First Grow! ~2'x4' Closet with LEDs

Closet-Gardenholic

Closet-Gardenholic

Well-Known Member
perkele said:
just wow! looks nice dude! she loves it a lot! look at how strong the 4 mains are growing! this will be a great plant!!
the black wires, are thous just inserted in soil?
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I went ahead and tied the 8 branches down to the outside of the pot instead of into the soil. IMG_1910.JPGLook at this trunk!
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Little ones starting to grow fast. As soon as the new growth starts to branch out from the 3rd node, I'm going to to top them and start manifolding. Can you believe they are only 12 days apart? Mystery planted 12/14 and seedlings 12/26. The combination of the nitrogen deficiency/root bound in solo cup and the light being spread out has definitely slowed them down a bit. Hopefully I can top them within a week.IMG_1912.JPG
A tiny bit overwatered yesterday, but not terrible. Still hoping to flup around Valentine's day, but my little mystery might take up the whole closet if I give it a whole month. Only time will tell!
 
Closet-Gardenholic

Closet-Gardenholic

Well-Known Member
perkele said:
you can start thinking of doing a net on top so you can continue the lst and the final Scrog for an even canopy.
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I went ahead and spread everything out a little more so now the first node on all 8 mains are exposed to the light. We'll see if these tops can compete with the other 8 and fill out the middle!
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The two little girls are loooking healthy as ever. 7th node was starting today and new growth was branching from the 3rd node. Time to mainline. They both did great!
Blue DreamIMG_1956.JPG
Critical Kush
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I bet they explode over the next week or so. I plan on letting each new top grow 3 nodes and then topping one more time and removing the second node. (Nebula's mainline.) it won't be as nice and square, but should still give me 8 nice tops on each baby to work with.

From there I'll probably put the mystery in the middle with each of the smaller ones on either side and a screen about 12-14" above. I'm just waiting to build my COB fixture to rearrange everything. The babies get better light in the middle right now.

I'm sure I'll end up with more mystery bud than anything, but hopefully I can train the other two to take up some space before I flower in a month or so.
 
Closet-Gardenholic

Closet-Gardenholic

Well-Known Member
DankTankerous said:
Looking great man!
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Thanks! I feel like I'm cutting it close transplanting the big one too. More soil will be here Tuesday.

Is it better for the soil to be dry or moist when I pull that big of a plant out of its container? I feel likes it's going to be a pain in the ass going into the 5 gal fabric pots.

I know I'll need about 3-4 inches of soil in the bottom, but should I try to keep some around the sides, or just fill in once I have the plant set in?

Sorry if these are dumb questions lol just don't want to ruin this last months of work with a botched transplant.
 
mauricem00

mauricem00

Well-Known Member
Closet-Gardenholic said:
Hey Friends,

I have been doing weeks and weeks of research on various cultivation techniques, grow products, nutrients, seed banks and anything else you can think of relating to me growing my own bud. I am currently living in a medical state that passed recreational (as long as the recount doesn't change things) in November. I'm ready to start growing my own weed, instead of constantly forking over cash for something that I can't even quality control.

I have decided on a 2x4 closet in my bedroom that I am going to sacrifice as my grow space. Tomorrow, I will be cleaning it thoroughly and getting it set up for the grow. I have purchased 10'x10' of Panda film to cover the entire area. There is no door on the closet, but I have a solution involving blackout curtains, cardboard, a staple gun, and velcro that will keep all light out when I am ready to flower.

For ventilation/fresh air, i have purchased a 4" exhaust fan and plenty of 4" ducting. I plan on exhausting hot air out of the top of the cardboard door with the fan, and ducting the cool air in from an area next to a window. Smell will not be an issue for me, so I have skipped any carbon. Free air freshener!! The closet is in a small bedroom, and I live in a cold state so temperature is very easy to control by opening a window for 10 minutes if things begin to get warm.

