Growheart's 125W CFL Closet 1st Time Soil Grow

[Growheart]

Hey all

I am going to post a journal / some pics of my current set up, which is as of today 23 days into flowering and about 58 since sprouting some bag seed that I had collected from various choice nugs. I believe at least a few are of the Kush family, and lately their delicious aromas are starting to confirm that.

First of all thanks to you all for inspiring me to not only grow for myself, but sharing your successes and especially failures. I basically learned everything after getting access to a dozen or so growing DVD's, e-books, 420 mag forums, and high times / cannabis culture magazines. It's amazing what you can learn, and it has been equally interesting to really learn what I've likely been smoking all these 10+ years.

I was hesitant to post, just like I was nervous even going into the hydro shop, it's a big step making that first commitment, but man, is it ever addicting and rewarding. The two best pieces of advice I've stuck by so far is be prepared for failures and DONT TELL ANYONE! That has possibly been the hardest part for me, especially when smoking kind herbs with buddies and talking about how we'd both love to grow our own... but I have been faithful to my ladies.

Anyways consider the story part journal intro part introduction, high everybody

The short-n-skinny:

8 Plants (15 seeds germinated, 9 strongest selected, 1 turned male)

What strain is it? Bagseed, some various Kush varieties from BC
Is it Indica, Sativa or Hybrid? Mixed, 5 indica, 1 sativa, 2 mix (based on looks)
Is it in Veg or Flower stage? Flower, 23 Days
If in Veg... For how long? Vegged 35 days
If in Flower stage... For how long? 23 days
Indoor or outdoor? Indoor
Soil or Hydro? Soil
If soil... what is in your mix? "Dutch Treat" blend
If soil... What size pot? 3 gal square pots, one is in a 4 gal
Size of light? (1) 125W CFL wit 6500k veg ,2700k flr
Is it aircooled? 12" oscillating stand up fan
Temp of Room/cab? Wardrobe closet
RH of Room/cab? 45-65% (depends on outdoor climate)
PH of media or res? not sure, but tap water used is a 6
Any Pests ? Some fungus gnats lingering from a hot spell when I sprouted them, very few left after spraying & bug strips, and cooler temps in fall.
How often are you watering? once every 5-7 days
Type and strength of ferts used? Green Planet Hydrofuel Groei/Bloei, Aussie Tonic

Pictures from Vegging Days 0-35

Sprouted, August 6 under sunlight / desk light during some very hot weather

Vegging 1st week - put under 125w CFL

Veg Week 2

Veg week 3

Veg Week 4 - Added more reflective materials, finished light sealing

Flower Week 1 - started 12/12 and bought 2700k red bulb

Well there you have it. I have more updates but will cut this off for now. I will post some pics of my first few weeks of flower where I learned all about sexing, and had a close call with a dude in the pack...

Cheers

Growheart

 

[Growheart]

Here is another retroactive update. This is during first week flower when I first spotted the pistols. It was a happy day. I now know why so many of you love growing - this is a beautiful plant to watch grow and flourish, AND it creates the best medicine in the world. Not only that but I love photography and already had a bit of a green thumb. This has quickly become my favorite hobby

Anyways thanks to the great sexing guide here and in some books, was able to spot the females, and one rouge male in time. Out of my 9 plants, 7 turned out female, and 1 has some male looking flowers or perhaps early seeds, on the lower branches. I am keeping an eye on this. It is possible that this plant was in close proximity to the male, which released some pollen ? I do not know at this point.

As for the plants, here is a pic of my prized lady, the bushiest and nicest smelling plant.

These were taken about 2 weeks ago, since then I have had several business trips and have not been home a lot, and also did not have my camera. The setup proved self-sufficient left unattended for a few days at a time. I just got it back today, and the ladies are in 3rd week flower so expect some bud shots soon!

 

[funnystyle]

Growheart, to 420mag

you have some wonderful, hella bushy lookin girls there. gets me all antsy hahaha

if im correct, you are using only 1 125w CFL to flower? or both the 6500k and the 2700k for a total of 250w of CFLs. how many lumens do each of these bulbs produce?
price of each bulb? if you are using a reflector, does it hold just 1 of those 125s? can we see it?

also, what are the measurements of your grow space?


girls look super healthy mate...
in my current grow, i have yet to reach the flower stage and it will be my first. i am more excited that ive seen this thread and ill be following Growheart.

