To start, great forums here, TONS of useful info. I've never attempted this sort of thing before, but all the info and peeps here make me think I might be able to do it, so what the hell My goals with this grow are simple: Decent product (doesn't have to be great, as long as it works ) Low cost (I'm broke) Stealthiness (I'd like to keeps this on the DL, as it were.) Even if this doesn't work out I hope I'll get some experience out of it to use later in another attempt with more materials and less restrictions. With the above goals in mind I picked up a 42watt CFL and got another 23w for free and rigged'em up in an old PC case with some PC fans for ventilation. I then got some MG Organic soil into some party cups, and thanks to the germination guide on the forums here I have a pair of schwag bagseeds on their way. Plant #2 germed a day later than #1, and so hasn't sprouted yet, but #1 showed herself (at least I'm hoping it's a 'her'!) tonight when I got home, so she's enjoying the light from a safe distance, waiting for #2 to join her. Once they've grown out I intend to start LST on the both of them, and I'm only going to do these 2 for now, in keeping with the ninja-stealth aspect of this setup. Pics: 1: I was so excited to see this, seed #1 germed 2 days ago 2: After both seeds germed I had'em chilling in the box with the lights off, waitin for them to sprout 3: And today I came home and lookie lookie! #1's a day ahead of #2 4: Another shot of #1 sprouted 5: The exhaust fans 6: The intake fan 7: I had this little fan I wasn't using and decided that once the plants have grown enough I can point it at'em to have a very gentle breeze on them, to help strengthen the stems. Not sure how effective it'll be, but what the hell. 8: The lights - top one is 42w, bottom one is 23w. Supposedly they're around 4200 lumens combined....I'll need to get different ones for flowering, but that won't be for awhile. 9: How the ninja-box looks from the outside, sealed up, with the lights on, chillin in my closet. I hope to get some paper or mylar inside soon to reflect more light inside and cut down on the amount leaking out, but it's fairly well hidden and discrete once I drape some stuff over the box Plus it's right next to my little home servers, so it doesn't look out of place. The only real concern I have is what I'm going to do when they outgrow the case; I intend to move'em up to my attic in a custom-built box, but I'll have to set up a filter to get rid of the aroma. I guess I have more research to do, but if anyone has suggestions (in keeping with the 'cheap' goal ) I'd sure appreciate it. Any comments/advice on my (totally ghetto-rigged) setup here would be more than welcome.
new update for anyone who actually reads this (lol) plant #2 sprouted this morning, got her under light now along with #1...#1 has super tiny leaves forming, they ought to be grown out nicely in a day or 2. I also rigged up this little holder thing for the mini fan I've got in there, it leans 2 ways so it can blow air onto the seedlings and once they've grown a few inches I can lean it back to blow on'em higher up...dunno if it'll do any good, but w/e pics might not load, tryin to post from my cellphone...we'll see tho
ill be updating as often as I can - i'm only using the pc to get them started into serious vegging. once the time comes ill move'em into a bigger box to finish vegging and flower...i just don't have time to make that box for a couple weeks, so the pc case is takin care of things for now, lol.
Small update... Both plants have shot up about an inch or so, just the stem, though, not much leafage yet. Rearranged the lights to even the spacing out; I've got each one about 2" under the bulbs...is this about right? I don't want to burn them; but CFLs don't put out much heat so I think they'll be okay.
okay, well I've had my first problem in my grow..one of plant #1's leaves (actual leaf, not the cotyledon) is yellowed and sickly. as far as I know the soil I'm using isn't pre-nuted and I haven't fed them anything yet, so I think nute burn is ruled out. i'd guess either excessive heat or bad ph, but i've no idea, really. I've been using reg tap water, very sparingly, but I don't know its ph. I'll check that tonite, but is there anything else I should check? I already moved it a bit further away from light to be on the safe side plant #2 looks healthy, aside from a reddish/purple stem - I searched the boards here and couldn't find a definitive answer. since the plant looks good I'm assuming its normal in this case, but if anyone has any input please feel free to post.
someone told me to add a tsp of vinegar to 500ml of water and let it dissolve and it should bring the ph down
Problem is I don't know if the ph is too high or too low...I'm thinking it *might* be a nutrient deficiency (i checked that table in the troubleshooting board and a Phosphorus deficiency's symptoms match up quite well), but I can't know for sure until I figure out what ph my water and soil is at. Will have to wait until later today, but I'm also going to pick up some flowering-spectrum CFLs and some perlite, so I can knock all that out at once.
At such early development of your plants, the chance of having a nutrient deficiency is very unlikely. It is much more likely that you have a PH lock-out issue. Good luck with your grow !
Well I gave them some more time and plant #1's not gotten any worse, and I think is actually getting better. Still not sure what's caused it, but I haven't gotten a chance to get a ph tester yet. Pics (sorry I've only got a cell phone cam and yes it sucks): 1&2) Plant #1, one of the leaves is yellow-brown and curled up at the tip, and one of the coteyldons is yellowish...rest of it looks fine though. 3&4) Plant #2, looking nice, but with this odd reddish-purple stem. Not sure if it's an issue or not; the leaves look healthy.
So I apparently have somewhat alkalinic water...about 8-8.5 or so. Supposedly more acidicness is what MJ likes, so I'll have to begin adjusting the water I give the plants...they're doing OK for now, though.