70 Gallon Tub(s) Mostly CFL 1st Newbie Grow

Ok so here goes my first grow! I got most of the supplies at walmart. (disclamer i think walmart is evil and i feel dirty shopping there- if you have a locally owned place available and can afford it, you should always support people & not corporations)

Two 35 gallon plastic tubs -
Plan on just placing one on top of the other w/ weather stripping in between to seal.


Lights.....
Two energy smart 26=100 watt daylight 6500k lights (cool natural light)(1600 lumens).

Four 26=100 1700 lumen "great value bulbs". (are these automatically the best because of the highest lumens?)

two 26=100 1650 ge energy smart bulbs "smaller size"

"grow light" 17=75 watt 24 inch florescent

Electrical -

Two -general purpose multiple outlet power strip w/ 15 amp circuit breaker

Five (wanted more but they didn't have more) - polarized socket adapter (plug to lamp socket)


I also have basic supplies like duct tape silicone, activated carbon(for scrubber) white paint (for inside of tubes.... i may get some black paint to cover first? tons of light gets through now.

Have a handful of bag-seed mostly of the same decent strain that i know no details of - also hoping on finding some seed in this "dumptruck" i just picked up - but as a first grow I'm not worrying too much about seeds, just using what i have until I figure out what I'm doing.

Umm a bit about myself - I'm a medicinal user, as wall as a recreational smoker. So this will be for my personal consumption... almost an experement as too what I will behave like when i have an abundant amount of buds to smoke

Any questions are more than welcome, I feel pretty ignorant about this, but have been researching the forums, and reading this grow book (cant recall the exact name nor author right now). So I'll try the best I can to answer, even if I don't know!

Constructive criticism/different perspectives welcomed always!!

My usb cord for my cam is misplaced, so pictures will be coming at a later date.



So my first question is - which of those lights are going to be best - is there a current combination that will be better? or different bulbs better at different times? I'm totally confused about light spectrums, so i just grabbed some bulbs that had lots of lumens.
Below is a rough illustration of how i'm thinking the lights will be placed (until i get more plug to lamp converters at least).
X's= CFL bulbs, in between is the flourcent.
Plan lowering it via chains connected to the top of the tub.


Ok that's about it for now - thanks for looking & happy growing!!!! (now a bong hit for a reward for posting this)

-PirateSmoker

More Info -

I will be growing in soil that i still need to pick up this week (time for some beans to germinate). I want to go as organic as possible there's a grow shop nearby that sounds promising - so soil vermiculite, perlite - & possible nutes there?

As for pots i think i may try to just makes some from plastic milk jugs and such to save money & reuse waste!!

Also i don't really know how many I'm gonna grow - i was thinking of trying to germinate 15 and see how many come from that, and just let the strong ones grow and maybe take out the lesser sisters if the others need more space or light.

-PirateSmoker

Hopefully the grow goes better than the picture taking has. A few random shots - Still a work in progress. Last night i started to paint the insides of the tubs white for light reflectivity. Long story short. the paint was not good for the application, and tinfoil was ultimately used to line the tubs to prevent light escaping and to maximize light refletction.

DONT USE TIN FOIL!!! DONT USE TIN FOIL!!

Go to walmart and get some reflector material they different things you can use..other then that you look good to start..i did'nt notice a fan for exaust or any air intake sights..

stinkbudd1 said:

DONT USE TIN FOIL!!! DONT USE TIN FOIL!!

Go to walmart and get some reflector material they different things you can use..other then that you look good to start..i did'nt notice a fan for exaust or any air intake sights..

Click to expand...

Don't use tinfoil because of efficiency issues or because of fire risk??

I have some small intake and exhaust openings and a cheap fan .... it's barley getting me by, i need to work on it further.

thanks for your input!

piratesmoker said:

Don't use tinfoil because of efficiency issues or because of fire risk??

I have some small intake and exhaust openings and a cheap fan .... it's barley getting me by, i need to work on it further.

thanks for your input!

