Small CFL First Grow!

[Kilroy64]

What strain is it? KC Brains BRASIL x K.C. Feminised Seeds

Is it Indica, Sativa or Hybrid? What percentages? 100% Sativa?

Is it in Veg or Flower stage? Not Started Yet

If in Veg... For how long? For as long as my cabinet will hold the plants

If in Flower stage... For how long? Not Sure

Indoor or outdoor? Indoor

Soil or Hydro? Hydro

If soil... what is in your mix?
If soil... What size pot?

Size of light? Lumens 1600 120v

Is it aircooled? Yes

Temp of Room/cab? Not Sure
RH of Room/cab?
PH of media or res?
Any Pests ?
How often are you watering?
Type and strength of ferts used?

Thank you for taking the time to look at my journal. This IS my first grow and I don't mean my first cannabis grow but my first grow of ANYTHING. Well I guess I have been growing my debt very successfully over the years but I don't think that will help me here will it?

I have lurked this and other forums and found so much information that it is hard to decide which path to follow so I am hoping for a bit of assistance from the learned cannabis greybeards here.

I have opted for the "easy" option and spent a bit of money on ebay to get a small cabinet to grow in. Here it is:

It is a gallon reservoir. It came with Peat Pellets, a little pump and air stone, 3 grow bulbs and 3 flowering bulbs. It was supposed to come with a supply of Buddy Grow but that did not make it in the box.

I am not looking for huge yields or to re write the book on growing cannabis. But after doing some study it looks like a really fun past time with obvious benefits at the end!

The seeds are on their way as we speak but I thought I would get a head start on some specific info that I need. I really appreciate any info that you all can give me.

I have not seen Peat Pellets used much. For hydro it seems that most people use Rockwool Cubes and the marbles around. Is Rockwool that much better than Peat Pellets? It seems like people use Peat Pellets to germinate seeds and/or for cloning. Would it be best to invest in Rockwool?

For germinating I plan to use the moist paper towel in a ziplock on top of the fridge method. But I also saw somebody just plop the seeds in some water in a coffee cup. The instructions that came with the grow box said to follow the instructions of the seed manufacturer which is Herbie's Seeds. Do the seeds really come with germinating instructions?

My instructions say to wait until about 3 or 4 inches of growth before adding any nutes to the res and then to use a teaspoon of the Buddy Grow. Does that sound about the right time to wait before adding the nutes?

I have read that the water should come up to the bottom of the pots and others have said the bottom of the pots should be submerged a little bit. Does it matter that much?

Should I paint the res a dark color to keep algae from forming?

While I was test running the cabinet the temperature did not seem to be an issue at all. I guess it is crucial to get a thermometer in there?

Anybody else use a small grow cabinet like this? I sure would appreciate any advice I can get from the community here. Like I said I have browsed other forums but this one seems to be the best when it comes to getting questions answered from nervous first timers like me.

Thanks again and hope to hear from you!

 

[Antics]

Subscribed.

Size of light is asking how many watts? When talking CFL watts, we only use the actual CFL wattage number. The incandescent equivalent number is useless since incandescents can't grow Cannabis.

If you're growing with CFLs you might want to possibly reduce the number of plants you grow. I see 8 holes in that plastic tub, the 3 CFLs will not produce enough light to support 8 plants.

For a caabinet that size I'd suggest only growing 1 plant at a time, and train the tops to grow flat to take advantage of all the light your CFLs can produce. And keep the lights between 2-8" from the tops of the plants at all times. I prefer the closer end of the range myself.

 

[PeytonManning]

Paint the reservoir black so light doesn't get to the roots. Antics is right about only growing 1 plant at a time. Especially if it's a full on sativa. I still just do the damp paper towel between two plates to germ seeds. Normally you wait about two weeks to add nutes, or wait til the plant starts to show signs of needing it. Fill the rez to just below the net pots. The aerator should splash water up into pots.

