Hodder356's CFL Cabinet Grow 2012

[hodder356]

Hello everyone at 420! Welcome to the first official grow journal for me. This is a grow started from a failed first attempt. I live in an area without a lot of hydro/grow stores so all my supplies are from one of the big home improvement stores. I think this current setup is working great so far. I have been surfing the site reading a lot, learning from all the awesome cabinet grows using cfl's out there.

What strain is it?
bagseed
Is it Indica, Sativa or Hybrid? What percentages?
seems life a sativa
Is it in Veg or Flower stage?
flower
If in Veg... For how long?
If in Flower stage... For how long?
day 1
Indoor or outdoor?
indoor
Soil or Hydro?
soil
If soil... what is in your mix?
miracle grow and perlite
If soil... What size pot?
I think 3 gallon
Size of light?
8 x 23 watt standard CFL, 6 bright 2 soft
Is it aircooled?
1 small vent fan, very efficient
Temp of Room/cab?
steady high 70's
RH of Room/cab?
nice and dry
PH of media or res?
stable
Any Pests ?
no
How often are you watering?
saturate to run-off once a week
Type and strength of ferts used?
miracle grow all purpose at 1/4 strength

These 2 plants are healthy clones taken from a first grow attempt. They were kept in Veg for about 3 weeks and took off like crazy this past week. I have done some simple LSTing ans a little FIM as well. I have a good amount of sturdy branches so I'm ready for flower. My grow box is just a basic little cabinet bought for 50$. It have nice bid air vents at top and bottom, with air being circulated by small 5 inch fan. My goal for this grow is any amount of fine dank.

So as I said this is day 1 of flower after a few weeks of veg. I will update every few days, so things will really look good in a few more weeks. Thank you all for all the great journals that have inspired me! All input is welcome.

 

[hodder356]

I was thinking of setting up some sort of screen to try a little scrogging. or I may just defoliate a little any thoughts?

 

[hodder356]

Day 7 of Flower

Hey everybody! Well the journal is off to a slow start but its gonna get good I promise, lol. These two plants seems to be taking longer to flower than their mother plant, maybe its cause they are clones...hmmmm. The plants seem really healthy, I have only used some miracle grow nutes once thus far.


So I made a little screen to try a little scrogging. All my LSTing worked pretty good, although i vegged a little too long, there are so many things i wish i had done differently already for my next grow. I read yesterday that miracle grow nutes and soil can give final product a harsh taste, oops.

I tried taking some pics with and without flash. as you can see i changed lights to give a little more grow room, and added 2 more cfl's. I fear my plants may be too tall but we shall see. I took these pics with a smart phone, sorry for the size.

Well hopefully this update will entice some comments lol, please feel free to tag along for this small cabinet grow. I would love to hear what the vets out there would say about me pruning and removing some lower level growth. the plants are still on a once a week watering schedule, its torture waiting to see some buds, i see a few little whites starting to poke out but nothing to get excited about. thanks for viewing everybody! stay tuned for updates!

 

[hodder356]

So any cab growers out the like/dislike my setup? The next batch of pics will be sized right when I get my new laptop

 

[CronicHempHog]

looks tight on the space
some books say you can flower those clones as soon as they root but im not sure i read alot havent tried alot since im a newb to indoor stuff
and a long time since ive grown any happy herbs

 

[hodder356]

Yes I had considered 12/12 right from the start. Since I'm not in too big a hurry I vegged for a couple weeks. Next grow will be much shorter in height I'm hoping- thanks for stopping by!

 

[hodder356]

12/12 grows will often produce better plants than you'd expect. In a height limited space(I have same problem. It's a good way to save time and space.

Thanks for stopping by pierce, I have also seen some nice 12/12 grows in these journals. I cant wait to try some new grow techniques next time around. Your plants look nice and healthy in your grow, wish I could do some vegging outdoors, someday.....lol I read in your journal somebody has used miracle grow for years with no problem, makes me happy....happy growing y'all!

 

[hodder356]

Thanks for the info guys, really appreciate it. Glad to hear more good things about the miracle grow, its nice and cheap so its working good so far! The dog in the pic is real nice, he never gets into trouble, every time I'm around the plants he just sniffs them and wags his tail lol.

What would anybody think if i simply chopped down the tallest growths? i know it sounds awful to chop the best growth thus far but my main goal is to just grow something smokable this time around, if i must sacrifice to have something in the end i would.

I also have some clones in stasis waiting in the fridge for emergencies lol! ill post a pic of my clones with next weeks update, they look real healthy just chillin in a pickle jar....

thanks for stopping by everybody!

 

[hodder356]

Even though the dog may be nice they carry around little pests and thing's that can be bad for the plants I wouldn't really chop that, it's going to be your main cola. No way to build a little bigger box? In fact you could easily just pop the top off the cab you got right now and raise the ceiling up a little?

Wow man you are a genius!!!!! I can't believe I didn't think of that. This cab's top will easily come off. I am def gonna raise the ceiling next week. This will also help my temp and air circulation, now this why this forum is so valuable, the sharing of info, so awesome!

 

[hodder356]

Well I went ahead and expanded the grow box up for about 10" more space. This should give me plenty of height for the rest of grow. I will post nice pics with the weekly update. I am a little spooked by the fact that 2 members who responded in my journal are no longer on the website at all! I only had a few responses...now its even less and those guys seemed cool too..( please don't be feds.....) hopefully its all good with our vanishing members. Stay tuned for best update yet y'all!!!

