Homemade Stealth Grow CFL

This is our homemade stealth grow and our first real attempt at growing. This is a legal medical grow that for personal reasons I want to keep private.
The box is ply wood with a 2x2 frame and a piano hinge on the door. We decided to paint it white for reflection. The lights are 2-24" 6500k grow tubes and 1 2700k cfl. As an afterthought I added the fan by stuffing it into a flower pot that had the bottom cut off and screwing the whole thing to the side on top of the vent holes. The fan is just a cheap desktop fan from the hardware store. Not the prettiest set up but really functional.
The plants are clones we got from the local shop. The one on the right is Grandaddy Blueberry and the one to the left is Blackberry Kush. We potted them in basic potting soil, 3 gallon pots cut down. So far so good.

After vegging for only 2 weeks we decided to go to 12/12. The plants were growing like mad and we are worried about the space we have.
Decided to add a Y connector and another 2700k cfl to get more light on them. I keep the lights as close as possible, an inch or two at most.
Started tying the branches down with floss to get the most out of our space.
We are using foxfarm nutrients but havent really had to water much at all, not alot of heat in the box I guess.
So far we couldn't be happier as the buds are forming nicely.

After reading a bunch of threads on this site we decided toget the most out of our space we would try a mini scrog set up. We used chicken wire supported by some heavier fencing. We trimmed a bunch of the lower fan leaves to lollipop them a bit.
Also added another cfl and may add a Y to this one in the future.
We had an issue with fungus gnats but were able to remedy with a 1/4 inch of sand on top of the soil. Havent seen one since.
We continue to be impressed with the rate of growth we are having just using these CFLs.

Three weeks into flowering and they are looking good. The screen is starting to fill out and the trichomes are forming all over.
We have had a small problem with white powdery mold on some of the leaves. So far I have been wiping it off but am considering trying the milk/water trick as it seems to persist. I read in one thread that it might be from cold nights and we have had a few of those recently. Probably low 50s inside box. Any thoughts?

Kind of a rough week for the girls--- First off it has been cold low 40s high 30s at night. I keep my box in a large uninsulated shed so the outside temp is not to much better than that inside the shed. As a result from the cold nights we have had a powder mold problem (at least that is what I have come up with in my research) and seemingly slow growth over the past week. To combat this I have switched the lights to come on at night by giving them a one time 18 hour dark period to adjust the lights. Figure longer dark is better than longer light when flowering. I have also sprayed the plants with a 10/1 water/2%milk mixture for the mold (you can see some of the milk stains in one of the pics). This seems to be working.
The plants also had some of the lower leaves pruned which I was not to keen on but my lovely wife thought would benefit them by providing more energy to the buds. We will see.
The main concern this week is the purpling of the leaves and stems. Both plants are of the berry variety but only one, the Grandaddy Blueberry, had purple stems from the get go. The other, Blackberry Kush, has just started to purple. They both started really purpling up over the past week and a half. One of the pics you can really see the purple in the leaves. Any help or opinions on this would be great. Shoot at this point I would take a "Hey those plants look like crap and are going to die!" reply just to let me know somebody is out there .

With 3-6 weeks left in flowering and slow growth over the last 2 weeks we decided to add more light (Floralux 150w hps). Took out all CFLs and will use them for veg next time. Hopefully this will help get the temps up in the box as well.
Still cold as heck with temps in box rarely exceeding 60F.
Using organic, food grade, fungicide for mold problem. This was recommended by local hydro shop.

The new light makes my camera go crazy and I cant get a decent pic.

I made some changes and bought some new items which have really helped.

I insulated the the top and sides (not the door, yet) with 2" ridgid foam. I did what I could without removing the plants and plan to redo everything after harvest.

Belolw is a 60w ceramic heat emitter for reptiles. I put it on a timer half hour on, half hour off, while the light is not running. So far, coupled with the insulation, it has kept the box in the mid to high sixties. Hurray!

I also bought a soil PH tester (turns out my soil was very acidic so I am working to bring it in balance with dolamite lime (sp)) and a wireless hygrometer/thermometer. Both are a necessity which I should have had all along, but I am new and learning.

The thermometer is great and allows me to monitor the box without going out into the cold and yanking the door open every 10mins lol. You can see the remote sensor in the pic above and the one I keep in the house below. Very cool.

Over all things are looking better and we have had some noticable growth this last week. They seem to be loving the new light and even though its hard to tell from my shoddy pics the buds are getting very dense. I am hoping for at least 3 more weeks of flowering, longer would be even better.


Still cant get a decent close up pic, sorry.

Update:
Finally got some decent flower pics. Had to wait until the light went out because the hps makes my autofocus go crazy.

Lookin' good, little scrogger.

I like your dedicated journal updates. Subbed.

Thanks for looking lordjin! Nothing compared to what you have been doing but we are hooked for sure.

I had a spidermite infestation in the back corner of my box that forced me to remove the screen in order to deal with it. I think I have run the full gamut of weed growing obstacles in this my first grow but we're still limping along.
I will probably harvest the kush this coming weekend as that will be 8 weeks and it is looking ready. The blueberry may get a week or so more.

lookin good! not bad for a first grow, wouldn't mind a taste myself... how the odor? do you need to do anything for the smell?

What's up SB?
I am able to vent everything to my backyard where the smell is noticeable if you are near the exhaust but not too bad. If I were going to do a bigger grow or had nosey neighbors/landlords I would defenitly make a carbon scrubber or get a can filter.
Thanks for checking it out. Hows that SB toe?

How much does the carbon scrubber help? I am thinking of starting an indoor 4 x 6 grow box but concerned about odor, does anyone know how well the carbon scrubbers work? Any advice on odor removal? Post the harvest pics NSG when you get a chance

So I harvested the kush last night and got about what I expected. Had to throw some out because of mold and mite damage but still not too bad considering. Going to let the Blueberry go another week or two.


This is my first time trimming so they are a little rough.

SB you should post in the Help or Newbie forums to get more of a reply on your odor question.

Nice thread found it to late ! Lol + rep to you

Looks good, especially nice pictures of the harvest

Thanks for looking Kybuds and boobooD.
Probably harvest the other in a week or so and then try again. Looking forward to starting over.

Finally harvested the Granddaddy Blueberry after more than 10 weeks of flowering. This strain was much more resilient to the stresses imposed on it and yeilded about 50% more than the kush.

The buds are dense, heavy and smell to high heaven.

This is the drying rig which I made from a bankers box.

All in all I am very pleased with the results of both plants. The kush is stony as hell (I realize this as I type the same sentence for the third time) and the blueberry looks to be the same. I don't have a scale but estimate I got anywhere from 1 1/2 - 2 ounces total. I know thats not much compared to some but for a small, first time cabinet grow I don't think its too bad. I put about $220 into the cabinet and got $600-$800 of club price and quality out plus found a great hobby.
This will be my last post here on this thread but I plan to reconstruct my grow cab and start another thread after the new year. Happy holidays and thanks for checking out my grow!