Growheart's 125W CFL Closet 1st Time Soil Grow

[Growheart]

UPDATE - And then there were 7
This morning I ripped out #1, the tall, not-so-bushy, hermie that I posted about yesterday. It was very sad but there are lots of immature popcorn nugs frosted with trich's so I guess not all is lost, should get a few G's outta it which I could use right now! Am not going to bother messing with pollenation n trickin these bagseed beauties, would rather get known genetics from seed or clone for next grow. Will post some harvest pics of the hermie - I think it was not a day too late as the male pods look swollen.

btw them bamboo skewers??

Yes sir, they are strong & cheap at like $1 / bag of 12, though I guess any sticks would do. I didnt wanna use branches from outside in case of bugs inside.

Haha and yeah im somewhat of a photo geek, and my favorite thing to photo has always been nature, so of course the garden has given me a new subjects... good ol' potography!

 

[funnystyle]

good riddance to the Hermie!!

im bouta go get me some skewers if they have it at home depot, and i think i might look into buying some OC+ while im there.... i got like less than 30 to spend today on nutes and stuff i need....... whattya think i should pick up??

POTography. jokes hahaha time to roll one up

 

[Growheart]

Update Oct 7 - Chopping & learning

- Ripped out the hermie, cut off the buds, pictured below, worth smoking?
- Did a cost analysis of all expenses for this first-time grow
- Started thinking about cloning a few of of these beauties and setting up clone room, hydro possibly ?
-Noticed temperatures increased by 1-2 degrees Celsius at plant level when adding the 2nd CFL, and also that the 6500k bulb added that is hanging produces significantly more heat to the touch on the pastic part than the 2700k bulb. Strange... Unless perhaps the built-in fan blows down the tube therefore would just be blowing the hottest air down... well I think I just answered my question while typing this,. LOL.
-Perhaps should re-orient the 6500k instead of facing straight down. Anyone have experience with these lights and heat when hanging down ?

So of the 7 female plants, 4 look mostly Indica, wich varying degrees, while 2 look classic sativa, 1 mostly sativa. So 4 Indica 3 sativa, ideally I'd select 1-2 Indicas and 1-2 Sativas for mothers if I were to clone as thats my goal, having an Indica/Sativa on hand perpetually. Also plan to buy some seeds for next grow as well.

Here is the top cola

It makes very nice shadows too if your considering a house plant...

That's all that was left, did not weigh but its quite small, probably less than a g when dry.

Spotted this slight discoloration on the newer growth of one of the ladies

And here is a close up of the hermie again - if your into that stuff

Here is a few shots of the top cola of my superstar, tonight I decided to name her Candy, or Candy Kush because it smells a bit kushy / piney and is just frosted like something sugary they would sell you at the fair! I have spent a few hours just staring at this plant. Also because a few months back I had grabbed some from a friend which was called Candy Kush, and it was delicious and sweet and candy-like. This was not grown from that bag however.

It is this plant, plus a few of my sativas (pictured below), that is making me lean more and more toward cloning, and keeping a few of these bagseed beauties around. The herb they came from was top-notch $120-140 1/2 oz which is on the high side in my area. So yes going to be researching cloning of an already-flowering plant if anyone has any tips that would be great!

Sativa #2 - She's one of the tallest at 65 cm above soil

Top cola of Sativa #2 - the leaves look a bit saggy because it was in need of watering, which I gave it right after this pic. Noticed this plant has been sucking back the water more than the others. It has also been bigger than the others for a long time.

I re-arranged the lights a few times today, got the 6500 k real low now paralell to the tall sativas int he back almost by holding back some of the fan leaves with bamboo sticks laying across, exposing all the lower buds which are beginning to form nicely. Not going to bother with too many bud shots yet, trying not to watch the kettle boil too much if ya know what I mean

I also discovered today that the "How to Grow Marijuana " section of the forums is just packed full of awesome information and guides with lots of pictures, thanks again 420mag! Especailly loved this one. That's where I'm headed now after a bowl, to learnify myself some edumacations! Peace out 420 mag, this bowl's for you!

 

[MountainHigh]

Subscribed, looking great so far!

My thoughts on hermi's are this...THEY DIE...or something like that, unless need overrules common sense, hermi's and sinsemilla do not mix.

