Gazolenes Fluorescent Grow

[Gazolene]

Hello all, I wanted to make a journal of my first grow, so I have decided to share it online in the hope of receiving some tips.

I have a small low power set up with 10000 lumens of mixed spectrum lighting.

4 x 4000k tubes at 1150 lumens each
4 x 2700k cfl at 1152 lumens each
4 x 2700k led at 250 lumens each
2 x 6500 led at 350 lumens each

Its basically been added to along the way which is why it is so random. (Honesty is the best policy )

Its all set up in a 900mm x 900mm mylar lined tent. I had to chop the poles down a bit to make it fit into the space.

The lights are hanging a couple of inches from the top of the plants, mounted to a piece of wood, which is then suspended from the tent structure.

The area is ventilated by a fan, sitting on top of the lighting board, recirculating the heat. A tube aims the air back down on to the plants.

The heat is generated by a 120w cylinder heater on the floor of the tent.
The temperature is 20.5 degrees during the light cycle. 18.5 when the lights are off.

I have decided to use a constant 12/12 cycle from seed to completion. This allows me to start growing from seeds at intervals, in the same grow area.

Early in the process the plants were not getting enough light or heat. There progress was slow and they were weak at first.One plant became withered and died . They have since improved but are still small, and hampered by the low light level. I intend to add 4600 more lumens of 2700k tubes.

I want to keep the plants small and hopefully no taller than 2 ft tall. I also want to keep the temperature and running cost as low as possible.

I have been feeding them banana peel water and put some banana peel ash in the soil. (not too much) ive also used a very weak solution of baby bio and another off the shelf fertilizer. Mainly just tap water.
I have taken a picture every week and will try upload them in order now. I am nearly at the end of week 5.
I welcome any comments or questions about my setup and any advice you can give me.

regards

Gazolene



PLANT 1 WEEK 2

PLANT 1 WEEK 3

PLANT 1 WEEK 4

PLANT 1 WEEK 5

PLANT 2 WEEK 2

PLANT 2 WEEK 3

PLANT 2 WEEK 4

PLANT 2 WEEK 5

 

[CO Finest]

Looking good. How do you like the 12/12 from seed so far?

 

[Gazolene]

Thanks, the 12/12 is working out ok. I messed up the first two weeks so can't really judge it this time around, but I have set some more seeds going, so will have a better idea in a few weeks time. The plants are looking quite healthy and have started growing at a faster rate.

 

[Gazolene]

I have replaced one of the 1150 lumen 4000 k tubes with a 1350 lumen 2700k tube. I still intend to install more lights, but working on the lighting board is a bit of a pain. I'm thinking of using a couple of plug in lamps, with cfl's to add some more lighting.

 

[Gazolene]

pictures from today, day 30-34, I cant remember exactly when these sprouted. The babys are 5 days old.

 

[litlevil]

nice set up and the girls look great I'm sucking up all the info on a small grows and lighting that's not hid's 'tks for making a journal

 

[akisunni]

Subbing

 

[Gazolene]

Thanks guys! This grow is a bit of an experiment. Total power consumption including fans, lights and heating is 310 watts. This includes the fan I am setting up in the tent room for the carbon filter. I have ordered a 4 inch carbon filter from amazon, (£18 quid). Total running cost of the set up is about £0.66 per day.

 

[litlevil]

just wondering gazolene
can u smell your grow? Can't wait to see the filter installed..have fun

 

[Gazolene]

It is starting to smell a tiny bit. What would be the best location for the carbon filter? I don't want to suck all of the heat out of the tent. The temperatures are very finely balanced.

 

[litlevil]

petty much from the top or close to it, but that's all so u can exhaust heat to which you don't want..I think you'll have to experiment with it take some temp readings threw out your enclosure look for the coolest spot.just giveing it a shot

 

[Gazolene]

Hello all, I am delighted to be able to update my journal once again. We are now nearing the end of week 6. I came home from a long week at work to a pleasant surprise, excellent progress from the twins!

I took the unusual step of topping twin 1 last week, during the flowering process, simply to see what would happen. I did not top twin 2 so I could compare results. I am pleased to say twin 1 has recovered from the process and made some good growth. Baring in mind I have never done a grow before, snapping the head off one of my beauty's was a painful thing for me to have to do!

My 8 baby's have also come along nicely.

My p.h meter arrived in the post at some point this week so i tested the ph level of the banana feed I have been giving them, 6.3ph. That's nearly perfect isn't it?! I have been very lucky really because I had no way of testing the water up until now. The tap water here is 7.4ph, seems a little bit high?! I have some ph down powder I can use to level it out, any thoughts on using this stuff?

I think i missed the delivery of the carbon filter, They pushed a card through. I will go pick that up this weekend.

The main bit of good news is the topped twin has shown her sex to be female! I love you baby!

Now for the pictures!

This is the twins nearly at the end of week 6.

This is the topped twin

This is the untopped twin

Any feedback is appreciated, I will try answer any questions you may have! Thanks for reading!

 

[Gazolene]

Also, the plants had grown so much they were touching the fluorescent lights by the time I got home. A small burn has appeared in one of the leaves but should not be much of a problem hopefully.

Here is a picture of my 8 baby's.

Not the best photo I am afraid.

 

[Gazolene]

Nearly the end of week 7 now. Came home to some nice progress from the twins!

This is twin 1 (topped)

This is twin 2 (untopped)

These are the Grapefruit and the Auto Kush feminized seeds.

These are the 6 Jack Herer seeds that I found.

This is the overall scene, 7 weeks since I started the project.

 

[Gazolene]

Looking at the pictures I think I am going to need more light soon. I'm thinking 4 more 20w CFL 1152 lumens around the base of the plants. Any suggestions?

 

[Gazolene]

Day 49 update




I had to bend twin 2 a little bit as she is growing about 4 inches taller than twin 1

The baby's are coming on nicely, Ive re-potted the ones I am keeping, the ones in the tray will be off to a new home soon.

These shots were taken with a better quality camera!

Here is twin 1

Twin 2

Babys

 

[Gazolene]

This was the scene before I left for work on day 49

And this was what I returned to on day 54

Twin 1 (topped) Is progressing nicely

Twin 2 Is also progressing nicely

No major changes to announce. Its evident that the topped twin is going to yield more than the untopped twin. 4 of the baby's will be leaving this weekend.

 

[Gazolene]

Day 56 update

The twins are now 56 days old, the quads are 28 days old, the baby's have just arrived. All of the baby's are supposedly a fast growing strain called Easyrider. They are a Christmas present from a friend.

Twin 1 update

Twin 2 update

 

[Gazolene]

The Young plants are doing ok. Little bit pale. Any ideas why?

 

[Gazolene]

I re potted the quads. The roots were hench.