First grow, tiny cab w/CFL's

[SuperHemp]

Hello there Greetings from the northern hemisphere. I am now starting my first grow from seed as we speak germinating a few nirvana ice, they've been in there for 18 hours soon i hope to see some tails by tomorrow.

I am gonna go mix up soil and clay balls today (does about the same thing as perlite) and let it sit for a bit since i heard that's beneficial for something. They're going in a tiny cupboard 1x2x3ft roughly under 200 watts of CFL. I made a twist on the DIY carbon scrubber that you might find interesting, pics later. Basically i used a carbon cartridge you find in a modern / expensive kitchen ventilator, it's cheap and easily accessible and filters great, also easy to turn into a filter (a small funnel and a couple inches of duct tape and you're good) and to replace.


Cupboard is small but suitable for 2-3 plants in LST.. I need a mother box eventually but that's gotta come later.

Here's a very bad pic of the closet

 

[moses224]

Holes in bottom are for cups ebb and flow or those are air duct cutouts? Guess im confused need a clearer pic to evaluate correctly

 

[SuperHemp]

Holes in bottom are for cups ebb and flow or those are air duct cutouts? Guess im confused need a clearer pic to evaluate correctly

Those are supposed to be air inlets, there are also cutouts in the shelf (can't see too good in pic) but there's a shelf about 6" from the top of the cab with the CF and some electrical outlets etc on top of it which i am also gonna use for drying bud in the future

Yes the pic is bad I'll borrow the missus camera but i can't find it right now, tomorrow maybe. Gonna go check if the seeds have germed, but maybe I'm not doing it right. Soak seeds in water for a few minutes then place between two dripping wet coffee filters (organic and unbleached) put on a plate and store dark and warm.. anything wrong?

 

[eclurker]

SuperHemp, congrats on your first grow! I like your choice of strain as well. As far as germinating your seeds, give them time and be patient they can take up to a few days. Just keep them damp and in warm temperatures and you should be fine. At this point just try to pay attention to everything you do and learn from it. My first couple grows were a mess. Prep your box while you wait for the babies. Get an idea of your temperature inside the box and check your air flow, that way when the new ones are ready so are you. If you are trying to activate you soils micro life might i suggest you do a little homework in the organics for beginners page. There is a ton of great info there and it will give you an idea as to what you should be working on as your seeds germinate. Keep us all updated, and dont be afraid to ask questions. Right now you cant learn enough. Good luck and enjoy!
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=53792

 

[SuperHemp]

Thanks for your words eclurker, I am using bottled nutes though. I've prepared the temperature and checked the ventilation, light leaks etc I have researched a lot before my grow but I'll probably mess up on something anyway, it's just a feeling i have.

It looks kind of like the seeds have cracked open but i can't see the taproot, should i wait before planting?

EDIT: they have def. cracked i see a white outline on the seeds, pretty cool. So after this possibly tomorrow sometime they should develop a short tail and then I'll put them in soil and under veg light?

I'm using soil from my local garden center pre-mixed with hydroton, i also added a bit more i guess the soil has about 20-30% hydroton now. Hydroton or Light Expanded Clay Aggregate is popular and produced here and is used for everything from building houses to gardening, and will do about the same job as perlite i recon, it also buffers the PH up a slight bit so it's good for somewhat acidic water/nute mix i think, we'll see how well it goes. The balls are a little large though.. i tried to crush them a bit but it didn't work out too well.

 

[eclurker]

Once they crack you can plant them. You are on your way. Keep us posted with pics and info. You will eventually hit "snags" but thats why you are here we are all here to help! Keep it growin'!

 

[SuperHemp]

Thanks eclurker, i put them in soil and gave them a little water, crossing fingers.

 

[eclurker]

Got my fingers crossed for you too! What nutes are you planning to use?

 

[SuperHemp]

Thanks eclurker, I am going to use Bio-Bizz nutrients, i just picked up a bottle of grow and a bottle of bloom from the post office, these are supposedly all I'll need but some people have had cal / mag deficiencies with these but i doubt it is a problem here since my water is bordering on hard, at times the initial splash from the tap is milk-white opaque even. If i get a cal/mag problem I'll just pick up some epsom salts from the pharmacy or maybe add some dolomite lime depending on the pH, I'll have to see.

The seeds are in the soil, can't wait till they sprout.. how long does this usually take? I am not supposed to have veg lights on now right? And I've given them a light splash of water but is it beneficial to have the soil very moist initially, or is this counterproductive for rooting? The soil I'm using was pretty dry from the pack - not sand dry though but far from moist. Also, should i add any nutrients (i guess not?)

 

[eclurker]

In my experience warm and wet is the way to go until they sprout. I current pop seeds in rockwool plugs in a humidity dome with a heat mat and the lights are on 18/6 because this is also my clone room. I havent noticed any problems with the light being on at all. I believe as long as the seeds and new roots arent receiving any light, meaning sufficiently buried, everything will be fine. Most seeds take a week or less if conditions are right. I have had them come up in about 2 to 3 days, but sometimes over a week. Just be patient. Do you have a ph meter, if not I would suggest getting some form of messuring ph. When I began "serious" indoor gardening, I attempted a grow without a ph meter and "seriously" ruined a very nice cut of which I no longer can get lol.

