Ikea CFL Wardrobe Grow - Apollo 11

[ThisBuds4You]

Here's my lil Ikea cab w/CFLs. This is my first grow in a cab with CFLs, I use to have 1200 watts in flowering. CFLs seem to be doing a pretty good job, I underestimated these little things! It's a challenge keeping these cabs cool, however. This is Joey Weed Apollo 11 at Day 20 of 12/12, starting to show a little frost, lets hope I get some shiners!!! Should I trim the leaves back a bit or leave them? I think I'm a little too late and I should leave them, I guess I'll do a better job of trimming next time. I was a little nervous since this is a new grow environment, new strain, etc. I really don't want to mess it up, but I know I shouldn't expect a big yield out of the first batch. I'm getting ready to construct a second wardrobe, this one will use a 250 watt HPS and will flower LUI. I hope to have pics of this cab up at the end of the week.



Cab Outside


Cab Inside


Cab Top Shelf


Cab Bottom Shelf


Apollo 11 Top


Apollo 11 Bud


Cab Mom & Clone/Seedling Area
I've got some Apollo 11 clones cooking and 3 LUI seedlings on their way...

 

[tejashidrow]

NICE cab... How much cfl watts you pushing???

 

[ThisBuds4You]

Thanks Tejashidrow,

232 watts in the top chamber, 216 watts in the bottom. Seems to keep my temps a lil cooler having less wattage in the bottom than in the top.

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TB4U

 

[pezoholic]

I love Ikea cabs....made very well!

 

[icough2getoff]

hey TB4U that's a sweet cab! I like how you're using both chambers to flower, basically doubling your canopy area in one cab. Looks really good

 

[Pittsburgh Kush]

Love Ikea cabs, have you thought about adding a few more plants in the flowering cabs, seems like you have enough room in there for a few more plants, almost like a mini sog.

 

[ThisBuds4You]

Thanks guys!

Pittsburgh, I should be able to fit 1 more plant on each shelf. I started 4 seeds, 2 were male. I think the best way to do it would be to make a SCROG in these chambers. I tried LST for the first time (I use to do only SOG), and I think it worked out OK for my first time. I can def see where I made mistakes (one or 2 branches are much taller than all the others). My second run will hopefully be a little more dialed in.
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TB4U

 

[facelift]

Love the cabinet and the plants.

 

[ThisBuds4You]

Another Bud Shot

Another Bud Shot

Here's another bud shot, Apollo 11 at 21 days.

 

[repuk]

hey great setup ThisBuds4You!!

I happen to also run an Ikea grow

My cab is smaller, I intend to flower in a flowering tent with a 600W HPS.

I didn't use CFLs, because though more convenient they're more expensive in the long run, and bring more heat... with seperate ballast and fluoros you can put the ballasts outside if heat is a concern...

I'd say with CFLs SCROG would be a better choice, as CFLs had limited penetration, that way you optimize the canopy/buds exposure.

Wish you huge tasty nugs!! those Apollo girls look very nice!

 

[ThisBuds4You]

True that...

True that...

hey great setup ThisBuds4You!!

I happen to also run an Ikea grow

My cab is smaller, I intend to flower in a flowering tent with a 600W HPS.

I didn't use CFLs, because though more convenient they're more expensive in the long run, and bring more heat... with seperate ballast and fluoros you can put the ballasts outside if heat is a concern...

I'd say with CFLs SCROG would be a better choice, as CFLs had limited penetration, that way you optimize the canopy/buds exposure.

Wish you huge tasty nugs!! those Apollo girls look very nice!

You're right about the expense, the CFLs are more than buying a 250 watt HPS. I like the convenience of CFLs though, I picked them up at Home Depot & Wal-Mart I am def going to try a SCROG with the next round, I can see how that will benefit using CFLs. Stay tuned for the addt'l box with the 250 watt cool tube!

 

[Puffster]

beautiful buds forming and a very smart way of utilizing your space and light in the best possible way, I sure as hell got some inspiration for my own upcoming project from your pics\descriptions

safe growing and safe smoking and much luck with the rest of your grow!

oh and feel free to drop in and critizise my ever evolving plans for my own cfl cab in the micro section....got most of it lined up but could always do with some advice from one that has actually accomplished it himself

 

[nuggetshiner]

Nice work TB4U. Very stylish cab, I like it! I sure don't see why someone can't build a
small cool tube for flourescents. Seems like there would be a market for that type of
thing. Or maybe a light track, 3/4 glass with a solid back with sockets and ready for
venting on both ends. When I grow weary of my medium sized garden I might go
Ikea. Just dreaming ahead.

The A11's look great. The pistils in the close-up look fat like my 2 that are going the
longest but thats a good thing because those smell way better and prob double the
yield. I'm also interested in the LUI. That's on the list in my head of genetics I would
like to try. It's a long list in a very small brain. lol. Prob a lot less height issues with
the lui.
Beautiful grow, take care, NS.

