135W LED Organic Closet Grow-- White Indica and Skunk #1

[Higher Laws]

What's up IC!

I'm new to the forum, but have been a lurker for quite some time. I'm an outdoor grower at heart, but I decided to come inside for the winter so I stay sane waiting for April/May to roll around. I do have a little experience in growing cannabis; but, as we all know, learning never stops. I'm really hoping to get some positive input here at IC Mag.

Anyways, here's the deal. I popped the beans a little over three weeks ago and the plants are doing great. I'll throw some pictures up towards the end of the post. I'm growing Skunk #1 by White Label Seeds and White Indica from Ceres Seeds. My plan is to let these girls veg for 6-7 weeks from seed. This is greatly dependent on the size they reach during that time (I want to fully utilize my overhead room).

That said, it's time to get down to the setup--first and foremost, the soil mix. Here is a rundown of what's inside my Geopots:
Pro-Mix Ultimate Organic, vermiculite, perlite, EWC, Jobe’s Organics Vegetable Fertilizer, and high Nitrogen bat guano.




As for the lighting, I am using a 135W Blackstar LED supplemented with two 23W CFLs. To check the heat output of all the lights, I have one 80mm PC fan acting as an intake, and one 120mm PC fan as an outtake (this will be installed this week with a carbon filter). Lastly, I have one mini fan inside the cab itself.



A humidifier runs for 18 hours in the cab to keep my vegging girls in a tropically humid environment

The girls are currently under an 18/6 lighting cycle which will continue for the next 3-4 weeks.

Since there are nutrients in the soil (I skimped out a bit), I am feeding with guano tea--1 tbsp per gallon of distilledwater--every feeding to give them a little extra kick.

My goal is to pull at least a half ounce from each plant.

Whew I think that's enough for now.

I'll be updating frequently, mostly with information, but pictures as well.

Oh! I almost forgot. The Skunk #1 has been topped (too harsh of a fimming) and the White Indica was just effectively fimmed last night.

White Indica at a little over 2 weeks from seed.

Both plants at a little over 2 weeks.

Cheers

 

[Higher Laws]

Progress...

I over-watered the Skunk #1 but it is beginning to perk back up. I fimmed both plants and the new growth is starting to pick up pace. Everything is pretty healthy for the most part.

I added an outtake fan and plan on adding another within the week.

 

[Cojito]

curious about the Blackstar LEDs. might buy one in a few months. so i'll be interested to see where it takes you. how much did the heat kick up over ambient? perhaps passive intake will be better than adding a 80mm fan? suerte.

 

[b0bje]

Is it safe to run a humidifier in a micro space for 18 hours a day ?
is there any risk of water condense ? (if that is the correct english word)

 

[Higher Laws]

curious about the Blackstar LEDs. might buy one in a few months. so i'll be interested to see where it takes you. how much did the heat kick up over ambient? perhaps passive intake will be better than adding a 80mm fan? suerte.

I would consider this, but the cab isn't totally enclosed/airtight. I was limited monetarily when I was getting this setup off the ground.

The temps hold steady at right around 79 for the most part. I'm located above another apartment, so my overall room temperature is the most deciding factor on temps in the cab. Sometimes temps will spike up into the 80s on unseasonably warm days (such as today), but to control that I can just switch off the CFLs since they are the primary producers of heat in the cab. Without them, I'm certain my temps would never reach anything above 81.

Is it safe to run a humidifier in a micro space for 18 hours a day ?
is there any risk of water condense ? (if that is the correct english word)

The space isn't incredibly small and definitely provides opportunity for humid air to run out, especially with the fans going. I've never had any problems with condensation. During the dark period it turns off, but one fan inside the cab still runs, making sure there is proper airflow for any excess (or problematic) moisture to dry. In fact, when the humidifier runs out of water and I forget to refill, the humidity levels drop back down into the 20-30% range.

 

[yesum]

Nice setup. How many plants are you doing?

 

[Higher Laws]

Just running two. I don't really have the means to deal with the odor from any more, considering one is Skunk.

I just need a small personal stash to get me through half of summer. or until my fall outdoor harvest

I'm hoping to pull a little over an ounce total, but I am definitely trying for more.

