customelement
Member
Okay, it's taken me a while, and quite a few threads of questions, but I finally have My Setup Tuned In...
Strains: Bagseed - Started with many seeds, ended up with 1 plant. Many didnt germ, some never popped out of the soil, and in the end I had one male and one female, and cut him.
Reeferman's Cherry Berry - These I had left over from my last grow, and they were my fav of all I grew. They are Cherry Bomb II x Blueberry Indica irrc and taste just like you'd imagine! I tried to germ 3, all 3 popped from 5 years old seeds, but one died as a sprout (not sure why, just wilted up and died).
Lights: Anywhere from 4x 23w Daylight CFL's upto 400w HPS
Ventilation: 100CFM bathroom fan to 440CFM vortex. Passive intakes. Small fan on low for circulation.
Where to begin. Let's me say first off I currently live in a horribly old building, hence my appartment is lop-sided 4" drop from high side to low (and it's a very skinny apt), so it made this even harder
I decided to get back into growing cause we were short on money and smoke ALOT lol and the two were clashing. I grew for about 18mos a few years back, and eventually gave up cause of landlord issues (not with security, but building problems) and still had most of my old supplies for my old closet grow. Figuring I was in a new place now, and had a closet free, we could save quite a few dollars by starting our own small grow again!
I decided to go with another closet grow figuring I had done it before, it'd be easy to toss one together for ~$50CAD + what I still had. I tossed a bunch of random bagseed I had kept over the years in some wet paper towels, tossed them on a plate on a heating pad in my dresser, and let them germinate. The closet had a pair of 2x 23w Daylight CFL's that hung down and the walls where already white(ish) and when the seeds popped, I put them in soil and tossed them on a milk crate under the lights. I run 24/0 from seed till flower so I didnt really need to do anything for a while but I checked on them every day and wet the soil a little when needed. Once they were up I tossed the fan on low blowing across them, and adjusted the lights as needed..
Over the next couple days I started planning the stuff I would need for the closet and dug out my old supplies, and as I was I realized... I have absolutely NO ventilation options available to me in the closet! Time to rethink from scratch, and the girls are already on the grow!
After considering from Rubbermaids, to small Cabinet's, to full size wardrobes.. we go with a 48w x20d x72h double door wardrobe figuring I can reuse my 400w HPS. I read through just about every DIY thread I can find on making it work, but I am, by default, a complete fail at tools, I am a pure electronics man! but hey, I'll give it a go. (note: at this time the thought of a grow tent had just completely slipped my mind.. for the entire time of this venture till just recently DOH!) This is where things went horribly wrong!
I decided on a 400w HPS main room with the top shelf as completely the eletrical and ventilation. I had a pretty good idea of what I needed from surfing IC's DIY's and the websites of most of my local retailers.. Money in hand, I hit the stores... I overspent on the wardrobe which was the only one even close to the size we were looking for, I overspent on the 100CFM bathroom fan which isnt enough for the 400w HPS but it was the biggest available, I overspent on Reflectix at the only place that had it and white paint wasn't an option cause not a single store in this WHOLE DAMN CITY!! (sorry a bit bitter) had flat white spray paint. So I'm in the whole more than I thought, but I'm at home and have everything I think I need. The holesaw bit was a nightmare, the whole wardrobe was misaligned, and the backing on the wardrobe might as well be made of paper.
I got it all put together, only to find out the temps ran in the ~118 range.. which would kill the girls Back to the daylight CFL's, but in the wardrobe this time.. As I was out of money at this point, I kept the girls in there, tended to them daily and waited for 2 weeks till next payday. This time I tackled the light leaks.. and there were plenty. Remember I mentioned how off my floor's were? that made this part a straight up NIGHTMARE! Like that wasn't bad enough, the wardrobe was horribly misaligned straight off the cutting board, as holes missed there marks. I got the wrong size of weatherstripping the first time, so had to return it, but after several hours, I got it all sealed up nicely.
