First Time: 250 Watt MH/HPS 2x2 Closet Grow

[BowsieStaff]

Hey Guys,

I though it might be kind of cool to document my very first (indoor) grow. One day hopefully I can look back at this and see how far I've come ; )

~~~(Any pointers are greatly appreciated)~~~

My first step is to modify a spare clothes closet-ON A BUDGET of $30-I'm going to do this by:

-building a shelf/light bar
-covering walls with reflective material
-working out a ventilation system
-also, I'm going to create a light proof area at the top of the closet for germination and cloning so it can be on a separate light cycle from the area down below.

I decided to cover the walls with aluminum because my budget is tight (I did get heavy duty Reynolds Wrap, not store brand)

Next I cut two 6" holes. One in the door, and the other in the wall. As it turns out I was about to tap into an old chimney for my fresh incoming air, and I have the exhaust running out the door. I don't have a carbon filter but I do have one of the Oreck Ionic air purifier.

exhaust hole in the door w/ hook for fan

6" Desk fan purchased @ Big Box store for $5, end of season score!

from the outside, nice, tidy, and unassuming...

I ran into a problem with light leaking out so I decided to make a light trap. I recycled it out of a cardboard box that my vaporizer came in, and wrapped it in aluminum leftover from the wall covering.

Diagram of light box

Still waiting on UPS to deliver the lights though. I ordered this complete set on amazon. I hope it's a pretty good set-up the price was awesome!

Seeds are in the mail as well
10 White Widow seeds plus 5 free mystery seeds from Marijuanaseeds.nl

I'll update again once I get those babies germinating

-Cheers!

 

[LeafLady]

Re: **First Time**250 Watt MH/HPS 2x2 Closet Grow

Gotta love these budget grows!
Couple tips:

Ditch that aluminum foil in the room, it can create unneeded hot spots. Potentially dangerous. Instead, us flat white paint on the walls. It reflects better.

Get a couple more fans if you can. More airflow prevents pests, mold, and promotes overall health. Thus, making your plants grow faster and stronger.
I would use something like this: https://www.htgsupply.com/Product-Growbright-6-Inch-Clip-On-Fan.asp

Looks like you are off to a great start! Can't wait to see pics.

 

[BowsieStaff]

Thanks LeafLady!

I had no idea aluminum foil was so dangerous and ineffective... Guess I'm in luck though because the closet was painted flat white to begin with so all I have to do is rip that stuff down! : )

Also, I will be making a special trip to get some more fan power tomorrow. One of the benefits of starting a grow this time of year is that everything like that is on clearance, gotta love saving money!

 

[BowsieStaff]

Hey Guys,

It's been a minute since I've updated (computer issues) but I've been busy finishing up the grow room, and starting the seeds that came in the mail. Just thought I'd share what's been going on...

First I tore all that crappy aluminum out! Then I went to hardware store and bought "the whitest white paint they have" It's looks so much cleaner than the aluminum foil too!

The light came via UPS a couple days after I painted so I decided to give it a test run, big problems... My thermo was saying 97 @ 2'.. Not good. So I fixed that problem by re-working the ventilation system and hooking it up to my window A/C unit allowing me to pump cold air to the closet via a dryer hose.

I looked really crappy so I hung up a black-out curtain over the bottom half of the window I also camouflaged the dryer hose by running it under a table a through a wall. The closet is in my living room so it has to look as unsuspecting as possible...

After I got ALL that worked out, and got my seeds in the mail I was ready to GROOOOOW!!!

Seeds came nondescript and looking fresh.
I got ten White Widow and 5 free "mystery seeds" the WW were nice, big and dark. and the freebies were tiny and lightly colored but still looking ready to go. I planted 4 WW and 4 mystery seeds. I'm hoping for @ least 3 females!.. I popped them in some seed starters I got @ the hydro shop, and put them in a dome tray covered with towels to germinate. It didn't take them long to say "hello!"

Day 3:

Day 5:

Here's a view of the rest of the tray
[left to right] WW, ?'s, & basil for the kitchen =D

In anticipation of moving these little guys into something larger I went to the hydro store and got some Happy Frog organic potting mix. I was reading elsewhere about perhaps mixing that 80/30 with perlite, but i don't know if it's really necessary??

Also, I've been reading up on nutrients. I REALLY like organic, I'm thinking of going with the full line of Earth Juice fertilizer. has anybody had any luck with those??

Till next time,

Bowsie

 

[i.play.4.keep]

I'm going to try my hardest to follow your grow, I'm loving it!

