Teachme's Indoor Closet Grow

[teachmeurways]

hey guys this will be my first grow. ive already started it about a week ago and so far so good. i have another thread i started with friends suggesting i start a journal. the other thread has all the info on my plant for the last week if anyones interested in checking it out. im really just hoping to get help, tips, whatever you guys are willing to offer on the way!

what i got going on right now:
-space in my closet is about 1 1/2 by 1 1/2 ft and about 5 ft tall. seems very small for a closet but it is actually another space in the corner of my closet i closed off with a long sheet of aluminum foil to keep the light in.
- soil i got "roots organic" its a natural and organic quality potting soil mixed with coco fiber, perlite, compost, mulch, worm castings, bat guano, kelp meal, fish bone neal, soybean meal, prilled rock phosphate, feather meal, greensand, leonardite, alfalfa meal, oyster shell flour, and glacial rock dust
-4 cfl bulbs. each bulb is 23 watts (100 watt equivalent), 5000 k's, and 1750 lumens
-2 10" reflectors each one with 2 cfl bulbs
-i have 2 indicas planted right now. just mid seeds from previous bags ive bought and saved. one plant is the week old plant and another i just planted tonight. i also just started germinating another seed to plant asap. a friend on here suggested i plant the 3 in my little space for more guarantee of a female.

my plan a little on ahead is to let them get to about 10-12 in. maybe before flowering. i only want maybe around a 3-4 ft plant. when the time comes to use nutes im stuck between two: osmocote plus (OC+) or alaskan fish fertilizer which i hear makes your plant grow 2 ft in 2 weeks. if anyones has any preferences im all ears.

heres some pics of my plant from a few days ago and now. itll be pretty clear which pics are more recent but ill lable anyways.

my ghetto space closed off by the aluminum foil

the two reflectors with the cfl bulbs

this pic is one from a few days ago

this pic as well

this one was taken today

and this one was taken today also



hope to hear from people soon!

oh and if anyone has a problem that i didnt really use grammar in my post, just let me know and i will from now on.

 

[GreenChrome]

Glad to see you got the journal started. The soil looks really wet in those pics, if it actually is than make sure you let it dry out pretty well before watering again. The hydro shops sell panda film (I think that is what it's called) in 10'x whatever !ou want. Its pretty cheap, especially that you would only need so little. One side is black and the other is a highly reflecive white. I used it in my closet even though the walls were already white and it made a big improvement. It also keps the walls from getting wet and dirty. I covered the carpet with it to in a bowl type shape. I read somewhere that aluminum foil can direct light into little beams that can burn holes in the leaves. I do not know how accurate that is, but I decided it wasnt worth the risk for me. Another post I read had a good suggestion of using old birthday/get well type ballons. The inside is pretty reflective.

How are you doing materials wise? Are you still looking for more gear?

 

[teachmeurways]

yea no worries, before i water each time i check the soil to make sure it looks dry and i dig around the soil a little too and feel how dry it is. sweet theres a hydro store right down the st. from me ill check it out! yea i just improvised with what i could and could afford. so i used the aluminum foil to close off the opening like a door and also kept my other walls white the way they are. but ill definitely look into the things you suggested.

materials wise i think im all good. i know i dont have a lot of stuff like most people but i think im good. i forgot to add above i got a little fan too but i havnt been using it really. i didnt think i needed to since theres not much heat being let off in the grow space really.

 

[GreenChrome]

Its probably fine ventilation wise for now, but the fan will help to strengthen the stems so they can bear the weight of the buds later on. I think you have a bit of time before you have to worry about it, but if you see something tha will work maybe you could pick it up.

I think that panda film was $7 for a 10' x 4' section.


I would like to say I didnt spend too much because I started out not wanting to, but I think I got a lot for what I spent. Craigslist has been a good resource for lights and stuff.

My hydro shop gives me stuff constantly. I am not quite sure why, but I dont complain. Hopefully yours will do the same!

 

[teachmeurways]

i might just put the fan in tomorrow anyways. i got my bulbs and reflectors from home depot near me too, spent a while there. but at my hydro shop i have a guy there who also helps me out because hes grown before. ill definitely look into the film though. wish my hydro shop gave me free shit haha.. maybe if i get to know the dude there more hell give me stuff haha. but yea probably in total for everything i probably spent around only 100 bucks. the two reflectors, 3 light bulbs, and i also got a 50' cord to reach from closet from depot probably cost me around $65. then the soil and perlite together was around $35. i got the pots free because i work for a moving company i got abunch of pots off the guy.

 

[obliviconsent]

Try and get your plants closer to the light. It looks like they are stretching a bit. I had the same problem on my first grow, but I used old paper towel rolls cut to size for stablization. And the fan does help to get them stronger, but I didnt fan them until their cotyledons came off. Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[GreenChrome]

I would take obliviconsent's advice on the fan. Remember that I am new to this too, so just passing along information I picked up in me research, not much of it is from experience on the growing side. I think you are looking good though!

