Kosmi's First Grow - $40 DIY Grow Box Experiment

[CronicHempHog]

just make a simple bubble cloner
a small black bucket or a white bucket cover it up with black duct tape
get some neoprene pucks
an air pump make your holes for the neoprene pucks and for the airline
fill it up with water to the height of the bottom of the cut
and change the water every couple days don't even have to soak it in the tea
simple cheap and easy
in fact I just took a few cuttings yesterday and put my dyi bubble cloner back in action

 

[Kosmi]

I've been thinking. I've got a few extra 5 gallon buckets around. I might convert one into a veg box, for clones, and the use my foot locker as a flower box. Kinda do a perpetual grow type thing.

 

[CronicHempHog]

5 gallons is big for a small diy bubble cloner only need like a 2 gallon bucket for 4 cuttings

 

[Kosmi]

Well I have 5 gallon buckets laying around so 5 gal it is lol. I understand the bubbler concept but what are he neoprene pucks for?

 

[CronicHempHog]

its what you use to hold the cuttings on the bucket
lemme take a pic real quick with my phone and ill post in a minute or 2 maybe 3 or 5 lol but ill get it up for you
ill post it here too

 

[CronicHempHog]

heres a pic of my diy bubble cloner
2 gallon bucket covered with black duct tape so light doesn't get in as roots don't like light
so you will notice the cuttings are held in place with a neoprene puck they sell em online and in growshops
so I made the holes big enough to hold the neoprene pucks in place but after so many uses the puck kind of gets loose as the puck doesn't revert so I keep using the same pucks until it doesn't fit as tight and is fairly loose in the hole, means its time for new pucks
so heres the pic

its also almost time to take off the tape and redo that also but its been used for a long time now and the tapes kinda separating from the adhesive so after this run ill either buy a new lid and just tape a new lid up or
if it isn't too hard to clean off the old adhesive ill do that

 

[Kosmi]

I think I'll give that a try. I have an aquarium pump and air stone around here somewhere. As of right now, there's still no sign of sex that I can tell. Tomorrow is week 2 of 12/12 light cycle. Any adverse affects to the clones if they go on an 18/6 light cycle or even a 24/0 cycle with 1 or 2 lamps mostly just for warmth and a little light?

 

[CronicHempHog]

I take mine after 2-3 week into 12/12
a couple times theres was a bit of starting to flower and all it does when you reveg it if it isn't too far into bloom is create a lot of branching
they call it monster cropping
usually how its done is they grow out a plant leave the small popcorn on the bottom when the plants done leaving enough vegetation to feed off while your reveging so you don't have to create roots by cloning which makes it harder cause it has to root and reveg
but it ends up with lots of branching creating a monster branched up plant
but if not too far into bloom you take cuttings and since it has more bloom nutes in it at that time should root easier
when you try to clone since its not far into bloom and if theres a little blooming going on you get a lot more branching which ive done before by accident had a cutting in a cup of water under 18/6 but it was in a darker area so it decided it wanted to try to flower and when I finally threw it in the bubble cloner I got some great branching from where it tried to flower
ok im getting lost in my own paragraph lemme know if I missed something
but no it wont affect the cuttings I just cut mine after 2 weeks in 12/12 going into week 3 put it in my bubble cloner and now under 18/6 to root and veg for a bit before I throw it in the seed making mode

 

[Kosmi]

I was hoping you could take a cutting once it showed sex. I'll probably take so cuttings this afternoon. I'll get some pics up after I build my little cloner.

 

[Kosmi]

Well here's the update on the plants, and day one of my bubble cloner! We'll see if it works, I took one cutting of plant 1, and if/when it roots, I might cut plant 2. If plant 1 turns out to be male. Week 2 today, still waiting on flowers. Any day now.

 

[CronicHempHog]

you want to darken the container roots don't like light
and youll also possibly start having algae growth with the light in there
edit

also it may take anywhere from 10-14 days to root

 

[Kosmi]

Yeah I figured it could take a while to root. Seems like these plants are slow about everything compared to a lot of the other journals I've read. But, I just figure they take their time to do it right water temps will also slow it down. I don't think there's much I can do to warm up the water in the bubbler, and it's in the shed with the rest of the stuff, so it does get chilly at night

 

[Kosmi]

So I discovered my timer got messed up sometime last night or the night before and it was on and off randomly for about 4 extra hours in the off period :/ got it fixed, it looked like a piece of wood fell on it. Could've even happened this morning. Either way, hopefully it didn't stress the plants too much. I fed them some worm tea yesterday, it looked like there was a nutrient deficiency. I'm guessing the pots are too small and they will need supplemental nutrients. Trying to keep it as simple as possible, worm tea, fish water etc... What would be a good feeding schedule?

The clone is looking healthy still and the leaves are straightening out.

 

[nivek]

well, a schedule for feedings varies, like everything else,, i do every second watering,, but i also give a urine solution every watering so i actually nute it every watering,, every 4 days or so. but most important is to not over nute,, especially i would think, with a tiny plant.

cool attempt at a bubbler,, creative,, cheers

oh,, clones want very subdued light,, as far as i have learned and what i do,,,,,, i would remove that light,, totally

 

[Kosmi]

I'll probably feed it worm tea every other watering then, since it's pretty gentle on the plants. I think its a 23 watt cfl, biggest reason was for the heat. A 40w incandescent would be a better option?

 

[nivek]

i don't think so,, if you are adding light, for the heat only,, i would seek an alternative way to find heat. i have only a few successful clones under my belt,, mostly what i have researched says very low light,, and heat causes transpiration,, moisture loss through the leaves,, not good for clones,, remove the light,, cover the container , after you darkened it,, with a clear lid, plastic even,, and leave it in a lit, warm room,, no direct light. what i would do,, is all,, cheers kos

 

[Kosmi]

Well it's also dark 100% of the time in the room it's in. There are no lights at all, no windows

 

[Kosmi]

Here's an update. 2.5 weeks into the flower cycle, and I'm pretty sure I see a female preflower in there on the big plant! It's definitely not attached to the leaves that are growing there hopefully I'm right, will become clearer in a few days. It's on plant 1, the bigger of the two.

 

[nivek]

yep, pistols, for sure,, female,, nice,, flower on dudette,, happy for ya,, cheers

 

[Kosmi]

Plant 2 appears to be female as well! Plant 1 is definitely female, clearly has white pistils. I think I'll know for sure if plant 2 is tomorrow or the day after.