 

[RichardLiquor]

Nice setup bowsie, I will warn you about that desk fan though. I had 2 of them and one has died in less than 6 months use. I will also mention that once the plants get bigger these fans arn't strong enough to move them. They will circulate air but that's about it.

Everything looks good otherwise. Good luck!

 

[TaylorMade420]

looking good bud

 

[BowsieStaff]

Hi Guys,

I just wanted to post a quick update, **plus I have a couple questions**

first the update, I re-potted my plants and they've really taken off! I'm having to water then very often (every day) these little ladies are thirsty!. Plus my soil, Happy Frog is kind of light and fluffy...

Day 7

Day 13

**So here's the questions**

First: When should I re-pot these again, how tall should they be? I was hoping I could wait & to pick my best four (females, healthiest) and transplant them in 3 gallon pots right before going into flowering...
----here's a picture, with a soda can as a reference----

Second Question: Is there a REAL effective way to determine sex from pre-flowers? Can someone post a link? I wish I could tell all the females so I know who to clone from and to keep before going into 12/12. I heard you can clone after you send em' into flowering, but it takes forever to trick them back to going into veg-cycle

Oh and here's a view of all of them!
[left to right: Basil, ?'s, White Widow]

Thats all for now, thanks guys!

-Bowsie

 

[ilikebike]

hey man this is a cool grow, how does that light work that you bought from amazon? I love the A/C with the dryer duct idea, such a smart, cheap, and effective way to get cool air into the grow room, its actually quite fucking genius because now i dont have to spend 300$ on a indoor ac unit i can just do what you did!

about your cloning and sexing question. You should wait a few more weeks till your plants are a good size and are starting to fill out, That way you have plenty of branches to clone.
what you do is take just one tiny clone from each different plant, and make sure you label them so you know what cutting came off of what plant. When the plant shows roots then you can switch the light cycle right to 12/12 and in a week or so you will know the sex of the plant (make sure to keep clones away from the plants in case they are male you dont want to impregnate any possible females in your grow room) Once you find out the sex you will know what to do with the plant, if it is male you destroy it immediately. If female then you know what plants to keep. The clone will probably be destroyed either way but now you know what plants to take your female clones off of! if you need so more explanation PM me

 

[BowsieStaff]

Thanks man,

The light works pretty well actually. I haven't had any problems yet. Its was a great deal. It came with MH and HPS bulbs, also some hanging brackets and a timer... With shipping it was under $150. I used Google Shopping to score the best deal.

yeah my window unit is pretty cool, It blasts some friggin' air @ 250 CFM! It also has a heat pump in case I ever need it (which I seriously doubt) The only issue I'm having with the A/C so far is irregular temps. I think it's because the thermostat for the unit is outside the closet so it confuses the hell out of itself. during the course of the day the temp ranges from 65-85. I'm hoping it won't stress my babies, but they seem to be taking it well so far?..

Great idea about the cloning/sexing! I was hoping there was a fool proof method and it sounds like you got it man... how long before I plan to flower should I begin this process? Also, when should I move these little beauties into a something larger?



-Bowsie

 

[BowsieStaff]

Hello Everyone,

I just wanted to share a quick update:

Since my last post I've re-potted my babies in eight 6x6x7 square pots. I'm hoping I won't have to move them again until they're ready to take clones/put into flower...

Also, as luck would have it, my neighbor happens to be a home-brew hobbyist. He had a "spare" CO2 tank with an attached regulator that hes letting me use. I've read up on how to use it but I'm still kind of unsure what levels i'm getting because I don't have a CO2 meter.. Currently I have the regulator plugged in on a timer (1 hour every 2 hours [lights on]) @ 80psi.

And here's a shot of the plants!..

Day 25

Peace,

-Bowsie

 

[PoohBurrMedic]

looks good man you are crafty and smart!
im gonna follow this one for sure.
looks good to me dude! your taking all kinds of steps that i never took with my grow and mines turning out fine so yours will be great!
good luck!