 

[Higher Laws]

I am happy to report that the girls are loving their new homes!! I put the White Indica in a 2 gallon Geopot and the Skunk #1 in a 3 gallon Geopot. I wasn't sure if I was going to have room for two 3 gallons so I had to downgrade.

Though all the symptoms of the magnesium deficiency that were ailing the Skunk #1 haven't completely disappeared, I am hoping that the problem will be ameliorated by the end of the week. I fed both plants a half dose of hydrolyzed fish/seaweed fertilizer + a half dose of organic BioThrive Bloom fertilizer and foliar fed both with an epsom salt solution.

They growth that formerly had a droopy look has perked up and looks quite happy.

If you feel like I have misdiagnosed her, please let me know.

White Indica

Skunk #1

 

[yesum]

Well on your way to getting that medicine made! With cfls you want them within an inch or 2 in flower, and if you hang the cfls over the plants some reflector will help a lot. Just beer cans or other shiny thin metal. Hanging them down in between the plants will work too.

 

[Higher Laws]

Well on your way to getting that medicine made! With cfls you want them within an inch or 2 in flower, and if you hang the cfls over the plants some reflector will help a lot. Just beer cans or other shiny thin metal. Hanging them down in between the plants will work too.

Thanks for stopping in man! The medicine is definitely on it's way!

I know that the power of CFLs are severely diminished the farther you get them away from the plant. I was actually trying to use this in my favor to get these girls to stretch a bit, but the LED is keeping them nice and compact. My room temp fluctuates too much since I am above another unit, so I won't be using CFLs all the time, just when the temps allow it. I'm actually going to grab a reflector that I left at a friends place this weekend, so that should help concentrate the light a little more.

Only problem I have with 'em is that they block some LED light the way I have them hanging now. I'm gonna have to rig them up to shine in on the plants from the sides instead so I can get the popcorn bud-to-be a little more light when the time comes.

Since I lost a week or so of growth due to the deficiencies, I plan on letting 'em go another week and a half before the switch to 12/12 is made. I'm so close!

 

[Higher Laws]

Also, I just checked the pH of the nutrient solution (a little late, I know) that i used to water with and it was around 4

I adjusted it back to a little below 7. Hopefully the watering I gave them a couple days ago didn't mess up the soil pH too bad. Next watering will be completely a neutral pH plain water.

Hope I didn't mess things up too badly. Newbie mistake!

 

[Higher Laws]

Just thought I'd show you guys what the girls are looking like 5 days after their transplant.

Skunk #1:

White Indica:

Cab:

 

[Higher Laws]

At approximately 330 PM, I will initiate ~24 hours of darkness and then the girls will be put under 12/12. Flowering here we come!

 

[Higher Laws]

Here are the plants post 24 hour darkness. You can already see the new growth getting lighter.

Skunk #1

White Indica

Cab

https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=35305&pictureid=846657

 

[Higher Laws]

Week 1 of flowering complete

 

[yosun]

thanks for posting, looks great so far,may i ask how loud the internal fans are on the 135?

 

[Higher Laws]

thanks for posting, looks great so far,may i ask how loud the internal fans are on the 135?

Thanks man. They do have some volume, but it really isn't much. In an enclosed area it is not detectable from the outside.

 

[Dr 4 four]

How are they looking now?

 

[Higher Laws]

Finally! Time for an update.

Alright, so I was out of town for a couple days and left the girls on their own. Their rootballs definitely had time to dry out and start craving some water and nutrients. So I fed them with Neptune's Harvest Fish + Seaweed at a regular doses.

I had to make a temporary move to the other end of the closet for personal reasons. I might work on it a bit and just stay there instead of putting the other setup back together. This one feels like it could be safer.

The timer my light was on messed up for some reason today and the plants didn't get light until about three hours after they were supposed to. That, paired with the lack of feeding, seems to have cause slight yellowing and curl. The Skunk #1 is still looking healthy, but looks a little off in the picture.

The White Indica has been acting extremely strange since the switch to 12/12. It's been two weeks and it hasn't shown sex, nor has it grown much. Really weird.

All in all, I'm a little disappointed with the strain.

We'll see how they bounce back in the next day or two.

Anyways, here are some pics!
The lone CFL in a couple of the pictures makes the colors look a little more dramatic then they actually are.

 

[jenery]

very nice cab, hope the indica strain will come back to life for you, skunk looks great. good luck with your grow