 

[Electricthom]

They look great, just started out myself and will build a box asap but the look of your girls give me great hope for a small space and CFL budget. Just a thought on the MirGro. I have seen videos of people chopping the plant then placing in water like cut flowers to flush the nutes out. This should remove any bad taste associated with with nutes being in the buds and give a nice gray ash instead of blackish when burnt. Don't get discouraged folks will come around sooner or later I only have one post in my Journal and it was telling me to read member journals I had read already but if nothing else it will be a way for you to look back at what you've done for reference on future grows.

 

[donpaul.p]

nice set up mate, its good to see another cfl grower, its my first time with cfls and my first grow in 9 years so im hoping it all turns out ok, your plants are looking really healthy and bushy, ive had a quick flick through your journal and like what i see, could i just ask how long you vegd for

 

[donpaul.p]

another thing i forgot, you know during veg you needed more of the 6500 k bulbs or the blue looking ones, well are you using more 2700k bulbs the standard looking cfl, you need to be leaning towards having more of these in during flower, maybe your doing this all ready, but basically exactly the opposite of the veg cycle so more of the 2700k bulbs and just a couple of the 6500k for extra light spectrum, the 2700k bulbs are easy to come buy, i kept getting mine free out the paper or off energy companies, i had problem finding the 6500 k or blue looking bright cfls and had to get mine off amazon

 

[Albatross]

The only thing besides the height of my concern is having no exhaust. I would dissemble that fan and cut a whole in the upper right side of the box and let some of that hot air run out. In doing that you will need an approx equal sized hole in the bottom left hand side. This will increase co2, decrease air temps, decrease humidity, as well aid in air flow. Idk how much those pots would play a factor however..hmm. I converted an old cabinet as well and i think i have some pics up but i can get some more if you want them.

 

[Albatross]

an insert from ed rosenthal's Marijuana grower's Handbook

"Air Circulation

A close inspection of a marijuana leaf reveals many tiny hairs and arough surface. Combined, these trap air and create a micro-environmentaround the plant. The trapped air contains more humidity and oxygenand is warmer, which differs significantly in composition andtemperature from the surrounding atmosphere. The plant uses C02 sothere is less left in the air surrounding the leaf. Marijuana dependson air currents to move this air and renew the micro-environment. Ifthe air is not moved vigorously, the growth rate slows, since themicro-environment becomes C02 depleted. Plants develop firm, sturdystems as the result of environmental stresses. Outdoors, the plantssway with the wind, causing tiny breaks in the stem. These are quicklyrepaired by the plant's reinforcing the original area and leaving itstronger than it was originally. Indoors, plants don't usually need tocope with these stresses so their stems grow weak unless the plantsreceive a breeze or are shaken by the stems daily. A steady air flowfrom outdoor ventilation may be enough to keep the air moving. If thisis not available, a revolving fan placed several feet from the nearestplant or a slow-moving overhead fan can solve the problem. Screen allair intake fans to prevent pests." pg 29

 

[hodder356]

So i got a new camera, I'm testing the quality now with this sweet pic of my dogs. i will update my journal tonight once my lights turn on, I've got great new growth to show everyone!

 

[donpaul.p]

i had one of them dogs a while back, cavalier king charles spanial, it was one of the best dogs i have ever had, never needed a lead to walk it, i could leave it outside a shop and it would wait for me, then i could give it a biscuit at the shop and it would walk all the way back with it in its mouth and woudnt eat it till it got back and went in her bed

ive got a staffordshire bull terrior now, he is huge for a staff, and i have found staffs are great dogs as well, their a smaller version of the american pitbull, but mine is huge, looks like a dog on steroids.

nice camera as well, looks like where going to be looking at some very nice plants, i got a nice camera but the kids have lost the leads to it so ive ordered some more, i have had to make do with the phone ive got to take pictures and they turn out pretty crappy.

 

[Pierce89]

So any cab growers out the like/dislike my setup? The next batch of pics will be sized right when I get my new laptop

I like your cabinet, it's neater than mine. No higher than it is though, you could probably get away with smaller pots, which would give you a little more height to work with. You basically need 1/2 gallon per foot of plant height(at least in my experience) so you could grow plants big enough to fill it with 1.5 gallon pots. It looks like yours may be 2 gallon. If they're already 1.5 gal or smaller disregard the rambling.

 

[hodder356]

Day 13 of Flower
start of week 3

Yay, finally another update. thanks for all the input everyone! things are really starting to take off. i took the suggestion and added about 10'' in height for the cab. it was a harder task than i had thought but well worth it. the plants are taking off!

First I want to show everyone my clones that are in stasis in the fridge. they are in a small jar with water, inside a lidded pickle jar with water in it also.

Now here are some good shots of the cab. the bad is about 3'10'' high (originally 3') 2' wide and about 14'' deep. to answer an earlier post, this cab has been very well vented since the get go. it has a 4 inch gap at bottom drawing in air, with another gap at top with a small fan venting out so the temp stays at a cool 69/70 lately.

So to expand cab i just took off top panel, and added so new boards around top and placed top panel back on.

I also added some more bulbs, have half bright white cfl's and half yellow cfl's.

So as you can see i have a lot of cola sites, i think they are slowing down on the vertical growth so it should be bud city from here on out.

So there we go everyone. Thanks again for all the great advice. I'm still watering about once a week and the way things are going next weeks update will be awesome!

 

[sfw88]

plants look great , it's gonna get REAL FULL in your cabinet huh ? as if it ain't now, them plants are going to blow up during flower ,I can't wait to see what ya do with em..