Wardrobe in Bedroom
By this time, they were ready to be transplanted to bigger pots, so I picked up some new soil, and put them in 10" pots. I also made I pretty kickass $1 DIY reflector for my 4x CFL's from an aluminum roasting pan. With the current setup, the room is only 4 degree's above room temp, and the girls are getting big. They are now 3 weeks veg, and though they have had quite a bit of struggle, they are looking good.
Wide Layout Shot
Passive Intakes (the half done one, I hit a support screw)
My AWESOME $1CAD Hood (that's dirt cheap yo! lol) and girls
I decided to put my electrical and ventilation IN the main room for now so I have less room to deal with till I get my new fan/filter.
And Now, The girls.. I had a slew of name I picked out and written down, but I havent chosen any official ones for them yet.
"The Tall One" They've all started to smell and you can definately tell them apart, but this girl has a very mild scent.. not very strong at all, yet she is nearly 2x the size of the next closest. She's bagseed and I suspect she's heavy sativa.
"The Short One" 1st of the Cherry Berry, these girls seem to be alot shorter then the bagseed, but have fatter leafs, beautiful smell. Not much to say other than that lol
"The Conjoined Twins" The second Cherry Berry, this one kinda went freak about 2 weeks in veg. One of her roots surfaced, and sprouted a second shoot and leaves.. They are attached under the soil, but I decided to let them grow out and see what happens.
Last shot is just a better angle from inside the cab of the girls
I started looking for a new light/fan solution and the best idea we came up with would be to get a Can Filter /w fan, and a new Air cooled 400w HPS as mine was bought almost 7 years ago super cheap unbranded from ebay. We decided to go with the Can 50 /w 440CFM fan, and a 400w HPS /w Kool Tube 6" air cooled cylinder. I order the filter/fan on the 25th, and when it gets here, I'll install my old HPS with it(it doesnt have a reflector at all) assuming it holds out. The new lamp/kool tube/reflector I order on June 8th. and will replace when it gets here.
I'll be keeping this updated weekly, at minimum, and will answer any questions anyone has. Feel free to critique and/or comment, I look forward to all!
Strains: Bagseed - Started with many seeds, ended up with 1 plant. Many didnt germ, some never popped out of the soil, and in the end I had one male and one female, and cut him.
Reeferman's Cherry Berry - These I had left over from my last grow, and they were my fav of all I grew. They are Cherry Bomb II x Blueberry Indica irrc and taste just like you'd imagine! I tried to germ 3, all 3 popped from 5 years old seeds, but one died as a sprout (not sure why, just wilted up and died).
Lights: Anywhere from 4x 23w Daylight CFL's upto 400w HPS
Ventilation: 100CFM bathroom fan to 440CFM vortex. Passive intakes. Small fan on low for circulation.
Where to begin. Let's me say first off I currently live in a horribly old building, hence my appartment is lop-sided 4" drop from high side to low (and it's a very skinny apt), so it made this even harder
I decided to get back into growing cause we were short on money and smoke ALOT lol and the two were clashing. I grew for about 18mos a few years back, and eventually gave up cause of landlord issues (not with security, but building problems) and still had most of my old supplies for my old closet grow. Figuring I was in a new place now, and had a closet free, we could save quite a few dollars by starting our own small grow again!
I decided to go with another closet grow figuring I had done it before, it'd be easy to toss one together for ~$50CAD + what I still had. I tossed a bunch of random bagseed I had kept over the years in some wet paper towels, tossed them on a plate on a heating pad in my dresser, and let them germinate. The closet had a pair of 2x 23w Daylight CFL's that hung down and the walls where already white(ish) and when the seeds popped, I put them in soil and tossed them on a milk crate under the lights. I run 24/0 from seed till flower so I didnt really need to do anything for a while but I checked on them every day and wet the soil a little when needed. Once they were up I tossed the fan on low blowing across them, and adjusted the lights as needed..
Over the next couple days I started planning the stuff I would need for the closet and dug out my old supplies, and as I was I realized... I have absolutely NO ventilation options available to me in the closet! Time to rethink from scratch, and the girls are already on the grow!
