Hey everyone, I'm new to the forum and growing. This is my second grow and I still probably don't know what I'm doing. I tried to use my first grow as a learning experience...and learning experience it was! Despite a ridiculous amount of mistakes, I managed to Forest Gump my way to a 5oz harvest. I grew Northern Lights Autos for my first grow and though I made it to harvest, the buds were airy and fluffy. I'm pretty sure its because they didn't receive enough light.
The reason I'm talking about my first grow is because I think its important to know what I did in order to know what I'm currently doing different. I learned a ton during my first grow, even though my buds were fluffy and airy, they still smoke and get ya high.
Problems I encountered on my first grow:
-Heat
-PH control
-Nutrient amounts
-Heat
-Root Rot
-Heat
-Not enough light
-Plants crowded
-Heat
-Knowing when to start flushing
Second Grow
This grow is 2 Freebies I got from Nirvana when I ordered the Northern Lights.
I have a 24inx24inx60in cabinet I got from a buddy that had almost everything I needed. I keep it in a closet in my garage.
I have completely sealed the closet and keep it air conditioned. However, after my first grow, I have recognized several areas that needed improvements before the next grow.
The first improvement was to run a permanent drain line for the portable A/C. During the first grow I had it draining into a bucket, but I was constantly emptying it.
The second improvement was to fix the heat issues. During the first grow I couldn't completely close the cabinet because it would get way too hot even though the closet around it was freezing. To remedy this, I rigged up a duct from the A/C to the inside of the cabinet which seems to be working great. Hopefully I won't need it this winter, but its ready to go incase I do.
Third improvement was to remove the shelf in the cabinet so I have more room to grow. The top of the inside of the cabinet had a cloning chamber. So I moved the cloning chamber to the top of the cabinet (on the outside), mounted the lights on the ceiling above it, and took out the shelf. This gives me a lot more room for growing.
Fourth improvement was to upgrade the light. It had a 150w HPS grow light, but that was not nearly enough even in a small cabinet. It made my buds all fluffy and airy (NOT COOL). Anyway, I couldn't upgrade the light because it was summer and I was already fighting major heat issues! To remedy this, I have purchased a P300 LED light from Platinum LED. Its not in yet, but I'll post pics once it is (should be by the end of the week). I also bought a 400w HPS to have on hand incase I have the opposite problem this winter and need to heat the cabinet.
The last thing I built was a cover for the open spots in the top of my bin. I had root rot problems in my first grow so this time I am going at it from the angle of prevention. My bin has 8 slots for plants, but that's way too many for my cabinet so I built a cover over 6 of them in order to block all light from the bottom of the bin. I also added 2 more air stones for a total of 4 large ones I will add hydrogen peroxide to the water for this grow. I am also going to try using tiny frozen water bottles to cool the water as close to 68 degrees as I can.
I had trouble dialing in the nutrients on the first grow. I started out using a Technaflora nutrient box bundle, but it was like 10 different bottles to mix. And I never did get it dialed in to where the plants were completely happy. Towards the end of the grow I switched to GH nutrients and the plants seemed to do better, plus it was easier on me. For this reason I intend to use GH nutrients for this grow as well.
Anyway, here is a pic of the cabinet with all the improvements minus the new P300 LED.
This is my first journal and second grow so go easy on me, but I welcome any advice that will help me improve my growing skills. This is also my first normal plant grow; I did autos last time.
I put the 2 seeds in wet rockwool today and placed them in a little humidity dome that came with the cabinet.
The reason I'm talking about my first grow is because I think its important to know what I did in order to know what I'm currently doing different. I learned a ton during my first grow, even though my buds were fluffy and airy, they still smoke and get ya high.
Problems I encountered on my first grow:
-Heat
-PH control
-Nutrient amounts
-Heat
-Root Rot
-Heat
-Not enough light
-Plants crowded
-Heat
-Knowing when to start flushing
Second Grow
This grow is 2 Freebies I got from Nirvana when I ordered the Northern Lights.
I have a 24inx24inx60in cabinet I got from a buddy that had almost everything I needed. I keep it in a closet in my garage.
I have completely sealed the closet and keep it air conditioned. However, after my first grow, I have recognized several areas that needed improvements before the next grow.
The first improvement was to run a permanent drain line for the portable A/C. During the first grow I had it draining into a bucket, but I was constantly emptying it.
The second improvement was to fix the heat issues. During the first grow I couldn't completely close the cabinet because it would get way too hot even though the closet around it was freezing. To remedy this, I rigged up a duct from the A/C to the inside of the cabinet which seems to be working great. Hopefully I won't need it this winter, but its ready to go incase I do.
Third improvement was to remove the shelf in the cabinet so I have more room to grow. The top of the inside of the cabinet had a cloning chamber. So I moved the cloning chamber to the top of the cabinet (on the outside), mounted the lights on the ceiling above it, and took out the shelf. This gives me a lot more room for growing.
Fourth improvement was to upgrade the light. It had a 150w HPS grow light, but that was not nearly enough even in a small cabinet. It made my buds all fluffy and airy (NOT COOL). Anyway, I couldn't upgrade the light because it was summer and I was already fighting major heat issues! To remedy this, I have purchased a P300 LED light from Platinum LED. Its not in yet, but I'll post pics once it is (should be by the end of the week). I also bought a 400w HPS to have on hand incase I have the opposite problem this winter and need to heat the cabinet.
The last thing I built was a cover for the open spots in the top of my bin. I had root rot problems in my first grow so this time I am going at it from the angle of prevention. My bin has 8 slots for plants, but that's way too many for my cabinet so I built a cover over 6 of them in order to block all light from the bottom of the bin. I also added 2 more air stones for a total of 4 large ones I will add hydrogen peroxide to the water for this grow. I am also going to try using tiny frozen water bottles to cool the water as close to 68 degrees as I can.
I had trouble dialing in the nutrients on the first grow. I started out using a Technaflora nutrient box bundle, but it was like 10 different bottles to mix. And I never did get it dialed in to where the plants were completely happy. Towards the end of the grow I switched to GH nutrients and the plants seemed to do better, plus it was easier on me. For this reason I intend to use GH nutrients for this grow as well.
Anyway, here is a pic of the cabinet with all the improvements minus the new P300 LED.
This is my first journal and second grow so go easy on me, but I welcome any advice that will help me improve my growing skills. This is also my first normal plant grow; I did autos last time.
I put the 2 seeds in wet rockwool today and placed them in a little humidity dome that came with the cabinet.