 

[G-Dog]

Is that carpet I see on the floor? If so you want to put some kind of thing to protect it like a cookie sheet or something. Leaking pots can make such a mess.

Hope you are having fun. That is the key.

 

[teachmeurways]

hey guys. obliviconsent yea i did that exact thing yesterday, then moved it a little closer again today. since the stem was bent i also tried to straighten a little by sticking a piece of q-tip into the soil and straightening the plant out a little and tieing them very loosely together. i know the stem looks weak but i have confidence in it and its been doing well so well see what happens.
heres a pic:

greenchrome, yea im gonna take that advice and put this little fan i grabbed off somebody in my closet tonight. hopefully itll help the stem. but do you know by any chance if itll make it too cool for the plant? because its at a nice temp. right now especially from the little heat the cfl's are giving off make the temp just right i feel. and yea i hear you. i still appreciate all the help you and everyone else offers. weather it be a sentance, paragraph, or page as long as its helpful.


g-dog, im not worried about that carpet haha its shit anyways. but i have my plant sitting on top of a little cooler and the mess is limited to that space. no worries. and yes im having a lot of fun actually, i love getting up everyday to check out my plant and see how its doing, the little changes in the leaves, etc. then the same when i get home from work haha.

well hope to hear back from you guys. now boutta light me a blizz

 

[teachmeurways]

ive also been checking out sites to buy some autoflowering seeds and wanted to know if you guys knew wheather or not dutchbreed, and dope-seeds were both good and trustworthy sites?

 

[G-Dog]

I don't have any hands-on experience with auto flower, but I have heard not too good smokewise. You may want to smoke some before you commit. If I were you and going to pony up for seeds I would get some female seeds if anything.

 

[GreenChrome]

I do not think the fan will affect the temperature unless it is pulling air in or pushing it out, unless the closet has a big temp difference from top to botom. Someone else may be able to give you a better answer. Those fluorescents can be an inch or two from the top of the plant. I think that the key is that if you can put your hand on top of the plant (under the light of course) and it does not get uncomfortably hot it will not burn the plant.

I would also cover the carpet for mold reasons. If it gets wet and stays wet that could bring in mold, whic I suppose can than start growing on your nice wet buds later on. Just a thought, I am in a very rainy state, so mold is a problem here.

 

[teachmeurways]

honestly, i dont know anyone else in my town who grows haha. mannny sellers but no growers until now ! im not so worried about that price unless that weird sign next to the numbers is a big difference than american money. im into really because of how quick they grow, much they yield, and i have heard that they can be potent. i have heard both they can and can not be potent but only one way to find out i guess. and they have female seeds specifically so im not worried about that part either. thanks G.


and chrome, yea thats what i did at first and been doing. sometimes ill just stick my hand in the area to feel the temp and i do under the ligh usually and it feels perfect to me. as for the carpet your probabyl right on the dot and ill lay something out under my plant tonight. thanks bud.

 

[GreenChrome]

Glad to help!

 

[Wolfden]

Id like to pull up a seat for your grow .. I have a small closet grow going also

Wolf

 

[teachmeurways]

no problem. enjoy the show my friend. just hope theres no dissapointments for me or anyone.

but im also on here again because i checked on my plant this morning and noticed the leaves starting to curl. i took the q-tip stick out incase that had something to with it maybe affecting the soil or something. ive read that can happen for different reasons but than i have also seen plants with the leaves curled and people talking about how healthy they look. ill put 2 pics up now and hope someone can tell me if theres an issue and what to do.

im also going to be gone for 2 nights so im going to give it a little water before i go and hope that its still alive by the time i get back.

 

[GreenChrome]

I have one plant that I overwatered and it got droopy like that. Maybe let it dry out a bit? There is a good thread under Problems, Pests, and Disease control that is very informative. From my very, very, very little experience I would say it ooks droopy like overwatering.

Hope that helps. Good luck! I want to see that seedling grow!!!

 

[teachmeurways]

yea maybe being away from it for these couple days will help it out. i have been watering a good amount but thats because the soil looks dry and when i feel around it and dig in it a little its dry too. but it probably is due to overwatering because theres no other problems with it like yellowing. i wanna see that bamf grow too haha!

 

[teachmeurways]

hey guys back from the weekend. greenchrome, you were absolutely right. when i came home i found my leaves straighter again and still healthy. it started blooming more though which im excited about, heres just a couple pics.

i also have a little fan going but its vibrating like crazy. probably because its a little junk one someone gave me but ill have it going during the nights and a little when no ones home but thats about it until i get a quiet one.

 

[PBRMJ]

Just wondering what your temp and humidity of the closet is.