 

[funnystyle]

almost forgot, do you plan on LSTing? supercropping? or just let them thrive as they are?

 

[Growheart]

you are using only 1 125w CFL to flower? or both the 6500k and the 2700k for a total of 250w of CFLs. how many lumens do each of these bulbs produce?
price of each bulb? if you are using a reflector, does it hold just 1 of those 125s? can we see it?

High funnystyle thanks for stopping by! I too was stoked when I saw some results of a grow using these 125 w lights. As for lumens I will have to get back to you on that (ladies are resting right now), and yes as of my original post I had the one 125w 2700k bulb in a horizontal reflector which I believe is the parabolic style ? It seems to work very well and was recommended to me for this light. The bulbs cost $75 each and I'll also have to double check on the relector cost as the reciepts are in the room too The total cost for my entire setup, soil, pots, nutes, light, plus tons of tools & little things is at $420 as of today no joke haha just totaled it up.

As for my setup the closet is roughly 2 ft deep, 6 ft wide, and 8 feet tall. There is a shelf about 6 ft up that I use for storage etc and I'm just hanging the light off the wooden clothes hanging pole that was in there. I have my plants set up on some milk crates about 1ft and the plants not including pots are just reaching about 2 ft, some a bit more. As of today, largely because of what I saw on this site I have just purchased another light socket & cord, effectively doubling the light for $20, since my veg 6500k bulb was just sitting in the box! I have it temporarily set up just sitting up in the middle of the canopy and secured, not sure exactly where to position it yet? Maybe you folks will have some suggestions.

Here you can see the reflector, it's about 2ft long and 1.5 ft wide.

And to answer to your second question Funnystyle, I have not done LST or supercroppipng, I did top one but it turned out to be a hermie! It was sad to rip it out, was at the time the biggest buds and bushiest of them all... Is it too late now that they are flowering to try any of that stuff because I am open to suggestions! Some of the plants are very tall and not too bushy with smaller buds so perhaps those would be good candidates? I am a newbie so these concepts like topping fimming LST are all unfamiliar. I will have to do some more reading. I had also not really planned on 8/9 plants surviving this far and actually being female, and the next time may concentrate on 4-5 plants... but who knows, we'll see how this one goes. It has been a large pain in the a$$ with watering, say if I need to get the back corner plant, its like jenga in there... lol. Seriously considering a hydro setup next time

Here is a pic of the canopy - the ruler is at 1ft above soil.

And now here is what I waited so long for and now get to enjoy gazing at every day... I love growing this plant! Every time I leave town for a few days its like a surprise to see which one is the stickiest

Finally got my camera back and learned how to get some great shots using a tripod + 2 second timer to minimize camera shake, the last set of 3 shots were by hand, these next ones using new method. Forgot to use a reference but the average cola size is only 3/4" - 1".

Here's #8, we'll call her bushy lady cause from the start she has been VERY bushy. The same plant as in my last post which was flower week 1, here she is just over 2 weeks later.

Anyways that about brings everyone up to date, tomorrow I will be placing the second hanging 125W in a more permanent spot, considering hanging it in the middle what do you guys think? Cheers and happy gardening.

​

 

[j4s2u0]

Beautiful buds dude,and I like ur setup as well...
The plant must like that light cause they look great,amazing what cfl bulbs can do

 

[funnystyle]

Growheart, the setup is very similar to mine haha as im hangin my wires on those wooden poles too.

i think im gona look into that cfl setup with the reflector. i was thinking of making something thatll fit maybe 4-6 bulbs, i think 1 bulb 1 reflector would do the trick for vegging like yours.

as far as the chillin 6500k, i dont think your girls would mind a little blue spectrum in with the 2700k. maybe you can let the 6500k hang just like your green one, and add another 2700k hanging somewhere else in there too so you get more of the red spectrum. ehh just a thought

CFLs are great, im having somewhat dope results so far, yes the nodes are super tightly close together, which is awesome! i dont think ima top my plants but instead supercrop them

oh yea and the topping while flowering....... i think it can be done, but isnt very ideal..... i think the girls want to focus on producing their buds instead of trying to recover and shoot out 2 more branches after shock..... best to leave em alone while they flower and let that cfl fatten em up

dawg im at home in front of my laptop, keep me posted!

