1st-time Closet Grow

[lazarus718]

Like many others here I'm popping my cherry with a first time closet grow...starting off with some bag weed and CFL's. I've got some awesome strains sitting in reserve for when I get my farming down (Brainstorm, Jorge's Diamonds, Critical+, Sharksbreath, Euforia, and Flash Back to name a few), but for now I'm going to get my science right and start small! :rasta2:

This is all in preparation for my first hydro grow, I can garden well outside and know my soils so this test grow is a soil grow while I gather the equip and lighting I need for a proper hydro run with my good strains. Any comments or suggestions from senior growers would be much appreciated. So let's get started with this thread!

Here's the specs on my small run. I germinated 3 for 3 seeds out of some regs bagseed using the paper towel in a cupboard method (never fails) and popped them into a Jiffy. I prefer the taproot up method and have had way more success than tip down, could be a fluke but every time I go tip down the seed doesn't break the surface, or if it does it takes WAY longer than tip up! I have a homemade lighting system with 4 6500K CFL's and a 4" Massey fan to get the air moving around the girls.

:420:​

And that's it for the set up gents!!! I use a soil mix similar to Subcool's (gotta shout out to Sub, that is one hell of a job that guy has done on his experimenting with soils!) but not quite as intense. I am 100% certain what is in my pots will get these plants well past the veg stage without anything added, but plan on supplementing with some nutes during the flowering period.

Plan for now is to run with this setup, sometime this month I will be picking up a 400W HPS/MH conversion light with a 4" Vortex fan and charcoal filter in prep for my first-ever hydro grow. Once I get that baby I will move my least ghetto homemade CFL system over a bit in the closet and use it for clones/vegging on the side when I don't have anything flowering :sun2: At the end of the thread I'll post up some of the pics of the setup with my little girls and this winter we'll kick off the 2011 hydro grow!!!

What I'm hoping you guys get from this thread is a first-hand account of the trials and tribulations of a new farmer. I know it's nothing you haven't heard/seen before but I do have some gardening experience and we'll see where this goes indoors from here! It would be awesome to learn from some of you more experienced afficionados and maybe we'll all take something away from this. I love my green goddess and I'll be hooking you guys up weekly with updated posts. Thanks peeps and keep it green! :party0033:
~Laz

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[jagle]

heya lovely grow, working on cfls as you save up a bitta cash isnt a bad idea, you gonna switch bulbs when it comes to beg, think you need 27000k instead of the 65000k what watt are the cfls?

 

[lazarus718]

heya lovely grow, working on cfls as you save up a bitta cash isnt a bad idea, you gonna switch bulbs when it comes to beg, think you need 27000k instead of the 65000k what watt are the cfls?

The CFL's are all 100W compatible, 6500K color temp daylight bulbs. I should have the funds to get my 400W HPS/MH system by the end of the month and am going to ease them over to the MH once I install it. I know you want the blue spectrum for veg and the 2700K red spectrum for flowering, these girls will get the HPS for flowering though. Selina is the big girl and she has a little over a two week headstart on the others, originally I was just going to stick her in a pot in the kitchen and see what happened without much attention but she really grew on me so I decided to give her the closet and plant some girlfriends along with her. I have about 3 1/2 ft. to work with still leaving room for the new light, so I will flower her once the other two get about 4 nodes on them.
Thanks for the input jagle, much appreciated and I'll keep you posted on the grow!!!
:party0033:

 

[smashed1]

hi lazarus, ill be waching this as i am thinking doing same i been growing garden for 20 years but thinking of doing a couple crops a year instead of 1, so ill be waching good luck bro

 

[frostedlove]

Looks like you should have fun with this

you do not add watts on cfl by what its compatible. just its real watts like 45w or what ever
you can also drop those bulbs a little bit down for higher intense light. Check out my grow. my cfls are like 4-6 inches away all the time..

good luck bro

 

[lazarus718]

Looks like you should have fun with this

you do not add watts on cfl by what its compatible. just its real watts like 45w or what ever
you can also drop those bulbs a little bit down for higher intense light. Check out my grow. my cfls are like 4-6 inches away all the time..

good luck bro

Oh yeah bro, I totally understand the CFL's not equalling a standard bulb wattage (I was an electrician), I was just shooting Jagle the compatibility 'cause I couldn't remember what that broke down into CFL wise...I guess somewhere around 26W for the 100W? I was wondering how close I can get those suckers to the girls, where I have them now I can stick my hand in between the light and the fan leaves and not feel much heat so I'll take your advice and drop them a bit tonight. I definitely got some stretching on the taller one before I decided to go with the closet grow but she looks like she is doing great other than that. Thx for showing some luv and checking out my thread, I'll be keeping you guys posted each week with the progress!

 

[lazarus718]

Thx Smashed1, did you get a grow diary posted up for your grow? Are you going to do soil or hydro bro?

 

[frostedlove]

Oh yeah bro, I totally understand the CFL's not equalling a standard bulb wattage (I was an electrician), I was just shooting Jagle the compatibility 'cause I couldn't remember what that broke down into CFL wise...I guess somewhere around 26W for the 100W? I was wondering how close I can get those suckers to the girls, where I have them now I can stick my hand in between the light and the fan leaves and not feel much heat so I'll take your advice and drop them a bit tonight. I definitely got some stretching on the taller one before I decided to go with the closet grow but she looks like she is doing great other than that. Thx for showing some luv and checking out my thread, I'll be keeping you guys posted each week with the progress!

there really ant much heat on cfls. you can touch them with your hands. I have burned a bud cause as I was moving plants and I pushed it a little to close........like touching close and it crisped up a few leaves...Thats was during flower and buds go in dif ways

I had or am having fun with my clf's. I know you will switch to real light for flower, but I did my first with all CFl veg-flower and They r just supper frosty so I speak from example and say rock what you can and it WILL work.

