The Attic Project; wtf am i doing?

[kathaz]

So.. lets get thing out in the open. Im an effin' no0b and I really dont quite know what im doing when it comes to indoor growing.. at all.

I Have 7 babies in my attic right now, and im not sure what Im doing right and what Im doing wrong. I have 3 brand new babies, about 1.5 weeks old, and 4 month old babies. (pictures included) The tallest baby (#1 I call her.. ) is about 7 inches tall. The shortest month old tops off at around 5 inches.

My grow-room isnt very wide, about 1.5 feet, and about 6 feet long and 6 feet tall at its max. Just enough room to poke my head and arm in through a the cardboard door. The room is made out of cardboard and runs along the trusses of the roof. The room itself is lined black plastic, and foil starts at the floor and makes its way up to the plants. The rest of the room is black or cardboard. There is a tiny fan that runs 24-7 near # 1 & #2. They are doing the best. There are 2 80 watt fluorescent bulbs ('natural sunlight' it was called) that are on 24-7, and are about 8 inches from the plants.

For watering, I use mini aqua globes for the first 3, and hand water the 4th one as well as the new babies. I put about a quarter of a cup on the babies, and a little more than half a cup on the older guys.

I use a humidity/temp guage in there, and I admit, it does get hot.. as high as 90 right now. ( i live in florida and its only getting hotter..) But is sometimes as low as 65. It fluctuates with the weather. The humidity level is usually between 50-70. Today The temp was 72 and the hudity was around 60.

I used an organic fertilizer for tomato plants in only numbers 3 and 4. the numbers were 5-5-4 I believe. I should include that they dont seem to be doing much better than the ones i didnt use it in.

The soil I used was Miracle grow Organic Choice. supposed to be used for outdoor gardens, but i didnt have much of an option besides indoors. So i used it in anyway. They are in 3 gallon pots, and have natural florida sandy dirt mixed in. And a layer of rocks at the bottom for drainage.

For carbon Dioxed, I mixed yeast and sugar in a 2 liter bottle and shook it vigorously over an hour or so. I put a little hole in the cap to slowly release it, its probably time for another though.

So.. Maybe you can see the picture maybe you cant, but hopefully I provided enough detail So that maybe you can picture my makeshift grow room. Any tips, questions, concerns, advice or even criticsm would be appreciated as to how I can improve my situation. Thanks for reading, Flame on!

 

[thizz13]

That co2 setup may need to be improved to be effective

 

[Snott]

get rid of the foil it creates hot spots on the plants if you could paint the area white or something or get mylar that would be a whole alot better

 

[desertrat]

There are 2 80 watt fluorescent bulbs

increasing the amount and proximity of light is the easiest way for you to make the most improvement in your plants. you should have those bulbs within a couple of inches of the plants. you'll need more light as the plants grow.

look at links to good info in my signature line below

 

[kathaz]

My main questions are:

1.) what strain do they look like?? Sativa or Indica?

2.) How do they look for being a month old?

 

[monkeybones]

It looks like those little guys could use a bit of extra air movement to strengthen their stems. I wouldn't throw a huge fan in there at such an early stage.

I used a 120 millimeter computer fan to blow some nice soft breezes at my seedlings when they were only an inch or two tall.

They've all got nice sturdy stems on them, now.

Also, as someone else mentioned, with flourescent lights, getting them as close as possible (most people will tell you that only a few inches away is best for CFLs), will help a lot with stretching, which some of your babies look to be doing.

The closer the light, the less they have to reach for it, and consequently the shorter, thicker, stockier your plants will end up.

Of course, with HID bulbs you'd have to worry about heat and burning the leaves.

But basically with low intensity bulbs like CFLs, just go as close as possible.

Also someone else mentioned the tinfoil - it will create hotspots and especially considering its proximity to your plants, there's a high possibility of burning and spotting.

Mylar is a fairly cheap and omnieffective alternative.

 

[kathaz]

Thank you very much!! I have more question though! What should I do about fetilizer? Is it too early? What does iot look like they need? How do they look for their age? DO they look like sativa or indica or can you even tell yet??