First Grow In A While: Custom Made PVC Grow Tent At 276 Watts CFL

[chib]

Hello everyone.

I have taken a break from growing for a few years, but I've been itching to get back into it.
I recently built a grow tent for myself made of panda sheet and PVC with a bit of help of some duct tape. It is 60 inches tall by 30 inches wide and 28 inches long. I will have 276 watts of cfl during flower (12, 23 watt lights).

The strain I think I'm growing is called 'Purps'
It was a random bagseed that turned out to be a beast when it came to training and growing. I can't believe how easy it's been ! I honestly don't even know if it is in fact 'Purps' but whatever it is seems to have some strong genetics. I haven't experienced any burn or discoloring in this plant at all thus far.

I have LST'd her since week 2 and also topped her once as well just before LST, She is about 8 inches tall and 24 inches wide. Going to flower her out very very soon.

Room temp is at a stable 77 F
RH is around 55-65%
Soil is FFOF with about 25% perlite.
Nutes - 3 part General Hydroponics, GH Floralicious Plus, Superthrive then GH Floralicious Plus Quart will be added once flowering.

Just about to repot, I will post photos of cab and setup soon.

 

[chib]

Well... Repotted last night whilst a bit drunk.

Not sure if this is going to be an issue, The 5 galon bucket she was in before was taller than the 7 galon fabric one I got so shes sitting a bit high in the bag.

Should I just leave her? Or figure something out. I was thinking about taking some roots off the bottom and repotting her into the bag or maybe just getting a 10 galon bag instead.

 

[chib]

Ok, that was fun. Repotted her twice in 24 hours. She's now sitting in about 9 galons or so give or take. Few more days of veg and I'll start flowering.

Also some pics of the cab, kind of hard to do. Not much room for me to get a decent photo of the whole thing.

 

[chib]

Last day of veg.
She sprouted on the 6th of august so she's just shy of 2 months of veg. Had her under 8 23 watt cfls for the last month or so, I will add 4 more 23 watts tomorrow.

Just tied her down one last time, she has some serious growth going on under all those leaves. I'm so excited to see how she turns out. She filled the cab out quite a bit after repotting into this gigantic 10 gallon can, Thing is so heavy...

Also successfully took some clones that both rooted in no time, Will be able to keep her around if all goes to plan!

 

[chib]

Day 3 of flowering. She's stretched a few inches since the 12/12 flip. Everything is going along really well. She has adapted to her 12-15 gallon pot (No idea how big it actually is) and is going crazy.

The clones are looking great, roots appeared after a week.

 

[chib]

Day 13 of 12/12


Since the up potting from 2 weeks ago she STILL hasn't needed a watering. I guess the pot is a lot bigger than I expected, Was hoping to be hitting her with nutrients by now but the pot is still quite heavy.

Filling up her home quite a bit, She's about 17 inches tall now.

Everything is looking good though, Temperatures range from 68-80 Degrees and RH is around 60-70 when lights are on/off.

 

[chib]

Here are the clones I took.

I had one in FFOF/perlite and one with soil from outside. Kind of funny to see how much more efficient the FFOF is in comparison, It's triple the size of the other cutting and they rooted 2 days apart. I up potted into a slightly larger pot with both older cuttings and gave them a light nutrient watering. I forgot to water the big one yesterday before bed and I woke up to it shriveled up like my junk in cold water, She seems to be fine now.
The smaller one was taken a little over a week ago and finally rooted.

I'm going to need to figure something out soon here as I realize my little cab for cuttings is a bit small. Might have to build a makeshift veg tent soon here.

 

[chib]

Day 22 since 12/12 flip.THC is starting to form, buds are developing nicely, absolutely no sign of stress or nutrients burn/deficiencies.

Thinking I'm doing a pretty good job on this one
This plant is a dream to grow!

 

[chib]

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, I am still some-what of a noob when it comes to growing.

 

[oopssteptinit]

Looking good in there chib. You seem to know what you are doing. Will peek back in on ya from time to time to see what I can learn. Grow brother grow.

 

[chib]

Looking good in there chib. You seem to know what you are doing. Will peek back in on ya from time to time to see what I can learn. Grow brother grow.

Thanks brother, Been trying to get everything dialed in. My only worry right now is humidity... It's staying around 60-70 RH so I might have to figure something out before later in flower.

 

[chib]

Day 33 since the 12/12 flip.

So I no longer believe that the strain is 'Purps'.
Seems like whatever it is is going to be a longer flower period than I expected. A very dank citrusy smell is emitted from the tent all day long, Sort of like a kush. The buds are growing and swelling every day, she's done her stretching and focusing on nug production now.

Only seeing a couple orange hairs, I'm thinking I have another month or so to go with this one. I'm certainly excited

 

[chib]

Day 40 from 12/12

Not much to note, Just bushing up as the days go on.
She has about 95% white pistols.
Probably a longer flowering strain than I originally anticipated but that's okay, she can take her time.

 

[chib]

Are these photo's alright? They seem a bit blurry to me... They always look good on my phone until i upload them onto here.

 

[oopssteptinit]

Hiya chib, your photos look better than any photos I've posted on here. Your doing great, grow Brother grow.

 

[TorturedSoul]

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated

Those Y-adapters are convenient, but not the best idea. You'll get the best bang for your buck, so to speak, out of your CFLs if you orient them horizontally (not at an angle or "end-on") and make some individual reflectors out of soda pop cans or the like. Should help you direct more of the light (that you are already paying for) onto your plants, and onto their leaves (and into their chloroplasts).

IMHO.

 

[chib]

Those Y-adapters are convenient, but not the best idea. You'll get the best bang for your buck, so to speak, out of your CFLs if you orient them horizontally (not at an angle or "end-on") and make some individual reflectors out of soda pop cans or the like. Should help you direct more of the light (that you are already paying for) onto your plants, and onto their leaves (and into their chloroplasts).

IMHO.

Thank you for that. If I'm stuck doing another CFL grow I will definitely be doing something of the sort.
I'm hoping to pick up a LED for my next one, Not really sure on which one to choose as there is so many!


I'm not too sure how many watts I would need for my space.

 

[TorturedSoul]

When HIDs were the main lights used for cannabis grow rooms, we used to suggest "a minimum of 50 watts per square foot for flowering and 30 watts per square foot for the vegetative growth phase." After autoflowering strains started appearing, that got modified slightly to "...and 30 watts per square foot for the vegetative growth phase or when flowering at 18 or more hours of light per day."

With LEDs, the minimum will vary wildly - because the quality across the entire industry varies so wildly. On the other hand, if you follow the above recommendation, I don't suppose you'll be awakened by the sound of your plants crying in the night, regardless of the type of lighting (within reason), lol.

 

[chib]

Day 48 from 12/12

Pistols are finally starting to change over, Nugs getting nice and fat.
I burned her slightly with the last nutrient watering but it isn't the end of the world, I never said I was a professional
Originally I thought the strain I was growing was going to be 'Purps' but from the looks of it, it's gotta be something else. A few leaves from the top colas are going a bit purple on the edges though, I hope I can get a bit of color before she's cut.
She's going through 2.5-3 galons of water every few days, Very thirsty girl!

 

[oopssteptinit]

Look'n good chib. Bet the aroma is great!