For lights, I will be vegging under one Mars Hydro 600, just for a few weeks until my second one arrives. From there, I will continue to veg and eventually flower under both 600s. The true w value on these lights is ~250-300w each, for a total of 500-600. Also the space is actually only about 20" wide which should help with the coverage area of these LEDs during flowering.

For seeds, I have an order that has already shipped from attitude. In the order are:

2x fem BCBD GSC(after reading more about these I'm regretting buying them)
2x fem BF Critical Kush
3x fem Humboldt Blue dream
1x fem bubba kush cbd
1x fem Sapphire OG
1x fem White Widow x AK47 (early)

For this grow, I will only be using 2 of these seeds, most likely one critical kush and the sapphire OG. I also have a mystery bag seed that I have already germinated. I plan on planting this as well and may or may not include it in the grow, especially if it's a male. The taproot is beginning to show so I will get it in a solo cup tomorrow when my soil arrives.

For soil, I ordered FFOF .I've read and read and read about soils and what to use and this is what I'm going with. I'm going to do a quick flush before I plant the germinated seed and do not plan on using any type of additional nutes for the first many weeks of the grow. I will be starting the seedlings in 20 oz solos and transplanting to 1 gal fabric pots around 2-3 weeks with fresh FFOF. This will increase the time I go without additional nutes. Around 5-6 weeks I plan on getting the plants into their 5 gallon fabric pots and under their screen. From there I will continue to train the plant and fill the canopy screen 75% before the flip to 12-12. Late in veg and in flowering I will most likely use fox farm nutes. I wouldn't mind trying advanced nutrients, but their website is full of advertising and annoying to me. Time will tell for nutes...

I will have multiple clip on fans blowing on the plants during the entire grow. I also ordered the ph up down and will make sure to check my ph before every watering. There will be a temp/hygrometer with a probe mounted right outside the closet so I can keep a constant eye on temps and humidity. It is the dead of winter so I'm hoping we won't be worrying about pests.

All of this sounds great, but I am definitely nervous for my first grow and know things are bound to go wrong. Oh well, here's to learning a shit ton on this grow, and many many more successful grows after this one.

I look forward to sharing my progress with you guys and gals and will have some pictures of the grow set up tomorrow. If anyone has any problems with it let me know because I will be putting everything up as soon as my order arrives! I will get a few days before my seeds arrive to monitor conditions and make any tweaks that may be necessary.

Hoping my seeds don't go through Chicago NYC!
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I grow in a 2 ft by 4 ft closet as well. been doing so for a few years and am currently using a 6 bulb F54T5HO fixture with great results. pulled 8 ounces off 3 plants with my last harvest. good luck with your grow. I will be following it
 
Closet-Gardenholic

Closet-Gardenholic

Well-Known Member
mauricem00 said:
I grow in a 2 ft by 4 ft closet as well. been doing so for a few years and am currently using a 6 bulb F54T5HO fixture with great results. pulled 8 ounces off 3 plants with my last harvest. good luck with your grow. I will be following it
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I'll be stoked if I get 8 oz! I don't want to get my hopes up on this first grow because so much can go wrong, but so far so good! 1 month down, maybe 3-4 to go!
 
Closet-Gardenholic

Closet-Gardenholic

Well-Known Member
mauricem00 said:
yes but don't you love having green plants in your closet when there is a foot of snow on the ground outside :):):)
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Maintaining 72-75 and 55% humidity while running only a wood stove for heat LOL

If outdoor temps get in the 40s, I get closer to 80, but even with -20 wind chills, I hold steady at 70. Humidifier runs almost 24/7 to counteract the dryness of the constant fire though.

Curious to see if the COBs run cooler than the Mars Panel. Slightly more wattage, but much better efficiency and heatsinks
 
mauricem00

mauricem00

Well-Known Member
Closet-Gardenholic said:
Thanks! I feel like I'm cutting it close transplanting the big one too. More soil will be here Tuesday.

Is it better for the soil to be dry or moist when I pull that big of a plant out of its container? I feel likes it's going to be a pain in the ass going into the 5 gal fabric pots.

