First grow, self build grow closet with cfl lighting

blues frog · Oct 4, 2009

Thats it folks

Well, thats my first grow done. Harvested my last early misty today. I have to say I am a little disappointed, because although its not a bad haul in weight, and its fairly frosty, it was so leafy that a lot of the light wasn't reaching the bud, and so bud is very sparse, fluffy and not very dense.
I would guess I'll have about an ounce dry weight, once I have trimmed all the small leaves out of it. Wet its about two and a half ounces.

I'm hoping that just flowering the tops of small clones, with the extra 300w cfl will improve that. Something else that would have helped is if they had stretched more during the flowering stage. Maybe I need to do more plants that have a more open structure, because the bag seed plant didn't have that problem, it seems the light could get in. A lot of the bud from this one looks almost bleached, a kind of very pale green, almost no colour at all.

All in all though I think I've had a pretty successful first grow. Lots went wrong, but nothing I couldn't overcome, and I have learnt shitloads about growing MJ.

Now I now this is supposed to be a first grow diary, but I think I will just carry it on as a perpetual diary, so keep watching this space.

:weed-sign:

justanotherbozo · Oct 5, 2009

have you considered something like this? i used 23 and 26 watt
bulbs so about 200watts per fixture.

the advantage there over a single high wattage bulb is the light
is more evenly distributed over your canopy, which holds true
for the heat of the bulbs as well.

another advantage is that you can tweak the spectra of light.

here's some shots of my CFL buds too to show what i did with
my CFL's and if i can do it, you can too.

oh yeah, almost forgot, another big advantage in using
lower wattage bulbs is cost effectiveness as you can
find 23's and 26's on sale in 3 and 4 packs for under $10.00,
and often with a $2.99 coupon sponsored by the local
electric company.

blues frog · Oct 8, 2009

I gotta freaky seedling

Will post some pics of this tomorrow, but for now a description.

My white widow seedling germinated eventually, a few days after the alaskan ice, but its first true leaves are almost completely white, which means it won't be able to photosynthesise properly I think, unless this is common to WHITE widow.
Maybe I'm thick but I don't think it's that.

Only the very centre of the leaf has any green at all.

It would be cool if I've got some mutant variagated pheno, that still produced well. Also it seems to be growing, but slowly.

So, my question to everyone is, :sign0065:

blues frog · Oct 15, 2009

Photos of grow no.2

Well I am on my second grow. Have added a 125watt cfl to my veg area, and taken the 300watt veg cfl and moved it in to the flower room, so 600w in there now.

The girls in the flower room are between 1 and 3 weeks into 12/12. In there at the mo is two Early misty pheno 1, one EM pheno 2, two bag seed in 6" pots and one bag seed in a 20 oz. bottle.

In the veg area I have one bag seed mom, one blue cheese mom, one lavender mom, and one magic bud mom. Also in there are 6 EM 1 and 2 clones, in 20 oz. bottles, vegging for a short while before going in to flower.
Going to veg them for different amounts of time to see how each performs (1 to 3 weeks). I've got to suss out 'dialling in' each strain I have got for this perpetual grow thing I am now attempting. As the 5 I have in 6" pots finish, my flower room should be just filled up with clones in bottles, and into a perpetual cycle.

In the small room I have four more EM clones, four more bag seed clones, and four Blue Cheese clones. Also two other EM clones that I bottled up to early, so I have put them back in the small room under a cloche.

Gonna look into building myself a bubble cloner, or a set of bubble cloners out of the five litre water bottles I get. I already use them for rooting 4 clones at a time, and so far every cut I have taken has rooted, but slowly, and I think I need to speed up the process.

Also there are pictures of my seedlings, alaskan ice and white widow. White widows first true leaves were mostly white and did not grow, but it is now producing second leaves, which seem alright, although its hard to tell cos u can barely see them yet.

