Poor, CFL, Stealth, Maybe a Little Luck?

[dfw-guy]

Well I suppose it’s about time to start a journal.
What strain is it? Bag seed. The infamous Popcorn from Dallas. (Mid grade)
Is it in Veg or Flower stage? It’s just now germing
Indoor or outdoor? Indoor
Soil or Hydro? Soil
If soil... what is in your mix? FFOF
If soil... What size pot? 1 ½ gallon
Size of light? Three 30 watt CFL’s. 6400K, 4100K, and 2700K
Is it aircooled? Yes. Though I wouldn’t use the word “cool”.
Temp of Room/cab? Day 80 *F Night 74*F
Any Pests ? Not yet.
How often are you watering? Germing
Type and strength of ferts used? None
Number of plants. Just ONE. (I know, I know, 50% chance this will be a waste of time)


Ok, that’s out of the way. I have pictures! :D
How’s this for stealth?
The box is made from 3 paper boxes. I cut slits in the sides so they interlock. It’s surprisingly sturdy. Then I sealed it with lots of duct tape. The size of the interior of the box is... 11.5" x 17" x 31"


120mm 80CFM PC fan attached to the lid, sucking air out. When the plant starts to smell I’m going to tape a charcoal filter over it. There are Holes on each side near the bottom for inlets.
I originally had foil lining the entire box, but when I read it was bad, I borrowed some of my roomy’s printer paper… he won’t miss it.


The 3 light clutter socket I bought.


Lights hang from a shoelace :P


Testing the rig out with bulbs from my room lights.


Inside look. The foil is torn out now, only paper remains.


Light reflector I made.. turned out to be a waste of time and a heat trapper.




In my first attempt at germing I tried the paper towel method. I waited 9 days with not even a crack and thought the seed was bad. I cracked it open, expecting to see some nasty decomposed plant matter, only to find a perfect little baby seedling inside. I felt so bad for killing it (probably)! I went ahead and germed another seed, this time I tried soaking it for 24 hours in 1 cup of distilled water w/ ¼ teaspoon of 3% hydrogen peroxide solution. I did the same with the one I most likely killed, in a separate cup. I boiled water (in the microwave) in each cup to sterilize. After 24 hours I transplanted both to their permanent home. I only expect 1 to make it. The seed I started germing w/ the soaking method (the one I did not break open) was not cracked after 24 hours, but it was sitting at the bottom of the cup.


I covered the bottom holes with some rocks I got by a river. I boiled them for sterilization.


Seed(s) planted. Soil watered. I put a plastic bag over and squirted some water in every few hours. My poor man humidity dome. Time to wait. Or not. After 2 days I became anxious and wanted to know how the seeds were doing so I started digging around. I couldn’t find the one I broke, but I found the other. WITH A LIL ROOT COMING OUT! I don’t think I’ll ever try the paper towel method again.



Got my lights they’re 30 watt. Each put out 2000 lumen. I’ll have 6000 lumen for a 1.35 sq ft space.



You like this pic? I do It lets you see the light spectrum of each bulb.


God those lights are bright! Seriously I can’t look inside for long because it hurts my eyes. This picture was taken during the day with light coming in threw the windows. Btw this is not the final location for the box. Just doing some testing


Speaking of testing, time to mention the temp issue. I’m not sure if my thermometer is accurate, it seems to read a couple degrees to hot... Either way, my room temp during the day stays about 78-82 degrees. At night it slowly drops to about 73-76. I did some temp testing during the day. The bottom of the box is at 86 degrees with everything running and a few inches away from the lights it reaches 90-95 degrees. Am I going to be alright? I sure hope so. The box is very dark on the inside during the day so I’m leaning towards running the lights at night.

Well that’s it for now. I still have the pot by the window. As soon as a seedling sprouts I’ll put it inside my box and throw the lights on it.

[McBudz]

careful using cardboard man, could be a fire hazard.

I love the reflector man, how does the solo cup hold up to the heat?

Maybe a soup can would work well too? tin snips and a hole saw..

