1st CFL Closet grow (PICS)

So my last attempt at growing failed pretty miserably due to the lack of knowledge I had at the time. I have spent the last two weeks browsing the forum and grow faq and now I'm on my second time around. I plan on vegging them until they are about 10 inches tall. I start my new job pretty soon so I'll be able to upgrade my current setup with more lights and better ventilation. Anyways, my current setup:

4x42w CFL (2 5000k, 2 2700k) and a 23w cfl
6 bagseeds
Foxfarm Ocean crest soil and 25% perlite
Earth Juice grow
Superthrive
2 fans, one intake and one exhaust

My water ph is around 6.3 and the soil ph is around 6.6. Temps have been ranging from 75-82 F and I've been checking the soil using my finger. I've been watering about 1.5 tbsp of water with superthirive and yesterday I added a few drops of earth juice (for a 1000ml container) and in a few days planning on watering with a 1/4 strength mix of earth juice and 1/2 strength superthrive.

The six sprouts range from 3-5 days old. About 4 of them have some small second sets of leaves.

A few questions...First off, does 1.5 tbsp a day sound sufficent or is that too much? By the end of the day it's usually pretty dry. Is using a 1/4 strength of earth juice in a few days ok? It's organic so I figure it won't burn them or damage them. I've also noticed (and killed) a few (about 3 in the last 2 days) small flying bugs that looked a lot like gnats. Not sure though, checked the grow faq and didn't see anything familiar. Thanks a lot I plan on updating this and hopefully you guys can succesfully guide me a little bit with my first grow. Any suggestions so far? Thanks!

Current setup (will upgrade in about 2 weeks)


One of my seedlings (4 days, moved it away from the light to get a better picture)


Another seedling on day 4


Thanks for looking!

perfect.

and yes, it is possible to get burn, even with an organic fert.
i wouldn't worry about the 'gnats'.

lookin Good Dude wish i had the balls to post pictures.never know whos feet u might step on and walla someone says hey look at this shit.im a nam vet little paronoid u might say.how u gonna flower and at what hgt. might need bigger box

Yeah I plan on keeping them in the box until I can't move the lights up any higher (I'm guessing about 2 weeks.) From there I plan on constructing something along the lines of Seemorebud's setup. By the time I'll be flowering I will definitely have more lights (and better ventilation for the added heat). Probably four or six more 40w cfls or 2 good sized envirolites (anyone know where I can find them in the US?) I'm also looking for any suggestions about how much/when I should use some earth juice. I've heard some people start using it pretty early with success. Also, when would be an appropriate time to transplant to bigger pots? I've seen some people keep their plants in the little plastic pots for a while. Thanks!

Also, a couple times this last week its gotten kind of hot where I live and the grow box got up to about 88 F. I usually fix it pretty quick by turning a few lights off for a moment but I was wondering what the best way to cool down your space is? I plan on getting some better fans next week but until then...? I've been using icepacks and frozen water bottles and it helps a little. Is it safe to turn all my lights off for about 10 minutes to cool off without stressing the plant? Thanks

Nice growing man,i dont think turning off your lights is the best solution for cooling your box down but im no pro and its just my 2cents.... for the big envirolites go to www.1000bulbs.com
peace

we have our fans set up the exact same way but my box seems to be a little taller. I also had temp problems but I have worked most of them out. My gauge keeps track of the hottest its gotten and the lowest and at one point it got to 112F but this was during testing of the box. Now it ranges between 73 and 88. I still want to get that 88 lower just like you I'll be looking forward to everyones response.

I also have little flying bugs I do believe they are baby gnats. I just put a little piece of fly strip in my box by the exhaust vent and most of them got caught and died.

Yh looking good dude ...!! Sw33t

lookin good keep it in the low 80's if best higher 70's, will be keepin a eye on this one. good luck.

igrow08420 said:

lookin good keep it in the low 80's if best higher 70's, will be keepin a eye on this one. good luck.

