First grow - Basic 5000-5500k 13w CFL lamps for now - Aurora Indica

I just need advice as to how my setup looks. I have 4 pots measuring 7in x 8 in x 5in deep. I plan to buy one more for my grow. I'm using a pure organic soil with no dirty additives. I picked it up cheap at the local agricultural store. I've gotten this far without much knowledge, just knowing I needed the brightest possible kelvin output per bulb during veg, and then I planned to litter the box with 2700k bulbs during flowering with 12/12 lighting. I currently have a small desk fan circulating air, and only one 5500k 23w cfl on it (pictures). I'm testing the waters with healthy mexi seeds, so I don't ruin my expensive Aurora Indicas Fem with my first closet grow. I want the most yeild possible. is it even possible to get a 1/4lb dry in this area? If so, can somebody point me in the right direction? I'll post pictures to show you what I have to work with. I haven't ruled hydro out as an option, either.

Total supplies right now (I'm on a budget)
x4 13w CFL 5000k
x4 13w CFL 2700k
x1 23w CFL 5500K
x4 buckets with organic soil/no added nutrients measuring 7x8x5in deep.
Versatile light mounting
16inch X 23inch X 23inch grow cabinet lined with foil & rigged for lights.
Tons of Mexi seeds that appear healthy
x 5 Fem Aurora Indica Seeds from Nirvana

Please take it easy on me. What am I lacking? I want to do a 100% CFL grow for space purposes. I don't want ballasts taking up valuable room. should I get 43w 6500k bulbs instead for my expensive seeds? what would you do? I'm on a budget and impatient, but I want a successful experiment here. Ya dig?



http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/842/photo4jy.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/153/photo5ni.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/18/photo6ma.jpg/



http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/163/photo3wbu.jpg/

sprouted up a few days ago. look okay? http://imageshack.us

With the measurements you gave you'll only be able to fit a couple pots. Everything looks good just keep adding light as it fits your budget thats what i did. Your going to need to find a way to pull stale air out and fresh air in Intake & Exhust. Thats extremly important. I'll sub and help you along the way buddy +rep

Well, the first plant got too hot in a awful 105+ degree hotbox and died. haha So, I bought a light timer, two humidity monitors and two thermometers. I made a janky in/out air system with an old battery pack and computer fans. Don't judge, they're just mexi seeds.

Temps now: 90F Closed 81F Open - is usually open. I remove lights when it it bed time. Today i scooped a dixie cup of fishtank water and spread it between the 4 plants. I plan on waiting 4 more days till watering again. the leaves are a little wilted . over watering? too much heat that close to a bulb? Please help the noob! hahaha

Not much to say on the update. Temps and humidity are fantastic. I'm having trouble getting my stupid timer to work correctly. Right now i'm doing 20on 4off, so it's easy to keep track of. I have less lights when I'm at work for peice of mind and to keep temps right around 75. I add lights and open the box when I get home. Temps jump to 81 when I do that. I definitely need to amp up on vents. I have two more pretty big computer fans I can wire into a 12v pack to really move some air in/out of the box. I just don't know what part of my dresser I want to destroy yet. haha. Plants all seem healthy and hungry for light.

Now, just to clarify ONLY WATER WHEN THE SOIL IS DRY ON TOP, correct? I want to water these little guys, because I can stick my finger in the dirt and it just feels cool to the touch, not damp. water time? I only use a dixie cup between the 4 plants

Well i water every other day as long as the soil is not soaking wet by the other day. Everything else looks good keep up the good work.

Just guess where your plants root system is, bury your finger that deep. If its cool or wet theres water there. If you think its too dry then water. Simple

I try to just use the dixie cup method and try to dribble it out around the edges. It seems to be working fine. they all look healthy and have very perky leaves. I think I'm going to try to scrog these mexis.