 

[leaddraft]

Thats one SWEET Looking Cab.....

The "Cadillac" of Grow Cabs for sure...
Awsome plants guy...

 

[repuk]

You're right about the expense, the CFLs are more than buying a 250 watt HPS. I like the convenience of CFLs though, I picked them up at Home Depot & Wal-Mart I am def going to try a SCROG with the next round, I can see how that will benefit using CFLs. Stay tuned for the addt'l box with the 250 watt cool tube!

A 250W HPS will be too much heat for that volume, I think...

I meant against regular fluoros with seperate ballasts (CFLs have integrated ballasts, crack open a dead one and you'll see).

also you could use them along the "ceiling" to create a more even light coverage.

See my DIY fixture, is built with an aluminum sheet with "mirror polish" finish, using linear fluoros like T5's or PLL you could cover the entire canopy and also adjust the fixture height. If heat is a concern you can put the ballasts outside the cab, I'd say half the heat is generated by them, the other by the fluoros.

keep it up!

 

[ThisBuds4You]

Thank you very much for the props guys. ICMag is a great community, all the answers are here! Running this lil cab is almost as labor intensive as running tables! It's all good tho, I enjoy it very much

A 250W HPS will be too much heat for that volume, I think...

I meant against regular fluoros with seperate ballasts (CFLs have integrated ballasts, crack open a dead one and you'll see).

also you could use them along the "ceiling" to create a more even light coverage.

See my DIY fixture, is built with an aluminum sheet with "mirror polish" finish, using linear fluoros like T5's or PLL you could cover the entire canopy and also adjust the fixture height. If heat is a concern you can put the ballasts outside the cab, I'd say half the heat is generated by them, the other by the fluoros.

keep it up!

Not sure if I follow what you're saying...I'm doing 250W in a separate cab. I'm doing the DIY cool tube (pyrex). I just got done wiring up the ballast (HTG is the shit) and I hope to have pics up by Saturday. I need to get pics up of my LUI and A11 clones. I took 6 A11 clones 2 weeks ago, they rooted in 12 days. I used a wick system with perlite & vermiculite, it was super easy. I used to use the tray, dome, water and airstone method. That works great, clones usually root in 7-10 days. But it's messy, labor intensive and just too damn big. Wick systems are much better for less than 15-20 clones IMO. I started 4 LUI seeds 14 days ago also. 3 popped and are now on their 4th leaf set. I started 3 more LUI seeds 3 days ago and I'm going to transfer them to coco plugs today, I will get pics up of that also.
--
TB4U

 

[TBug]

High buds! Awsome cab and love the stealth! Every home should have one...lol. That Apollo is looking mighty fine as well. Aways had my eye on that one...
Great work bro!
Peace and keep the updates commin, bugout

 

[ThisBuds4You]

BUDS!!!

BUDS!!!

Thanks TBug!!!

OK, Day 23 of flowering and I couldn't be more pleased This is by far exceeding my expectations for CFLs! There are bud sites ALL OVER! Most of the top colas are about the size of a bic lighter (the medium/standard lighter) I'll try and get a pic with something for reference in the next couple of days

I think I forgot to mention that I'm using CO2 (Pet Solutions, it was less than $30) and these are grown using the "Hempy" bucket. FloraNova Grow & Bloom, FoxFarm Tri-Pack, Diamond Nectar, Sweet and an occasional dose of Cal-Mag. I've also started to apply Purple Maxx once a week as a foliar application (I've only done one application so far). Anyway, they look better than they did 2 days ago!

Plant on top shelf - Inside the BUSH


Close-up Inside the BUSH (All these buds are roughly the size of a quarter)


Buds all down the damn thang!


Close-up bud shot


Another Close-up


CO2!!! This shit was cheap! I recommend it!


Veg Kids - Apollo 11 Clones & LUI on their way!



I'll post another update (along with the new cab) in 1 week, till then...

 

[SevenSeeds]

nice Apollo 11 man, im from toronto i got apollo 11 too!! got it from a friend in the city who ordered it, did you run anything before this?

 

[ThisBuds4You]

SevenSeeds - Toronto is a very nice city. I had the privilege of visiting there for Canada Day a few years ago and kickin it at the Kindred Cafe. Toronto is off the hook!!! I heard Kindred Cafe got raided like 2 days ago, that's a damn shame

Anyway, before this I had a different setup and ran Dutch Passion Purple #1, Strawberry Cough, MasterKush and Flying Dutchman's ThaiTanic. I've also run a few HGS (High-Grade Seeds) strains; Electric Fruit Punch, Blueberry, White Russian, Hash Plant, Black Queen, and a few others (I can't remember the names). I ran HGS strains for a while, but had to quit because the genetics were too unstable (I kept having hermie problems, even running clones!!!) Anyway, thanks for stopping by bro! Here's DP Purple #1, this was all organic grown in soil under 2-600 Watt lights




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TB4U