 

[Growheart]

Welcome, MountainHigh, thanks for stopping by it's great to have another along for the ride! I really do love your Zen garden. A fellow mountain lover as well, I am, nothing like hiking a mountain to find a little peace

Mini-Update
-Checked PH; tap water is 6.5-6.8; the overflow from feeding with my nute solution is around 5.5-6 is this okay?? (have never really noticed nute damage but being proactive)
While I'm posting here is the cost breakdown from yesterday. After seeing some really impressive sub-$100 setups on here, was curious to see how I'd run over $400... here it is:

Construction................ $350
(lights 125W x 2, reflector, wiring, panda paper, fan, thermo/hygrometer, and a lot of little things that ran over $100 tota like timer tools etc)

Medium/Containers........ $54
(8 2 gal pots, 3 x 40L bags of soil

Nutrients..................... $75

Grand Total................... $475

The construction and pots are an investment and re-usable, and I will have enough nutes left over for at least another grow or two. So a bit higher than I'd initially budgeted for, but things just kept adding up as I went along - I had NO tools, gardening or otherwise. I also never took the small socket CFL's seriously and was convinced I needed a big one. All in all no regrets as it's coming along nicely - I am just hoping to somehow get 2 OZ's -> 2.5 OZ's to get the return on my investment, we'll see....

 

[funnystyle]

Grow, you will definately get what you want in this harvest. for a person like you hahaha yesss you deserve it! LOL!

dude and the ph thing...... umm soil growers preach 7.0 and 5.5-6.0 for hydro growers.... i had went thru this problem in my thread and someone posted i should have my soil at around 7.0 umm if runoff is 5.5-6 after 6.5-6.8 i think its a little too acidic in your pots. doesnt this mean itll lock out nutes??

ughh..... and the nutes.... my dog ran outa food..... he eats 30 lbs of food in a month at 5 and half months of age....... 30lb bag of food for this foo costs me damn near 50....... nutes will have to wait. i will follow MG for the time being. and go with your setup soon. hopefully. til then my friend

 

[basementdwell]

nice take on the hermie but the other are gonna love the space that it took up. good call on yanking it out and to answer ur ? u can use plastic bag or some use paper. Yea the seed would be feamale but also a chance of hermie as well ?? nice looking budds the are on their way to growing big and fluffy

 

[Growheart]

Big Update - Oct 9 2010 ; perpetual motion

Well I am super ripped off some bubba kush and just read through this thread again, and I gotta say Funny, Xbox, Basementdwell, MountainHigh, j6s6u6, you guys are allllllllriiight - cheers for bringing good vibes into the grow journal! I hope your harvests are large & budalicious

Today was a very productive day in many ways including the current setup. Got some stuff done, seriousss bizznaassss if you know what I mean. After a few bowls smoked of some bubba kush with my roommate, we brainstormed a lot about the setup, realized that we did not want to have to start from scratch when these ladies are done and should get the veg set up to have a new batch on the way.

I mean, why not, right >?>??
It seems like the right thing to do. We are really stoked about supplying ourselves with enough meds to not have to look to the street and control the quality. I only wish that I had planned out cloning before flowering. Suggestions for new clone setup /veg room are welcome. I am seriously considering hydro like 75% sure at this point for the next setup. As always constructive criticism is more than welcome.

Now for some pics. A lot of pics. I probably won't be taking this many pics in weeks to come, but right now its just too much fun since this is my first time watching the plant flower.

Building floor light stand

Here is the type of bulb I use - it's 8750 lumens, does it add up? if so then I'm at 17500 lumens. Hoping to add a few more 30-50 w CFL's to surround the canopy from all sides and fill in the holes. Limited budget at the moment.

Tweaking the new setup, moving the plants (they don't seem to mind, If I am gentle) - have to bend the fan leafes down a bit so they dont hit the light, but I figure thats worth it to get that light right in there... correct me if I'm doing something dumb!

Zoom in on the new centre lighting

The lightstand & reflector to keep it protected as well

Also here is my new thermometer mounting solution- bungee cord, with the thermo/hygro sitting right at the level of the canopy in a representative spot, at the same distance from the light as the average of most plants.

