3x 23W CFL / PC Case / Soil / Bagseed
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dlusion
Member
Oh fuck, am I over-watering now?
I think I need to transfer my tomato plant to a new pot with drainage (my clay pot had no hole at the bottom). Normally, I'd just go to WalMart/Home DePOT and get a new pot. Instead, today I had an idea for a free/cheap, easy to make container with adequate drainage.
Simple, right? I'm about to do the transplant and I'll post an 'after' image of the final product. Hopefully this helps other 'noobs' out.
Well, here are the transplant pics. You can see *why* I did the transplant, my poor tomato plant wasn't allowing the water to drain and instead started pooling in the other pot.
Or... so I think. Any comments would be helpful! Did I correctly diagnose this problem? For clarification, the leaves were droopy before the transplant.
I think I need to transfer my tomato plant to a new pot with drainage (my clay pot had no hole at the bottom). Normally, I'd just go to WalMart/Home DePOT and get a new pot. Instead, today I had an idea for a free/cheap, easy to make container with adequate drainage.
Simple, right? I'm about to do the transplant and I'll post an 'after' image of the final product. Hopefully this helps other 'noobs' out.
Well, here are the transplant pics. You can see *why* I did the transplant, my poor tomato plant wasn't allowing the water to drain and instead started pooling in the other pot.
Or... so I think. Any comments would be helpful! Did I correctly diagnose this problem? For clarification, the leaves were droopy before the transplant.
Hey D, you did the right thing man, a drainage hole or holes is pretty much a neccesity. There's a handful of people who get away without them but the common view is to use drainage, and yes that would fit your symptoms.
That design will probably work. When I've used drink bottles, I just cut the top off and put holes in the bottom. Joining two halves is sort of inneficient use of the space for a pc though. You've got a whole lot of air down there doing nothing, in a space where heights matter a lot. In a PC I try to use shallow square or rectangular pots so most of that space is used for something useful - soil (or coco in my case).
Another issue is that clear plastic is a poor choice. If you could tape the outside or paint it or cover it in foil to block the light out, you'll have a healthier root system.
That design will probably work. When I've used drink bottles, I just cut the top off and put holes in the bottom. Joining two halves is sort of inneficient use of the space for a pc though. You've got a whole lot of air down there doing nothing, in a space where heights matter a lot. In a PC I try to use shallow square or rectangular pots so most of that space is used for something useful - soil (or coco in my case).
Another issue is that clear plastic is a poor choice. If you could tape the outside or paint it or cover it in foil to block the light out, you'll have a healthier root system.
dlusion
Member
Yeah I've figured that I'll need to change out the potting system when the plant gets larger, but the current height allows the plant to be close to the CFL's.
Thanks for the clear plastic tip! I'll be sure to wrap some paper around the plastic (white reflects, right?).
If I chose to make a custom square frame/pot for the bottom of my case, how deep should the soil be?
Thanks for the clear plastic tip! I'll be sure to wrap some paper around the plastic (white reflects, right?).
If I chose to make a custom square frame/pot for the bottom of my case, how deep should the soil be?
Ah, I see - cool cool. Yeah I'm not sure how paper would go as it's not too resistant to the elements and it could be percieved as a fire hazard, but technically it should help. Tape or paint or alfoil would be my choice. Or actually, my first choice would be a clear container, with another equal/slightly larger container which is covered up. Slide the clear pot into the light proof one and there you go, it's lightproof. Need to inspect the roots? Slide it out of the container.
In my first pc case, I was just able to squeeze two of these pots in while vegging them. I don't have the pots handy but I'd say they were no more than 2.5 inches tall.
In my first pc case, I was just able to squeeze two of these pots in while vegging them. I don't have the pots handy but I'd say they were no more than 2.5 inches tall.
Thanks man, that's a nice thing to say! A toast, to your tomotoes!
