White Widow & Blue Cheese First Time CFL Closet Grow

[ksmirov]

Hey Mates, I am starting a first time ever indoor closet grow. I have been infatuated with growing a month ago after stumbling upon some marijuana grow YouTube videos.

So I started buying the supplies after much research for a CFL grow.

Supplies List:

- (6) Feit 200W 6500k Cfls
- Phresh 4x8 Carbon Filter
- Fox Farms Ocean Forest soil
- Metal Piping (DIY Reflector)
- Air Ducting
- Thermostat
- Behr Flat White paint
- 12' Chain
- Digital PPM Meter ( gonna return this )
- 10' x 10' Panda Film
- Mini Blizzard Fan
- Monster Power thingy

I cleared out my closet and started planning. Closet specs are 4' x 4.5' x 8.3'.

In the meantime, I bought 4 Light sockets and wired them together to one of those power cables from your computer power supply. Those are just some random CFLs I found around the house to test.

Got a Timer, Flat White Paint, 12' long chain, 1.5" hole drill bit, 25' extension cord to run power into the closet.

Drilled a hole in the wall with the hole drill bit. Dam wall was like 6 inches deep!

Got the seeds in the mail and cleared customs, plus a few freebies! Also got 6 x 6500k CFLs 200W with 2800 lumens per.

I took the door down and started to cut it, making the intake at the bottom and the exhaust at the top. For the intake, I got one of those bathroom vents. The interior of the door was hollow, so I got some Spray foam and filled it in. Then after it dried, trimmed off the edges. For the Exhaust, I cut a 4" hole for a small piping section and then locked it in place with the spray foam.


FYI, I am just winging it as I go along. Im just setting up what I need for the vegging stage and will add to the grow as I go along lol.

 

[trichomes]

LOOKING GOOD MATE! My only suggestion is a fire extinguisher and a smoke detector near the area! Is there a power source on the other side of any common walls? you could cut a hole in closet wall and tap the power for a wall plug/s, it would be great to eliminate the extension cord. Aside from that welcome, looks like you are on the right path.

 

[KingJohnC]

subscribed

 

[ksmirov]

Thanks dude, gonna look into the fire extinguisher thing. I'm not sure of the wiring in the walls because I live in an apartment. So I'm just extending the power to a outlet in my room.

I went on a camping trip last weekend for like 3 days and was seriously contemplating whether I should leave them germinating without any supervision over 3 days. I took the plunge.

Came back as fast as I could to my babies and found out they were alright. Germinated (2) WHite Widows and (2) Blue Cheese. I totally forgot to keep track of which was which but 3 of them germinated and one has a little bit of root sticking out but just can't quite burst the shell. I put this one into a glass of water hoping it would germinate but it still hasn't and its been like 5 days since. No change in the bulge.

I got a few Solo cups and put drain holes on the bottom of it easily by using a soldering iron and burning the holes in. I then filled each with the Fox Farms soil and flushed distilled water into them. I let it drain out a bit and then dug small holes for the 3 seedlings that sprouted roots.

Got the Phresh 4 x 8 Filter, PPM meter and a Holmes Blizzard fan. Weatherproof foam to keep my closet life proof and some coil tape.

Day 3 after planting the germinated seedlings into soil the babies has risen! The fourth one is still in the water cup. Forgot to mention that after I planting the seedlings into soil, I covered it with plastic wrap and a rubber band and kept it in the dark room.

So I was playing around with this Panaflo 120mm fan to make a simple starter exhaust fan. Im not a great electrician but I use to dabble with modifying computers so I found this fan in my junk box. Got some aluminum ducting and cut it to make some flaps and then used a crap load of electrical tape to wrap it around the fan. Its a 12V rated fan so I had to find a DC adapter with the same range or else it would not reach its full CFM.

The fan spec is: 103.8 CFM and around 40 db

 

[ksmirov]

Heres the current progress in my grow room:

Here's my babies doing well I think at Day 5 from planting them in soil. Im trying to deal with the heat issue. I have my AC outside the living room running alot.

I place the thermostat directly under the hood right next to the plants.

With AC on outside and blizzard fan running: 81 degrees
With the AC Off and blizzard fan running: 86 degrees
Lights off: 77 degrees

Humidity ranges from 35 to 40 which kinda sucks i think.

 

[KingJohnC]

you may want to incorporate a small light baffle design into your air intake system, i would keep outside light from entering when you are flowering.

 

[ksmirov]

Yea King, I was pondering on how to block out the light from escaping the intake. Im gonna def take your diagram to good use!

 

[danklover79]

Subscribed, I don't know if it would fit into the space you have, but you can buy a portable evaporative cooler at lowes, or home depot. Mine costed 180 bucks at lowes, and it put the rh at 60 to 70%, and brought the temps down to the 70s. Here's a pic of mine, the manufacturer is Kuul Aire, if you want to google it.