The garden after a few more moves & brainstorming on best light setup.

I think the ladies are loving the doubling of light last week, today marks the last day of week 4 (Day 28) and some big changes were made to the setup. The ph has been checked, the garden is healthy, and I sprayed down all the fan leaves with a mister today (just tap water at ph 6.8) to keep them nice clean and bug-free. Everything is wonderful and we christened the room with it's first smoke today - just a hit of some bubba, to bring good vibes into the room.

Well, I'm a bit tired and the couch is calling, will have to post the bud shots tomorrow - I have been pretty certain that at least a few of the seeds sprouted were Purple Kush - and just recently noticed some purpling of the fan leaf stems - is this a trait of that strain, anyone know ? Here is a preview pic... you can notice is on the top half of the fan stems.

Happy Gardening for now, and

 

[Growheart]

nice take on the hermie but the other are gonna love the space that it took up. good call on yanking it out and to answer ur ? u can use plastic bag or some use paper. Yea the seed would be feamale but also a chance of hermie as well ?? nice looking budds the are on their way to growing big and fluffy

You konw what they really are loving the extra space. The light coverage now is much more even, there aren't many spots in the shade now. I hope they sure do grow big & fluffy, in 2 hours week 5 officially starts, the indicas look like they could be done by 7-8 weeks at this rate...

 

[funnystyle]

hey Grow!

dude that floor light is what it issssssssss!!! haha!!

it can only get better from here bruh.......

oooo and them skewers! i cant wait til i start messin with these

 

[funnystyle]

oh and btw........ im still debating on my future light setup...... so far im hinting my lady about your current one! haha

 

[The303Stoner]

ya looks hermi I would put her out side or away from the others let her "it" lol grow smoke it test it if you like it the seeds are a bud of your own the seeds will be females.

 

[Growheart]

ya looks hermi I would put her out side or away from the others let her "it" lol grow smoke it test it if you like it the seeds are a bud of your own the seeds will be females.

Well your about 4-5 days late on that if you read on I ripped that he/she out already but thanks for stopping by! It sure was a hermie and it's been taken out, and cut down. I didn't have any other lights to keep it alive other than current room lighting, and didn't want to have to hide it when people came over. Did not hang whole plant because it was not flushed, just cut off the buds, they are drying - probably a few G's. The remaining 7 are loving the extra space.

Mini-update - Addressing Temperature & Ventilation

Having a bit of a temperature problem now that the 2nd light is secured, has been increasing daytime temps w/ door closed up to 84 F, from avg 78-80 w/ one light. Going to need to invest in an exhaust fan, and possibly a smaller / easier to move and position circulation fan than the big stand-mounted one currently in there.

The good news on circulation is... there is already an 8" circular hole cut into the ceiling, that was discovered after 2 weeks growing in there, when the cover-up plaster gave way and poof a hole appeared. Not sure what this hole is there for or was used for before this... But I have my guesses - pretty ironic if someone else already used this closet to grow!

I won't get into specifics of my place of residence, but let's just say it is not a detached house. I am making a new thread in the 'Cabinet, Closet, & Grow Room Setup' forum, but here is a quick pic.

So as you can see it is connected to the roof of the entire building. Very old building. So far as I can tell, there are no other vents up there. But I will definitely need to add some sort of filter before installing an exhaust fan there.
Here is the thread regarding my ventilation, head over to help brainstorm if you're so inclined!

 

[SnowBender]

Nice grow.

using that area for venting would be a lot noisier to neighbors...and if a repair man sticks his head in there from another unit youd be hosed.

Originally Posted by The303Stoner "ya looks hermi I would put her out side or away from the others let her "it" lol grow smoke it test it if you like it the seeds are a bud of your own the seeds will be females."

this kind of advise often leads to more inbreading of hermie tendencies into the strain.

 

[funnystyle]

Growheart,

i just knew you would have temp issues after that second 125w on the floor bruh..... haha i didnt expect drastic changes, but i just kinda knew you would be bothered by it and make moves..... haha

i second on what Snowbender mentioned about neighbors. damn nosey bastards......

less see what you cook up this time!

