Rubbermaid grow - my first grow

I'm a poor college student and I smoke WAY too much weed. The logical solution? Grow my own

I bought a 5 pack of "The Church" from greenhouse seeds mainly because they are cheap and their site said it has a high THC content.

I used the paper towel method to germinate the seeds - 3/3 seeds made it fine. I gave a seedling to a friend and kept two for myself.

These are the pics of the two plants after 3 days:






and the box:

The box was easy to make and cost about $80 for all the materials. I am running 6x26 watt CFL for a total of 10,500 lumen.

I have 2 fans, one as an intake and one as an exhaust. The intake is a 80mm computer fan and the exhaust is a 120mm fan, humidity is ~20% (I live in a VERY dry area) so I have been running a humidifier 24/7 for the last few days and that bumped the humidity level to about 40%

I'm going to the store later on today to pick up a fan to blow on the plants. I'll post more pics in a few days.

 

@canttchtht
I have the box separated so I can work inside it.I duct taped hangers to the top of the box so I can hang it in my closet while tending to my babies. When the lids are connected, the plants are 6 inches from the light.

I have aluminum ducts connected to the fans (on both sides) so i can pump in fresh air and keep my closet relatively cool

@hydr1
If I gotta be broke I may as well be happy! lol

 

I'm amazed how fast these things can grow in only a day - plant B was barely above the soil when I last posted pictures, now it's well above and doing great

It's hard to keep the humidity at a decent level since it's so dry here. I am barely able to keep it at 30% with a humidifier running 24/7.




plant A



Plant B

 

Day 7:

Plant A:


Plant B:


It took 2 days to germinate and 5 days to get to the level they are at now

 

Day 10:

Plant A:




Plant B:



I'm surprised that plant A didn't die; when I transplanted it, I ripped the shit out of its roots. It seems to be doing fine now

 

Day 12:

Plant A:


The stem toppled over sometime on day 11, so I propped it up with a toothpick over night. After it was strong enough to stand on its own, I I put extea soil around the base of the stem and set a small fan to blow on it. It looks like there are little yellow specs in the picture, but those were just dust/dirt particles that brushed right off.




I haven't had any problems with this plant. It seems to be doing great.

 

day 14:

Plant A:



Plant B:



I'll post pics of the growbox later on today.

 

I made the box using 2 44 gallon sterilite containers (same thing as rubbermaid, just different brand) stacked on top of each other. This is the first thing I've done that required electrical work, so it's sloppy. I plan to build another one so I can have one box dedicated to flowering and the other for veg, so I can have multiple plants in different stages so I wont run out of bud.

Here's the outside of the box:


It is spray painted black with the krylon fusion. I didn't do a great job with the paint, but I didn't have much time to get it done because I didn't want to get caught. The inside of the box is painted flat white.

I have two hangars taped to the top of the container that holds the lights, so i can hang it in my closet while tending to the plants and also so I can see what I'm doing. It makes it super easy to work with, but it isn't exactly stealth.




This is the exhaust fan. It's 200 CFM and the intake is 100. Once the plants get a little bigger, I'll build a carbon filter to neutralize the smell.



This is inside the box where the exhaust fan sucks warm air out. It's ghetto as hell, but it works.



Intake, sucks cool air from the floor in, I had a dust filter covering it, but cut it in the middle so it wouldn't block moisture.




Intake inside.
The hole above the fan is where the lights connect to the power source.



6 26w CFL, each producing 1750 lumens. The lights are grounded and connected to the power source with a wirecap and electrical tape. The wires are taped to the top with electircal tape and I taped over that with duct tape. It's been on 24/7 for the last 2 weeks with no issues.



This is the enterance to my closet. I don't have a door, so I covered the majority with a blanket so the moist air doesn't escape when I run the humidifer. I'm lucky, my parents never go in my room, so I don't have to worry about getting caught.

The whole setup cost about $90 to build including the lights. The seeds were $40 w/ shipping.

 

I don't think you could do 4 plants because there is JUST enough room for 3 one gallon pots.

If you aren't building your box in a closet where you can hang the top container on a rack, I think you'll get frustrated pretty quickly since you'll have to remove it constantly. After this grow, I'm going to build a small cabinet with a front facing door, so I don't have to worry about moving the lights every time I tend to my plants.

 

day 16:
Plant A:



This has 3 sets of leaves and currently working on its 4th. Is it time for LST?
I looked at the sticky for LST, but I'm not really sure how to do it. Are you supposed to use a hook to bend stem so it touches the soil? Are the leaves supposed to touch the soil as well?


Plant B:


This plant is a little bit behind A in terms of growth, but it too is working on its 4th set of leaves.

Do they look healthy so far?

 

day 18:

Plant A:



Plant B:


Plant A is turning into a little monster

 

I don't mind the setup now that I am able to hang the top container. It's hard to light proof the rubbermaid containers if you choose a setup like mine, because there isn't a seal to block the light where the two containers connect.

It's a lot easier to cut plastic than wood

If I decide to do another grow, I'll find a plastic container with a front facing door. I was looking at a plastic mini shed.