Click to expand...

for all those reasons lol as for the exaust be aware my grow space is 2x3x4 and i have 60cfm exaust fan and 2x 2" in passive intake holes and when i seal my box it gets warm..so take your time and get it right..ppp

I would also cover those rubbermades in either a tarp on the outside or mylar the inside or light will be getting through in your off cycle... also tinfoil is an insulator like no other, it has low reflection and is only trouble. Mylar is 95% reflective, there is also Visqueen plastic which is also a great reflector, around 90+% reflectivity.

Shrubs First said:

I would also cover those rubbermades in either a tarp on the outside or mylar the inside or light will be getting through in your off cycle... also tinfoil is an insulator like no other, it has low reflection and is only trouble. Mylar is 95% reflective, there is also Visqueen plastic which is also a great reflector, around 90+% reflectivity.

Click to expand...

hey thanks shrubs for the assist found myself talking and not offering solutions way to back it up..peace pot prosperity..you guys check out my grow in sig...

first sprout popped up 11/19/09 <3

i have four or five seeds in that tiny pot of reused soil - Im excited that anything happened at all.

thanks for the advice guys! I'm gonna try really hard to get my lazy stoned ass over to the plant shop, home depot/wal-mart and get some more supplies tomorrow!

Well i set up a larger air intake with a pringles can-like container - threw some nylons over it for a crude filter. Putting my hand over it i can feel it sucking in the cool air very well..... once i get some scrapped pc fans and get them installed i think it will be much more effective. - As far as the exhaust its just a large rectangular hole on towards the top of the box - needs a pc fan ASAP.


Also another sprout today! so exciting - these babies need proper soil soon, i feel like im neglecting them!

Again, thanks for checking out my grow & for the feedback - it really helps keep me motivated to not do this too half-assed and to keep updating the progress!

Loving-Kindness -PirateSmoker

take care of your girls and they will take care of you..good luck buddy ill be watching...peace pot prosperity.

piratesmoker said:

thanks for the advice guys! I'm gonna try really hard to get my lazy stoned ass over to the plant shop, home depot/wal-mart and get some more supplies tomorrow!

Well i set up a larger air intake with a pringles can-like container - threw some nylons over it for a crude filter. Putting my hand over it i can feel it sucking in the cool air very well..... once i get some scrapped pc fans and get them installed i think it will be much more effective. - As far as the exhaust its just a large rectangular hole on towards the top of the box - needs a pc fan ASAP.


Also another sprout today! so exciting - these babies need proper soil soon, i feel like im neglecting them!

Again, thanks for checking out my grow & for the feedback - it really helps keep me motivated to not do this too half-assed and to keep updating the progress!

Loving-Kindness -PirateSmoker

Click to expand...

Do not over nurture, nature does it's thing, you just need to let them live and they will communicate when they need environmental changes.

There's not much you can really do right now for them. Just get ready for what you will need.

1 6inch clip on airking fan for air movement inside that thing

1 pc fan for intake on the side near the bottom

1 pc fan for outtake near the top of the box

Nutrients, I would do a simple all purpose nutrient line for your first time, if you want to get realllly easy, Humboldt has a One part nutrient line which you can see here.
http://humboldtnutrients.com/schedules/One-9-Soil.pdf

Humboldt is a very clean company, making only the most premium amino chelated nutes, I highly recommend anything by them, check my Journal

Other than that, just keep temps and humidity in check, the intake out takes should take care of that...

Well this weekend I made some stops - got some fertilizer - Got some soil - wasn't able to locate Mylar nor proper fans yet - this is now my highest priority - My cab is running about 85 degrees currently with minimal lights on.

I transplanted my first to sprouts to their own containers with fresh soil.

I found three or so more seeds that had germinated in the soil so those are also in there own pots w/ fresh soil.

The additional seeds i had germinating appeared to not have enough moisture so i solved that problem, and also added more seeds to germinate.

My state law, states that i can grow up to 25 plants for personal/medicinal use - so i think I will try to take advantage of that by sprouting as many as i can, then just keeping the strongest plants when space/lighting becomes an issue.

I have a few new pics to post but couldnt get them to upload last night - so I will try to upload those again soon.

