Dopey's cfl closet grow fall 2011

Ok, so i went to the hydro store yesterday and got myself a t5 light. I've been really contemplating those 200W cfls but i dont want to buy one of those big sockets. IMO if i'm gonna spend buy all that i might as well just go HID.But at the same time i cant use hid because i would have heat issues at the moment. Also while i was in there i was talking to the guy and he told me i shouldnt be feeding once a week but rather a little bit every day. Not much just enough to keep the soil moist. He said feed water water feed water water as a day by day schedule. So i'm gonna give this a try. I havnt been having any bad luck so far but i am getting something on one of the leaves im not sure about. Maybe if I get lucky it will be just a calcium def. Not sure if u can see it in the pics or not. its like a yellowing leaf with almost brownish purple spots on the end. Dont really feel like goin and taking a picture lol. Thes bitches all of the sudden are growing like crazy too. Like i cam in and raised the lights yesterday and this morning they had already grown up in to them a bit. I usually go in there and push my plants or pat them down rather than move my lights up lol. I'm trying to keep them kinda low and bushy for good light penetration but that t5 is helping alot in that aspect. We'll see maybe i'll even get a couple more.

Here we are at week 5. Amazing how time really goes by so fast. I've been consistent with the water,water,feed schedule and it has helped alot actually. Most of my leaves that were wrinkly are now full and full of life, and my yellowing and spotting of leaves has stopped. My side branches are starting to go crazy. Everything is starting to get harder to control. I'm starting to wish i had of done lst instead of scrog. Altho i still could. I was thinking about taking the screen out and continuing to tie down branches. Pretty sure it would be easier. With cfls having to be so close to the screen it gives little to know room to work with. At least with an LST i can take the plants out do my work and put them back in. Live and learn right? I was thinking of putting into flower next week but i think a little longer would do these plants alot of good in terms of yield. Also i wanted to take some cuttings before i put them into flower but i dont really want to take off of any main branch being as these are going to be the bigger buds, so i wanna wait for the side branches of the side branches lol. Maybe i'll take cuttings next week then flower the week after. How long should i let the plant recover before putting into flower?? Pretty sure i also accidentally supercropped a branch today lol. Forget what exactly that does but it will be cool to watch that one branch recover and bud. Haha. Also theres a picture of the bud i got right now. Its super tasty and really good stone. Wish i knew what it was.

After days of hard thinking i finally decided to do away with the screen. IMO it wasnt doing much good. I just couldnt get it to stay stiff enough. i would tuck the plant under it and when it grew it would just lift up the screen so it kinda defeated the purpose. I tryed adding weight to it i tryed making it tighter. The plant always got the best of it. I ecided to go with LST instead. You get the same results just with the ability to rotate the plant under the light and take them out to do any necessary work. Being able to rotate them is great to be able to do to when using cfl's I've been sticking to the feed water water schedule with good results but i'm thinking a little less water each day. The last couple day's i've gotten alot of run off so i havnt watered for one day. IMO thats the plants way of telling me its had enough. Last feed i must have accidentally made the nutes a little strong. I'm seeming to have a litte nute burn on the tips of my leaves. This morning i watered with just water and tomorrow i wont water at all. Maybe i wont water until tuesday morning. I'll judge by how the soil feels. I'm starting to get all sorts of cola sites. I think on one plant i counted 6 or or so so far and there are still many more coming. I didnt top any of them because i want to stress the plant as little as possible while still making it bush out and have lots of cola site. I'm hoping the less i stress the plant by topping the bigger my buds will be in each sit. Someone told me once that topping will make more bud sites, but the buds in each site will be smaller. I dunno, kinda makes sense. I was going to put into flower next wednesday but i think i might just let it go longer instead of trying to get a quicker harvest i think i'm gonna try n get a nice yield instead. I wanna take some clones too but i just think its a little bit early. Maybe next week would be best i think. This morning right before i came on to post and update, my dog decided it would be a good idea to come up in the couch and walk on my computer, so now as you can see in the pic, i have a broken computer. What a bitch eh? anyway, i'm on the hunt for and LCD now lol.

lovely!