 

[Growheart]

Okay just spent almost an hour in there - amazing how time flies when your giving love to the garden - set it all up took some pics now just going to take a toke sip my coffee then post it all up

Funny - I googled to try and find my exact light, it's a "Sun Saver" brand, couldn't find it but it looks identical to all the other 125's I've seen on here.
various CFL's w/ horizontal reflectors

This is basically what I have, except my reflector is painted a gloss white all over. It also could be a bit longer than the one here. But this is just what happened to be at my local shop and was recommended for my grow size/space.

Yeah for people like us who don't own a house with a basement and good privacy, CFL's seem to be the way to go. Low heat, close to plants in tight spaces, and low power consumption. Your plants did look nice and bushy and not surprised the nodes are nice and close since your keeping the light right in there- thats the key with CFL's. Okay I got my coffee now time to upload pics

 

[Growheart]

And yeah about the topping while flowering, I knew that must be bad since the buds would have to be cut :O but meant like LST, cause that seems to just be bending them ?

 

[shunt]

Lookin' good...!

 

[Growheart]

Hey all, before I post the good, first have to ask everyone to help identify a possible male flower here... I know from the last plant I had to kill that the true male flower has sort of fingers that pop out from a spade like pod, and this one does not look quite the same, but it's from a plant that is a possible hermie, or just has seeds. I cannot tell with this one though.

Sorry the pics aren't super focused its on the lower branches only that these type of flowers are occurring and tough to get a good shot down there.

Also another question, should I be trimming more aggressively on the lower branches? Some of them are looking weak / yellow, and most of them have very tiny buds. The airflow down there is not a problem but since its kind of a SoG grow, perhaps they are just taking energy away from the top buds? Suggestions? Here are some pics of the lower branches to illustrate what I mean. Keep in mind most plants are 55-65 cm tall so your looking at the bottom 20-30cm of the plants. With the fan leaves, I have been mostly just letting them do their thing, only ripping out the ones that are about to fall out, or are over 50% dead.

 

[j4s2u0]

Ya it defently looks to have both male and female flowers,idk....
Just a guess,

 

[Growheart]

Thats what Im thinking, its a shame because this plants buds are some of the biggest. I wonder if I could just cut off the branches with these clusters? Since its really only the lower runt branches... It seems a waste to kill this plant when its only like 20% male flowers... hmm... Could we get a guru in the house to weigh in on this pretty please

If necessary I can post better pics with more detail.

 

[Basmentdwel2]

yup hermie move away from the other asap or you will get seeds which might be bad but maybe just move into another room get paper bag and place bag branch with pollen sacks and beat the brach for 10 sec remove bag twict tie top of bag destroy hermie. find best pheno in ur garden, move her out place bag on a lower brach and pollenate. wam bam thank u mam you have free seed for next yr. but only the breanch u pollenated vs the whole garden full of seeds ??

 

[xbox4him]

And yeah about the topping while flowering, I knew that must be bad since the buds would have to be cut :O but meant like LST, cause that seems to just be bending them ?

LST tricks the plant into growing more main branches out of the nodes. It's great for keeping the plants small and having 6+ colas and a large canopy.

As for tripping the leaves. Trim of any that are sick looking, or any in the way of allowing light to reach the buds. Other than that, don't trim cause she needs the leaves (solar panels) to make more energy to develop the buds and grow!

Also for the hermie, if you cut off the male parts, the plant will throw out more and more, you cannot win that battle. Id move her outside and let it be, hopefully you can get female seeds and use em. Or just throw her out.

Lookin good bro, 4 weeks and that big, nice. mine doesnt look like its gonna get that big that fast. 2 x 23 watt CLF @6500k for me atm...

