My first CFL ghetto grow

Hello all. I'm growing two seedlings, they are KC Brains California Special.
My stealth cabinet is 21 inches in length, 14 inches in width, and 21 inches in height.

I will be running with CFLs. For my veg. bulbs, I will be using (6) 30W, and (2) 23W. (6500k)

For flowering, I will be using (12) 23W. (2700k)

Seedlings are currently in MiracleGrow Seed Starter Mix, will upgrade to FFOF soon. Will probably get FoxFarm trio nutrient pack, still not sure.
I am using some fans extracted from old game consoles. (Xbox and xbox 360)[/SIZE]

Here they are:

i need some help.. plz[video=youtube;QMe3CbrSuys]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMe3CbrSuys[/video]

This is my first grow. I haven't even got that far.

Anyone?....

Sounds like you have plenty of bulbs for your grow. How are the temps in the grow area? Based on your photos, my first thought would be to turn your bulbs on their side. At least until they are large enough to have the vertical bulbs penetrate the canopy.

Don't have a meter to test out the temps, yet. I plan to buy one soon. I'm in the process of purchasing some things to make a light fixture that will have all the bulbs flipped on their side. Hopefully in a few days will be finished.

Thanks for checking in, means a lot .

Anyone got any advice on some good affordable soil and nutes? Any recommendations are welcome.

Savagex510 said:

Anyone got any advice on some good affordable soil and nutes? Any recommendations are welcome.

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i found this stuff called schultz plant food, it costs like 2 bucks and last a real long time. i would just start off using like 1/4 of the dosage and then working your way up. im seeing pretty good results with it, and i've read up on it and havn't seen any bad talk about it. if you have a grow shop in your area try to get yourself some foxfarm ocean forest, supposedly its one of the best, it can cost anywhere from 20-30 dollars a bag, but i think its worth it. if not just make sure you get some soil with perlite, and sphagnum peat moss. i bought some stuff called sta-green flower and vegetable, it was $5 for a 2 cubic feet bag. plants grow in any soil pretty much just a matter of how good they grow depending on whats in the soil, so do some research on the ingredients you want your soil to have before you go out and buy it.

Cheap nutes and work great? I am DEFINETELY buying that. I got some seed starter mix I'm just going to stick with and just buy some perlite. Thanks so much for the advice. Hope you stick around .

Day 10 (small update):

So far going okay, here's come pics.







In the process of building a new light fixture.

Big update coming soon, new soil, nutes, (possibly new box), and another PC fan.

Stay tuned.

i bought this bathroom fixture it holds 6 lamps, it was only 20 dollars and has a chrome backing that reflects awesome. easily wired it and installed some cheap cfl's.

Your leaves are starting to taco, this means high temps and low humidity, could be one could be both. Transplant your plants into something deeper (i used a half and half quart cut to about 6 inches, poke holes in the bottom)and not clear. Roots hate light. Fans seem to be right however your temps are still high, are your fans located at the top of the growbox? as heat rises. uhhhm, try to get ahold of some mylar, or at least white spray paint or paint. stape up the mylar to the box as it is 97% reflective, white paint works as well but its around 80% reflective. hmmmm. lights-good. plants might be drying out, when you water make sure you water the whole soil surface and not just the base of the plant. Dont use spray bottles because they create mini magnifying glasses on the leaves of the plant for the light to just fry them up. hmmm, dont use any ferts yet. uhhhhhhhm. dont worry about ph that much until your plants get to a healthy and quick developement stage. eh, I think thats about it. Goodluck, hit me up for more questions. Im subbed and ill tag along.

yeah that tape or paper around that plastic isnt doing much. just noticed. Just get a half and half cream cardboard quart thing and cut it in half and use that as a pot for one since its deep. idk. use your noggin

puffnopassing said:

Your leaves are starting to taco, this means high temps and low humidity, could be one could be both. Transplant your plants into something deeper (i used a half and half quart cut to about 6 inches, poke holes in the bottom)and not clear. Roots hate light. Fans seem to be right however your temps are still high, are your fans located at the top of the growbox? as heat rises. uhhhm, try to get ahold of some mylar, or at least white spray paint or paint. stape up the mylar to the box as it is 97% reflective, white paint works as well but its around 80% reflective. hmmmm. lights-good. plants might be drying out, when you water make sure you water the whole soil surface and not just the base of the plant. Dont use spray bottles because they create mini magnifying glasses on the leaves of the plant for the light to just fry them up. hmmm, dont use any ferts yet. uhhhhhhhm. dont worry about ph that much until your plants get to a healthy and quick developement stage. eh, I think thats about it. Goodluck, hit me up for more questions. Im subbed and ill tag along.