*clinks glass of tomato juice*
A toast, to your tomotoes!*clinks glass of tomato juice*
Hi this is a good thi9ng for me to read as i am using cfls at the minute i have 5 x 26w in a grow tent which is for 14 plants in veg!
They are growing ok at the minute (minus the infestation problem that i have got with somehting that i am not sure what it is, think it might be spidermite so i have got some spraysafe and sprayed them so hopefully they should be ok fingures crossed)
Sorry for the slight hijack but i just thought i would say keep the journal going and i will keep reading it as i am a newbie so i am looking at the best way to grow prize winning tomato plants lol
They are growing ok at the minute (minus the infestation problem that i have got with somehting that i am not sure what it is, think it might be spidermite so i have got some spraysafe and sprayed them so hopefully they should be ok fingures crossed)
Sorry for the slight hijack but i just thought i would say keep the journal going and i will keep reading it as i am a newbie so i am looking at the best way to grow prize winning tomato plants lol
dlusion
Member
She certainly sprung back to life!
Sorry for the poor image quality. It's dark, and I didn't feel like going into a well lit environment at 1am.
I did decide that tonight was the night I'd induce LST (low-stress training)! I used a metal clip from christmas ornaments (you can find packs of them at the dollar store for ~1$/100, but it's a seasonal item... or you could use a paper clip) and it seems to have done the job well.
I'm quite sad that I still don't know whether 'she' will be a 'she' or not. It's truly wreaking havoc on my mind!
P.S. Chris, I'll do my best to share as many of my trials and tribulations with the community as I can. My (soon-to-be!) prize-winning tomato plant will be a beacon of hope for all humanity...
... out of bagseed...
Sorry for the poor image quality. It's dark, and I didn't feel like going into a well lit environment at 1am.
I did decide that tonight was the night I'd induce LST (low-stress training)! I used a metal clip from christmas ornaments (you can find packs of them at the dollar store for ~1$/100, but it's a seasonal item... or you could use a paper clip) and it seems to have done the job well.
I'm quite sad that I still don't know whether 'she' will be a 'she' or not. It's truly wreaking havoc on my mind!
P.S. Chris, I'll do my best to share as many of my trials and tribulations with the community as I can. My (soon-to-be!) prize-winning tomato plant will be a beacon of hope for all humanity...
... out of bagseed...
dlusion
Member
Shiiiiit! I started LST less than eight hours ago, and this morning I awoke to find this in place of the sadly-bent tomato plant I had left behind last night:
Also, I think it's a she! I can see what I believe to be a hairy pistil/preflower popping up through the center/main 'cola' (not sure if that's what I should call it or not).
I'm not sure what my watering schedule should be like, and if I absolutely need nutrients or not. Tips on either are welcome!
PS Sorry for the double post, it's a bit of a masturbatory response, I know... but I feel that I must share it with the world.
Also, I think it's a she! I can see what I believe to be a hairy pistil/preflower popping up through the center/main 'cola' (not sure if that's what I should call it or not).
I'm not sure what my watering schedule should be like, and if I absolutely need nutrients or not. Tips on either are welcome!
PS Sorry for the double post, it's a bit of a masturbatory response, I know... but I feel that I must share it with the world.
L
lysol
I would use the color coated clips. The bare ones will dig into the stem, the stem will literally grow / heal around the clip. Another thing that works is twist ties. Usually I put another one to hold the base of the stem horizontal to reduce the chance of the plants stem snapping or unrooting itself.
As for the tape on the lights if I were you I'd say thats gotta go. What I did was got a piece of board at home depot, drilled holes and zip tied some power strips, then for $1 theres a doohicky you get at walmart that plugs into the power strip and converts the outlet into a bulb socket. I put 2 of those on a strip and put 2 strips on the board, Then I multiply the sockets with Y adapters resulting in 8 sockets, then I hang chains from the corners of the board. The stuff I got isnt wood, to keep it leight weight. Not sure how that fits in with a PC grow but could provide ideas.