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Thanks guys for all your replies. It was pretty dry this morning when I got home so at about 5am I watered them each 1.5 tbsp mixed with a little bit of superthrive. They are still going good with their second set of leaves coming in. It's about 82 in there right now with the hot temps outside. I'm doing my best to keep my bedroom pretty dark and cool but even with the frozen water bottles and 2 fans (1 intake, 1 exhaust) it still gets up to about 83-84. For about 20 hours of the day though it stays from 75-78 F. I'll update tomorrow with some newer pictures. Thanks!

jdub3916 said:

Thanks guys for all your replies. It was pretty dry this morning when I got home so at about 5am I watered them each 1.5 tbsp mixed with a little bit of superthrive. They are still going good with their second set of leaves coming in. It's about 82 in there right now with the hot temps outside. I'm doing my best to keep my bedroom pretty dark and cool but even with the frozen water bottles and 2 fans (1 intake, 1 exhaust) it still gets up to about 83-84. For about 20 hours of the day though it stays from 75-78 F. I'll update tomorrow with some newer pictures. Thanks!

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It's ok in the lower 80's but if it stays at 75-78 for 20 hours a day your on your way to good lookin plants. Whats your humidity lookin like? I kept mine at 45-50% the entire grow sometimes on really dry days it would dip in the upper 30's.

If its hot you want the humidity lower i say makes it feel sticky at least thats what it feels like to me outside here when its hot and humid, just make them feel comfortable...

DON'T WORRY my two cents, let them do what they do, thats what i did, they will grow and you will watch.

igrow08420 said:

It's ok in the lower 80's but if it stays at 75-78 for 20 hours a day your on your way to good lookin plants. Whats your humidity lookin like? I kept mine at 45-50% the entire grow sometimes on really dry days it would dip in the upper 30's.

If its hot you want the humidity lower i say makes it feel sticky at least thats what it feels like to me outside here when its hot and humid, just make them feel comfortable...

DON'T WORRY my two cents, let them do what they do, thats what i did, they will grow and you will watch.

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Yeah I live in the northwest so it's not too humid. I don't have an actual humidity gauge for growing but I have a wall clock that displays humidity and when I put as close to the box as I can it reads about 56. It's kind of dry here so I am sure the water bottles and ice packs are helping a bit. Any advice on controlling your humidity and keeping it constant throughout the grow? Thanks!

I used a humidifier put it on the night schedule or about 6 hours a day and it usually put enough moisture during veg. during flowering i didn't use a humidifier at all.

i have the ultimate fluorescent bulb website www.1000bulbs.com buy the 400Watt output bulb and stop wasting youre time with cheap fluorescents..or if you wanna be cheap go to walmart and get the 40watt 200 watt output bulbs for 1$ on slae

hey can you help me with the name for thoughs thing that let you have two lights on one lamp thingy.

kryptomaniac said:

hey can you help me with the name for thoughs thing that let you have two lights on one lamp thingy.

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You are looking for a "Y Bulb socket adapter" and you can get this from pretty much any hardware store. Even most stores with a hardware section have them, you just have to look. Hope this helps

If it helps my first set from home depot and then when I needed more I went to Walmart. They were the same price and in the same aisle as the light timers.

thank you both of you, that will help me a lot to find them

Ok so I thought I would update with a few more pictures. I let the soil dry out about 2 inches down over the last day and a half and just watered 1.5 tbsp water with a 1/4 strength of some superthrive mixed in. I also just mixed a 1 gallon jug of some nutes. I don't want to wait two weeks for the soil to flush all the nutes out so I plan on watering with a small mixture of pretty diluted nutes. Probably about 1.5tbsp per plant like the last couple waterings. Here's what I'm using:
Terra Cycle herb food, 1 tbsp (with worm poop, .06 -.02 -.02)
Earth Juice Grow, 1.25 tbsp (2-1-1)
Superthirve, 1/8 tsp.
I also emptied some of it out and added a few more cups of fresh water to dilute it a little more just to be safe. I plan on doing it tomorrow and it will be about day 7. Any suggestions? I know most people suggest keeping it to water for a while but I want to ween them onto a more diluted mix. Pretty much everthing is already pretty mellow so I don't think I run a risk of over feeding them. I also plan on moving the lights up a bit to put the plant directly under them. The lights are kind of low and the sets of leaves are bending a little bit to reach for the light. Each are about 1.5" tall so far. Kind of slow but I guess that's to be expected. How do they look for day 6? Thanks for reading!





Small brown spots on cotyledons...normal?

nice nice give me it ..