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I transplanted them into 1 gallon pots with no light leaks. They exploded in growth! Fans are located at the top of the box, so heat shouldn't really be an issue. After I transplanted, they got back into shape and got a lot bigger. In the process of building a better grow box because this current box is too small for my likings. This box will have reflective material all inside the box (emergency blankets). Thanks for the support, means a lot.

@Soljav3 - This light fixture seems like something I might be interested in, link me?

Only trouble I have so far is what nutrients to buy, I'm on a tight budget, and $50 for the FF Trio Nutrient pack is out of the question. Any suggestions are welcome, thanks in advanced!

Glad to hear that the plants are doin good, as for nutrients just go to sams or walmart and pickup something cheap. Thats what i have been using haha and they seem to work fine. I bought the Green light super bloom for some outdoor monsters its 12-55-6 but thats major overkill for an indoor Cfl grow haha. Uhhhm I also have another brand I think its called Sams fert or something like that. Just go for something that says 20-20-20 or 15-15-15 something with similar NPK values or perhaps go for something with a larger P-Phosphorus value for flowering. Make sure it says for indoor and outdoor plants although it really doesnt matter that much.

Another thing, If you are like on a very very tight budget and if your 16 or 15 whatever then you could do something I did for my very first indoor grow when I was 15. 1:7 pee to water ratio works great for a Nitrogen value. yes thats right. urine. I did it and plants grew great. just dont tell anybody or they wont smoke your bud haha. Crush up eggshells and soak them in water for 1+hours I believe its a good Potassium? Maybe Phosphorus? and never tried this but the crushing up of eggshells made me think of smooshing bananas and like soaking that in water then just straight up water your plants with that with the banana still in the watering can but try not to spill the bananans in your soil. Since Banannanans have a very high potassium percentage maybe that could work? idk. experiment, use your noggin haha

puffnopassing said:

Another thing, If you are like on a very very tight budget and if your 16 or 15 whatever then you could do something I did for my very first indoor grow when I was 15. 1:7 pee to water ratio works great for a Nitrogen value. yes thats right. urine. I did it and plants grew great. just dont tell anybody or they wont smoke your bud haha. Crush up eggshells and soak them in water for 1+hours I believe its a good Potassium? Maybe Phosphorus? and never tried this but the crushing up of eggshells made me think of smooshing bananas and like soaking that in water then just straight up water your plants with that with the banana still in the watering can but try not to spill the bananans in your soil. Since Banannanans have a very high potassium percentage maybe that could work? idk. experiment, use your noggin haha

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Thanks for all the advice, bro, you're a HUGE help. I have a job and all but only working part time + having a new born isn't a big help. I've decided that I'll buy Fox Farm Grow Big for now and then slowly buy the rest when the time comes. Stay tuned, have some pretty cool plans coming soon.

man... lookin good. my only quip is from my experience, ff soil is soo good to begin with, you wont really need extra nutes. now yes you will need them once your plants drain the soil of food then start looking at you crazy, but for me that wasnt till about 4 weeks flower. so, that may bide you some time for your paper to grow so youre not broke the whole damn grow (like yours truly lolz) i still aint seen no temp and humidity meter in pix, so get on that. cheap, like 8 bux @ wally world. diggin the fans tho. wish i was a better geek and could wire shit. and ya boy, puff no pass is onto somethin. i used to piss in my grow area when i had a guerilla grow, plants loved that pissy ass area. but indoor soils are usually calibrated for whatever is going in them, if you buy soil made for the sacred herb, then you already have the hard work done. so... thats my 5 minutes. keep up and stay in the FAQs, it's the tits!

Day 17 Update: Veg Cycle

They've shown some good growth, still no nutes. Currently building my new rubbermaid grow box.

Still in 1 gallon pots, will transplant into 3 gallon pots before flower.


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Overall, I am loving this strain, really easy to grow.

Any comments, opinions, please post.

Show us the light fixture... I was think of doing the same thing!!! Or gettin a standing 6 bulb lamp n hang it w/ the stand for $20 if urs looks easier I'm gonna do tht 1 !!!