Well, i decided to do a little re-arranging. I think this way is a more efficient way of light placement than it was before. 1 plant seems to be having some small problems, not exactly sure whats wrong with it, so i been just feeding with water only and hoping to see the problem get better. It seemed to be a bit stunted...i think, but i could be mistaken but today when i came home it looked as tho there was some growth in the younger shoots, and even seems to be a little bigger. Maybe it was a ph lockout?? Theres pics here: https://www.rollitup.org/marijuana-plant-problems/486858-what-have-we-got-here.html. Also though i better throw in a fan. Definitely could use some air movement, especially when i start flowering, if i decide to flower in this closet. I was thinking of putting a box on the other side of the room for flowering that way i could put it by the window and put and exhaust vent going out the window. Would a little computer fan be enough to exhaust a little 4x4 room?? Also im gonna make some sort of diy carbon filter attach because i dont want it to smell. I mean i think that the only ppl that i would have to worry a out smelling it are the neighbours, who i sell a a bit of weed to here and there already, but still i live in an appartment and i'm on the ground floor and everyones back patio goes onto the back yard and anyone could walk thru and smell it at any time, so better be safe than sorry right?

yeah man cover your arse!..... stay safe... and keep your smoke quiet and undiscovered

1 x pc fan for a 4x4 room... hmmmmm i have 2 5" pc fans exhausting and one 6" fan mixing the cabinet air 2.5ft x 1.5ft..... and that keeps my temps stable.... (i have 4 available for venting) ... its a try it and see job... but i'm thinking one wouldn't move enough air and your temps will creep up, but as pc fans are so easy to work with it would only take 5 minutes to add a couple more

Ya, i mean i could probably add more than one off the bat, i'm thinking tho being that its winter time, as long as my intake is bringing in cool air and my outtake is letting out the hot i should be fine. As i am right now i dont have any kind of ventilation except a fan blowing in the closet and so far so good. Altho i am using cfl's, with hps it will be a bit different. I was gonna take some clones today but i dont have any cloning gel or rock wool soo, its gonna have to wait till friday. Then next week, or as soon as plants recover from cloning its gonna be time to flower. I'm gonna build my flower box this weekend and probably wire my own 250 watt or 400 watt hps ballast. That should be interesting. I'm not sure what kind of box i should put it in tho so that i dont have to have electrical shit exposed

Well, today is a good day. I finally brought myself to buy a 400w setup. Only problem is i dunno How im gonna divide my room with into a veg room and a flower room. I got a Whole room to work with but i gotta leave all the furniture in it so it kinda defeats the pupose. I was gonna build a box by the window but not sure yet. After spending the money on the ballast and shit it i'm a bit low on funds so i'm trying to keep things cost effecient. Funny how that never works with growing eh? pretty sure cost efficient and indoor garden shouldn't be in the same sentence. At least i got the expensive part over with...kinda. Also pretty sure i found a preflower today. I havnt even put into flowering but, its nice to know because i started from seed lol.

This is Good news



This however shows you have turned to the darkside

Haha its just for flowering. I know, i'm technically not a cfl grower not lol. I just want some good dense buds lol. The guy at the hydro store tryed to tell me that being a first time grower i wouldnt notice a difference. IMO being a first time grower i will notice a world of difference just in the fact alone i dont have to constantly keep moving the light or plant around. I was gonna stick with cfl but it was starting to cost around the same amout. for the bulb, and mogul, which is all u need for the cfl setup, it was like almost 100. After tax it probably would have been about 100, and for my setup i payed 167 for ballast and mogul, so i think i made the right choice. The pre-flower is good but its not an auto flower, lol. Maybe when i shut off the lights to move them around it thought it was nite then i turned them back back on like half hour later, and i tricked it into flowering??

