Hello to everybody!

[Outspoken]

Let me just say, After 3 years of smoking, I'm thrilled to be Growing my Own batch of Bubblegum Seeds, And am very interested in what everyone here has to offer in the way of Knowledge;

So let me introduce myself - My Names Jamie, 22, and I live in a little part of the United Kingdom called Wales! But please, Come on no jokes!

JUST SO EVERYONE KNOWS THIS IS A STARTER PROJECT WITH A "VERY" LOW BUDGET.

So Lets get down to the Technical details; We're growing 3 Auto bubblegum Strain seeds "Originally from Indiana but moved down to the Netherlands".. Yadda yadda.
Now im quite Sceptical on what this plant's supposed to be yielding as i've seen the same strain in other places; Saying that the strain typically gives higher yields. The Website i Bought them from Believes we're getting around 30-50g Per plant, Whilst the Competitors Websites Are estimating it at 500-750g - You see my point? Any Explanations on this matter are very welcome

More technical Details involve the Area of my room Which doing with a Child's School ruler i measured out at;
Depth - 45CM - 17.7"
Width - 87CM - 34.2"
height - 80CM - 31.4"

The walls and floor have been Decked with The Inner side of aluminium foil until i can afford to look at Matt white paint, For arguments sake here though id like to know if id be better off with staying to the magnolia colour or should i stick with the Foil? - The foil has been Taped to the walls.

I'm currently using a 200W CFL Dual Spectrum, No Hood Until i can find something to improvise with - I'd like everyone to think what Metal would be best to use for the Hood as it would be cheaper for me to buy the resources and make it myself out the shed ^^; Also just for the record, We're looking into getting another 200W CFL Until further notice Just so that we have better lighting in there - Further notice being the budget to buy 1000w HPS Or Something along them lines.

As for ventilation - the room is a Supply Closet split in two, So i'm using the bottom half for the grow, All heat raises and is ventilated between two vents, one which leaks into my kitchen, the other into my living room - The windows are literally ALWAYS open, What Do we think guys? Should i look at sticking something in there as soon as or could we get away with it? The average air temp here is 17 degree Cels, Another 6-7 and we're in growing temps - The light is going to give off some heat im assuming, In such a small place is this going to cause problems?

Anyway, if i've missed something or anyone else would like a little bit more Information Please let me know; The Project is due to start this Week, I'm just awaiting Seeds - As soon as they get here they'll be going in for germination

Ah - and another question of interest whats the best way i can achieve a 6.5 PH rating for my soil, I have no way of testing it atm.

 

[Vapedogg223]

Hey Outspoken, to 420 Magazine!

I don't know much about autos, but I can tell you that 500-750g is either per plant outdoors or m².

Heat is always a problem you are going to need good ventilation, not just for the heat but also for fresh, CO₂ rich air...rapidly growing plants in a confined space will very quickly use up available CO₂.

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[Outspoken]

Hey Vapedogg, Thanks for the Warm welcome, What would you recommend for Co2 i live in quite an industrial area so Co2 is something our Oxygen carries quite well but We all know Plants needs Co2! I'm uploading an image of my growspace, It has all Dimensions attached, Any improvements you could think of please let me know!

 

[Outspoken]

Grow Room Stage 1. - 420 Magazine Photo Gallery

Thats basically what im using at the moment.

Very Basic.. Lol

 

[Vapedogg223]

Hey Vapedogg, Thanks for the Warm welcome, What would you recommend for Co2 i live in quite an industrial area so Co2 is something our Oxygen carries quite well but We all know Plants needs Co2! I'm uploading an image of my growspace, It has all Dimensions attached, Any improvements you could think of please let me know!

You're welcome!

Some type of fan to pull the hot air out of the space...and thus letting fresh air find it's way in, is all you'll need in the way of CO₂. I don't think you'll see a benefit from actual CO₂ enrichment growing with fluors...generally you'll need HID or high quality LEDs for the plants to be able to make use of the extra CO_2.

 

[Outspoken]

Well at least thats alright then, Ill have to pick up a £10 Fan from Tesco's then lol, Thanks for your help dude, Any other pointers?

 

[Vapedogg223]

Well at least thats alright then, Ill have to pick up a £10 Fan from Tesco's then lol, Thanks for your help dude, Any other pointers?

