Dooby's First Grow - CannaSutra + UFO + Mekong Haze

I'm tired of going through bullshit just to get a bag! So, I'm putting my paranoid fears aside and growing my own shat. I've done a few months of research and I'm only half sure on what I'm actually doing. But, we all have to start somewhere. So, here goes nothing!

Ordered some seeds. Should be here today! I can't wait! Delta 9 CannaSutra + UFO #1/#3 + Mekong Haze. Man that place has some sweet seeds, and really had to resist ordering the higher end seeds because I know I'm going to fuck up my first batch.

Environment
2x3x5 Grow Tent

Lights
Headed out today to get some 6500k CFL's for the start
Only half sure on getting a 400 watt hps in a few weeks for flower?

Ventilation
I know what I need, but I don't know how to set it up for what I have. I've seen a million different configurations. I've posted a shot of my tent with my hand in it, only to show that there is a window less than 2 feet away so I'm open to advice on how to get this part setup.

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated! As for long term I really want to start doing dro because it's just a cleaner high to me. But, I'm starting soil based first based on you guys' recommendations in the past.

Aww yeah! Look who just arrived!! OK so now to germinate these bitches. I've seen quite a few methods on here, but open to advice!

O.K so I just got back from home depot and man they don't have shit for CFL lights. Ended up with:

(2) 42 watt CFL's
(12) 23 watt CFL's
(3) 8.5" clamp hoods
(1) 10" clamp hoods

What I'm thinking was to get those Y sockets, and have (4) 23 watt CFL's under a 10" clamp hood. I'll grab two more of the larger hoods, ending up with (12) 23 watt CFL's. The hood clamps are 150 watt max so (4) 23watt CFL's is perfect. Then, the two 42 watt CFL's for accent lighting and wherever needs more light.

BUT

I don't think that's enough light. The 23 watt CFL's only produce 1600 lumens each. 12 bulbs is 19,200 lumens. The (2) 42 watt CFL's at 5600 lumens total for two. This makes a grand total of 24,800 lumens. I have a 30 sq foot are to grow in (2x3x5). I've read that the ideal lumens per sq ft is 7-10,000. Which means I ideally need 300,000 total lumens?

So back to the CFL's.
1. Are the 23 watt ones too small?
2. Can I safely use (4) 42 watt CFL's instead of the (4) 23 watt CFL's here? This is on a 150 watt max hood clamp thingamagig.

Started germinating the seeds today. Damp paper-towels in a ziplock, stuck between two bowls in a dark place.

I've also looked all over the place for 6500k bulbs to no avail. Nothing at Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, or Target. I had to drive to speciality store to find 42 watt/150 watt 5000k cfl bulbs. The guy was telling me that some manufacturers will put 6500k on the packaging, even though it's 5000k. Then he asked what I was using the light for. Ummm...fucking light? Douche.

Ended up with (3) 42watt 5000k CFL's to hang over three plants once hatched. I still need more 5000k bulbs so ordering offline may be best at this point?

On another note; testing the temps of the tent today and it's about 81 degrees. Little warm? That's with nothing in the tent.

One of the seeds sprouted today! 36 hours after starting them. The Acid Feminized is the girl who showed first.

1. Should I wait for the others to sprout, or go ahead and plant the one that sprouted?

Planted the Acid strain today after getting advice on whether or not to wait for the others to show signs of life.

Here's a pic of the setup. I want to keep things as simple as possible, adding lights as we go.

So it starts!

Im interested in seeing how the Mekong Haze works out. I bought a pack (packaged like your cannasutra), but of the 3 seeds i have tried so far, none have germed.
Its a landrace Cambodian sativa, so I dont know how well they will do under CFL's, I think I have read that they can take up to like 18 weeks or something ridiculous to flower.

I was planning on just throwing one (If I can get it to sprout) in the corner of my flower room and see if anything good comes from it.

Bummer man! Did you try the old-fashioned paper towel in a bag? Sucky to hear man. How long has it been.

Ironically enough the Mekong Haze is the last seed that hasn't germed yet. Just got home and saw that, within the last 8 hours the Cannasutra sprouted so I have that in soil now. On the Mekong I can see a small hole at the tip of the seed, which is where (at least I assume) I'm hoping to see some life tomorrow morning.

The seedling parts of this really makes me nervous. I read to keep the new starters like 2-3 inches from the CFL, but I just can't do that. Maybe because I'm using 42 watt CFL's and not 23watt CFL's, but when I checked this AM the things were completely dry. I mean, really dry. I stuck my finger down and it was moist about an inch down, so I'm hoping I didn't fuck anything up.

