My first grow. California Dream

[mesrone]

Hows it going everyone? I am finally starting my first real indoor grow, and I am so excited!
Ive been reading on here for months now, and posting a tiny bit asking questions, trying to figure out the best way for me to dive into this, and I finally decided.
To start, space was an issue, and so was keeping it, not secret, but hidden (no tents in the open or things like that. So i decided to build myself a tent inside of my closet. Its not perfect, or finished yet, but its on its way.

The box is 22" x 32" x 69". IM planning on growing 6 plants in 8 inch pots, and I saw an idea on here a couple months back that i would really like to try, bud in a cup, so i will also pack as many of those into there as i can.
EQUIPMENT: I have not yet purchased everything i need, but am finishing up shopping and building tomorrow and the next day.
Mylar Lining on walls.
Air Cooled Sun System Hood/reflector connected to 105 cfm axial outtake fan
GrowBright 400W conversion MH bulb buying a 600W HPS bulb tomarrow, thinking Eye Hortilux.
Ballast has to wait until monday, but 600W digital Lumatek or Galazy (any input on which?)
Also have 3 68W 4200 lumen each soft white cfl im going to use the start the seeds.
Going with fox farms ocean forest soil and nutrients when the time comes.
Had to jerry rig the fan because it didnt fit with the ducting, BUT nothing some gorilla tape couldnt fix.

Im going to start seeds tomarrow, have 15 random bagseeds that i want to try some tests on before the real seeds come in. Im going to start half in rockwool, and the other half in paper towel and plastic bag.
Lastly the strain im going to put all my effort into is california dream from amsterdammarijuanaseeds!!
thanks for reading that ridiculously long post, but im so stoked to finally have a journal to add with everyone here.

 

[skunkshishi42]

haha dang dudes thats awesome i wantes to start growing myself but i live with my parents still hahaha bummer.

dang but that tent is beast how long did it take you to build it?

 

[mesrone]

not done yet, but that was just an afternoon. another day and it hsould be done!

 

[The Weed]

Thats useing your noggin mesrone! Good luck, Keep going strong! See you Later!

 

[mesrone]

Day two. Almost done with my closet! bought an EYE Hortilux 600W hps bulb today, and got my hood all hooked up. Also got an axial fan for the inside, and got my intake fan hooked up.
Just a cheap 8inch cage fan, with a somewhat janky setup, but its lightproof and works for ventilation! I have the puffed out effect on the tent walls!
I still need to buy a ballast. Im debating on ordering the lumatek 600W digi or my local hydrostore has a 600w galaxy digi, anyone have any suggestions?

Also started seeds today. Had 15 bag seeds, and started 7 with the paper towel bag technique, and the other 8 using rockwool.
The temp is 75F and humidity is 70% using 3 70w cfls 12,600 lumens total!!

 

[crazy420]

looks like a nice setup goodluck with ur grow...

 

[mesrone]

well went ahead and bought the Sun system, Galaxy 600W digi ballast. a little big, but i heard good things so, well see!
Keepin temps in the hydration dome at 82F. a tad high, but still tweakin a little bit to lower to around 80. and humidity staying right at 45-50%.
Im gunna run the MH light a little bit tomorrow to test temps in the tent and test the fans, make sure everything is golden.

 

[The Weed]

Nice purchase mesrone! You don't mess around. Best of luck on that test run tomorrow.

 

[mesrone]

Nice purchase mesrone! You don't mess around. Best of luck on that test run tomorrow.

Thanks! I hope it works.

 

[mesrone]

Well im giving the lights and the ballasts a test run today. My HPS bulb is working fine, but the MH isnt. It flickers a couple times, then nothing.. Does anyone have any suggestions on what could be wrong with it?
Its a 400W conversion bulb, and im unsure because when i shake it lightly, there is a small rattling noise that is heard.
Anyway on good news, 2 days after germinating the seeds, i have 5 that have popped of the 7 in the paper towel technique, and i can already see 4 of the 8 in the rockwool that have popped! so good news on that front!

 

[Medifreddie]

Hey Mes, Words of caution. You appear to have a considerable amount of elect going to your small closet. Also, the 600w is going to generate a lot of heat in the same small area even with decent fanage. Be extremely watchful for electrical/fire danger potential.

Moving your hanger clothing to the far end of the closet or relocating to another closet is also recommended as a precaution. Sometimes, the smaller the grow area, the greater the risks of fire because smaller spaces are easy to overheat and cramming too much electrical hardware in a small space can spell disaster on a personal level. Fire departments are reporting more n more house fires these days are caused by growing operations were folks either werent aware of the possible fire dangers or were just being foolish.

Note: Generally, the closet grow electrical source will come from the same bedroom where the closet is located simply out of convenience but unfortunately these circuits are usually of the lowest amperage in the average house (15amp) Older houses can be even more dangerous. If you start tripping breakers, you have your first warning youve over-maxed the circuit(s) and bad things can be just around the corner. Make sure your electrical panel is in good shape and the circuit breakers within are working properly. I dont mean to bring you down or sound like Dr Doom but your life & property will always be worth more than your garden. Be careful, be safe! peace n good luck MF

 

[mesrone]

Hey Mes, Words of caution. You appear to have a considerable amount of elect going to your small closet. Also, the 600w is going to generate a lot of heat in the same small area even with decent fanage. Be extremely watchful for electrical/fire danger potential.

