Running With Scissors - My CFL Grow - My First Grow Altogether

[johnnyvictory]

I began these plants in the last week of September. I started three plants from three different seed sources. No definitive strain names were available to me. I got one out of some brick weed that i really liked the look of, and the other two came from a friend, they supposedly aren't from the same batch. Supposed to be nuggets of some sort. It's mostly brick weed from Mexico where I live. Socioeconomically people aren't equipped to buy anything that costs more than $60 an O around here. But I digress.
The two plants pictured are the ones I kept. The third one was full as well, but after transplanting it, after about a week I decided to focus more on these two ladies. About the end of the fifth week is when I was able to identify female hairs on the one, and a week later the other. I hope they don't drop some balls as well. I didn't have this box built yet, so the first few weeks their environment was a wine rack I wrapped in Mylar. I still have to add the hinges for the left door, and a little more weather stripping for light leaks. For now I close the one door and shove the other one up against the box propped up. It seals. Haven't done other hinges yet because the darn wall is in the way. I used fans out of some old computer towers for intake and exhaust.
The thinner of the two plants is the one ID'd as female, so I cloned her. Three successfully. I've been LST'ing the plants since week 3. Never intended to do any topping or anything other than horizontal training for fear of over stressing, but I've made a few mistakes along the way, resulting in some topping and pinching. Did some more tying off of the larger lady just now, so her leaves haven't all turned correctly yet. She looks flat.I'm going to let them grow another week then begin the flowering cycle.
Any thoughts or advice from the community? From the thick leaves I believe they are both Indica.

 

[snwbrder952]

wow bro those are looking really healthy, keep up the good work

 

[johnnyvictory]

wow bro those are looking really healthy, keep up the good work

Thank you. I was worried that not investing much financially would be a problem for their health. But I've made up for it with TLC. I use miracle grow and care for them like I do my rosemary and thyme and such.

 

[snwbrder952]

i started mine really low budget too, she was doing great then i ran into an issue when i was overwatering. Have been recouping from it since but everything new seems well. I threw in a couple of seeds a couple days ago can't wait to use all ive learned on them.


Just make sure you take care of all light leaks as soon as you can, don't want all your time going into hermies. What kind of miracle grow? i was always told to stay away from it but i was looking at the organic one today

 

[johnnyvictory]

i started mine really low budget too, she was doing great then i ran into an issue when i was overwatering. Have been recouping from it since but everything new seems well. I threw in a couple of seeds a couple days ago can't wait to use all ive learned on them.


Just make sure you take care of all light leaks as soon as you can, don't want all your time going into hermies. What kind of miracle grow? i was always told to stay away from it but i was looking at the organic one today

I am using Miracle-gro water soluble all purpose plant food 24-8-16. I use the same stuff on all of my indoor and outdoor potted plants, even edibles. I use a different version on my rose bushes and other bushes/trees. I tried doing organic fertilizing for quite some time with poor results. Switched to this stuff, follow the instructions, and everything has flourished, even several varieties of succulents. The soil is store brand potting soil from Stine. I'm going to empty my grow box and move it to put the door on this weekend. The box is made from the heavy particle board of an entertainment center I found on the side of the road. It's cumbersome to say the least. Have you ever thought about just cloning your females when you grow them next? You can do it with your current one but since it's in flowering stage Ive read those clones take much longer because they have to revert back to veg stage.

 

[VladimirPutin]

Subbed.

Hey that LST works pretty well with the CFL.
Congratulations.
See you at harvest time!

Vlad

 

[Rifleman]

Move over Vlad this fat man wants to watch too.

 

[snwbrder952]

I am using Miracle-gro water soluble all purpose plant food 24-8-16. I use the same stuff on all of my indoor and outdoor potted plants, even edibles. I use a different version on my rose bushes and other bushes/trees. I tried doing organic fertilizing for quite some time with poor results. Switched to this stuff, follow the instructions, and everything has flourished, even several varieties of succulents. The soil is store brand potting soil from Stine. I'm going to empty my grow box and move it to put the door on this weekend. The box is made from the heavy particle board of an entertainment center I found on the side of the road. It's cumbersome to say the least. Have you ever thought about just cloning your females when you grow them next? You can do it with your current one but since it's in flowering stage Ive read those clones take much longer because they have to revert back to veg stage.

Gotcha, thought you were using MC soil. Hopefully everything works out with your setup. I have thought about cloning however thats the one aspect i havent done a boatload of research on. I've tried buying everything local and cash. I havent been able to find any rooting gel or powder so i havent jumped on the ball yet.