As for the tape on the lights if I were you I'd say thats gotta go. What I did was got a piece of board at home depot, drilled holes and zip tied some power strips, then for $1 theres a doohicky you get at walmart that plugs into the power strip and converts the outlet into a bulb socket. I put 2 of those on a strip and put 2 strips on the board, Then I multiply the sockets with Y adapters resulting in 8 sockets, then I hang chains from the corners of the board. The stuff I got isnt wood, to keep it leight weight. Not sure how that fits in with a PC grow but could provide ideas.
dlusion
Member
I plan on rebuilding the PC case this weekend. Ideally, I want to get a glue gun, hacksaw, zip-ties and some other materials to 'lightproof' the case as well as mount the CFL's in a more appropriate manner(tape must go!). I don't think that I have the room to hang them vertically, but if I did would it be more efficient?
I've also secured a larger transformer to power the fans. The tomato plant is starting to smell a bit, and I think I'd need more CFM/suction power to effectively move air through the filter I plan on using. Hell, I'm not even sure if the filter will work. I planned to use this:
You can't see it very well in the image, but the other side of the blue filter is a plastic vented container of carbon nuggets. Does anyone have experience with this type of filter? It is a 'carbon' filter, I'm just not sure if there's enough carbon to do a damned good job. I also have one of these Ecoquest air purifiers, should things get too dicey.. It does a damned fine job of eliminating odor, but I'd certainly prefer if the simple filter could do the job.
One last question: nutrients! Are they a necessity? If so, what is recommended? I'd prefer something that I wouldn't have to mess around with the pH level of the grow medium. I've searched, but I've found no concrete answer. I've not found a sticky thread with the information, either.
I've also secured a larger transformer to power the fans. The tomato plant is starting to smell a bit, and I think I'd need more CFM/suction power to effectively move air through the filter I plan on using. Hell, I'm not even sure if the filter will work. I planned to use this:
You can't see it very well in the image, but the other side of the blue filter is a plastic vented container of carbon nuggets. Does anyone have experience with this type of filter? It is a 'carbon' filter, I'm just not sure if there's enough carbon to do a damned good job. I also have one of these Ecoquest air purifiers, should things get too dicey.. It does a damned fine job of eliminating odor, but I'd certainly prefer if the simple filter could do the job.
One last question: nutrients! Are they a necessity? If so, what is recommended? I'd prefer something that I wouldn't have to mess around with the pH level of the grow medium. I've searched, but I've found no concrete answer. I've not found a sticky thread with the information, either.
looken sweet dude.
dlusion
Member
Hrm, the beginning of this thread marked the beginning of the 12:12 light cycle for my darling tomato plant. It has been roughly 11 days, and I still have yet to see the whimsical twat hair I've been looking for.... [EDIT] How long should I expect to wait before seeing the telltale signs of gender?
Last friday a few friends came over and made a respectably large blunt out of 'fire' mids. They used ~3 grams of the stuff, and left me about 20 seeds. They are of HIGH quality from what I can remember, and they're sativa dominant. I've put three in my little sprouter-egg thing (plastic easter egg with a wet paper towel in it... works EVERY time) and hope to have new seedlings by the time I know the sexual orientation of my current tomato plant. I do have one concern: is my lighting sufficient to take care of two or three seedlings plus the more mature tomato plant?
I'm also worried about the ethical side to this... If I grow more than one plant I surely won't be able to use all of the product, or maybe I will... but would it legally look worse if I was growing more than just a single small plant? I don't have any intent to sell, and I'm NOT changing that about myself. I don't want to mainly because I know myself and know that I'd become heinously paranoid.
One last tidbit: I added another clip for LST! I plan on making a ring around the 2L bottle!
I'd have pictures to share/update but my camera's battery is dead and I can't find the damned charger.
