Carcass' $150 Low Budget Grow 2019

[Carcass]

Never done a journal before,so bear with me....

So my budget when I started this was $150,and I used all but 20 cents of it:

Northern Light x Big Bud feminized seeds ...had 'em already
Low Ryder#2 auto seeds................................. "
Bagseed#3 seeds.............................................. " ( from bagseed#2,she was a beast)

Oneo LED grow light from the zon .......$100.00 (1000 watt claimed/200watts at the wall) (not blurple)
Home Depot 2'x2'x44" wardrobe box ... $18.00
1.5 cu.ft. Black Magic organic potting soil...$18.00
x4 reflective windshield shades................$4.00 (Dollar Tree)
x3 - 4" USB fans ............................................$6.00 ($2.00 each,99cent store (wtf?)
Mega Crop 750g free sample....................$3.80 (paid for shipping)

Total:...........................................................$149.80
I already had everything else-packing tape,material for drip tray,ph tester,etc

So here's a few pics of what's going on up till now:

So here's where it all started: (My custom seed warmer,which doubles as a stove)

Only one popped,so the next step was:

Now here's where it gets interesting (to me,at least)-On Feb.1 ,I stuck 4 seeds in the ground outside my kitchen window just to see if they would pop in this cold,wet environment -the daytime temps were in the high 50's,nightime was low to high 30's, and it was raining,which it did for 20 of the 28 days in Feb.

So,I was a pleasantly surprised on the 11th when I found this going onya gotta look close,there's 2 seedlings there-NlxBB on the left,Bagseed#3 on the right)

It took them 10 days,but they actually popped! (didn't really think they would)
Well,I couldn't just leave them there,so,after a day or 2, I brought them inside in solo cups and put them in "the box" with the Low Ryder#2,which got off to a very slow start:

A day after I brought them in,another Bagseed#3 popped...I left it outside to see what it would do, There will be more about that one a little later...

Fast forward to Feb 3 -topped NLx BB, fimmed Bagseed 3,and started LST on the Low Ryder#2:

Here's how they looked 2 days ago (15th):LoRyder on the left,NLxBB bottom right,
Bagseed3 top right.

That Northern LightxBigBud is rapidly becoming a monster,and I'm rapidly finding out just how small a 4 sq. ft. growspace really is....

It's soon going to be like trying to stuff 2 pounds of $hit in a 1 pound bag,as my dear old Dad used to say....

So that's about it for now,except for that little plant outside under the kitchen window...
(I'm going to call it a she until she shows me otherwise)
How's she doing,you ask?

Here she is 10 minutes ago-growing a bit slower than her 2 indoor buddies,but still growing, despite nightime temps in the mid 30's to mid 40's-(she's a bagseed#3,btw...)

The days are starting to finally get sunny,so she may surprise us all soon...

Well,that's about it for my first installment,but I'll be updating often...

I just wanted to add that I'm really liking that light-lo budget or not-it's surpassing my expectations so far...

@MrSauga -wanted to let you know, I finally got around to doing this

 

[Old Salt]

Is your box on a 12/12 light cycle for flowering?

 

[Emilya Green]

I love minimalism! I have to sit in on this one! Good luck!

 

[buzz62]

Your plants are looking great! I have joined the church of led, after many years of HIDs, and I am just amazed at what you can do with them. I have one Blueberry that was under a 100 watt cree cob for veg and now under a 156 watt blurple LED and it has filled the 20"x36"x60" tent, and I'm starting to rethink how many plants I need to grow at once!! A previous run with a bit more led light, (275 watts) returned 6.8 oz a plant so I am hopeful this will do close to that. I won't crash your thread with my pix! Check out my journals if you like!! Still snow on the ground here so officially jealous!

 

[Carcass]

Is your box on a 12/12 light cycle for flowering?

No,the LoRyder is an auto-started flowering at 20 days old-I'm on 18/6

 

[Carcass]

I love minimalism!

I'm good with it too-although at 4 sq.ft,I can see another light and a 4x4 tent in my future.
The Mrs. can't see it (yet),but I can....

 

[Old Salt]

I'm good with it too-although at 4 sq.ft,I can see another light and a 4x4 tent in my future.
The Mrs. can't see it (yet),but I can....

Two 2' X 4' may be easier to maintain than a single 4' X 4'. If you grow a SCRoG, or you have difficulty moving mature plants you need access to the 4' X 4' from the front and rear.

