First Grow - CFL

So I am obviously a total noobie to this. But here we go...

Strain- White Widow from BCSeedKing
Grow Type- Indoor Cheap
Lights- 184 watts CFL plus x2 24" Florescent (cheap grow lights for seedlings)
Ventilation- x2 120mm PC fans, home made activated carbon filter
Walls- Reflectix
Medium- Schultz Potting Plus, 0.08/0.12/0.08 NPK
Nutes- a crap 20/20/20

Most of what I am using is stuff that I already had from other projects. I did buy a few things like the Reflectix and parts for the air scrubber. I don't tend to keep activated carbon on hand. At least not until now. This whole thing s probably a couple hundred bucks in the end. I should be able to get multiple grows out of it though. The air scrubber should last a long time.

Here is a bit of a progression for the grow. This is all one plant. I have three growing but I'll stick with just the one for now.











I botched my first attempt to FIM, as you can see in the 4th pic. Fixed it in the last one.

And here is my little MUTANT. Very sad looking thing.



Any guess as to what is wrong??

And here is what I assume is either a Calcium deficiency or Nitrogen toxicity??



I'll post a couple pics of my setup next time. No time right now.

Go ahead and make comments or ask me questions if you wish. Discussion is always welcome.

Wow big PICS.
I really need to work on that.
Sorry.

Also the colour change in the last pics. I added a couple Soft White bulbs to the Bright White ones I was starting with. I will only be vegging for a short period before flipping them to 12/12. They are doing 20/4 right now.

The nute problem in that last pic is completely my fault. I watered with a nute solution that should have gone to the house plants. I had one of those moments. Stupid.

I'm just getting into this grow but I'm planning the next 2-3 already. I have some NL auto seeds to start for the next grow. I'm eager to see the difference in growth habits. In the spring it is going to be outdoor time!! I can't wait for that. I have a tonne of manure that I can use plus alfalfa and other assorted stuff to make my sites really rich.

On the list: Purps, Lemon Kush, and Blue Cheese. It should be fun!!!

If that potting soil has fertilizer in it thats probably the reason for the burns on one of the plants. The "special" one is probably due to burns and possibly lighting.
How close are the lights from the plants and how old are the plants to where ur adding nutes?

Thank you for stopping by!

The feeding was a complete accident. I had prepared the nutes for the Christmas Cactus. The seedlings were supposed to only get the plain water... and so I get the burn.

All three are just over 2 weeks old now. The little mutant has been a mess since it first emerged. The other two have been healthy, basically, all along. There shouldn't be any problem with the lights. They have been 2-4" away at all times. Plus they are only 23 watt bulbs so not much heat output. I can put my hand within an inch for a couple of minutes with no real heat let alone discomfort. Part of the reason for me starting out with the CFL's and Floro's. Less chance of screwing it up by burning orr overheating the plants in a confined grow.

Here are some updates:


The Little Mutant


The Main Attraction


Botched attempt at FIM... how can you fuck up something called "Fuck I Missed"???


A little side shot.

Time to get a few shots of the setup. I could really use some opinions on that as well.
Thank you for stopping by.

Here's a little about the setup...

It's really just a cheap little greenhouse. 24"x14"x60" I have just given it a new wrapping and added lights and ventilation to it.



I removed the top two shelves to create light and grow space.
The CFLs are adjustable to any height and have a simple reflector added on. Just a piece of metal ducting.



On each side I hung a couple of cheap Florescent grow lights. They are there for side and bottom lighting during flowering.



The exhaust filter is my interpretation of a couple different designs I found on this forum and others. Simple and effective. I can easily change out the carbon and the course filters when needed. It is solid and should last as long as I don't abuse it too much. I'll likely upgrade the fan on it to increase the ventilation, but for the moment it is good enough. I need to increase the air movement around the plants so I'll need to get another couple fans this weekend. I have a couple weeks before I have any intention of flipping to 12/12. I would like to try my hand at some LST before I flip. I gotta have some more fun with this grow. The next one will be an auto grow so I may be keeping that one simple and basic.

