Starting this a bit late, but now that I feel I've gotten into some type of 'flow' I wanted to share my experience with my first grow, and how it's been going =]


I have ordered seeds, and received them but wanted a grow under my belt before attempting anything with expensive seeds =O

I intended on going with a HPS, and a aeroponic system my first time around, but I decided against it not being able to have a system making noise (exhaust fans, etc) so I couldnt get the HPS I wanted to go with (at least not now)

I germinated my seeds with the paper paper towel method. Put them directly into these rockwool starter cubes (which I do not like!) http://htgsupply.com/viewproductSo .asp?productID=50867

Pic of the temp box


Just a large storage container. I was using this light
High Tech Garden Supply
I didn't do enough research and this light only produced 4,000 lumens!



I did quite a few things wrong from the get go =O. Let me list them....

1 - I used bad water. Tap water had a ph of 8.0+!!!!
2 - Over watered!
3 - Let my plants become rootbound!
4 - Lights too far away
I fixed my water problem originally by using a brita filter to water. That brought the ph down, but I didn't feel the water was that great still. I've been using bottled distilled water from the grocery, and it's been working well.

I was drowning my plants in the beginning. I just didn't know any better. Was so worried about my plants drying up. Didn't realize I was just slowing things down!!!

Like I said I originally intended to go aeroponic so I had started in rockwool...Well..BAD IDEA! Since I ended up going soil I should have moved the rockwool into the soil much sooner. The roots were all over the place out the bottom and I'm sure it kept the plants from growing.

I kept my lights wayyyyy too far away from the start. Was scared of heat. But that t5 produces none.

Here is a pic around 2 weeks


Now here is a pic a week after moving them into soil


Then a few days later



Ok..now remember were still in that crappy storage container.

Well here is my cabinet I built =]





Those pictures were before I finished painting, and sealing the box.

The picture of the back shows my intake, and the picture of the side shows my exhaust & cord hole.

The intake/exhaust fans are these
Newegg.com - Scythe S-FLEX SFF21E 120mm Case Fan - Case Fans
They are super quiet! Well worth every penny.

I used 6" flexible duct I got off ebay to take care of light getting in/out. I painted the inside of the duct black before installing it. Also each duct has 2 90degree bends (not shown in picture didnt do this till after lights were installed) to keep light from reflecting in.

I used 2 of these lights for the cabinet
High Tech Garden Supply
10,000 lumens each! These things are great!!! Produce barely any heat, and I'm amazed at how well they are working.

I needed my setup quiet, so therefore I couldn't have any crazy exhaust or intake fans. So these pc fans & lights worked perfect together.

My temps have been 73-80.

Here are pics after the plants being in the cabinet under these lights after 1 week




I started flowering them 8 days ago. I gave them their second dose of nutes 2 days ago and they are loving it =]. No signs of nute burn.

I know it's crazy I still have these in dixie cups, but I need to sex them before I replant. I can't afford anymore $ in this grow right now. Next time around I'll purchasing some smaller square pots to use, but for this first time dixie cups are doing fine =p

Anyways after a week of flowering i'm already seeing some plants sex

Found my first male tonight


I am hoping these mights be females, al though it's only been 8 days (hoping to finish sexing by next weekend)



Only time will tell =]

I will be using 7" pots for whatever turns out to be female. I have 8 available spots! So with 14 plants now I have a decent chance at getting that. Long as I get 4 I'll be happy!

I'm using Fox Farms Ocean Forest Soil, and all fox farm nutes (big bloom, grow big, tiger bloom). I love their products, and the local hydro store sells them all as well (buying locally is nice sometimes).

Those sex pics were from just like an hour ago, and so is this pic


Things are looking good! My intentions of this cabinet and setup were to do sea of green and keep the plants short. I'm not sure anymore though. I'm suprised at how the lights are penetrating. The lower growth on the plants seems to be great, and I'm super over crowded right now since I still haven't sexed yet.