After considering from Rubbermaids, to small Cabinet's, to full size wardrobes.. we go with a 48w x20d x72h double door wardrobe figuring I can reuse my 400w HPS. I read through just about every DIY thread I can find on making it work, but I am, by default, a complete fail at tools, I am a pure electronics man! but hey, I'll give it a go. (note: at this time the thought of a grow tent had just completely slipped my mind.. for the entire time of this venture till just recently DOH!) This is where things went horribly wrong!
I decided on a 400w HPS main room with the top shelf as completely the eletrical and ventilation. I had a pretty good idea of what I needed from surfing IC's DIY's and the websites of most of my local retailers.. Money in hand, I hit the stores... I overspent on the wardrobe which was the only one even close to the size we were looking for, I overspent on the 100CFM bathroom fan which isnt enough for the 400w HPS but it was the biggest available, I overspent on Reflectix at the only place that had it and white paint wasn't an option cause not a single store in this WHOLE DAMN CITY!! (sorry a bit bitter) had flat white spray paint. So I'm in the whole more than I thought, but I'm at home and have everything I think I need. The holesaw bit was a nightmare, the whole wardrobe was misaligned, and the backing on the wardrobe might as well be made of paper.
I got it all put together, only to find out the temps ran in the ~118 range.. which would kill the girls Back to the daylight CFL's, but in the wardrobe this time.. As I was out of money at this point, I kept the girls in there, tended to them daily and waited for 2 weeks till next payday. This time I tackled the light leaks.. and there were plenty. Remember I mentioned how off my floor's were? that made this part a straight up NIGHTMARE! Like that wasn't bad enough, the wardrobe was horribly misaligned straight off the cutting board, as holes missed there marks. I got the wrong size of weatherstripping the first time, so had to return it, but after several hours, I got it all sealed up nicely.
Wardrobe in Bedroom
By this time, they were ready to be transplanted to bigger pots, so I picked up some new soil, and put them in 10" pots. I also made I pretty kickass $1 DIY reflector for my 4x CFL's from an aluminum roasting pan. With the current setup, the room is only 4 degree's above room temp, and the girls are getting big. They are now 3 weeks veg, and though they have had quite a bit of struggle, they are looking good.
Wide Layout Shot
Passive Intakes (the half done one, I hit a support screw)
My AWESOME $1CAD Hood (that's dirt cheap yo! lol) and girls
I decided to put my electrical and ventilation IN the main room for now so I have less room to deal with till I get my new fan/filter.
And Now, The girls.. I had a slew of name I picked out and written down, but I havent chosen any official ones for them yet.
"The Tall One" They've all started to smell and you can definately tell them apart, but this girl has a very mild scent.. not very strong at all, yet she is nearly 2x the size of the next closest. She's bagseed and I suspect she's heavy sativa.
"The Short One" 1st of the Cherry Berry, these girls seem to be alot shorter then the bagseed, but have fatter leafs, beautiful smell. Not much to say other than that lol
"The Conjoined Twins" The second Cherry Berry, this one kinda went freak about 2 weeks in veg. One of her roots surfaced, and sprouted a second shoot and leaves.. They are attached under the soil, but I decided to let them grow out and see what happens.
Last shot is just a better angle from inside the cab of the girls
I started looking for a new light/fan solution and the best idea we came up with would be to get a Can Filter /w fan, and a new Air cooled 400w HPS as mine was bought almost 7 years ago super cheap unbranded from ebay. We decided to go with the Can 50 /w 440CFM fan, and a 400w HPS /w Kool Tube 6" air cooled cylinder. I order the filter/fan on the 25th, and when it gets here, I'll install my old HPS with it(it doesnt have a reflector at all) assuming it holds out. The new lamp/kool tube/reflector I order on June 8th. and will replace when it gets here.
I'll be keeping this updated weekly, at minimum, and will answer any questions anyone has. Feel free to critique and/or comment, I look forward to all!
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