FIRST TIMERS DOING IT THE RIGHT WAY!

Wake and Bake my fellow Grow Pros & Joes!! Welcome to the grow journal. I know there are a million of these things on here for you to learn from and watch, but this one right here is being done the right way. no PC Cases, No cardboard boxes, no closets. We have set up a relative low cost (under 250 spent, plus one day of hell building the box) in which we will be growing anywhere from 6-10 babies for our first time around.

THE BOX: It stands 4'5" tall, is 3' across and a little more than 2' deep. We built this bad boy from scratch. Pieced together one ass kicking frame, sided with half inch thick wood panelling, you know the kind you find in your grand parents basement circa 1974. The panelling already came painted with a glossy white on one side which was PERFECT, saved us some time and me making one hell of a mess with paint! This thing is solid. We were going to half ass it and make a big refrigerator box into a closet style room of some sort, but for how cheap you can build yourself a proper grow box, do it!

GRAB SOME AIR: Built inside we have a Holmes Dust and Pollen Filter Exhaust Fan and built in electrical input both flush with the roof of the box. Down below we have one air intake hole on each side cut out and filled with a threaded 1.5" 90 degree elbow pipe. We haven't put our 8 inch desk fan wind source in there yet, but will when required.

POWER: As I mentioned above, we put an electrical socket right in the box flush with the roof, perfect for plugging an extension in to covers all your needs with lights and fans. We have 2 150 Watt CFL's with soft light and 4 100 Watt CFL's with soft light. It glows like an x-ray machine opened up, but with the doors closed, she's sealed up tight. Everything for lights are on electronic timer for the 18/6 veg cycle. Temp inside with lights all on is about 80-82F, or 26 to 28 degrees celsius for our stellar Canadian content of growers. Will be re-arranging the lights here in the next couple of days to properly distribute the light around the box and plants. Putting lights in on the side I hear works great for more buds down low and on outside limbs. More buds, mmmmm.

It took the better part of the day and a good chunk of the night for two dudes with average construction knowledge to put this beast together. Its very lightweight and easy to move. but if we can do it, so can you!

GREENERY: Started from seed, have 7 White Widow Manitoba's germinated and already planted and popped, see the pics...

On the side I have one Hash Berry who is coming along quite nicely and has been sitting under another sealed CFL location for about a week now.

Check out a few of the photos I've attached here and check back in 3 days for another update and more photos!

Feel free to comment or question on anything. May we all yield fat buds.

Burn To Shine.

BDJ

Attached Images

	IMG_1846.jpg (36.1 KB, 158 views)
	IMG_1848.jpg (38.0 KB, 212 views)
	IMG_1850.jpg (17.3 KB, 162 views)
	IMG_1851.jpg (28.6 KB, 176 views)
	IMG_1852.jpg (19.7 KB, 173 views)
	IMG_1853.jpg (53.6 KB, 152 views)
	IMG_1854.jpg (69.9 KB, 131 views)
	IMG_1861.jpg (55.9 KB, 156 views)
	IMG_1862.jpg (32.9 KB, 204 views)
	IMG_1867.jpg (41.6 KB, 122 views)
	IMG_1869.jpg (43.4 KB, 117 views)
	IMG_1877.jpg (72.1 KB, 138 views)
	IMG_1890.jpg (46.8 KB, 139 views)
	IMG_1886.jpg (60.5 KB, 107 views)
	IMG_1894.jpg (36.4 KB, 111 views)

Okay, so its been about 36 hours since my first post and a lot has happened! Its amazing how quickly these little ladies (we hope) will grow under the right light and conditions!

Chuck Norris, who is my Hash Berry plant is looking great. Fondly named Chuck Norris as this plant is tough as hell and cannot be killed! Its been through a lot in its short life but somehow is still pluggin' away! Its gettin' bushy too, which also fits well with Chuck Norris!

Ok, so the White Widow Manitoba's that were planted in their Dixie Cups on the 29th or April are looking great. I planted a total of 7 seeds and all 7 germinated and sprouted once in the soil. Only one of the 7 didn't make it. It sprouted okay, but after about 24 hours it was all brown and rolled over dead. One out of 7 though isn't bad at all. The other 6 are showing significant growth each morning after they've been back under the lights for an hour or so following dark period.

I've moved the small desk fan into the box now as well to compliment the Exhaust Filter system. I've heard that a small breeze in the box is good for stem strength, so I put it in there, the temp is still kickin' around 80 degrees as it should be and the leaves are gently blowin' in the wind!