Last friday a few friends came over and made a respectably large blunt out of 'fire' mids. They used ~3 grams of the stuff, and left me about 20 seeds. They are of HIGH quality from what I can remember, and they're sativa dominant. I've put three in my little sprouter-egg thing (plastic easter egg with a wet paper towel in it... works EVERY time) and hope to have new seedlings by the time I know the sexual orientation of my current tomato plant. I do have one concern: is my lighting sufficient to take care of two or three seedlings plus the more mature tomato plant?
I'm also worried about the ethical side to this... If I grow more than one plant I surely won't be able to use all of the product, or maybe I will... but would it legally look worse if I was growing more than just a single small plant? I don't have any intent to sell, and I'm NOT changing that about myself. I don't want to mainly because I know myself and know that I'd become heinously paranoid.
One last tidbit: I added another clip for LST! I plan on making a ring around the 2L bottle!
I'd have pictures to share/update but my camera's battery is dead and I can't find the damned charger.
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immaculate
Member
Word up man. I'm lovin' this little operation. I've got a few babies and they're about as far as long as yours is but we're still in 16/8 for a while I'm experimenting with a bunch of techniques (I hope they don't feel like a bunch of labrats) myself. I'm thinking about using some sort of "ring" lst method on all of babies too so I'm really interested to see how it works out for you. Good luck. Peace.
By the way, how are those Miracle Gro ferts working for you?
By the way, how are those Miracle Gro ferts working for you?
irie4i
Member
A couple things you should know;
The filter you found is probably not the right type. You're going to need raw activated carbon and probably about a quarter to a half inch thick over your intake, also I reccomend baffling intended for vent use insted of whatever cloth that filter is made out of.
Your LST is not really correct. While you are moving the plant allowing extra light to contact the lower nodes of the plant, you are not moving the top of the plant down enough to confuse the plant into generating auxins at the aforementioned node(s). The top of your plant(the very top, with new growth) must be trained below the node. There's alot of topics on LST, check people's stickies, here's a quick example of my grow that shows what you're trying to accomplish with LST:
Notice how the nodes below my origonal top have lots of new leaves. When you read more about LSTing, I feel it's VERY important to continue to move the ties. I now use a very soft self-sticking velcro type product which is easy to remove and can be cut down from a half inch size, things like string, and more importantly raw metal(like your paperclip) will become part of the plants stem fairly quick. Always move the tie closest to the bottom of the plant up, pulling the opposite direction of the origonal top, to prevent imbalance in plant weight distribution. http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=98355&highlight=art+LST The Art of LST, is a good read for you.
Also, you see the tip burn you're experiencing? The yellowing in the veins of the plant also indicate improper nutrients. High heat can explain the tip burn, but more than likly it's the nutrients you're using. Go buy some nutrients intended for your plant and a new planter with even drainage, about the maximum size you can fit inside the PC(more roots=more growth), ScrubNinja is a good example of this. He's using a long, low container. It likly holds more soil(gallons) than your 2litre. If I was more of a soil guy I could give you some real advice, however the only thing I can say here is read up on the ammount of soil you're using and the ammount of nutrients to add. Do the math, and you should probably get a electronic PH and EC meters to measure your run-off. Alot of people have done very impressive things with soil in PC spaces so don't be afraid to read other people's grow logs to find out what is going to be the best course for you.
Keep working on it and you could have some frosty medical nugs in your lil' pc. Good luck
In reguards to your question of multiple plants in your PC space, I would reccomend against adding a variety of bagseed strains into your space. It is likly you will get desirable yield from a well trained plant without adding any more; also adding strains weeks after the origonal run is a generally difficult expecially in a tightly confined space such as yours.
The filter you found is probably not the right type. You're going to need raw activated carbon and probably about a quarter to a half inch thick over your intake, also I reccomend baffling intended for vent use insted of whatever cloth that filter is made out of.