Well, here it is. Been working on my flowering room today and its finally kinda finished. I mean it still needs some outside walls and stuff, but its finished enough to work for now. I made an exhaust but it only exhausts into my bedroom atm so its gonna be a stinky room, which is ok as long as i can keep the smell confined to that one room. My main concern is gonna be the heat. When that light comes on even tho I've got an exhaust its still pretty warm in there so hopefully it doesnt get too warm. Also i took a cutting from each plant and put them in the veg closet under 24/0. Hopefully none of them turn out male because i would hate to have to scrap one of those clones.

seems you have a rather large lamp inside your raft.... looking good my friend.... wish i could use HPS next grow deffo

Its only a 400 watt. But for 4 plants it should do the trick hehe. The sweet thing is the ballast is convertible. I just flip a switch and i can screw in a metal halide bulb. But i think i'm just gonna keep clones in the closet and veg them under cfl still. I havnt invested in odour control, so its probably gonna get a bit stinky in there hehe. wonder what the old lady will think about that. Its gonna be funny in about a week or 2

Ok, so i'm 4 days into flowering now, some of the pics are form this morning and some from i think monday. One of them has been sick for the last little while and i have been trying to figure out why and i think i finally came to the conclusion my soil is too acidic and causing burns and lockouts. I fed with only water for the last little while and this morning gave its first flowering nutes, but i gave them a a slightly less amount than what it calls for this time. I figure i will go back to the way i was doing things before the guy in the hydro store decided to give me his stupid ideas. Maybe it works for him but it sures hell doesnt work for me. I've been checking intensely every morning for signs of females and i think i am in luck. All the pistils are soooo tiny still i can only make out a couple of them on some of the plants. I know i got 3 for sure females which is good. If the fourth turns out femal that will be perfect. My clones didnt seem to turn out so good. Like, i think they are still alive because all but one seems to still have a little strenth to it, but they look a little wilted ond one of them has pretty yello leaves and another the bottom leaves died right off. I decided to take the humidity dome off and see what happens. I'm thinking either they arent getting enough air or i just suck at cloning in general. I'll try one more time but its to late on this crop, so i'm gonna have to find clones or start from seed again and i dont really have the patience for that this time around lol. i mean it is a fun process, but the part i hate the most is waiting for that little sprout to start growing leaves. I like to watch that little bitch grow into a big ass bush.

subscribing to see how these do flowering! Nice job so far. Here's a link for a diy carbon filter...in case you were still thinking of making one.

https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/101248-best-diy-ez-walmart-carbon.html

looks like they are loving it mate ... nice one

Well, definitely gonna need to invest in a carbon filter. I just went to home depot today and got like a sheet of this carbon filter stuff that you put in your air purifier filter and just cut a square out of it and taped it over the fan. I know its ghetto lol but i was in a rush because i only had like 15 mins until the lights turned off. Today while i was at work the lanlord called me and told me the building manager was wondering if we were smoking in our apartment and i said no neither of us smoke but cigarettes. He went on to ask me if we smoked anything else. He said that the building manager could smell smoke or possibly implying pot that he could smell. So i had to do something now and fast. I dont really know if its gonna work. IMO those plants dont smell bad enough to go thru the bedroom door and the front door. Is there a reason that they make carbon filters in a cylinder shape?? I have activated carbon. All i would have to go buy would be the lady's socks and pencil cups. What kind of fan would that get mounted on?? my fan is a stupid fan that isnt even meant for ventilation. I need something that moves more air. Where do i get a cpu fan from? and how do i wire one? are they strong enough?

pc case fans are great wired to a 12v torch/something charger ...... but they won't have the strength to pull/push through a carbon filter... ghetto or not. and to be honest a carbon filter isnt going to remove all the smell..... are you doing enough to vent the smell building up before it gets to the stairwell and the rest of the building... maybe you could open a few more windows in your apartment and get a through breeze going??

As far as i can smell, my house smells like last nites cooking and what not. Not weed. When i walk into our spare bedroom it smells a bit but not enough to go thru that door and then our front door. at least not yet. Or maybe im so used to smelling weed. I know yesterday i got all baked right before i left for work so maybe the smell was lingering in the hallway when the cleaner came by the hallway. I plan on setting up like one of those slinky like duct things going from my fan to my window. I dont care about semll so much outside and noone would be able to see it because there is a couch right outside the window i could put it behind, and even if the neighbours smell it while they are outside smoking, they smoke my weed anyway, so i dont really care if they think i smell like weed.

yeah ..... cleaner got the wiff i think