Will check back in again in a couple of days with another update, check out a couple of updated pics just taken this morning...

Please leave some feedback and let me know how you think things are going. Its our first time and we'll greatly appreciate any tips you guys can hook us up with!

Attached Images

	PA030005.jpg (66.0 KB, 41 views)
	PA040012.jpg (67.4 KB, 53 views)
	PA040014.jpg (38.2 KB, 118 views)
	PA040009.jpg (71.8 KB, 60 views)

Good morning all. Woke up this morning and snapped a pic or two for your viewing pleasure. I won't be posting every day like this during the entire grow process, but I wanted all the newbies like me out there to see just how quickly things move during the grow process here in the beginning days.

Every time I crack the doors to the box and poke my head in, Chuck Norris has popped another leaf or two. Soil was getting a little dry so I gave it a good drink this morning just after the lights came on. I'll be interested to see at the end of the day today the progress made at this stage in one day after a watering. The plants just eat it up and burst with excitement in the form of new leaves!

Here's a pic or two, including the White Widow Manitoba's which are coming along fast, only 5 days old!

QUESTION: Check out the widows in the Dixie Cups, when do you think I should consider transplanting into their larger new homes? I've heard some people say do it ASAP and I've heard others says let them stay in the cups for a couple of weeks. Any tips???

Check back again in a couple of days for more pics and updates!

BDJ

Attached Images

	PA050020.jpg (65.9 KB, 29 views)
	PA050022.jpg (52.2 KB, 33 views)
	PA050024.jpg (56.0 KB, 45 views)
	PA050027.jpg (84.5 KB, 35 views)

Ok, been doing some reading and some pondering...

Do you guys think I am going to require more light power as I go on? Right now I am running: 2x 42W (150W)
4x 23W (100W)

The potential for 7 plants is there as I have that many freshly vegging now.
6 lights total right now, but I do have plenty of room to add more if required.

Can someone give me some input?

Thanks all.

i would toss in a couple more when they get a bit bigger, wouldnt worry too much now..but def need more light for 6 plants later in vegetative depending on how long u want them to veg for

We were toying with the idea of fitting in a couple of more fixtures and filling them with 2 more 150's. Thanks for your input, neMMMM, we will def go ahead and pop a couple of more in. I figured that we may require some more once the plants were larger. A lot of the stuff I've read/watched online has guys with CFL's using up to a dozen lights in some cases. A lot of those have the 23W/100W as their primary bulb. I'd like possibly 8-10 lights total, going half and half with 150's and 100's. Makin' a trip to Home Depot tonight to grab a small mountable 4" desk fan for inside the box, the one I have in there right now is a piece of shit. I'll grab a couple more big boy CFL's while I'm there.

Can anyone help me out with my question about transplanting? See above...

Ok so last night I stopped in at Home Of De Pot and grabbed another 150W CFL and another couple of 100's. I installed both new bulbs when I got home, whih leaves me with this...

3 x 150W
6 x 100W

The temp. warmed up bout 4 degrees and i'm up now to 88 degrees and I'd like to cool it down a bit more. I pumped up the speed on the exhaust to medium and turned the fan up a notch as well directing it a little offside to the plants.

Any ideas out there???

UPDATE: 3:07pm EST time now and the temp. has come down nicely. Dropped back down relatively quickly to my desirable temperature exactly.

QUESTION: I asked previously but heard nothing back yet. Does anyone have any suggestions on White Widow transplanting and how long I should leave them in their Dixie cups for? I've heard for a couple of weeks till they are a little bushy, and others have said do it ASAP. Can anyone help?

Just poked my head in the box and snapped a couple of new photos for ya's. One week ago today I put the little ones in the soil. They are coming along great for only day 7! More to come!!!

Attached Images

	PA060029.jpg (46.1 KB, 53 views)
	PA060030.jpg (51.6 KB, 46 views)
	PA060031.jpg (70.3 KB, 58 views)
	PA060032.jpg (61.0 KB, 46 views)

Looks awesome man. Nice healthy plants. Looks like you already transplanted but in the future I'de recommend transplanting as soon as you see roots sticking out your drainage holes. Good job on boosting the light - the more the better Keep it up

__________________
Gastanker's 1st Grow 6 plants 2 months 388w CFL 5.4oz + Current 700w CFL SCROG.

New double tent 50 plant grow started 9/29/09