 

[SuperHemp]

I have a pH meter coming in the mail, just a cheap type but it'll give me an indication on how things are going i guess. Thanks for the tips, I just need to wait a while then.. i gave them water till runoff and put them under 18/6. I'm worried i might have been too rough on the cracked seeds but time will show..

I'd add to your reputation if i could but i don't have enough posts.. I'll get there eventually

Here's some new pics




Ghetto carbon filter.. sorry for the wiring mess i need to clean it up soon




Seeds in soil.. under flower light because i managed to break both of my veg bulbs I have new ones coming but it seems to take a while..

 

[zlock]

Good luck man! I'll be keeping an eye on this thread! I'm also a first time grower, right now I'm working in a PC case but I'm building a bigger (but still micro) grow box this afternoon.
Is your carbon filter just one of those "universal replacement" carbon filter sheets wrapped around a mesh cylinder or something? Looks very similar to what I'm using right now. Works good, though I learned the box has to be air tight for it to work

 

[SuperHemp]

Good luck man! I'll be keeping an eye on this thread! I'm also a first time grower, right now I'm working in a PC case but I'm building a bigger (but still micro) grow box this afternoon.
Is your carbon filter just one of those "universal replacement" carbon filter sheets wrapped around a mesh cylinder or something? Looks very similar to what I'm using right now. Works good, though I learned the box has to be air tight for it to work

Nope it's one of those round carbon odor filters from a kitchen hood ventilator. It doesn't fit on the fan so I used the plastic container.. Basically the filter fits perfectly on top of the container so i sawed a smaller hole in the bottom of the container for the fan, so the container acts as a funnel. Cost me about nothing and works like a charm.

 

[eclurker]

Lol dont worry about the rep, im just glad to help you. I like your ingenuity on the carbon filter! I expect good things to come for you soon. Do you only have two seeds in your cab, I only ask because I only see two in your picture?

 

[SuperHemp]

Lol dont worry about the rep, im just glad to help you. I like your ingenuity on the carbon filter! I expect good things to come for you soon. Do you only have two seeds in your cab, I only ask because I only see two in your picture?

Yes there's only two at the moment.. I don't really care too much if they are males or whatnot (it's not like i need the crop ready anytime soon) i just don't want to grow out four great girls and have to pull two of them, that would suck beyond belief. I think i am going to go SOG in the future but i need a mother plant first..


Also, a small sprout has appeared in one of the pots.. I tried to take a pic but it didn't come out good, can hardly see it even if you know it's there. But the (very small) leaf is green and the stalk is white, so at least one of them lives so far, this is very promising

The top of the soil is very dry though although it's more moist below the surface, how do i know when to water it? I am gonna put some hydroton balls on top of the soil once the other one sprouts too as i heard they help with the drying out problem. Just don't want to bury the sprout in hydroton before it even sees daylight..


EDIT: Update, they're both up from the soil, yay. Put hydroton on top of the soil and watered through with a very dilluted nute mix, 1 drop or so to 8oz water. One of the pots was very dry pretty much all the way through the other one wasn't too bad though, hope I'm not overwatering. Also moved the light quite a bit closer, tomorrow I'll put a table fan in there too to encourage stronger stems

 

[SuperHemp]

Alright it seems things are going very well so far! They have grown two inches (i.e. 4 times the size) or so in the last 16 hours, temps with the light on seems stable at about 77 degrees or so. One of them has opened up and developed some small and neat leaves while the other one still looks like a closed ball of leaves. Height is about the same on both, the one with the closed ball of leaves is a few hairs taller.

The hydroton balls on top of the soil seems to help with keeping the topsoil moist as it's still pretty moist and nice as opposed to yesterday when it was sand dry after only a day since watering. The hydroton balls have dried out though but it doesn't matter.

I put in a table fan on the lowest speed setting to strenghten the stems a bit and improve internal circulation i.e. cool the bulb a bit, the stems are vibrating a little but not bending, i think it'll be just perfect. I'll think i'll hook it up with the light timer though so it only runs when the lights run in order to not temperature shock the babies too much, room temp is around 68 though so it might not be a problem but i prefer not to bother them while they sleep.. they are my babies you know, gotta look out for them.

 

[johnathanvpr]

damn superhemp, looks like you did a little homework before you started this mission. Im a newbe at this great hobbie as well, just finished my first outdoor grow. everything looks good so far man, love the scrubber. I am pulling up a chair on this, i love micro grows man... hope you get your mom out of this......

 

[SuperHemp]

Thanks johnathanvpr.

The plants both look healthy, the stems has grown some but not much though. There was some sort of brown wrapping around one of them causing it to not open up and show the leaves, it looked like dried soil, i gently picked it off and it looks good now, a little rough maybe. I'll shoot some pics of the babies later, the cam ran out of juice so I put it in the charger.

 

[SuperHemp]

Some pics.. they look okay right? Maybe they need some support..

This here is the second one up from the soil..






This is the first one up, and the one that had the leaves packed in a ball..

 

[SuperHemp]

Hmm they've barely changed today.. grew a little taller maybe, but that's it. Gave them some plain water.. no nutes. Hope i get the veg bulbs soon.. saturday if I'm lucky.