 

[Kilroy64]

Thank you very much Antics! I was going to go with three plants but will follow your advice and just give one all the attention.

I was worried about stretching but thought since it was such a closed, reflective environment that it would be ok. I also did not think that I could move the rez up because the pump was in the way, but there is just enough room.

I stacked some stuff in there and raised it up. I am going to run the cabinet again for a bit and see if this stuff gets hot while the lights are on.

The lower fan is now covered by the boxes but there is four or five inches between the box and the fan. Is there any problem with that?

 

[Kilroy64]

Woops, double post somehow.

 

[Kilroy64]

Thank you Peyton.

I had not seen the two plate method before. Now that I read up on it I see it is used quite a lot so I will follow your advice.

Having not done this before I am a bit nervous about knowing when the plants need the nutes. I found a chart that shows what the leaves look like with various deficiencies so I guess I will go by that at around the two week point.

Now are we talking about two weeks after the seed goes in to the pot? Or two weeks after the roots touch the water? I seem to remember reading somewhere about waiting till there are three or four leaves and that is the start of week one?

Is there guide posted somewhere that I am missing that I can read up on? Browsing through the stickied threads I can get bits and pieces of info but still hard to find a specific answer to the question of when to start putting nutes in the rez.

 

[PeytonManning]

Your plant is a seedling to its first true leaves pop up. First true leaves will be the jagged ones, not round. Then your in veg. About a week and a half after that I would add nutes, but in a very small amount. Probably a quarter of what they recommend.

 

[PeytonManning]

Peyton & Pals Perpetual Playground

Pop in in here, a lot of people can help you out. That way you get a group of advice and options, cause some people know a lot more than me

 

[Flyinhigh]

That can looks good. Just paint the res black and put a small fan in there to blow some air on the plants, not only will that keep air moving in your box but it will promote thick stem growth.

 

[Kilroy64]

Thanks Flyinghigh.

There are two little fans built in to the back. My camera phone is not too good so it is hard to see. There is one at the top, which is exhaust I guess and one at the bottom.

The boxes are in front of the exhaust fan down below but there is a good 4 or 5 inches of space between the box and the fan.

Is that enough air flow?

I understand that during the flowering phase the dark period should be kept absolutely dark. But during the veg phase should I keep the cabinet door open and clip a little fan to the outside blowing in the open door?

Or should I put a little clip fan inside and run the cord out of the hole that the light power cord goes?

 

[Antics]

Thank you very much Antics! I was going to go with three plants but will follow your advice and just give one all the attention.

I was worried about stretching but thought since it was such a closed, reflective environment that it would be ok. I also did not think that I could move the rez up because the pump was in the way, but there is just enough room.

I stacked some stuff in there and raised it up. I am going to run the cabinet again for a bit and see if this stuff gets hot while the lights are on.

The lower fan is now covered by the boxes but there is four or five inches between the box and the fan. Is there any problem with that?

You can honestly get the same yield with 1 well cared for plant, as you can with 2+ plants that are crammed into a space, and neglected a little due to no room to to work around them and give them the care they need. All you need to do is train your plant to grow flat.

Here's my best plant so far:

I'm growing with 351w total of CFLs, (14 total bulbs, 2 plants total in a closet grow).

When you grow them flat, every branch gets an equal amount of light, and you will see a definite increase in yield over just letting a plant grow with no training, and growing with CFLs.

As long as you have room between the fan and boxes there shouldn't be an issue.

Will odor be a problem? In flowering, without filtration the room that grow box is in will definitely smell like Cannabis.

 

[Flyinhigh]

I think your ok on your exhaust and intake, but I would mount a little fan inside the box to blow air onto your little ones. Maybe a USB fan or something similar.

 

[Kilroy64]

Thanks Antics!

So are you talking about Topping? Or tying the stems down to the side?

No odor is not a problem really. I am in a good situation where I am.

 

[Kilroy64]

Ok thanks Flyinghigh. I will see what other kind of fan I can find.

