p
    Of all of er', I started with the exact way your describing, to boost light concentration go to home depot or the like and get a piece of 10" metal ducting paint it white bending approriately and you have a very cheap reflector. Mhm, think on that one?
     
  5. #5 sudo toke, Aug 13, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 13, 2012
    Seems to be going well. I haven't added extra lights yet, so I'm just using the clamp lights with reflectors for now, but that's a good idea for the extra lights I'll be putting in with the "surge protector lighting rig". I'll keep that in mind. I gave them a little compost tea with their last watering... I've been told by the grow shop folks that it's nearly impossible to overdo it with that stuff, so I figured it might be a more safe way of introducing nutes without as much fear of doing it too early/too much, which as I understand is a common noob mistake. Stumpy is still coming along slowly, but the other two seem to be coming right along. No sign of the others popping, so they probably can be mostly ruled out. Starting to lose their cotyledons, it seems. Now just pray they're girls (feminized seeds, so...). :p
     

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  6. #6 meigsgold, Aug 13, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 13, 2012
    I use a cfl/clamp to get mine 6-10 inches tall,with branches on bottom 2-3 inches.Then I transplant to bigger pots and bigger lights.
    Its ok to give them light nutes from the start.I always have...your seedlings should be bigger than this by now...perhaps your light is too far?..I keep my cfl,2inches from the plant,.and have to move it every day.,because it will grow too close to it.
     

  7. You may be right. I've moved them closer. I'll be posting more pics when they've made some progress...
     
  8. sudo toke, shoot a picture with a ruler measuring the bulb to top of the plant.
    1-2 inches is perfect only if you have a fan blowing on them especially since you're using those massive bugger bulbs, otherwise it will toast them right to death. Wind is good after all :) whats in the soil?
     
  9. True,I use a regular CFL,not one of the giant ones.Make sure you do not bake it....You may want to use the small CFL's until they are bigger..regular cfl's do a great job,on developing seedlings.
     
  10. Pics forthcoming. I meant to snap some shots yesterday but I was exhausted after first day of fall semester, and my camera was out of batteries this morning. I'll snap some shots after school. I do have a small fan in the closet, and they seemed to like the extra light. Already seem a bit bigger. Not sure what signs of baking are, but they look pretty healthy overall. Gave them their first dose of "real" nutes today. Question on PH testing: Do you just test the runoff to test the soil? Also, watering question: The way I was taught with other plants is water until runoff just starts to appear, then stop. Water as topsoil becomes dry (or rather, just not moist). Pretty proud of myself that I haven't become the overbearing dad that tries to overwater like crazy :p.

    Lights are now about 2.5 inches from the closest part of the plant since I moved them closer. Soil is nothing but a bag of Empire Builder soil from Sanctuary Soil and Feed (recommended by the grow shop).

    Ingredients as listed on the bag: Sphagnum Moss, Coco Coir, Worm Castings, Composted Forest Humus, Coco Chunk, Lava Rock, Pumice, Perlite, Gypsum, Rock Phosphate, Langbeinite, Sea Bird and Bat Guano, Fish Bonemeal, Feather Meal, Bonemeal, Limestone, Greensand, Alfalfa Meal, Kelp Meal, Glacial Rock Dust, Azomite, Lignite, Soybean Meal, Rice Bran, Copper Sulphate, Zinc Sulphate, Magnese Sulfate, Potassium Sulphate

    Only other thing that was added was a small bit of compost tea early on. They've just received their first round of nutes (Jungle Juice), and I was planning on the next round in maybe 2 weeks? I just went online and noticed their feeding schedule says every week though...
     
  11. Never grown in anything but soil..never test ph levels.If you water n nute them right,and you have decent soil,you should be ok..
    Im sure others can help you on ph levels..its just not my thing...but if i was doing hydro..id have to for sure.
     
  12. #12 devillover, Aug 15, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 15, 2012
    The real method to ph checking, check you nute solution before you put it in and you can count that should be around .5 to 1 ph higher then your solution.
    edit: This probly sounds confusing, mix your water and nutes together in the propor amounts and then check the ph of that. You want your soil around 6.5ph, give or take .5ph, first and second time so you can see and feel what your doing check your runoff water too. everything is a learning experience.

    Is jungle juice pure organic?
    As to watering, you got it right. water til you see runoff, pick your pot up and try to remember how much it weighs, then pick it up now and then and when its much lighter water til it runs again. you should never over water this way and if you pick it up every 2 days you'll never have it to dry either :)
     
  13. The pick the pot up method is a main rule in growing..definitely do this all the time,til it becomes a habit.Then,you should never have over-under watering probs.
     
  14. Finally! Good God, start of classes has been a clusterfuggle this semester. Pics!

    Light info along with some other pics. Pics are after I just moved the lights, so if they seem a bit far, they were just moved there to keep up with growth. They definitely enjoyed being a little closer, good call there.

    In case you are wondering, the slight nip on the leaves is courtesy of my cat, who was chastised mightily :p. Now kitty-proof. Upgraded to a better fan they had on sale. Planning on adding some more lights next week (I think). Also going to tarp/velcro to section them off and make better use of the light... also because I'm planning on using upper shelves for clones. Speaking of which, when do you all start to take clones? Even in my gardening days I wasn't a cloner... just seeds.

    As always, input appreciated.
     

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  15. Sounds about right. I figured either test runoff, test nute solution, or both. Good info.


    It isn't advertised as such, so I'd doubt it. As I understand it, it's a cheaper carbon copy of General Hydroponics. It is a hydroponic blend, but the grow shop guy said he really thought I'd be fine either way. I'm not super concerned with organic this go-around, but I will likely do this in the future. I'm starting a compost bucket as we speak.


    I've been doing a little lifting combined with the checking topsoil for good measure. Seems to work pretty well so far. They don't seem to be complaining about too much/too little water.

    Again, much thanks.
     
  16. biggest thing i can say change that bulb out. 2700k is for flowering, its mostly int he red range of light. you want 5000k- 7600k. the one in the 7000k range are the best for veg period.

    BUT!! that little guy looks wonderful, whatever the time it said for flowering add 3-4 weeks because youre using the cfls.
     

  17. Will do. I must've got them reversed... noob mistake :(

    Well, I have my "surge protector fixture" that I don't have bulbs for yet, so I'll get those this week to fill it up.

    Yeah, I wasn't going to pay much attention to the time they said for flowering. I figure I'll just keep an eye on them and they'll tell me when they're ready :p.
     
  18. Ya, do you like heady highs or a cementing to your couch high?
     

  19. Both. My wife tends to like more heady, I tend to like more couch-lock, but neither of us are all that picky :p. We both like both kinds of highs. I mostly went with northern lights because I heard it was a good strain for a first grow.
     
  20. More pics! Added more daylight CFLs. Seem to enjoy the extra light. I am getting a bit of yellowing though... think they're getting baked? I backed the lights off some and see what happens. I've heard yellowing can be nute burn also... I started off pretty light though. Should I hold off on their second round of nutes for a bit (schedule says every week)?

    Still planned is to paint the tarp flat white (probably today after class), along with setting up a second white-painted tarp to better light-seal that section of the closet and act as a "curtain" held with velcro. That should give them less light leaks and will be good when I get (hopefully) the upper shelves set up as a clone nursery so I can keep their light schedules separate.

    Also, what temperatures are acceptable in the grow room? It feels a bit warm, but I guess not any hotter than a summer day outside, so maybe I'm trippin'.

    Extra pic taken after I got everything set up included to get stoners' mouths watering. :p
     

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