The main one looks good. It might just be me but the that seedbank looks like they gave u a bad batch but the main one is coming along nicely. As far as the carbon scrubber I dont know much on those as that I'm using the ona bucket method used by roseman & flipping to 12/12 u got probably another month for that. But overall great main attraction!

Thank you for the compliments on the Main Attraction. Now I just need to hope that it is a She.

I'm going to give them a bit more time and start to do some LST before I flip them. Maybe the Little Mutant will perk up and start to grow better. It is putting out some good leaves now. SO I may have just burned it. Hopefully that is it. I'm just concerned that it will Hermie.

I carbon scrubber should do a good job. It has a large amount of carbon in it. As long as I have good air flow thru it I should get a good effect. I don't need this grow to be a true stealth but my wife would prefer if it wasn't obvious. Only time will tell.

Why do you say you "botched" the FIM attempt? And how did you fix it? Only asking because I am on my first grow and I FIMMED one of my plants and it looks like your plant with the leaves growing all weird looking.

Tngrowman,

I didn't cut low enough. I was too conservative in where I thought I should cut. Basically I missed the main grow tip and only cut the tips of the leaves off. You can see the cut of the leaves. I fixed it by pulling the leaves back and doing a new cut of the tip and ensuring that I could see where it was cut. I might have a pic that shows it. It's hard to see.

I was more nervous than I should have been.

I have not done the Little Mutant. If it shows better growth I might, but most likely I'm going to leave it alone.

Tngrowman,
Here is what it looked like after a botched FIM.



And here is a better cut.



Hopefully this time it will work properly.I have some good growth so far, so I am happy either way. First time you have to expect some failure.

I just noticed that they are starting to smell a bit. Have to put my nose right beside them to smell it but it is very distinct. So nice to smell. It has been many years since I have been able to smell this.
Sigh...

Im not sure if I cut mine in the right spot or not. I don't think I did so I just recently topped it, I know i cant mess that up!

Oh and btw, I'm growing a Dinafem feminized White widow myself along with a G13 labs Northern Lights and Purple Haze. Im 28 days into veg about to switch over to 12/12 light cycle. I'll try to get you some pics of my WW later tonight, ours look very similar.

Nice, I would love to see how your WW is going. Same for the NL and PH.
Northern Lights Auto Fem is the next grow for me. I'm going with the plant the seedling, set the light, and watch'm grow idea. I don't need to grow much so it is more for fun than anything else. Once spring comes around I'll actually make plans for growing some large plants. I have lots of space and soil to do it in. I just got a mix of Outdoor strains so it's going to be a surprise grow.

Bring on the Pics!!

First pic is my closet setup. Have 4 42 watt 6500 and 2 60 watt 5500. Using FFOF soil and nute trio. Just started feeding nutes last week, all three are 28 days old. 2nd pic is the ww, she is a little behind the NL and PH. 3rd pic is the PH, she has been topped twice and the last two pics are the NL, she is the one i fimmed and just recently topped because like you my fim was unsuccessful.

Oh, and the WW has been topped just once. Think I will just top her the once since she is so far behind the other two. She was a really slow starter but is really coming on now. I love her dark green, fat leaves.

They look great! Well done.
Looks like you did the right thing with the NL, 4 tops coming up all together.
Are you going to do any LST? Or just let them grow?? Flipping them over to 12/12 in the next couple days will keep them small so space isn't going to be an issue...

I keep looking at people using a SCROG... that would be perfect for my setup. I have a built in screen that I can use already. My first grow is too soon though. I'm not ready for that yet.

They really are kind of fat looking. More rounded than mine.
Mine are very thin and delicate. Like tissue paper.

Probably not going to LST, this is my first grow also so I really just want to top them then let them go. Plus, they are so damn bushy I dont think they need it.

My next grow I will probably LST and/or SCROG depending on how this grow turns out.