 

[Growheart]

Growheart,

i just knew you would have temp issues after that second 125w on the floor bruh..... haha i didnt expect drastic changes, but i just kinda knew you would be bothered by it and make moves..... haha

i second on what Snowbender mentioned about neighbors. damn nosey bastards......

less see what you cook up this time!

Haha, yeah bro, them 125'w put out some heat for CFL's,,, it's actually better w/ on the floor as opposed to hanging (tiny fan at base of bulb now blows hot air from bottom, up, instead of blowing it down towards canopy). But still, 84-85 w/ closed door when it's only around 60-65 outside, not good. Winter temps should help...

SnowBender thanks for popping by, and your probably right about the risk factor... What about if I used a filter, with a fan in between filter / hole and completely caulked / sealed, do you think the noise would still be the main problem ? Also wonder if there would be light leakage through fan... that would be nearly impossible to test by looking from another spot. Hmmm food for thought thanks for the input guys.

The main problem is heat - venting out the closet door somehow and into our suite would be fine, as smell is less of a problem. I just smoked a dried out nug of the 2nd hermie, in a tiny 1-hit bowl off my ice bong, and got a small glow! Tasted like hay, and a bit harsh, but impressed me considering it was only 4wks old hermie that yeilded 2 g's total

 

[Giovanni831]

looking good bro.

Has anyone else offered up a possible strain? Definitely Indica, possibly a kush plant. They actually look alot like mine.

 

[Giovanni831]

Oh, and throw that hermie out asap. It is of no use to you.

No offense to anyone else, dont use the pollen from that thing to pollinate anything. You dont want to pull pollen from a hermie.

 

[Growheart]

looking good bro.

Has anyone else offered up a possible strain? Definitely Indica, possibly a kush plant. They actually look alot like mine.

Hey Giovanni, have not had anyone offer guesses and I will be posting pics later tonight with some better looks at each plant. As for guesses, the seeds came from either Purple Kush, OG Kush, or another Kush variety we can't remember. Not sure what the Sativas but do remember something fruity like a juicy fruit, grape fruit, something fruity that we got the seeds from. In both cases it was just a few rare seeds in 1/2 oz, maybe 3-4 random ones throughout a few month span of getting these good bags. I am really hoping it's the PK as that's one of my favorite strains.

The 4 indicas, are all looking very similar though the best pheno is sugary coated with a much larger top cola & more side nugs. They are all showing some purpling of the upper leaf stems to varying degrees. Have been waiting a few days to post as the 3 other indicas are starting to get more sugary and bushing out the top cola , slowly catching up to the best pheno of the 4, 'lady voilet' as I have begun to call her. Her leaf stems are turning a deep voilet color almost, probably accented by the falling temperatures at night here ( 72-74 deg night, 78-81 days). Which I am told during flowering is okay!

I'll start using this Strain List to reference them from now on...

Indicas
PK#1, PK#2, PK#3, PK#4 (PK - hoping these are purple kush!)

PK#2

PK#1 stems

PK#3 - starting to frost a bit

Sativas

Sativa #1 (Sativa 2 & hybrid 1 in background respectively from left -> right)

Sativa #2

Oh, and throw that hermie out asap. It is of no use to you.

No offense to anyone else, dont use the pollen from that thing to pollinate anything. You dont want to pull pollen from a hermie.

The hermie has actually been out for almost a week now, and I have already posted a smoke report on one of her nugs! haha.

thanks for stopping by mate.

 

[Growheart]

Had been debating how many fan leafs to cut off the lower growth today, found this great read in the forums: Growing Consensus Synopsis Paper

And learned something new today:

"Removal of fan leaves will not only slow growth, but it will also hinder the plants ability to rid itself of toxic gases, and also hinder the regulation of the plants temperature via stomata. Changes in the plants chemical metabolism caused by fan leave removal causes the plant to work overtime to rid ‘toxins’ with less leaves, as a result the pant may allocate more growth hormones into growing more leaves to make up for what has been lost(Equator, 03.15.2002). Removing large amounts of fan leaves may also interfere with the metabolic balance of the plant. Leaf removal may also cause sex reversal resulting from a metabolic imbalance."

Now that I've introduced middle-floor lighting none of the lower fans are dying anymore, guess I may as well 'leaf' them on haha