I hope since I started flowering about 6" - 7" I'll end up with 18" - 24" plants. I built room for extra, but that is the size I was hoping to obtain. Guess will find out soon enough =]. Let me go measure the plants now to guage how much growth we've had after 8 days of flowering.

Ok...biggest plant is only 10" tall from the soil to the tippity top. From what i was told most upward growth should stop after 2-3 weeks of flowering. So even if they double again I'm still where I wanted to be =].

I will continue to add pictures once a week to this thread.

I will be removing males as I find them all week, and will be sure to post pictures of a few more males, and all the females once I identify them.

The ladies will all be moved into 7" square pots (1.6 gallon). These size pots should be perfect size for the height of the plants I want.

I'm praying for 8 ladies!

anyways gnite <3

Very nice I like the setup about how much total did it cost you to build your box setup? What lights are you using in there also?

__________________
Life is like a penis most people dont know it, but most people suck so they usally blow it - Jimmy Pop

Box was kinda pricey =O

After the wood, hinges, and misc things to seal it all up cost me about $200+

I am using 2 of these lights inside it High Tech Garden Supply

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1st Grow Journal (bag seed, t5's) - http://www.rollitup.org/grow-journal...seed-cfls.html

Okay heres the story.......i germinated the seeds in this dark eye glasses case in a wet paper towel that i find out to be very usefull.....but its only one seed just to experiment.when it sprouted i put it in this cactus soil i got at walmart..(which only costs 3 dollars and has excellent drainage)and i plant it in the soil for the first time and sat it in the morning sun all day(because im still setting up my grow area)..and for some odd reason the other part os the seed is stuck on the top so now the leaves are stuck together in a little ball like thing.....so what do i do?......do i juss take it off by myself of is it natural in the first couple days......?
Please help me.........

Very nice If i had the money I would love to do something like that for mine!

808fatclouds
I've never had that problem nor have i heard of it being like a ball, If i was you I'd just let it's self work it out I wouldn't mess around with the plant.

__________________
Life is like a penis most people dont know it, but most people suck so they usally blow it - Jimmy Pop

*UPDATE*

No time for pics tonight (sorry) =O

But I just opened up the cab to see how my babies were doing. Didn't see anymore males. Noticing more plants with white pistols by the day though =]

Hoping to pick out the 8 best females by the weekend and get rid of the excess plants. I'm sure my ladies are dying to move into their new pots.

The few males I removed so far I pulled out of the dixie cup and rootbound was an under statement! The roots were wrapped around the bottom of the cup many many many many many times!

The plants are doing well though...I gave them their closest dose of full nutes yesterday and as of today no signs of nute burn. I will water the next to 2 times with just plain water then give them a full dose for the next feeding after that.

I am however having some issues with plant heights. Some plants are much taller then others. Since im using bagseed lot of misc strands. I was forced to pinch 3 plants tonight to be able to keep my lights somewhat close to the rest of the plants.

Will be sure to post some pictures this weekend when I have my 8 ladies picked out and transplant them into the larger pots <3

__________________
1st Grow Journal (bag seed, t5's) - http://www.rollitup.org/grow-journal...seed-cfls.html

nice looking forward to new pics, i think i might get 2 of those fans

Couldn't sleep so I did some topping/pinching (whatever you want to call it) and took a few pics.

Only reason I topped a few plants was because my bag seed is obviously random strains and some are much taller then others. So I'm trying to give some of the smaller plants time to catch up.

anyways pics =p

BTW it's day 12 of flowering

__________________
1st Grow Journal (bag seed, t5's) - http://www.rollitup.org/grow-journal...seed-cfls.html

i want to build a box like that going especailly down the road when get into the g-13 and it strains like that.. heres a pic of my closet room thing i'm thankful space isn't a issue but hope fully it will!!!

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im growing in pretty much the same thing as you, but i didn't build it myself, it will be interesting to see how this turns out, i have a heat issue even though my plants look really good, hits the 90's alot because i dont have any ventilation like you in the back, i just have a opening in the back for air and a fan inside