 

[Carcass]

Thanks,@Old Salt,that's something to consider-I don't have "fork lift arms" like I did when I was a youngster,so easy access is definitely a plus.
I'm already wondering why I cut such a small door in my box-another month or so and the plants won't fit through it.
But it is cardboard,and I do have a razor knife,so my first modification is coming up real soon...

 

[Cannygrow]

This is my first time subbing on a journal and know I will enjoy the ride. Happy growing BUDDy

 

[buzz62]

Two 2' X 4' may be easier to maintain than a single 4' X 4'. If you grow a SCRoG, or you have difficulty moving mature plants you need access to the 4' X 4' from the front and rear.

Totally agree! Far more versatile for accommodating different timings as well. I love a 2x4 for two plants, and as a drying/curing tent! I have one that is 2'8"x 4'3"x 6'5" from Sun Hut, just a bit bigger overall, and I ran almost 600 watts of Leds in it and had a great crop of Blueberries that filled the space!

 

[Carcass]

I was planning on 2 plants,but then the ones in the yard sprouted,and,try as I might,I just couldn't leave them out in the cold....
When the third one came up outside,I just had to hang out the "no vacancy" sign on my little box-there's already one too many for that tiny space,but I'll make it work.

 

[Carcass]

Small update...
Up-potted the NLightxBigBud today to a 3 gal. (she was in a 2 gal) She's loving it already.
She was due for watering,so she got a nice drink of rainwater & Mega-Crop,so she probably won't need water again for a week or so (although she's using alot more water than she was 2 weeks ago)
Didn't really mean to get my vape in the second pic,but there it is....

I also made the door a bit bigger on the box-not sure just what I was thinking when I cut it only 20" high in the first place,but it's 28" now-about as high as it can be (cardboard is very forgiving
when you screw something up)

I also rearranged the plants to get the 2 young ones under more direct light.

Here's the little runt outside (one day younger than the 2 in the front row above,they germinated in the dirt also) She's really loving the 80 degree days we're having-if these sunny days keep up,she may catch up in a month or so...we'll see...

Well,that's it for today-I'll post a progress report in a week or so-Thanks for looking!

 

[Edge05]

They are looking really nice!

 

[Carcass]

Thank You!-
Yours are looking great,too - Even Blueberry#2 is starting to look pretty good!

 

[Virgin Ground]

Sweet little grow you have there. Plants look great.

 

[Carcass]

Thank You,VG !

 

[HutchBenedict]

Nice grow but I'm in shock! I had no idea you could do this. As a new grower everything is new and so mysterious and the plants and techniques seem so fragile...and then I see your journal. It is really a revelation.

One thing, how do you deal with the heat in there?

 

[Carcass]

Thanks for looking, Hutch

The LED I'm using doesn't really produce that much heat,and my exhaust fan (4") is mounted in
the "wall" right next to it (in this small space,everything is pretty much "right next" to everything else)

The inside runs 14 degrees warmer than the ambient,which is fine with the ambient being about 70f right now.
I figure I may need to add either a second exhaust or an intake fan when the temps start to creep up as warmer weather approaches,but for now, it's doing ok as is with passive intake (fancy name for holes cut in the lower portion of the box).

Cannabis isn't really that fragile,in fact they seem to like it when you "mess with them".

Survival is #1 on their proirity list,and they quickly adapt to whatever it is they need to do to accomplish that and thrive.

 

[HutchBenedict]

A couple of buckets, some dirt and a cardboard box; pretty cool. What kind of exhaust fan are you using? I can see it on the back wall in your picture. If odour was a problem am I right that you could attach some ducting to the back of that fan and attach that to a carbon filter?

I like the two dials on the back wall.

 

[Carcass]

In one pic,the plastic looking fan is an old 110v desk fan that I had sitting around-it worked fine,but was noisy as heck.

The fans I'm using now (the one in the second interior pic) are 4"usb powered fans from the dollar store
(they should actually call it the 2 dollar store,since that what they cost )

I've got 3 of them going,2 circulators and 1 exhaust-they've been running 24/7 for almost 50 days,
and they're doing just fine-surprising,at that price...
Fortunately,odor isn't a problem ,but if it were,I would do the ducting/carbon filter thing,but I'd need a stronger fan to overcome the restriction of the duct and filter media.