Another update is that I'm currently only using one of the tubs - since im using fairly weak flourecest/cfl bulbs i think it should work out fine as far as growth room - then I was thinking of using the other tub I have as a budding room..... but thats a bit far away and it seems I'm most motivated while under time constraints.... moral of the story is I'm procrastinating on that for a bit longer.

I picked up two bottles of organic nutes... one is fish something or another.. the bottle fell out of the car and cracked, and wow does that stuff STINK! - I don't have the bottle w/ me currently so I cant get the details right now - but I'm assuming this is the nutes i want to use now while they are sprouting/growing? The other bottle I picked up was for budding - so I assume that's for flowering stage......

Once again, thanks again to everyone who's taking a look at my grow and offering up advice! My plants and I thank you kindly!

Loving-Kindness, PirateSmoker

you more than likely have some 5-1-1 alaska fish emulsion which is what i have for veg.not bad stuff so far i also have the alaska more bloom 0-10-10 for flowering so you are ok for now..i added fox farms big bloom for later in flowering..

temps are a problem, every degree over 76 you can expect 10% reduction in plant productivity, so you may be only growing with 10% productivity at 85 degrees.. at 86 degrees the stomata close and don't take in CO2 or transpire moisture to and from the air..... therefore photosynthesis and natural growth halt.

Shrubs First said:

temps are a problem, every degree over 76 you can expect 10% reduction in plant productivity, so you may be only growing with 10% productivity at 85 degrees.. at 86 degrees the stomata close and don't take in CO2 or transpire moisture to and from the air..... therefore photosynthesis and natural growth halt.

Click to expand...

You have great in depth answers! thanks again for looking out for the welfare of my babies! I think I'll turn off the CFL until i get my ventilation going proper.

stinkbudd1 said:

you more than likely have some 5-1-1 alaska fish emulsion which is what i have for veg.not bad stuff so far i also have the alaska more bloom 0-10-10 for flowering so you are ok for now..i added fox farms big bloom for later in flowering..

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that's exactly what i got... without being able to look at the bottle... how did you know??? lol.

anyway - so just follow the directions off the bottle and apply? Also lowering the light output for a bit as you can read above... should i wait until more light so it can utilize the nutes? or add some now?

Thanks!

Adding nutrients depends on your growing medium. If you were growing in a hydroponic setup which
absolutely relied on you to give them nutes with water applications I would tell you to add them.
Although You are in soil, correct? What soil are you using? Is it strong with nutrients? In soil
the key is to inoculate it with beneficial micro organisms such as mycorrhizae and trichoderma.
As well as keep the soil clean with a solution such as Hygrozyme... Take a gander around and see
what you learn when reading about those types of products, they take a lot of the stress of finding
nutrients away from your roots, because the organisms do it themselves and your roots just feed off
of the organisms, it is a symbiotic relationship!

Shrubs First said:

Adding nutrients depends on your growing medium. If you were growing in a hydroponic setup which
absolutely relied on you to give them nutes with water applications I would tell you to add them.
Although You are in soil, correct? What soil are you using? Is it strong with nutrients? In soil
the key is to inoculate it with beneficial micro organisms such as mycorrhizae and trichoderma.
As well as keep the soil clean with a solution such as Hygrozyme... Take a gander around and see
what you learn when reading about those types of products, they take a lot of the stress of finding
nutrients away from your roots, because the organisms do it themselves and your roots just feed off
of the organisms, it is a symbiotic relationship!

Click to expand...

I am growing in soil..... I ended up with some miricle grow organic soil - i've heard bad things about mircle grow in the past, but i guess im hoping the organic is better. Just checked the site.... this is what i got http://www.scotts.com/smg/catalog/productTemplate.jsp?proId=prod70318&itemId=cat80014&tabs=general

looks like it already has nutes in it, slow release even... which I have a hunch will not be ideal for my babies!!

Ok, So last night I harvested a fan from a microwave that was thrown across a kitchen when someone was having a schizophrenic psychosis..... fan is powerfull, if a bit loud. I installed it in my grow tub earlier this afternoon, seemed to drop the temp but i'll get a better reading on it tonight.
I also have a few new pics.

Loving-Kindness -PirateSmoker