Well, I didn't tell you to ditch the aluminum foil...you already knew that. It's only 50-60% reflective at best...flat white or panda film will get you ~80%.

I used to grow in a closet...actually, I guess I still do...well, my moms at least. You're not really going to know how well, or exactly what a small space like that needs until you start using it. If you can, try and pick up some kind of wireless thermometer/weather stations, the kind that has a sensor that you hang outside, and reads both temp and relative humidity. I picked up one at Lowes for $20, that way when the closet is closed up and things are running, you can easily see what's going on. The ones I use also remember the high and low for the day, so if something happens when you're not there that causes a spike one way or the other, you'll know about it.

I think the only other advice I'd offer at the moment is just to do a lot of reading here! Read everything you can...you can always ask for help along the way, but not all help is created equal! Also, look through the journals and see if you can find some folks with similar grows to what you are doing, and follow along...many similar grows deal with similar issues, so that can be a big help.

 

[Outspoken]

Yeahh I've been doing that all night, Scanning for "200W CFL" Grows, "Small closet" Grows and all sorts - But anyway dude, Ill defo look into one of those Thermometers - We don't have a Lowes Here but i'll Probably be able to pick one up in B&Q Lol

 

[Green Knight]

hey Outspoken - welcome: i've just joined myself and about to start a grow too. ive been getting a lot of stuff on ebay to be honest; its better than b&q and probably cheaper. i've got a cfl too, only a 125w, but they don't put out much heat (compared to an hid or hps anyway) so you may be alright with heat but still good to get an airflow through. ive seen a lot of people on here using computer cooling fans to extract and getting them for quite cheap (like a tenner or so).

 

[Outspoken]

Hey GreenKnight, Yeah i've just stuck one of the tesco fans in there pushing out air from the bottom that way my hot air (If any) Is circulating quite a bit, I had my babies in the prop unit for a while, I've literally today.. Decide to take them out for good, They've just sprouted their second sets of leaves, so its about time to let them get used to the environment their going to be living in - I've got the CFL about.. 4 Inches away from the head of the plants, And Obviously heat Rises so their isnt much problem keeping the temp of the Soil and lower halves of the plants cool for now - When we get a little further along i'm going to rig up a System of 6 Laptop fans to go into the Top Ventilation duct, That way eliminating any and all odours and keeping the room nice and fresh, Also I've told the missus to go in the room now and again and just take a few deep breaths, I guess the Co2 we naturally breath out could be good for the plants as it is one of their main nutrients, Anyway dude - Your another UK Grower im guessing, How're you coping with climate control?

 

[Green Knight]

Sounds great mate; I think yours are a bit further along than mine; my seed germinated over the weekend and the second set of leaves are just showing, but are still very small.
For climate control I've got an extractor fan I used for a grow about 10 years ago. It pulls out quite a bit of air for the size of my cupboard so it replaces the air plenty of times over an hour (a good 400 or so!). It's a cupboard within a cupboard and I can't extract outside so it runs through a carbon filter to kill any smell later on in the grow. I've also got a 6" fan at the top of the cupboard creating some air movement. I'd like to move it down to get a bit more air movement over the plant but haven't got the room (It's a bit smaller than your area - d 48cm x w 57cm x h 110cm, though I lose some of the height with the fans and filter). I ordered the CFL and reflector off the net and didn't get any perspective as to the size of the things - I was a bit suprised when it arrived; they're monsters!!
I've also got my light about 4 inches above the plant at the moment and will move it a bit closer once it's a little bit bigger - heat doesn't seem to be a problem but I don't want to shock her when she's just a couple of days old!
For extra CO2 I'm just standing and watching it a lot whilst smoking!!

 

[Outspoken]

I've been keeping my babies on 24 hour lighting for the time being, just got a new order of 5 seeds, 2 Double Bubblegums and 3 Fem Kush Van Stitch, So i'm currently putting them through germination - They're all in their soil now under the lights.. I KNOW What you mean! Just under a foot long?! It's good because they have quite a broad range on their own, Haven't quite got to building my own Reflector hood yet.. I was thinking, Are you checking the rooms temp constantly?? Is it hot enough? Whats the score on your set up for heat? I'd have thought taking too much air out of the room will indefinitely cool the room down??