[dfw-guy]

I've done a touch test on everything and nothings hot enough to burn my skin so I think I'll be alright. Ya the reflector took about 15 min to make but I don't think I'll use it. Aluminum foil doesn't reflect light very well and it would trap a lot of heat. I really can't afford for it to be any hotter inside. I think i'll just let the lights hang like they are. It's super freaking bright as it is lol.
Thanks for the input!

Edit: You kinda have me scared now about the fire hazard thing. I didn't think that it would be a problem but I'm paranoid about this whole thing. Shit my room mate doesn't even know about this... hence the stealth aspect. Can a 30 watt CFL get hot enough to pose a risk? The little power supply I made at the bottom just gets a little warm so I'm not worried about that at all, just the lights.

[ds8802]

CFLs typically don't get very warm, you should be okay.
Dallas Fort-Worth? (Duh.)
Word.

[dfw-guy]

Ya Dallas Fort Worth. It's my little notch in the wood. I love it, everything you could imagine is here. As far as I know I'm the first person on this site to grow Dallas Popcorn bud, I could be mistaken though.

[SouthernOnt]

popcorn is everywhere even in Onatrio they some sticky nuggs

[SouthernOnt]

and try smaller pots to germ the seeds like the black sectioned ones

[dfw-guy]

The seed I have in there now seems to be germing quite well. Now it's just a waiting game. I'm just sitting back listening to 311

[SouthernOnt]

good luck stop by my thread anytime to check my outdoor ladies

[dfw-guy]

Hey quick question. The pot i bought came with a bottom piece and I don't know if I should use it or not. It seems like if I did the bottom 1 inch of soil would constantly be submerged. Here's a pic.

EDIT: I changed how the lights hang. Instead of using a shoelace; with which the lights could spin to a angle that allowed 1 light to touch the wall thereby imposing a fire hazard, I'm using a modified a metal clothes hanger. This way the lights hang by something ridged and will keep all lights at least 1 inch away from any surfaces, thereby eliminating the fire hazard! Woo Hoo I feel a lot more secure about leaving it alone. Oh and BTW, these lights seem to emit quite a lot of heat... the surface temp exceeds 120*F. They are not energy-star certified.

[dfw-guy]

UPDATE: Today's day 6. The seed that I had planted did not make it, I pulled out a little green deformation this morning. It had no roots attached, I'm guessing they rotted off. I predicted this was going to happen so I already started a new seed, It's in a Dixy cup right now, so this one should be a bit easier to manage. The seed not making it was my fault, I planted it wrong. I put it in the ground horizontal, and didn't think much of it. This is what it looked like after 4 days.

Wish me luck on my new one, I planted it with the notch up.

[Namaste]

I never use the bottom piece or tray.

The idea is to provide good drainage and that tray will prevent that from happening.

Weed does not like having "wet feet", so I recommend ditching the tray.

I do use them when I water sometimes to keep runoff from draining into the floor of my grow tent, but I remove them immediately when the pot is done draining.

regards,

SS

[MinniBratt]

^hmmm..i just pulled mine off and set it under the pot..not attached..just placed the pot on top. then you have air flow to the bottom of the pots...thats what i did...never had a problem. but it was my first grow. so what do i know.

[Namaste]

^hmmm..i just pulled mine off and set it under the pot..not attached..just placed the pot on top. then you have air flow to the bottom of the pots...thats what i did...never had a problem. but it was my first grow. so what do i know.

that would work fine also, as long as you're careful to not have the bottom of the pot sitting in water.

regards,

SS

[dfw-guy]

Attention everyone! I have real living progress! Today I found a little baby's head breaking ground. Any estimates on how long until the first two leaves (i know they're not true leaves) come out? And at this point should I use the same lighting schedule that I'll have going for the plant?

3:30 PM Been in the ground for 51.5 hours


Edit:
10:30 PM. 1.5 hour before lights out. Been in the ground 59.5 hours. I'm keeping a 16/8 light schedule until after I start LST.