Anyway, I time of great change, and I am looking forward to the challenge of a perpetual grow. I'm hoping to get at least five grams of each cut, and be hevesting 5 to 6 plants a week, so at least an ounce a week if all goes well.

blues frog · Oct 15, 2009

Took another 16 cuts today.
4 Blue cheese
4 Magic Bud
4 Lavender
4 Bag Seed

I can't go on calling the bag seed, the "bag seed", so as it smells like lemon cheesecake, thats what I'll call it from now on.

blues frog · Oct 17, 2009

Took another 4 cuts of lemon cheesecake yesterday, so now I have 40 clones on the go, 8 already rooted, and 32 on the way.
It's funny that i keep on seeing threads where people are having trouble rooting cuts, cos all of mine so far have rooted, and I am just using john innes seed compost/perlite at 50/50, dipping the cuts in some very cheap hormone rooting powder (which is 5 years out of date), and then sticking them in a 5 litre water bottle thats had about four inches chopped out of the middle of it. Keeping them in these bottles is awesome cos the humidity in there goes sky high, and the cuts seem to love it. I haven't lost a single one yet.

Potato · Oct 17, 2009

We are getting close also. Thinking what to try next. Weare limited to 6 plants and 1 OZ. smokeable. We have room for only 2 now. We can pick Indian kush ,P train wreck, Chunk of choc., Ak 47 are ready for cuts and some rooted cuts. Going to try in the Bubbleponic with the 3 bulb CPF only this time. Going to use the flower lights from the start. Picture of the G13 and Med. Man at 36 days.

blues frog · Oct 18, 2009

They look sweet.

blues frog · Oct 18, 2009

I've just added two early misty clones to the flower room. They only got proper roots on about 10 days ago, and they are about 2 1/2" tall, in one litre bottles. I am so interested to see how they do.

Does anyone know anything about the NLite Sabre range of grow lights. I want to find out how good they are. You can hang them vertically in among your plants so they'll get light all the way to the bottm buds. Looks fantastic, but I am worried about how hot they get close to their surface. Anyway, here is a link to the site. Check it out.

shdowlkr · Oct 21, 2009

Hey BF, looking good man. I've had seedlings do as that WW did and they too grew out of it, but they did so after self topping themselves at that point. I'd not expect a lot of growth from that one for a few, but when it does, will possibly be secondary growth and not the original top.

blues frog · Oct 21, 2009

Yeah, I've had that happen on a seedling I burnt the top on. It will all work out I am sure.

Made a major fuck up yesterday. Left the light on in the flowering room by mistake (obviously), so they got 36 hrs of light. No visible sign of any change, but then I expect they will just appear to stop then stretch a little before flowering again.

Oh well.

blues frog · Oct 27, 2009

Update with new pics.

Here is my latest update.
I have moved just about my entire veg room into flower, and taken the lids off three of the clone bottles and put them under the veg light. They were cut around 17 days ago, and they all but one seem to have enough root to do O.K.
Lost two clones that I cut 10 days ago because the bottoms of the leaves were touching the soil, and they rotted straight away, so I know not to do that again.

I have another twenty cuts in five bottles in the bottom room, also one White Widow seedling, and one Alaskan Ice seedling.

In the flower room now are:-

4 x Lemon Cheesecake (the artist formerly known as bag seed)
9 x Early Misty (2 different phenos)
1 x Lavender (Stinky, beautiful leaf shape)
1 x Blue Cheese
1 x Magic Bud

I am not sticking to my game plan here, but I am impatient, and I want to try all these new strains that I have, so my mothers have gone for flowering, and as I have a lot of rooted clones I am not too worried.

In among these pics you will see a couple of shots of an Early Misty cut in a bottle. Four of my E.M. clones have the same problem as the one in the pics, a lot of the top growth got really shrivelled up. They are still alive and still growing, but looking rough. If anyone has an idea then let me know. I had wondered if they had got too dry maybe?

blues frog · Oct 27, 2009

The sick cuts (thats right, I said cuts, not a mispelling)

Here are the 2 photos of my sick clones. If you know what is the cause I would be grateful.

shdowlkr · Oct 27, 2009

I cannot see where those clones are showing a deficiency bro, and apart from that upper growth all deformed, they look ok.
Times I've seen that come up, it has grown out of it in a few days. Could be a product of the rooting hormone used (if any) or a minor micro nutrient issue that showed up after the transplant.