I also am working with a 4x3x5 so i dont have a whole lot of room. I think once ive finished my first grow i will consider cloning the next 2 seeds. I've read that there are ways to clone without anything but water and darkness so i might give that a try. If you have an recommendations id appreciate them

 

[johnnyvictory]

Gotcha, thought you were using MC soil. Hopefully everything works out with your setup. I have thought about cloning however thats the one aspect i havent done a boatload of research on. I've tried buying everything local and cash. I havent been able to find any rooting gel or powder so i havent jumped on the ball yet.

I also am working with a 4x3x5 so i dont have a whole lot of room. I think once ive finished my first grow i will consider cloning the next 2 seeds. I've read that there are ways to clone without anything but water and darkness so i might give that a try. If you have an recommendations id appreciate them

You can get the rooting powder at lowes or walmart for like $4. Again, it's a product I've used with success on other house and yard plants. White container, purple lid. I just finished the door on the box, and added reflective tape on inside to all joints, and then I used weather stripping on both the door frame itself, and the doors. Slightly offset so that they overlap. I read a cloning guide, followed instructions, except I used powder not gel, and have had success. Instead of buying a humidity dome or anything fancy I used tupper ware. I've never read anything about cloning with just darkness and water. I can say that you want to really leave your clones alone and covered with the dome, or tupperware, i lost one and almost lost another due to removind dome too frequently or trying direct light too quickly.

 

[snwbrder952]

You can get the rooting powder at lowes or walmart for like $4. Again, it's a product I've used with success on other house and yard plants. White container, purple lid. I just finished the door on the box, and added reflective tape on inside to all joints, and then I used weather stripping on both the door frame itself, and the doors. Slightly offset so that they overlap. I read a cloning guide, followed instructions, except I used powder not gel, and have had success. Instead of buying a humidity dome or anything fancy I used tupper ware. I've never read anything about cloning with just darkness and water. I can say that you want to really leave your clones alone and covered with the dome, or tupperware, i lost one and almost lost another due to removind dome too frequently or trying direct light too quickly.

oh awesome, didnt know i could get something from lowes. Yeah ive read a lot about just using water but the rooting time always seems like its almost double the amount of time. Ill have to look into the powder. Thanks Johnnyvictory

Grow on

 

[MagicJim]

Subbed .... Looking good in here. Good luck.

 

[johnnyvictory]

These are the three older clones, about 12 days now.

this is the first clone donor

I didn't take a pic of the youngest clone, too soon to mess with. But this is the plant I took the youngest clone from

 

[snwbrder952]

looking great man!

 

[snwbrder952]

whats that little green bottle you having floating midair?

 

[johnnyvictory]

whats that little green bottle you having floating midair?

It's a medical refrigerator thermometer. The white wire connects to the display on the outside. It displays current temp as well as the high and the low since last you cleared it out. also allows me to set audible alarms for whichever high and low temps you designate. A family member works at a hospital. they get them all the time because they have to be certified calibrated every so often and current technology makes it cheaper to just replace them now. They dispose of them.

 

[snwbrder952]

Thats awesome. I was just curious couldn't even guess at what it was lol

 

[snwbrder952]

I see you have some kind of reflectors for some of your bulbs but I was always told you get way more light from the side of cfls than you do from the head. Maybe fabricate a reflector for a side?

 

[johnnyvictory]

I see you have some kind of reflectors for some of your bulbs but I was always told you get way more light from the side of cfls than you do from the head. Maybe fabricate a reflector for a side?

Yeah the three with reflectors are an old track light I took out of my place when I bought it. That light will be coming out when my LED gets here. I actually have a plan for a reflector made out of some left over channeled aluminum roofing I have. It has narrow and wide channels that alternate. The wide channel should work perfect as a reflector or two, just have to wait for the rain to pass and break out my tin snips, then grind the edges. there's more lights in there than that. I plan on using the reflectors on the four drop lights that have the two bulb splitters I drop in all around, I move them to get pics. All of it comes through a single slot and I use J-hooks placed throughout ceiling to disperse them.

 

[snwbrder952]

Nice yeah I figured you were a diyer I need to get ahold of some aluminum and maybe paint it or make at least a big reflector to go over my cluster of lights

 

[johnnyvictory]

Nice yeah I figured you were a diyer I need to get a hold of some aluminum too and make at least a big reflector to go over my cluster of lights

If I didn't already have the aluminum roofing I would use a lighter gauge. My first thought was to go to the grocery store and get disposable aluminum baking pans. Hell, go to the dollar tree and get a dozen and you will have enough for trial an error at a minimum cost.