First Grow - 2x250 Watt CFL With Supplementing LEDs

Frostbourne

New Member
i was not planning on posting my grow on a public forum, but since protecting myself means not telling literally any of my friends, i gotta be able to talk to people and ask for advice and just be able to share.

So i decided a while ago that i would start growing, and being really interested in science, i kept a journal from the beginning. So this first post will be everything i have done so far, but the only pictures i have are from today. i will continue to post updates and pictures.

I set up shop in my bedroom closet. as a straight male, i wasnt using it for much anyway. I got quite a few of the things i needed for free from someone i knew who was getting rid of some stuff that he didn't want (including a few seeds), but beyond that my total investment has been under $250.

My lighting setup is
2x250watt apollo horticulture cfl's
20x10watt LED strip grow light (which some may recognize from amazon)
total of 500 watts CFL and 200 watts LED, set on a 18-6 timer
(this seems excessive, my first grow is just a trial, i plan to have 4 plants going together next cycle)

if anyone is wondering, this setup does throw off a little bit of heat, but my closet is seriously huge, so even when i close the door, it never goes above 80 degrees. i do keep a fan by the door to draw in fresh air, and another fan on the plant to keep leaves quivering.

I decided to stay simple for this first grow and stick to soil. I am supplementing with nutrients now that she is fully in the vegetative stage, but staying fairly light. I am using a 3 gallon super root air pot (great for hand watered hydro systems and such, and so by the time the root system really gets developed, i think i will essentially have a hand watered system, with how frequently i will need to water. I suspended the pot under a wire frame shelf, which i will ultimately use to tie the plant down for LST.

the nutrients are from Earth Juice, and will be pictured. another item i got for free.

The strain for this grow is DR Seedman, which is a feminized freebie from seedsman.com which is no longer available, but which their website claims to be a potent, narcotic-like body high hybrid strain, which i presume to be indica dominant due to how bushy it is growing.


DAY 1

I planted the seed straight in the soil, about half an inch deep, and watered. mother nature's way of germinating seemed good enough.

DAY 4

Seedling has started to emerge from the soil, and the first set of serrated leaves are already visible.

DAY 9

Seedling is about 4 cm tall, and is beginning to grow its second set of serrated leaves

DAY 17

She has been growing incredibly fast, and each new growth node is barely half an inch further up the stem. the leaves have really fanned out, so fimmed the plant, which had 3 growth nodes developed, and used a piece of string to start leaning the plant over for LST.

DAY 19

Two days after fimming, she has really responded as the lower growth nodes have exploded outwards, even as the top growth has barely started to recover. Plant is becoming very bushy, and leaves are becoming crowded for light. used a few pieces of gardening wire and soft string to spread and tie down some of the longer stems for more aggressive LST.

DAY 21

Is too bushy a thing? certainly a first world problem to have, but it is genuinely becoming tricky to arrange the leaves so that they will all be able to get at least some light. Five of the lower growth nodes have started developing into new colas, not even counting the top growth which is still recovering from the fimming, though is very nicely splitting into four new tips. i guess the sheer amount of light is paying off, because she is growing explosively.

DAY 24

With the top growth well developed again, i can count 5 distinct lower colas and 4 distinct tips at the top which will keep developing, with any luck. 9 colas going, i am going to veg for another few weeks and keep the plant growing horizontally, almost like a sog (with one plant obviously).


The pictures that are attached are taken on day 29, today, and i will continue to update as she comes along. wish me luck!

....ok i will post the photos as soon as i can figure out how, i am not the most computer-literate person in the world....
 
Here is a first round of some pictures. sorry for the poor quality, it's a pretty shit camera >.<

my setup in a glance
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my lighting
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day 29, so bushy!
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hard to see, but it you look closely you can see the wire being used to LST
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bonus, a mutant leaf! or should i be concerned? haha
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DAY 30

Today i removed some lower foliage which was damaged, though i am not quite sure by what. perhaps someone has an idea?
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i also rearranged some of the colas to let them all get light. despite those few leaves, everything is growing very densely and quickly

here are a couple more pictures to better show the LST she is under
from the side
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thanks man, i'm pretty new at this, but i have grown other things before so i have at least gardening experience. Definitely would love to compare notes with you on your grow, i will certainly follow yours and see how your LST goes as well. i think i may have gotten lucky with a naturally bushy strain to begin with
 
DAY 31

gave in and decided to do a little pruning; i removed a few leaves that just werent getting light and plucked a few lower-down node sites to encourage her to stretch out more and take advantage of the space.
what i removed
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and how she's looking now. hopefully in a few days she will have stretched out more horizontally
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Plant looks nice. As for lst, you will want to be pulling branches out of the screen and laying them across it underneath so it will stretch her out. The more she grows, the more you will be training her. Not sure if thats what you are doing or if you are just letting her grow through the screen as the pics are pretty small on my phone. Also try raising that screen a bit. Should give you some extra room to be pulling branches out. All in all you are doing good. Keep it up!
GB80
 
thank you silver, your seedlings are looking good too!

got my flowering bulbs in today, 2700k (currently using 6400k for veg), though i think i will veg for another 4-5 weeks at least. i want to get my money's worth from this plant haha
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P.S. i also just noticed she has 13 colas going right now. lucky or unlucky?
 
I'd have to say that's lucky right? I would be thrilled with that! I bet you're excited to flip the switch to flowering. Hell im excited for you can't wait to see how they flower with that set up. :passitleft:
 
sure man here you go

this is where i did most of the pruning; the lower, more developed colas, growth closest to the stem, to try and get them stretching out more
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but even the newer growth nodes are developing quite nicely
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UPDATE: switch her nutrients today from light strength to regular strength mixture (boring, i know). also got my genhydro 3-part nutrient setup in the mail today, and next week i will have my DWC setup for my next grow! think i might pop a seed soon so by the time my current one is harvested, i can grab a few clones off the new one and get a real sog going..... hmm
 
Woooo that's looking amazing! You're camera takes good pics. I think the sog idea is something I want to get into as well. Seems like it really filled out after pruning. To bushy is a good problem lol
 
anyone know how to edit older posts? i got an electricity meter, and i wanted to update the actual usage of my light setup on the OP but i guess ill do it here. The "10 watt" LED strips draw slightly under 5 watts each, and the 250 watt cells draw closer to 200 each, so total usage is slightly under 500 watts, and i hear from some people that a good rule of thumb is .5-1g per watt? i hope so! haha
 
I've heard that before about the .5-1 g per watt, I would be thrilled to get that amount:cheer:

To edit post what i do is go to the post you want to edit, and at the bottom beside reply I see "edit post"
 
so im having some more leaf issues and im hoping someone more experienced can chime in

one leaf kind of looks like a calcium deficiency, but then some leaves look either light or heat stressed

take a look
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did i mention i have a lot of light?
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i raised them up a bit just in case. temp is still around 78-80 as always, and too close to the cfls (heat-wise) is like an inch away, so im assuming stress would be from the LEDs. maybe i should turn them off until flower? someone halp!
 
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