First Grow. Armoire Grow Box. Jack Herer Auto.

[thumbdrooler]

Hello Everyone.
First post, getting started on my first grow ever. Researched for past month, read til my eyes bled, feel pretty confident I can get through. I don't have high('giggle') expectations as it's my first run through.

I'm looking for pointers, tips and what I'm doing wrong.

Seeds arrived today, 5 Jack Herer Auto. I'm going to germinate 2 tomorrow and just go with the 2 for this first grow.

I've inherited a Armoire I'm going to use as a grow box. Going to place in basement. Not worried about light leaks. My primary concern would be smell reaching the neighbours so I'll build a filter by the time I need it.

Box is 36" x 18" inside. 5 feet high.

Going to use 4 x 23w cfl for each plant.
- 3 x 2700K, 1 x 6500K for veg
- 3 x 6500K, 1 x 2700K for flower
Going to run 24/0

Pro Mix BX growing medium, 4 gallon pots

Botanicare Grow, Bloom, Calmag and Liquid Karma.

I have a cheap PH/soil moisture tester and a humidity/temp gauge.

My car is shot so I'm without transportation for a wee while so I have to make do with what's in my shed. Otherwise I'd grab some perlite, but at this point I'm feeling good to go.

I'll confirm this post is going up and then post some pics.

 

[thumbdrooler]

Okey dokey, all looks good so here's some pix of the box. It's some sort of folding TV box. Pier One type product by the looks of it, collapsible so it will fit in a car I presume. Once it's in place I'll caulk up the joints.

All apart for painting. Primed and coated with gloss white. I'm using whatever I have lying around.

Put together. First attempt at lighting rig.

 

[thumbdrooler]

I was looking for pots at the weekend, what a nightmare. no one had 3 or 5 gallon pots. Biggest gardening weekend of the year though, so I should have known better. Now I'm house bound for a few days, I decided to make my own 'smart pots' using the inspiration of others; Landscape fabric in wire mesh.

I figured out the dimensions via a volume calculator found through google. I wanted 4 gallons as this appeared just slightly larger than what seems to be the concensus as to the optimal size for a auto flower. I'll be growing from the get go in the pots.

Doubled up the landscape fabric, cut and ran through my mothers old 1960s Japanese sewing machine. This machine has been sitting in my basement for years, still fires up and does the job. The amount of sewing I've done in my life can be measured in minutes, so I bet these could be run up real quick by someone who knows what they are doing. I hope they work.

Wire mesh. Cut 12 inch rounds and wrapped the sides. Not an inch of wire left over, perfect

Draw and cut, no need to measure.

3 minutes on the sewing machine.

All done. 30 minutes work, homemade 4 gallon pots.

Next week we'll stuff a cornish hen and stencil flowers on the pots.
It's a good thing.

 

[Light Addict]

Subbed and Bravo :) great self build work! :)
Can I just ask on the 24/0 as for me you want 18/6 for autos. Your root development is somewhat related to the dark period of your plants life. I used to run auto for a few years and have recently gone back for giggles.
Give good pot size as you have then if you can max your lighting up any then go for it! :)

Otherwise just dont feed to early or over water them :)
Best of buds and holla at me anytime.

Sorry I'm new here but not to growing :)

 

[thumbdrooler]

Howdy LA,
I would like to go 18/6 as that would cut my electric cost almost in half. I'm basing the 24/0 on this;

"....you should let the lights shine 24/0(all the time). Autoflowers will also grow with a dark period and if you want to save electricity then you can grow them under 18/6 or 20/4 light schedule, but those plants won’t be as big and they won’t have as much weight."

Complete Autoflower Grow Guide



I'll ask in one of the help forums and see what folks think.

 

[thumbdrooler]

Looks like 20/4 could be the optimal light schedule. I'll start there and research more when I have time.