I know I'll need about 3-4 inches of soil in the bottom, but should I try to keep some around the sides, or just fill in once I have the plant set in?

Sorry if these are dumb questions lol just don't want to ruin this last months of work with a botched transplant.
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I like to keep my soil wet when I transplant and try to keep as much soil as I can around the root ball when I transplant. just dig a hole in you 5 gallon fabric pots the same size as your starter pots. cup your hand over the starter pot and try to dump the plant and starter soil into your hand in one large ball. then gently place it in the hole in your large pot and pack soil around it. I then water with MG quick start added to the water and have never seen any signs of transplant shock
 
Closet-Gardenholic

Closet-Gardenholic

Well-Known Member
Alright friends,

I transplanted the mystery into her final home today and staked down the main branches once again. She pushes the stakes out overnight, but it still allows the inside shoots to grow a little taller.
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I also added 2" of coir to the top off the fabric pots to help keep the soil from getting compacted.

Some of the coir went down around the sides of the mystery as well. Should I give extra nutes since the roots are growing directly into the coco on the sides, or will there be enough in the 3 gallons of FFOF in the bottom of the pot?
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The babies are the healthiest they've looked. I love how everything looks in the Coco!IMG_1993.JPG
 
Closet-Gardenholic

Closet-Gardenholic

Well-Known Member
Sorry for the rapid updates guys. Just wanted to throw a pic up of the babies with their 2 new mains staked down.
Blue DreamIMG_2005.JPG
Critical KushIMG_2006.JPG
Hopefully I didn't go too far on the blue Dream! I think I may have cracked one side just a small bit.

She will heal if so. The plan is to top these guys one more time once the main branches have grown out 4 nodes or so. I'll top at the 3rd node on each side and remove the growth and fanleaves from the second node on both sides.

This will give me 4 main colas on each side of both plants and from there I will let everything start growing vertically.

My screen may end up being only 10-12" above the plants at this rate! I may need a second screen for bud support
 
Closet-Gardenholic

Closet-Gardenholic

Well-Known Member
This plant amazes me! I am so proud of my first plant thanks to the help of everyone here at RIU! I can't even imagine how different the results would have been had I not started asking questions here.IMG_2009.JPGMy little bonsai tree! There are a few fan leaves touching the coco from the mains being staked down, but other than that she is beautiful!

And the babies aren't bad either! IMG_2013.JPG
Critical KushIMG_2010.JPG
Blue DreamIMG_2011.JPG
Really struggling to keep everyone the same height only 12 days apart! Hahaha
IMG_2012.JPG
 
Closet-Gardenholic

Closet-Gardenholic

Well-Known Member
perkele said:
they are loving it! beauties! they look nice and healthy
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I am definitely feeling more confident every day! Any problems with my water or soil would have hopefully showed up in the mystery plant by now.

I have plenty of nutes, my lighting is in order, temps and humidity are in check, and everything is in it's final container.

I am at home with these things almost 24/7 during the winter and can baby them by peeking in every 8-12 hours to make sure there are no negative symptoms.

My ONLY concern at this point is pest. If I knew a way to keep it around, I would hatch a preying mantis egg case to hang out and stand guard!
 
perkele

perkele

Well-Known Member
Closet-Gardenholic said:
I am definitely feeling more confident every day! Any problems with my water or soil would have hopefully showed up in the mystery plant by now.

I have plenty of nutes, my lighting is in order, temps and humidity are in check, and everything is in it's final container.

I am at home with these things almost 24/7 during the winter and can baby them by peeking in every 8-12 hours to make sure there are no negative symptoms.

My ONLY concern at this point is pest. If I knew a way to keep it around, I would hatch a preying mantis egg case to hang out and stand guard!
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hehe cool!
but you don't need a mantis...you can use ladybugs, they are the best protectors of cannabis :clap: and if you are into even more kinky stuff...you can throw an earthworm in there for better aeration and fungal control and shit (from the earthworm)
 
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