 

[ataxian]

Subscribed, I don't know if it would fit into the space you have, but you can buy a portable evaporative cooler at lowes, or home depot. Mine costed 180 bucks at lowes, and it put the rh at 60 to 70%, and brought the temps down to the 70s. Here's a pic of mine, the manufacturer is Kuul Aire, if you want to google it.

Pretty cool progress!

The KUUL AIRE is a good ideal!

 

[ksmirov]

Thanks Dank, I'll look into that, hopefully it'll get me to the low 70's.

Here's an Update:

Paper Towel Germination started on: August 16
Planted germinated seedlings into Solo Cups: August 18

My Babies are doing really good and got a lil bigger. I look at them everyday.

I water like every 2 or 3 days depending on if the soil gets really dry and it has already. I believe it might be my fan blowing just the tops of it. Also my 4th seed still has not sprouted out of its shell and its been like 7 days since i paper toweled it.

So 3 days ago I started to germinate another White Widow, but so far it hasnt popped like the first ones.

I'm planning on getting the Fox Farms trio nutes. When should I start using it?

Today I added stabilizers for the Reflector. I just found some scrap metal around the house and dremeled it to size and I ghettoed it by just use wrap ties to secure it to the reflector.

My next little exercise will be to block out the light from escaping the front intake with spare wood parts.

And then after that i'll make an exhaust vent out of a plastic salad bowl. lol.

 

[danklover79]

I also use FFOF, and I didn't have to use nutes until week 3. Don't know how you plan to veg, but I would use 1/4 strength nutes at no sooner than week 3. FFOF is some good stuff, and has plenty of nutes for a few weeks of growth. I also use the fox farm trio, and it's a really good product.

 

[danklover79]

Do you plan to add any perlite, or vermiculite to the soil when you transplant? It will help with drainage, and will help provide a better environment for the roots to grow into. Be careful when you buy it, some companies, like MG, put time released nutes in their perlite, which can burn the girls. I really like your setup, wish I had that much space!

 

[ksmirov]

Yea Dank, prolly gonna order some of those nutes next week, I just wanna spread my expenses out, so I don't feel guilty. haha

Since I'm a newbie at cannabis and growing in general, i'm going to absorb all the advice I can get.

As for Perlite and vermiculite, I am looking to get some. I won't buy any of that cheap shit like MG when it comes to soil. Would u recommend small or medium size pellets for the perlite and vermiculite?

For transplanting into my next pots, can i transition from the solo cup in say 5 gallon Smart Pots? or should I transition slowly like from 3 gallons to 5 gallons?

 

[danklover79]

Go from solo cup into 1 gallon, if you plan to veg for awhile, and then into 5 gallon. I have space restrictions, so I will go from 3 inch pots, to 6 inch pots, then a 3 gallon smart pot to finish them in. I have to do a shorter veg period to keep my plants short, but you don't seem to have that issue, so I would go big if I were you.

 

[Tweaktion]

you may want to incorporate a small light baffle design into your air intake system, i would keep outside light from entering when you are flowering.

use the same thing on the other side?

 

[KingJohnC]

use the same thing on the other side?

i use an light baffle on the intake side of my seed cabinet and a cool tube with 6 inch exhaust system, have look at my grow journal in my signature to see how i have it connected.

 

[KingJohnC]

i would not add any nutrients before your plants are 4-5 inches tall and have 5 nodes growing, i have found that nutrients before that stage can stunt growth. i transplant from 5 inch pots to 1 gallon pots to 3 gallon or 5 gallon pots depending on root development.

 

[danklover79]

I won't use solo cups again, the plants seem to develop better in small pots, and somewhat quicker it seems. My biggest and healthiest girl started in a 6 inch pot while the others were started in solo cups, and were a lot shorter, and didn't produce as much.

 

[cro0ked Leaf]

subbed. Interested in the Blue Cheese grow - its going to be in my next grow.

 

[ksmirov]

Hey guys so its been Day 7 since planting them in the cups and they look soo good right now. I'm giving them a 20/4 schedule and water them every 2 days.

I know I tried germinating 2 x White Widows and 2 x Blue Cheese. Since one didn't germinate and I forget to label them, can you guys tell just from the photos which one is which?

PLANT #1

PLANT #2

PLANT #3


Today I went and actually found some intake panels for only $2.10 each and got 2. I'm gonna use Kings advice to make that light diffuser and place them on both sides of the door. I found a black cardboard box around the house and that will be cut and fitted into the middle to diffuse more the light.

I also have my 4x8 Phresh scrubber just sitting around since its not smelling yet. Im really leaning towards getting an inline fan since the PC fan that I tried just doesnt cut it. Im deciding between a Squirrel Cage fan and the Vortex Inline. Quietness is my main factor. Any Advice?