I gave them some water today, and increased the height of the light from the cup so hopefully it won't suck the water dry. Temps in the tent overnight were at 81 degrees.

The Mekong Haze still hasn't shown any tap roots yet. 60 hours since I started them.

I'd love some advice on this one if anyone wouldn't mind! I just want to make sure I'm good using 42watt CFL's w/reflectors 4 inches from freshly planted seedlings.

You should be fine. Cfls do produce some heat. I always keep my 26w cfls about 3" away when they are seedlings. Mostly they will stay around the 2" to 3" range the whole grow.

Everything looks great. Your going to have fun with those cfls. They work great. I was running 11 or 12 cfls when i first started. I ended up switching to hps and cfls.

Thanks for the response! So even with using 42watt CFL's I should be good that close?

DoobyBrewster said:

Thanks for the response! So even with using 42watt CFL's I should be good that close?

Click to expand...

Yea, as long as you have good air circulation. With a 42w and those hoods you have, 4" or 5" would be fine. When the plants get older you might want to move the bulbs closer to the buds. Around 3" to 4" would be good. With those hoods you dont have to have them 1" or 2" away. If you have good air circulation the closer the bulbs are the better on the other hand.

Great info! That about clears up the concerns with the lighting. Much thanks!

First signs of life from the CannaSutra. I'm starting to worry about cab temps. It's a struggle to keep it below 84 even with half the thing open. I'd like to close the tent up, but even with a good fan on high the temp gets up to 86. Am I right in thinking I want to keep it below 80?

Today I moved the entire setup into the closet. Because it's an interior room, it's indeed a few degrees cooler. The setup was previously on an exterior wall, and our temps are still in the 90's.

After the move, with the cab buttoned up, with 1 fan, temps quickly hit 88 degrees. At least with it in the close, I can leave the cab open. 84 degrees and can't get it below that. Short of adding a portable AC unit, or turning to an inline fan/filter combo I'm out of ideas.

This weekend a front moves through and highs during the day will be in the low 70's, and I'm hoping that between the move to the closet, and the cool front, I'll finally have temps below 84.

If not it seems I'll have no choice but to spend the money for the inline fan and filter.

The Mekong Haze I started germing 7 days ago still shows no sign of sprouting.

Little more growth from the CannaSutra, the strongest out of all the seeds I germed. The Acid that sprouted has either seemed to stop growing, or is being really really slow to break the soil.

I got some new supplies in today; some y splitters and (4) 6500k 42/200 watt CFL's. Hoping the babies like the 6500k they so deserve! I also am trying to germ two more Mekong Haze. It's day 7 and the first still hasn't shown a tap root yet.

Cab temps are now right at 84, with a cool front coming in this evening that should put it into the 70's.

The Acid (UFO) has apparently died in the soil. Bummed out. No idea why. The other Mekong Haze that I have tried germinating, no luck there either; going on 9 days now. I'll give it a full 14 days but the canna sutra sprouted in 3-4 days. The other 2 Mekong Haze are not showing anything either.

So at this point I'm 1 for 3, but all three were different strains (and were freebies to boot).

At this point I'm thinking I may just germ 2 more canna seeds, as they seem to be the best out of the bunch. I want to end up maintaining 2-3 plants max. All for personal and family use (parents, brother, we're all tokers).

Question
1. At this point should I add another light? So far she's sitting under (1) 42watt cfl. *edit* I've also noticed the newer leaves coming in are a bit purple. This staring does have purple leaves, but is that really showing on something so young or is there a problem I'm not seeing?

-DB

P.S - I'm personally a dro toker, but starting soil based on reccs here. I've decided get the parts for a DIY dwc and see how that goes right along side the soil. I have the space in the cab for it, and might as well take a test run at it and see how I fare. It'll be the side project.

Not really much to update. The second set of leaves are about twice the size as they were yesterday. The plant hasn't grown in height because my CFL is literally 1 inch away. Kinda boring at this stage.

In other news I read another thread yesterday on some Mekong Haze from Delta 9 and I am not the only one having issues with getting those seeds to pop. In fact, across the board I haven't actually seen a successful germination of that strain from reading on forums. So I pretty much ended up with (1) cannasutra. That's pretty damn lame to me, so I made another seed order. Before ordering I did some research to track down the easiest to grow strain. It was NL across the board. So I got NL from G13 labs + bubba kush and pineapple express as freebies. I'm pretty stoked on these! Planning to put the NL in the DWC and shelf the bubba kush and pineapple express for the second grow. Planning ahead baby!

Now back to your regularly scheduled toke....