well, This is a log for myself, along with all of gc. This is my third CFL grow, always organic and was mostly bag seed. This grow i got myself a couple good seeds and im hoping to get a succesful crop. The box im using is 36in tall x 18in deep x 24in wide. Four lights at the moment, 1 42w, 1 55w and 2 26w. I have a intake fan at the bottom and an exhaust fan at the top. I bought a sensor that was supposed to record hi/lo temps and hi/lo humidity But that broke somehow and now only tells current humidity. I used aluminum to line the walls, cant find mylar locally, and i personally dont buy anything related to pot over the internet. All im using for nutes is some organic tomatoe food. Started out with 5 Sensai Star seeds and a black widow. I germ using the ah, wet paper towel in a ziplock bag then throw it in the dresser and wait a day way. All but one seed popped, I planted all five popped seeds in some soil in a cut up milk container.. (lol how ive always done it) only two made a push up, the other three just didnt make it.. So then i transplated both of the established plants into their own 8in pots which will be there last home's. Red pot is black w, and blue pot is sensai Im using MG organic soil, and with the huge gnat infestation i have had with this last bag, it will be the last time I use it. Freak helped me out on getting rid of the gnats and thats where I am at, at the moment. Today is day 14of the grow, I'll post up a few pics i've taken along the way.
This will just be my first, and current update. DAY 14 I even put my little girls flowers in their to see if they would grow.. take a look and just cause im looking for suggestions this is my fans, any idea how i can seal them? i was thinking of going ghetto and using tape lol you guys can poke and laugh, but ive gotten good amounts in shi*%ier setups. and besides, its the net. lol anyone with some positive criticisim is welcome, and i guess those with something negative to say can post too... lol peace and happy
I didnt notice till just now looking at the pictures... in the red pot there are holes in the sand.... the F*$KING GNATS ARE DIGGING!!! SOB's! i went and flattened all the sand to make it hard and compact.. thought i did that at the begining though... oh well.
thanks man, But why arent the gnats going away! its depressing lol edit I just went to the store for some peroxide, another good soak. hopefully that does it.. cant imagine anthing surviving
Wow. This is a stubborn batch. I dont recall this happening before. Repeat the process. Dont worry about it affecting the plant. Freak
so i can just keep repeating this cycle till they die? there wont be a problem with the sand being there a week will it? i just hear of peroxide killing bacteria in the soil, and i imagine organic soil has tons of bact. in it. i just dont wanna kill the wrong kind while im peroxiding the plants. im going to order some dont bug me from fox farm, just incase this doesnt work. Another question i had was, I have hard water here at home, is that ok to use? i've bounced between that and bottled water.
Day 15 Just an update cause im just peroxiding the plants. Still trying to get rid of those gnats... this will be the third time in five days. 20oz of water to 5oz of peroxide per plant. I have seen a decline in gnats since the sand and peroxide method.. but its not the big ones u see flying around.. its the little ones you cant see... I was also messing around with the lights last night, one fell into the sensai pot and burned a side.. but i think it will be ok.
DAY 16 I went and bought two more CFL's this morning, 1 26w (one that mimics sunlight, looks real cool) and another 42 w 2700k bulb. so in tottal I know have 190+ watts between two plants. this morning the forth set of leaves started, if enough progress is made today im going to FIM and maybe start some LST tonight.
Very nice little grow, seems to be working out nicely. With the bugs, something that has always helped me were the electronic bug repellents. You can get them at Walmart in the hardware section for around $10. They plug right into a wall socket, and it shoots off a frequency that evidently pisses off many bugs away from your grow area. I haven't read up on it to be honest, but I haven't had a problem with bugs, and it was only $10 so I gave it a shot and I was happy with it. Good luck!
DAY 17 So I went and bought a splitter this morning for my outlet that doesnt have a reflector.. 220 watts even now... Is that enough for two plants all the way to harvest? Im kinda running out of room for lights lol. I took them into the bath room to give them their final peroxide assualt on the evil bugs that live in my soil... one question I had was about my supposed Black widow. I noticed all of the new growth has purple on the edges, but the purple that was on the stem has dissapered.. is this just the purple from the stem moving out through the leaves? or do I have a problem? some pics second to last pic is the plant in question, might be hard to see... and last pic i snapped this morning on my way home... You think he was stoned..?
ah well we will find out thursday when i dig the sand up. hopefully its all good. but i've noticed the gnats have started gathering by the drainage holes at the bottom of the pot...so IDK
Going to dig up the sand tonight after dinner. Im also going to bake the remainder of the MG organic soil and top off the plants afterwards.. probably should have done that before i planted.. lol lesson learned! pics to come
One method for controlling gnats/fruit flies that i have found to work is a small shallow dish filled with vinegar and a small amount of dish soap, it's just something else you can try, apple cider vinegar works best.
I used a vinegar, dish soap, cooking oil (veg) mix. sprayed that on top of the sand this morning. Then i put out a little plastic dish filled with vinegar. im hoping it worked even though im about to get rid of the sand. Getting ready to bake some soil here in the next few min. Pics and update in a little bit