 

[jdub]

Looking good so far... Careful to not over water them... Make sure that they dry out between waterings so that the roots get much needed oxygen

 

[voltron]

Hey Bowsie, things are looking good! I have a 2.5'x2.5' grow tent with a 250hps bulb and I look forward to seeing your grow through harvest. How far away are you keeping the bulb, and how many do you plan on flowering at one time do to space? When you transplanted did you notice your roots within your soil? That will give you an idea for next time as to how long you can keep them in there starter pots before transplanting. I was surprised that I had room after my girls were in lil qt size pots from germ to 3-4 weeks. Once transplanting they do seem to really expand tho. But I do 12/12 from seed so they sex in 3weeks and then I transplant them into their last home. Method for any reg seeds or bagseeds for me. Wish you the best on yours, I'm pulling up a chair and watchin the show

 

[BowsieStaff]

JDub-I usually water them about every third day. Before I moved them to larger containers it was a little more frequent though. I also have a little handy dandy moisture meter. I like to water until the meter shows between 7-8 and then let it dry out. I usually don't water again until its between 2-3... having the gauge is a nice tool, it's less subjective and more quantitative than the ole' fashioned finger test lolz

Voltron-It seems like we're in the same shoes! Hopefully we can help each other out if needed... To answer your first question, I keep the light about 14-18 inches above the plants. I raised it the other day to get them a little more "leggy" to make cloning a little easier though. I have eight plants right now, I'm going to weed out (pardon the pun) the weakest/males and HOPEFULLY be left with at least four strong females to flower!! 1 per square foot ideally... Oh and when I transplanted they were totally root bound. They grew/are growing WAY faster than I expected! By the way you have an interesting method to sex seeds. I've never heard of doing it like that before. So you switch it to 18/6 after the fourth week?.. I may have to try that next time. It'll save me some STRESSSS! I HATE not knowing who's who!!

Peace

-Bowsie

 

[voltron]

JDub-I usually water them about every third day. Before I moved them to larger containers it was a little more frequent though. I also have a little handy dandy moisture meter. I like to water until the meter shows between 7-8 and then let it dry out. I usually don't water again until its between 2-3... having the gauge is a nice tool, it's less subjective and more quantitative than the ole' fashioned finger test lolz

Voltron-It seems like we're in the same shoes! Hopefully we can help each other out if needed... To answer your first question, I keep the light about 14-18 inches above the plants. I raised it the other day to get them a little more "leggy" to make cloning a little easier though. I have eight plants right now, I'm going to weed out (pardon the pun) the weakest/males and HOPEFULLY be left with at least four strong females to flower!! 1 per square foot ideally... Oh and when I transplanted they were totally root bound. They grew/are growing WAY faster than I expected! By the way you have an interesting method to sex seeds. I've never heard of doing it like that before. So you switch it to 18/6 after the fourth week?.. I may have to try that next time. It'll save me some STRESSSS! I HATE not knowing who's who!!

Peace

-Bowsie

Hi Bowsie, I didn't mean to confuse things... But I don't veg em at all. I started growing last year and vegged my dwc grow, and towards the end of that I started a couple of 12/12 from seed thru harvest grows. I soak my seeds for about 12hrs in plain water, then I plant them in soil and place em in the dark until they show above ground and it's flower time thru harvest. They vegg on their own before showing sex, after that the countdown begins! Depending on environment and strain 1-1.5ounce p/plant dry to 2ounces. I was a noob and still am at growing and I yielded a lil under 2 ounces (1.5,and 1.75) on bagseed grows with cfl's. My first plant that I vegged for a month did give me a 1/4 pound with all of my mistakes Others would prob do much better but that was my 1st and I topped her and that's all that would fit in the tent with cfls. Now I'm hoping to get over 6 ounces with 5 under my 250 lighting in my lil space with 1gal Hempys one of them is in a 2ltr soda bottle maybe get .5-.75 of an ounce on that one, so improvement in yield and lower maintenance cool for me. DocBud and other experience growers use this technique with excellent results and perpetual grows. Check em out and compare your possible yield results might be worth a try in the future I still plan on trying the glass lantern routine and veg out a monster and top her and keep her tamed and see what kind of yield I get! Hope to get better results than my first veg job, but I was extremely happy with my results. It's all good as long as your growing and keep em green and frosty Oh yeah I use fem seeds now so no time wasted on males taking up space, but bagseed if available is great for 12/12 from seed since its cheaper, just plant more and keep the strong ladies 3weeks later around 8wks from there harvest time 11wks gives you more harvest within the year too= more yield

 

[BowsieStaff]

Day 30 photo Update

White Widow:

Mystery Indica:

From this:

To this:

It's getting kind of crowded in there!


Peace,

-Bowsie G. Staff

 

[PoohBurrMedic]

that is gonna be a very VERY full grow bro!

 

[jdub]

Lovin it man... lovin it...

 

[ilikebike]

looks good so far good luck!