 

[theguapo]

good luck brotha. i'm a first timer too!

 

[Maton2219]

Great

You have the right idea. This website will help you at so much. Im on my second grow and feel like if I learn a lil something each time Im on. Your reserved strains are going to be awesome. I wish you nothing but fat trichome production:D

 

[lazarus718]

1st Closet Grow Update

Sorry fellow stoners but I didn't get a post up last week so we'll update you on the girls progress now....Week 3 for the small girls and 5 for Selina. All are kicking butt, had some whiteflies try to take hold but eradicated them with some Neem oil spray. :character0110:
Quick plug for the Neem oil, as far as I know it is a natural pesticide that is extracted from the Neem tree that grows mainly in India and Pakistan. It is not harmful to us but does a number on whiteflies and aphids. It can be applied weekly as long as you are having troubles and is safe to use up to harvest day. You can find it at your local hardware store or nursery and it works great!!!
So, we are entering crunch time to get my HPS light purchased and installed in the growroom...hopefully the funds become available in the next two weeks. I have my eyes on an awesome deal on ebay and can basically get both the light with both the hps and metal halide conversion bulbs as well as a 4" vortex fan with carbon filter for the price that I would pay just for the light alone at the local hydroponics store. :mysterymachine: I've done my flowering research and am anxious to begin my 1st 12/12!!!
Couple of Q's for any of you guys that decide to check my grow progress...
1)What nutrients do you guys prefer for a soil grow flowering? I know you want to focus on the phosphorus but any recommended brands out there that you have had abnormal success with?
2)Air circulation....as you can tell this is a closet grow and there is not a vent in the closet. Behind the wall are all of the water lines for the house and above is an attic with a crawl space. I have a 4" Massey fan running in there currently but will be installing an inline Vortex exhaust fan. Problem is the exhaust part. I pay the mortgage on the house for my family so I can probably get away with cutting a hole in the wall or ceiling to vent to. I'm not a HVAC guy, so what would be the proper way to go about this?
3) Do the smaller girls look big enough to initiate the flower period?
AND 4)How often do you guys fertilize during flowering, when do you stop, and when do you know to flush the soil?

To close ladies and gents, here are some photos of the girls and let me know what you all think!!!
:party0033:

 

[Sense I. Milla]

Nice Laz!

Sub'd and watchin'!:bubblez:

Sry I'm not a soil guy so I can't do much for you in terms of advice, but it looks like you could up your nutes just A LITTLE (the 5 wk selina looks a little starved for N).

And I'd give the 3 wk smaller girls 1 more week veg., it will be worth it.

And hell yea Neem is the shiz!

Hope that helps a little.

-Sense

 

[lazarus718]

Sub'd and watchin'!:bubblez:

Sry I'm not a soil guy so I can't do much for you in terms of advice, but it looks like you could up your nutes just A LITTLE (the 5 wk selina looks a little starved for N).

And I'd give the 3 wk smaller girls 1 more week veg., it will be worth it.

And hell yea Neem is the shiz!

Hope that helps a little.

-Sense

Thx for checking in on the grow!!! Next post should be with the new light installed and I'll try to get you some better pics of 'em:icon_cookie: No nutes yet, the soil has earthworm castings, bat guano, forest humus, etc,etc, so there is plenty of nitrogen available but I will be adding "Flora Nova" once I flower them to give a boost. I wanted to grow them as naturally as possible but there are some unnatural chems in the nova mix. I think her (Selina's) leaves towards the middle and bottom are turning down like that because I have the other two cfl's lowered right next to her for the two smaller plants, so they are getting the light from them and don't need to turn up to the fixture directly above her. I'll post a top shot next week. Thx Sense!!!
:party0033:

 

[jazzfarmer]

They look just fine to me. When in doubt, just leave them alone at this stage is my motto.

 

[Sense I. Milla]

Dude I'd try getting a make shift reflector for your CFLs, b4 you get your 400w. It will really help maximize your luminosity! For sures on the bat and worm poop, I wanna try an organic grow myself!

 

[Osprey]

looking real good, am first timer too!

 

[lazarus718]

Thx Froggy for the info., I'm not going to worry about the reflector hood right now since I have my HPS fixture getting here tomorrow. The white paint on the walls of the closet is actually very reflective so I get pretty good use out of what is produced. I also have a "black-out' curtain that I have velcro-ed to the wall over the door opening to keep light in and light out for when I flower. I'll post picks of that set-up when I post my new light install later in the week!!!

 

[lazarus718]

Sense, I did think about doing that but the light already bounces around in that closet like crazy! I'll show you my set-up with the black-out curtain when I get the new light pics up this week!

 

[lazarus718]

What's up Osprey, thx for checking out the post!!! Are you going to post a grow diary of your first grow?!?!

 

[lazarus718]

Totally agree JazzFarmer...I tried to follow the Supersoil recipe as much as possible with what I had available locally that way I wouldn't have to mess with nutes at all if I didn't want to. I am going to give the Flora Nova Bloom formula a go though when I flower them here at the end of the month.