Your LST is not really correct. While you are moving the plant allowing extra light to contact the lower nodes of the plant, you are not moving the top of the plant down enough to confuse the plant into generating auxins at the aforementioned node(s). The top of your plant(the very top, with new growth) must be trained below the node. There's alot of topics on LST, check people's stickies, here's a quick example of my grow that shows what you're trying to accomplish with LST:
Notice how the nodes below my origonal top have lots of new leaves. When you read more about LSTing, I feel it's VERY important to continue to move the ties. I now use a very soft self-sticking velcro type product which is easy to remove and can be cut down from a half inch size, things like string, and more importantly raw metal(like your paperclip) will become part of the plants stem fairly quick. Always move the tie closest to the bottom of the plant up, pulling the opposite direction of the origonal top, to prevent imbalance in plant weight distribution. http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=98355&highlight=art+LST The Art of LST, is a good read for you.
Also, you see the tip burn you're experiencing? The yellowing in the veins of the plant also indicate improper nutrients. High heat can explain the tip burn, but more than likly it's the nutrients you're using. Go buy some nutrients intended for your plant and a new planter with even drainage, about the maximum size you can fit inside the PC(more roots=more growth), ScrubNinja is a good example of this. He's using a long, low container. It likly holds more soil(gallons) than your 2litre. If I was more of a soil guy I could give you some real advice, however the only thing I can say here is read up on the ammount of soil you're using and the ammount of nutrients to add. Do the math, and you should probably get a electronic PH and EC meters to measure your run-off. Alot of people have done very impressive things with soil in PC spaces so don't be afraid to read other people's grow logs to find out what is going to be the best course for you.
Keep working on it and you could have some frosty medical nugs in your lil' pc. Good luck
In reguards to your question of multiple plants in your PC space, I would reccomend against adding a variety of bagseed strains into your space. It is likly you will get desirable yield from a well trained plant without adding any more; also adding strains weeks after the origonal run is a generally difficult expecially in a tightly confined space such as yours.
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dlusion
Member
- Ah! I thought so too at first, but it has a good bit of activated charcoal in it. The blue filter thing itself has none.
- Holy shit, I didn't know that. Thanks for bring that to my attention, I was wondering why mine wasn't working as well as others have...
- That it is! I plan on using a different method of clipping the plant down, but I haven't quite figured it out yet. The fun part is trying to make it work with stuff I have laying around! Do you suppose coating the metal clips in electrical tape would make them less apt to merge into the plant?
- I'm not actually using any nutrients currently, so if anything the plant is suffering from nutrient deficiencies. Can you recommend a good (easily accessible) product?
- I'm actually planning on using one of those 'window sill' planters of similar design to what ScrubNinja used. It's about 18" long and 8" wide, so it will be a tight squeeze but I think I can make it happen!
irie4i
Member
Nutrients are tricky, if you have an organic nursery around, you can probably make a few trips with different people and avoid the 'noia. Otherwise the only method I know of is biting the bullet and ordering nutrients online or visiting a hydro store. Unfortunetly, nutrients intended for this type of plant are pretty spescific. Using electrical tape on your paperclips is pretty inventive, and should work, just try and keep a wide layer of electrical tape on it(alot of the time, stem growth into tiedowns really has more to do with a thin tie). I also heartedly reccomend water treated with reverse osmosis or ionization, regular tap water in most cases will harm the plant; you can buy these types of water from most stores, most companies print their purification process on the bottle/jug. Hope my advice helps
why do you keep saying tomato plant.? do you think if you are busted they will go easier on you for saying its a tomato plant..i dont get it.. its weed and you are growing weed..whats the deal?
1 plant or 100 you are still growing WEED MARIJUANA it makes no differance when the law is the law. bottom line is nobody is going to arrest you for growing 1-3 mini plants in a minibox. i think they are looking for people growing a few kilos per week then a few grams every few months!
1 plant or 100 you are still growing WEED MARIJUANA it makes no differance when the law is the law. bottom line is nobody is going to arrest you for growing 1-3 mini plants in a minibox. i think they are looking for people growing a few kilos per week then a few grams every few months!