Worst case scenario is TMV (tobacco mosaics virus) but then, I've been a smoker for years and often times handle plants while smoking a cig and have never had that in my grow.. if I did, the plant would not have grown out of it.

Nice looking sativa trees in there too bro, those ladies are looking nice! Good luck on the 20ozers :)

TheIrieOne · Oct 29, 2009

maybe you can show how to set up the cfl lights like that.. I think that would be helpful to have a DIY thread like that. I was thinking I should use cfl's like you have in the picture..

blues frog · Nov 1, 2009

shdowlkr said:
I cannot see where those clones are showing a deficiency bro, and apart from that upper growth all deformed, they look ok.
Times I've seen that come up, it has grown out of it in a few days. Could be a product of the rooting hormone used (if any) or a minor micro nutrient issue that showed up after the transplant.

Worst case scenario is TMV (tobacco mosaics virus) but then, I've been a smoker for years and often times handle plants while smoking a cig and have never had that in my grow.. if I did, the plant would not have grown out of it.

Nice looking sativa trees in there too bro, those ladies are looking nice! Good luck on the 20ozers :)

Well it seems you could be right about the rooting powder, but then this tub of it is ancient. The new growth on those freaky clones is normal. I've put all six of those into flower now and they seem to be doing fine.

Everything in the flower room is good, except for a little wind burn on the Lemon Cheesecake, which seems succeptible to being put right in line with a fan, with all the fan leaves going dry and droopy where the air is hitting the plant.

I have also bottled up another fourteen cuts into 20oz. bottles.
4 Blue Cheese (cut 14 days ago, rooted amazinly well)
4 Lemon Cheesecake
3 Lavender
3 Early Misty

If I can make space in the flower room, then I will put the Lemon Cheese in today, cos flowering at 4" they reach 3' tall.

My White Widow seedling suffered from pythium, and the bottom of the stem started to rot off. I think I might have caught it in time (treated it with cheshunt compound) , because it is still alive, but not doing very well. I think it needs repotting slightly deeper to bury some of the stem, as it appears to be trying to root from the bottom 1/2".

Also planted up 4 more seeds, 1 Papaya and 3 new Bag seeds, supposedly a hawaiian strain, but hard to tell as the weed it came from had been dried so badly, but it was strong.

And finally have ordered 3 more seeds from pick'n'mix seedbank. 2 White Widow feminised, and 1 Northern Lights#5 x Haze feminised. Hope this last one germs alright, and is a good keeper, because that one seed was about $30.

blues frog · Nov 7, 2009

Little Update

Just some new pics.
My feminised Lavender turns out to be a male. I'm not quite sure how that is in any way feninised, but I guess I'll just make some seed. He really is a lovely plant and smells goooood.

Alaskan Ice gone into the flower room today, so 9 to 10 weeks. I can't wait.

Life is good.

blues frog · Nov 23, 2009

Latest Update Grow 2

Here are some pics of my current plants in flower.

I have just cut one Lemon Cheesecake and one Early Misty, 7 grams from LC and 10 from EM. Not a great amount but a nice smoke, I've just had a mix of the two, and I'm finding it very hard to write this. Mmmmmm.

:bong-hits:

There are also a load of bottles in the flower room but I'll photograph them when there is more to see. One of the pics is of a lemon cheesecake in a 800ml bottle, and I reckon it will do more than an eighth of an oz. I could have done 4 of these in the space the one LC I just cut took up, and got more than twice the yield by the look of it. I have a another 8 LC in bottles ready to go into the flower room when I take my next two large ones down.

The really frosty girl is my magic bud, and she is so covered in trichomes its getting hard to see the leaves, and its still early, shes got loads more time. This plant looks awesome.

And I just found my best friend after 17 years.

Life is good.