Mind's First Grow: Royal Dwarf - Autoflower - CFL - Soil - Home-made Growbox

Mind

New Member
Hi :420:
:welcome: to my first grow!

I've read through tons of grow journals, seen some amazing things and even picked up some ideas for my very own first grow.

So here is the whole deal itself:

I ordered 3 Royal Dwarf seeds: they are autoflowering seeds, a mix of Skunk x Ruderalis, they should grow about 40-60 cm long and should take about 8-9 weeks.

I bought three 23w 2700k warm white CFL bulbs and three 23w 4000k cold white CFL's.

I'll be growing in 5 litre pots and cut holes at the bottom for drainage, which will go into a cut juice box. (DIY is my thing :thumb: )

For the soil I am using some "black earth" and about 40% perlite (mixed it in myself).

The grow box itself is home-made using the box of a computer tower (not the case itself).
24x48x53 cm

Constructing all the things and putting them together wasn't that easy but it was fun.

I bought two 3m long wires, 2 plugs and 6 light bulb sockets.

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Here is the plug I assembled.

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3 light bulb sockets.

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Had to strip down the cables in order to connect them.

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Here it is all assembled.

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Reflective foil in the box.

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Germinating the seeds.

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About 2 days later two of them sprouted. :high-five:

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Planted them.

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Opening the box.

Really looking forward to this grow as it is my first one and I hope to get good results. :) :hookah:
:peace: and :love: to everyone! :ganjamon:
 
Re: Mind's first grow: Royal Dwarf, Autoflower, CFL, soil, home-made growbox

Hi Mind. :ciao:
Your DIY looks great man, How far are your CFL's from your seedlings? I don't use CFL's but from what I've seen you should be able to put the CFL lights just a couple of inches away from the seedlings. With the lights closer they get more light and less stretch.
Good luck with your grow. ;)
 
Re: Mind's first grow: Royal Dwarf, Autoflower, CFL, soil, home-made growbox

Hey stealthgrow :rollit:

They are about 12 cm (5 inches) away, but I'm a bit afraid of putting the lights closer because the air in the box gets quite hot and the soil seems to be getting very warm as well. (it even seems to dry a bit)
I still need to think of a way of getting some airflow in there, which would fix the heat issue.

And thank you for your support :surf::yahoo::cheer:
 
Re: Mind's first grow: Royal Dwarf, Autoflower, CFL, soil, home-made growbox

Your gonna want to setup a cool air intake low in the box, and an exhaust up as high as you can get it in the cabinet to pull the heat out. For the air intake you could make a 4 inch round or square hole in the side of the box and put a small fan on the inside of the box to pull in the cool air and blow it into box. Maybe another hole at the top with a computer fan pulling the air out, or you could even setup a small carbon filter with exhaust fan at the top of the box to pull out the hot air and help take care of the smell. Just thinking out loud.
Keep up the good work. ;)
 
Re: Mind's first grow: Royal Dwarf, Autoflower, CFL, soil, home-made growbox

Definitely get the air flow taken care of next to lighting it's one if the most important factors of your grow.

Subbed...look forward to watching you grow!
 
Re: Mind's first grow: Royal Dwarf, Autoflower, CFL, soil, home-made growbox

Hey everyone.
I am very sorry to announce that my seedlings might have died because it has been over a week since germination and planting. I dug two of them out and they were deeper than when I planted them. I still hope that some miracle might happen... but if not, then may they rest in peace.

I am sorry that I have failed you and myself. I will try to make a better home/grow box for some new plants. And next time I will plant them in a way smaller pot at the beginning.
 
Re: Mind's first grow: Royal Dwarf, Autoflower, CFL, soil, home-made growbox

Sorry to hear they probably didn't make it, Don't throw away everything yet though. The seeds had tap roots, so it might take them a while to pop up out of the soil but they might make it. It seems sometimes they finally sprout when you've given up all hope and least expect it.
 
Re: Mind's first grow: Royal Dwarf, Autoflower, CFL, soil, home-made growbox

Hi Mind,

I'm so sorry about the seedlings. I had one of the seedlings Royal Dwarf seedlings never pop out of the soil too. You're clearly awesome with crafts so try again with a couple more seeds, while you're waiting for the next ones to germinate you might have that airflow situation remedied. If you can rig two computer fans in 2 holes like stealthgrow said I'm sure you're setup will be perfect for the new seedlings.

BTW once my Royal Dwarf seedlings germinated, it took 12-14 days for them to pop out of the soil. I was giving them 24/7 light and they had good airflow.

Good luck! Subbed. :cheer: :peace:
 
Thanks for sharing your grow with us.

I’m moving this to Completed Journals now.

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Hope all is well in your world.

Love and respect from all of us here at 420 Magazine.

:Namaste:
 
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