These little shits are stretching, probably because the light is a good distance away. I just can't seem to keep the temperatures where I like them (75-85F) range. I put a few frozen water bottles in the box & have the desk fan flow over them to create a swamp cooler effect. However, it's not very efficient in my opinion. With the cab closed completely, the temperature plateaus off at 90F. Is this acceptable? I've read that cannabis can handle 104F, and surely the Mexi-crops go through more harsh conditions than my box, so I guess I'm over thinking it. Does higher humidity help combat the higher temps?

experimenting with nutrients found around the house. found some miracle grow (ehh) of 24-8-18. I diluted it down to maybe .3 of the original amount to prevent burn. I plan to only nutrient water every other time with just distilled water being the filler.

Is that soil or mulch?

Grow medium is organic soil blended with bits of what I assume would be mulch. I added some soil to make the plants a bit shorter so they're less susceptible to falling over.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Four Plants sharing pots are Mexican Sativas (I'm assuming) found in some dirt bagseed from a hippy I work with.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

11.13.11



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Meatwad and P-Money 11.17.11



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Aurora Indica fresh sprout. Kind of yellow, all my other sprouts were green green This is my first "Strain" To grow.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Sneak peak into my grow box



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Capurnakis 1 on the right and Capurnakis 2 on the left (rear). C2 has purple in the stem and branches, C1 looks exactly the same as Meatwad, and P-Money is freakishly branchy and tall compared to the others. Sign of being male so early? I tried my hand at topping 3 of the plants and trimmed the 1 sets of leaf formations (single finger). I've been swapping between fishtank water ph-6.5-7 and miracle grow 1/4 diluted. How am I looking? I've had a fucked up light schedule due to my weird sleep schedule and my apparent inability to operate a digital socket timer.

The small pots should help keep my plants from outgrowing the cab, right?

They are growing well. But they look a little wilty. One way to help with high temps is to make sure they have enough water to keep their roots cool. Did you by any chance mix any perlite or other filler into your soil to help with drainage? When you water, you should give them enough water that you get about 10% of it back out the bottom of the pot. You're off to a nice start!

I put about 2in of pea gravel at the bottom, and kind mixed in a couple dixie cups full with the mulch/soil. As for the Aurora Indica, I made my own secret sauce sand/mulch/soil/pea gravel, so it should drain well as well. I've managed to get my temps to reach no higher than 88F. I'm happy with that. I figured the wilty leaves were from over watering, so I'm going to give them a day or two break & see what happens now that temps are low and I'm not afraid of them drying out.

My devil cat, Rick James got into the open door to my box last night and killed 3 of the 5 plants. "P-Money" redubbed "El Mexicano" due to his dirtweed heritage. I mean HER. and the sprouting Aurora Indica are left. Sad day bro.

Next grow I woil ditch the foil and paint the inside flat white. Foil causes hot spots and burns plants.

good grow!!!

would it be a death sentence to my plants to try and stuff a 150w hps fixture in there with the given dimensions? I can leave the cab door open, and it stays fairly cold in my room (temps sometimes rise from fungi growing in the closet kekeke). I just want to have fairly decent yeild and dense nugs when it's all said and done. Of course utilizing both LST and SOG or SCROG. I"m thinking if I make my canopy low enough, hopefully the colas won't get too close to the devil HPS light? Advice from you guys, please.
"El Mexicano"


....Maybe I'm just trying to have my cake and eat it too? :/ I just don't know what types of yields to expect. It would be nice if I could squeeze 2-3 ounces out of my grow space, but I think I might be over shooting it a little bit.

Not to be a nard tard or anything, but my Mexican seed plant is most certainly showing Indica dominate traits, right? I'm just thinking if it turns out to be a male (which I'm afraid of due to 1. paranoia 2. it grew like crazy compared to other Mexi seeds/bagseeds. Anywho, I figure I can always pollinate some of my Aurora Indica flowers with it if worst comes to worst and maybe have some awesome new hybrid seeds. I'm stoned and rambling. Sorry.

Just completed my Aurora Indica grow, check out my grow, you may be able to learn from my mistakes. The grow did come out very well. Good luck