 

[Antics]

I'm talking training just in general. You can choose whatever methods are comfortable for you, but for a small cabinet grow I'd definitely suggest topping the main stem once, and using LST for the rest of the training. BUT...You don't have to top a plant to train it to grow flat. You can just bend the main stem where you want it, and this is especially useful for autoflowers. I chose to FIM my plant (similar to topping, but an increased difficulty. From now on I'm going to top them)

If you have no problems with odor you're all set. With once big plant in there, you can expect to smell it in the room the cabinet is in, and depending on strain maybe just outside that door too.

Just keep an eye on your temperatures to make sure your ventilation is adequate.

 

[Kilroy64]

Thanks for the advice. The seeds are here but I have a few more things to get.

 

[devilish]

Been a while since you have posted anything. Is this still going? I dont have much to add really. Antics covered pretty much all of the bases.

But I have a few things to add...

If you don't have the ability to place a fan inside this to blow on them, you can always pinch the base of the plant after it has a few sets of new growth. Dont pinch too hard but just enough to feel it pop. Some will argue with this but I do it to every single plant that I grow. After 3-5 sets of leaves have appeared. Not only does it sturdy up the stalk it also fattens it allowing more uptake of water etc. It may be necessary to support the plant after pinching the base like this. depending on how large it already is. this differs between strains.

If you are able to you can place a PC fan on one end and have that blowing on the plant. this will be ample air flow for a seedling to strengthen the stem.

Growing in peat pellets. I use them when I clone in a Home built cloner. The peat pellets fir perfectly into a 2" net pot and retain moisture for a good amount of time. And I have a friend that I clone for that gets all of his clones from me in peat pellets. He loves the fact they are there. He says they help sturdy the plant in coco, perlite and hydroton clay pebbles. He also says that they seem to grow with more vigour because the roots are farther down in the soil less mix. I dunno I don't do hydro I just help him lol.

As far as res temp...64-68 F is the ideal range. I wouldn't paint that res black I would paint it white so that it reflects all the light and heat. Black will attract heat so best bet is to go with white.

Nutes. Start with 1/4 strength nutes from what is recommended on the package. Never full strength. Start at 1/4 strength for a week then up to 1/2 etc, Until you either burn the plant or reach recommended doses. I myself only ever run 1/4 to 1/2 strength ever. I have a firm understanding that lighter feedings more often are more beneficial than heavy feedings less often. Why? Because less food more often supplies the plant with food constantly vs. large feedings. That and with large feedings. if the plant only uses half of the nutes you add...thats a lot of extra nutes that will build up...Guess thats just the way that I look at it. If less feedings means a PPM of 300 for a day or two and then it drops to under 150 then feed again instead of feeding at 600 PPM once a week. A constant supply of food at a constant PPm is ideal instead of food drops.

 

[Kilroy64]

I'm talking training just in general. You can choose whatever methods are comfortable for you, but for a small cabinet grow I'd definitely suggest topping the main stem once, and using LST for the rest of the training. BUT...You don't have to top a plant to train it to grow flat. You can just bend the main stem where you want it, and this is especially useful for autoflowers. I chose to FIM my plant (similar to topping, but an increased difficulty. From now on I'm going to top them)

If you have no problems with odor you're all set. With once big plant in there, you can expect to smell it in the room the cabinet is in, and depending on strain maybe just outside that door too.

Just keep an eye on your temperatures to make sure your ventilation is adequate.

Sorry this has been moving kinda slow on my end. I ran a couple of tests with the cabinet and it seems like temperatures is what I am going to have a problem with.

86 Fahrenheit air temp

About 76 water temp.

 

[devilish]

Try to make a small swamp cooler or add more fans.

 

[Antics]

You'll definitely want to lower your water temperature. I think at 86 degrees you're only looking at around 6ppm of dissolved oxygen.

Cabinet temp isn't TOO bad, but many strains will start showing signs of heat stress at this temperature. The average target temperature is about 75 degrees.