Hey everyone, I posted this is the grow journal area, but I figured it'd be better suited here as it's a CFL grow. I'll give updates regularly with pictures and what not.

The seeds I have are from good stock from a friend of mine. Two of them are supposedly Sour Diesel and the other two are unamed but I'm not really sure if it truly is SD. The seeds are all from some really dank bud anyhow, so I'm hopeful that I'll get something nice out of this.

This is my first grow and I've been doing as much research as possible. I've been reading up here at RIU for a couple months but I've been shy to post.. (I don't know nearly as much as most of you guys here). If enough people show interest in this I'll make sure to update it frequently.

My Setup:
-2 - 37 Gallon Rubbermaid Bins
-4 - 42w 2700k
-2 - 26w 6500k
(I plan to switch the 26w out after veg for an addition 2 more 42w 2700k's at flower.)
-1 - Computer Fan (Exhaust)
-1 - Small Adjustable Desk Fan (Intake)
-2 - PVC Elbow Intakes
-1 - Timer
-2 - Powerstrips
-Expert Gardner's Potting Soil
-Miracle Grow Bloom Booster 15-30-15
-(I need a good veg. nute that can be found at wal-mart or home depot)
-Superthrive
-7 - Rolls of Reflective "Chrome" Duct Tape
-Some Twist Ties
-3 - Light Bulb to Electrical Socket Adapters
-3 - Light Fixture "Y" Splitters


So, I germinated these guys on 3-23-09. It only took a day and a half for the seeds to grow tails and they all sprouted within a day or two of planting. They're all planted in the regular 16oz plastic cups, I covered them in tape so none of the roots would be exposed to light.. I remember reading light on the roots is bad?

I plan to transplant them to 8"diameter pots in which they will remain for the entirety of their growth.

I plan to go out today sometime and pickup a decent temp/humidity gauge. Anyone know the whereabouts in wal-mart.. ie. Aquarium area, garden area? I'm not sure where to look.

I started using superthrive at waterings around 3/31. I stopped on 4/2 because I was afraid it might be too much. I picked up some Miracle Grow Bloom Booster 15-30-15 that I plan to use during flower but I'm still looking for some veg nutes, any suggestions?


I plan to LST all of the plants once they reach around 6" or so. I'm still not positive when I should start flowering these babies but I want to make sure I have enough room for at least 3 of them.

Well that's just the basics.. So far I think they are doing ok, sorry for the sub-par pictures, alls I have is my phone atm.

The first picture shows an overall view, I have the plants raised up so they are about 3-4 inches from the lights. The lights hang from the lid of the top Rubbermaid and are all connected to a power strip.. I'll get a picture up in my next post. The small exhaust fan is on the left, I constructed a duct on the outside of the box so no light could get in through the fan. The right side has my two intake pvc elbows and my moveable desk fan that draws air in from a vent behind it and blows it across the lights.

The 2nd picture shows the whole setup from the outside. (I cover it with a blanket and stack junk on top of it.. can't even tell what it is).

The 3rd picture just gives a better view of the side with the desk fan and pvc elbows..

The 4th is a picture of the 4 (hopefully gals) the morning of April 3. The sprouted on the 27th or 28th of March so that gives an idea of how old they are.

I had a couple other questions:

If I decide to switch from that expert gardeners potting soil to something like miracle grow organic.. Can I just use the new soil when I transplant without shocking the plant too much?

How many weeks old would be ideal to start flowering these if I want them to fit in these rubbermaids until harvest?

If there is anything you'd like to know, or reccomend, PLEASE ask or Please do tell

Thank you, and let me know how you think it's going.

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looks great dude im going to build almost the exact same setup tomorrow. im excited! keep some updates coming.

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Click For My PC Grow-Finished Click For My O.D. Grow-Finished My Current Cabinet Grow

Sure, if you need any help I'll let you know what I can. I bought pretty much everything at wal-mart and home depot, so its all pretty common stuff.

I actually broke one of my 42w cfls yesterday I'm gonna have to go get another and scope out the veg nutes. I also remounted the power strips with some heavy duty zip ties instead of the tape. Seems to be working out just fine.

I'll post some pics here in about a half hour when my lights kick on. Give you a little more detail at least.

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dude becareful with that broken bulb that shit contains mercury!

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Click For My PC Grow-Finished Click For My O.D. Grow-Finished My Current Cabinet Grow

Well, today replaced the broken 42w with a 4 pack of 26w soft whites. I'm going to rig up a couple of adjustable light fixtures to get side lighting and light to the lower bud sites once these start to grow more.

I also picked up a real nice $7 digital thermometer and hygrometer from wal-mart so I can see what my temps and humidity are REALLY like.

I'll try and post up some pics soon once I get this stuff put in.

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sounds good bro looken forward to the pics.

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Click For My PC Grow-Finished Click For My O.D. Grow-Finished My Current Cabinet Grow

Can you please post pictures of how you set up all the lights. I would like to make a similar setup. But im not an electrician so im a little hesitant

Yeah, I'll get some detailed pictures of the full setup if it'll help you guys out. I didn't really do a whole lot of "electrical" work aside from some plug-ins and wiring the fan. It is a pretty easy setup to build and there aren't a lot of things I'd change about it. Of course this is only my first time growing so I'm no pro or anything. I just took ideas from different builds and kind of mashed them together.

Be back in a few with a few pics

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Ok, so here are a few pictures from today:

The first two pictures show the lights attached to the lid of the rubbermaid. I took a powerstrip and plugged three socket to light adapters in and then put 3 Y splitters on to each of those for the lights. I had to tape the socket to light adapters in so the lights wouldn't fall out due to the weight. I drilled holes and ran zip ties through them and fastened one at either end of the powerstrip to mount it.

The lights power strip plugs into a 24 hour timer, which is plugged into the 2nd power strip. This powerstrip is mounted on the side as you can see in picture 3. Both fans plug into this as well and it has been fastened with zip ties too. This 2nd power strip is plugged into a heavy duty grounded power cord through the back side of the top rubbermaid and this plugs directly into the wall.

Setting it up this way is ok, and neither power strip is overloaded. Make sure the power strips support more wattage than you plug into them or you could have some problems. I think these are both rated at 1200w powerstrips. Bought them both at wal-mart in a 2 pack for like 6 bucks.

I have the exhaust fan on the left side and the intake on the right (desk fan). There are two pvc elbows for intakes on the right side as well, one at the bottom of the top rubber maid and the 2nd in the center of the bottom rubbermaid.

I just got my temp/humidity gauge so I'm just now getting information on temps and such. I have a feeling it may have been warm so I made a larger hole behind the intake fan and put a hood over the outside to prevent light from getting in and i did the same with the exhaust. I have 3 more 26w cfls that I plan to incorporate as the plants grow. I'll probably put these on a couple wired clamp work lights and remove the light hoods on those. I'm not sure how I'm going to mount them though because it'll be hard to take the top off with them hanging down like that. I want to use the extra cfls for supplementary light to the bottom leaves once the plants are larger.

Let me know if you need more info

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Ok quick update:

With the new temp gauge I was made aware that my temps were WAY too high, around 90-99 degrees. So I took out the tiny computer fan and put in a 115v adjustable speed fan, about 4-5" diameter. It moves way more air so we'll see how the temps turn out now. I'll get a picture of it later on. So if anyone is building something similar this, be aware that heat WILL be an issue if you don't have enough air moving in and out.

Catch you guys on the flipside :P

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