Moving your hanger clothing to the far end of the closet or relocating to another closet is also recommended as a precaution. Sometimes, the smaller the grow area, the greater the risks of fire because smaller spaces are easy to overheat and cramming too much electrical hardware in a small space can spell disaster on a personal level. Fire departments are reporting more n more house fires these days are caused by growing operations were folks either werent aware of the possible fire dangers or were just being foolish.

Note: Generally, the closet grow electrical source will come from the same bedroom where the closet is located simply out of convenience but unfortunately these circuits are usually of the lowest amperage in the average house (15amp) Older houses can be even more dangerous. If you start tripping breakers, you have your first warning youve over-maxed the circuit(s) and bad things can be just around the corner. Make sure your electrical panel is in good shape and the circuit breakers within are working properly. I dont mean to bring you down or sound like Dr Doom but your life & property will always be worth more than your garden. Be careful, be safe! peace n good luck MF

Thanks for the advice! Its funny you post that, because this morning i was going over everything and that was a concern i actually had.
Ive looked at my circuit breaker, and i have nothing but 20 amps throughout the house.
From what i understand, you dont want to have any more than 80% of total maximum hooked up to a circuit breaker at any time, and 80% of max on a 20 amp breaker is around 1900 watts?
With all of my elect in my closet, i am barely pushing 1000W. But i am still a bit nervous.

Now you mentioned the 600W light producing ALOT of heat, even with decent fanage? my closet is about 28 cubic feet. I have an exaust fan running at 105cfm hooked up to the air cooled light, so about 3 1/2 times a minute the air will be refreshed. As well as an 8 inch standard cage fan for intake. Also the ducting is being led OUT of the closet into the open room. Do you think it would still be too hot?

 

[Medifreddie]

Hey Mes. Cool, yer ahead of me but 1000 watts in an area meant for clothes & tennis rackets will still require close monitoring. A lot of folks have more money than common sense when it comes to doin this sort of stuff. LOL I cant really answer your last question but to say it sounds like you know what to look for in regard to potential hazards and will adjust.

One last thing, your house was wired well. 20 amp circuits in the bedrooms are stellar. However, spread your plug-ins by using several or more of the outlets to reduce overloading any one receptacle. It's generally not a good idea to put one of those a six-way outlet adapters into a 2 outlet box (unless it has a built in circuit breaker) simply because the original receptacle can be overheated and result in issues/hazards. Try to plug your 400/600 ballast into a separate outlet because it will generally pull the most current and create the most electrical heat(at the receptacle) by far than your other hardware, fans etc. Again, your main electrical panel,if in good shape, will let you know if yer over-maxin, but dont completely rely on it to tell you when something is wrong. A proper & safe electrical set-up is absolutely essential to any indoor "effort" Sounds like were on the same page! peace n good luck MF

 

[mesrone]

Hey thanks for the advide MF! appreciate it greatly!

 

[mesrone]

Well, transferred 5 of the 7 seeds from the paper towel technique to rockwool and put them in the closet with the other 8. From what i can see, 5 of the 8 that were germinated using rockwool only have sprouted and are stickin up just over the surface of the rockwool. so good news!

temp staying at 80 and humidity at 40-50%

 

[mesrone]

5 days and most have sprouted. kind of a slow start though, alot of them got tangled in the rockwool holes, and i can see them struggling to free themselves from the seed shells, if that makes sense, but they are on their way, so im stoked!

 

[The Weed]

Happy for YOU mesrone you are on your way, down Cannabis road! It a awesome journey! Tons of excitement,You can always ask for directions if you make a wrong turn cause everyone is super helpful and theres great rewards at the end of your travels! enjoy the TRIP! Can you tell I'm high?

 

[mesrone]

HAHA. yes sir i sure can tell! im jealous. i had to clean myself out for a drug test, but now thinking about not smoking until the goods come!

 

[greengo840]

Absolutely stellar set-up! You’re gunna want to lower the cfls in order to prevent stretching. Also, the space seems a little inadequate 6 plants let alone the beautiful little forest you've got going there. I'm curious to see what you have in store for us.

 

[mesrone]

yeah, i lowered them today to only a couple inches aove. that was as close as i could get them with the dome. but now that all of them are sprouted, i got rid of the dome for the time being.
thanks!
oh and to answer the second half of your question.
I'm not going to be growing very high vertically, though the closet is 69" tall. I was planning on keeping them in about 10 in pots, which would be room for 6. but likely, i would have to cut down to 4. So 4 decent sized plants with supercropping and lst is more than likely what i will try.
Also, on this site, i believe it was in pan4golds garden, he had some cool little plants, "bud in a cup" he called them. Where he never removed them from the red pixie cups. I ill not be using as tiny as the pixie cups, but i will keep them in the smallest pot that i can, and put as many into the extra space that i can fit as they take up very little room.

I germinated so many seeds because i wanted to make sure that i would have enough female plants to suffice in the space that i have. Im only going to be in this house for until the end of december, so i wanted to maximize that time as best i can. and i have quite the stockpile of seeds, so why not play it safe. this way also gives me play to try different techniques with ferts, ph levels, lst practice etc. becaus i agree with you, the space is not big enough for all of them in flowering, but for the first short period of veg, from what i understand it would be just fine.?
i hope i can produce and give you something fun to look at!