 

[Green Knight]

Nice! I'd really like to get some variety going but just don't have the room to flower more than one plant at a time unfortunately so I plan to use the propagating room to germ and veg a different strain each time before moving it up to flower once I've harvested the other. I'm 18/6 at the moment but I've been considering using 24 but I'm still undecided - I've read some people saying they like a bit of a rest, and others saying it doesn't make a lot of difference apart from allowing them to grow 24/7, particularly with autos, which I've got at the moment. I'm interested to see how you find the 24 hour cycle so will be watching with interest (unfortunately the link to your grow in your signature doesn't seem to work though so I've not been able to visit your journal)

I've read some people using basting trays to make reflectors and lining them with Mylar - would fit a CFL if you got one for a turkey!

I need to get a thermometer / hygrometer but I think I'm alright with temps. Because the cupboard's in a cupboard it's very well insulated and even though a lot of air's being extracted it's also drawing in air from inside the main cupboard that's a bit warmer than room temp. I left a big gap under the main cupboard door so cooler air can be drawn in under the bottom and into the bottom of the grow cupboard but it's still warmer than i expected, and definitely warmer in the grow room than outside it (ball park i reckon it's about 25 - 30C). If I was using an HID or HPS I reckon I'd have real problems with too much heat though.

 

[Green Knight]

Thanks Outspoken - you just got me thinking about temps and based on what you said I thought I'd double check why my cupboard was so warm given that it's only a CFL and the extractor fan is chucking out a hell of a lot of air! I found that because the plant's so small the CFL's really close to the reservoir and my air pump is right next to the res and a matt blue. The pump was hot to the touch and pumping warm air into the res. The temp of the nutrient solution was 36C!! Not good! I've made some modifications (moved the air pump to the propogating room so it will pump cooler air into the res, covered the res in some more reflective material to reflect more heat as well as light, and added some cooler solution to bring the temp down in the short term. I've also moved the desk fan to create more air movement over the reflector). I'll keep an eye on things and my plant looks healthy and fine, but I think your words have just averted a major disaster - Thank You!!

 

[Outspoken]

It's sounding pretty good man; I know my link's a Dud, I'm gonna have to delete it now.. Basically the cat got into my Babies and Demolished the best part of 4-5 Of 'em so basically im in the process of Germinating some new ones i got from the seed bank - When i get a Digi cam ill be getting some pictures up along with a decent Journal, Not really alot to report on so far, I have 3 which are entering flowering stage, they're literally at the stage of putting out their 4th-8th set of leaves now and the first 2 are starting to branch away, Almost time to start Training them, Can't wait! haha but will be starting the Journo very soon!

 

[Green Knight]

Bloody cats!!! I've got three of the bastards; love em to bits but, well... cats! I'm convinced they love weed - they always hang around like a bunch of threatening hoodies when I'm smoking, and trawling the forums cats destroying grows seems to occur quite regularly. You should grow some high grade cat nip to keep him stocked with some good cat stash and to keep his attention away from your herb!

 

[Outspoken]

Lmao, You got a point there and i might actually look into - Just showed the misses the post and she chuckled along with/ We have 3 also, 1 British blue and 2 mog's, Can you chuck catnip in with the Weed plants to grow? >_>

 

[Green Knight]

Nice; our three are all moggies - we got the mum a few years ago, let her have a litter before neutering her, and kept two of the kittens. A happy little family (well, a bit dysfunctional- she hates one of them, but he's a bit needy and she got fed up with him!)

Not sure about keeping the cat nip with the weed plants though - it might encourage them into the area. Knowing cats as they are they'd probably say thank you very much, ignore the cat nip, and munch all your weed! Could set up a separate little room and grow some high grade hydro cat nip though!

 

[Outspoken]

Lolll, The area is kept off limits but yeah it could encourage them to hang about like mindless little hoodies ¬_¬, Bad news dude - Sorry haven't been able to get back to you sooner - Computer Packed up and had a wobble, So now i'm trying to quickly burn Linux onto a USB pen so i can use that as my Temp HDD, Fingers crossed! ^_^

 

[Green Knight]

Shit, sorry to hear about the computer, that's bad luck. Hope you manage to get it all sorted; it's rubbish how stuff that requires cash always happens at once; grow, camera, then a computer!