 

[Growheart]

I realized that a few questions were not answered correctly in my intro post.

If soil... what is in your mix? "Dutch Treat" blend when transplanting to 3 gal's, but was started in organic potting soil 0.5 L pots
If soil... What size pot? 3 gal square pots, one is in a 4 gal
Size of light? (2) 125W CFL : 1x 6500k veg (hanging vertically) , 1x 2700k flr (horizontal reflector)
Is it aircooled? 12" oscillating stand up fan
Temp of Room/cab? typically 23-24 at night, 24-26 daytime depending on outdoor temperatures.

I guess the consensus is that it's a hermie then, folks? I have wrapped up all the lower branches in cheese cloth but have yet to remove it... Basmentdwel2 Regarding bagging the pollen, does it matter what type of bag? plastic will do? This idea frankly scares me and removing the plant all together, though it makes me sad, seems inevitable. I suppose with 7 now it will be easier to utilize my vertical hanging light...

Xbox, it sounds like trashing it is my safest bet. I wonder is it worth drying out and smoking ?

Time to and ponder my options... some more input would be great too, thanks again guys!

 

[xbox4him]

Well im no expert, im just relaying knowledge ive read on this site about hermies. If you'd like, keep her so that you can use her seeds. Their guarantees female. I dont know about drying and smoking it, you will need to pick out the seeds and the pollen sacks then.

 

[funnystyle]

pollen be flyin everywhere no joke.......

if you gona mess with pollen, do that shit somewhere u got absolutely NO BREEZE WHATSOEVER. pollen stick to fingers and clothes and all that..... but water kills em so iono what u gona do but keep that in mind my friend, that these suckers be airborne!

oooooooooooo You hung the 6500k !!! your girls will love you mate!!!


oh and the reflector..... umm damn its a bit pricey for me at the moment shit..... i think ill wait on Giovanni's tutorial for this one. he be makin some sick ass reflectors, something im looking for since im gona be using 42s....... to me, i think theyre most ideal comparing wattage and lumes output. eh i literally sat down and did some math LOL

i got a grip of hermie seeds too haha, i think im gona mess with the pollen too with some og seeds i got layin around. itll be fun, but i think its pretty tricky and not an easy thing to do. BUT you can always live and learn!!!!

im here dawg and

 

[Growheart]

Just took a hit of some OG kush from my homemade bucket - those things are damn efficcient when you are trying to conserve buds - But anywhoo today I uploaded a bunch of new pictures to show more of my grow space, nutes, & the new setup with 2x125W red/blue spectrum which incidentally creates a really sweet light effect when potographing the plants that are in middle of 2 lights

Nutes used - the aussie tonic is supposed to make plants bushier and grow quicker with more resilience, and it sure does exactly that. Have been very happy with these nutes they come with a handy feeding chart to use that specifies soil or hydro.

Here is some of my stuff used - zipties are awesome for mounting stuff, and sterlized milk jugs great for mixing water/nutes too. Though after reading so many awesome budget cfl threads mine is no longer feeling like such a budget hahaha but at the time I had the $$... now I don't. So here's hoping for a healthy harvest

This pic is kinda blurry but shows the basic new setup, I added more panda paper on the back wall as it was incomplete - the plants outgrew my initial job.

It has been a real fun challenge arranding the plants in the tight space to maximize light coverage, especially with 9 plants of bagseed growing at different rates but has been a fun learning experience. Here you can see the taller sativa-dominant gal's placed towards the back around the vertical cfl, while the shorter bushier indicas are all placed right under the 2700k. I had both bulbs much lower after some this pic was taken, like 1.5 " above canopy. Luckily I'm able to check the plants any time cause those fan leafs just love to stretch into the light...

Here is a stem of one of the bigger sativas, not huge but im happy with it.
And now for some trippy blue/red mixed spectrum pics! - Day 25 Flower 60 total

 

[funnystyle]

haha you got excited over the picture effect with the bulbs loll thats so funny

those ladies are comin out sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!! cant wait to start flowering mine

btw them bamboo skewers??