I see i've got 2700K/6500K reversed in my first post, should read;

Going to use 4 x 23w cfl for each plant.
- 3 x 2700K, 1 x 6500K for flower
- 3 x 6500K, 1 x 2700K for veg
Going to run 20/4

I'll see if I can edit that first post.

 

[thumbdrooler]

Silicone caulked the light rig. Man, that shit gets everywhere.
I had to adjust the light spacing slightly. Some bulbs I had were 'Compact Size' CFLs so when I used regular sized bulb I couldn't have them all laying flat. It will be more apparent what I'm talking about when I've it assembled.

 

[thumbdrooler]

Seed soaking time. Following seed instructions to the letter. I stuck a small slice of sandpaper inside the pill bottle I'm going to shake the seeds in. It's really fine sandpaper so I doubt it will do much. The theory is that with the shells slightly scuffed, the water will penetrate easier.

I hope to take a lot of pictures as I go through this grow and try and capture some of that 'first time grower's excitement'.

Hands and equipment all freshly washed and dried, here we go, my first grow ever.

Bottle with sandpaper

Following instructions that came with seeds

Two volunteers.

9am, in the tank. 14-18 hour soak starting. Neither seed will sink! I'll try to sink them in an hour

 

[thumbdrooler]

Seeds sank after 4 hours. Left them in water for 16 hours then transferred to wet paper towel.

8 hours in the paper towel, nothing stirring yet. The seeds appear darker though.

 

[thumbdrooler]

Hauled the box into the basement, caulked all the joints. They'll be able to bury me in this box by the time I'm done with it.:)

Running with lights on and wet pots to check temp and humidity. Seeds still germinating, they should be ready in a day or two.

 

[thumbdrooler]

Sweet, got an old IP camera up and running. Seeds still in the wet towel, 17 hours so far.

Elephant for scale

 

[thumbdrooler]

Someone is waking up. Welcome to planet earth buddy!

 

[thumbdrooler]

Yay! 100% Germination.
Results after 16 hours in a cup of water and 30 hours in a wet paper towel at 70 degrees.

I'll wait until they're about half an inch long and then pop them into the pots as per the instructions.

Better get my ass in gear and figure out the nute strengths for next week.

 

[str8smokn]

No nutes for the first two weeks,seeds have what they need.20/4is the best light schedule,give them a little sleep time.as for the cabinet looking good?check out the auto flower section in grow diaries..
Good luck my friend.
STR8

 

[thumbdrooler]

Cheers. I missed that autos only section.
I figured I'd have at least a week of no nutes so I can nail down a schedule. It's the 1/8, 1/4 type instructions that I don't have a clear grasp of yet. Every feeding? is that per week?. Those kind of questions. I'll have time to read up this weekend.

 

[str8smokn]

1/4 of what is recommended to start out withNot every week ,it's more like every other watering should be food also,autos are real touchy with nutes,so just watch your plants. What's your medium,I missed that part? Soil, coco,? Coco I do not know about.seeing how it dries out quicker.
I have a thread in the auto section if you want to check it out.
Good luck.
STR8

 

[thumbdrooler]

Thanks for the input str8.
So when you say "1/4 of what is recommended..." are you talking about 1/4 of what the nute company recommends in their default feeding schedule?

I'm using ProMix BX(mainly peat/perlite, neutral ph, no nutes) in a 4 gallon landscape fabric pot.

I've been going through the auto section, should have more time tomorrow, nice..

 

[thumbdrooler]

Looking good, almost ready for planting.

 

[str8smokn]

Go ahead and put them in ,shell pointing up,they will pop through soil by tomorrow. Yes 1/4 strength of what directions say. If they say use 5ml,then use 2.5ml.and work your way up to about 3/4 strength.Autos are very touchy.
Here's my two the orange pot is Whiteberry,and the yellow pot is Wappa,both from paradise seeds.

 

[str8smokn]

Checkout Accurate information on auto flowering plants by Seraphim.
STR8