I'm gonna start by telling the story of my first grow.

I started growing six months ago, in my bedroom at my parents' house. I had a bookshelf that had sliding doors at the bottom which revealed a compact growing space where I could start my babies. I started saving seeds from random bags, mostly mid grade and other seedy bags. Originally I was super-sketched out and I devised a foolproof plan. I constructed a grow box out of cardboard, taped foil to the inside and put small tap lights at the top of the box. I figured as long as there was light, my plants would be fine. Needless to say, I had not done much research. The tap lights were on at all times and I kept having to replace the batteries. Eventually I got tired of these tap lights and I instead took the plants out of the box and grew right in the compartment in the bookshelf. I used a 15-watt fluorescent tube, soft white, and left it on at all times. During this time I was over-watering my plants, was not regulating temp or humidity, and had no air circulation whatsoever. The only time my plants came out was at night, while my parents were sleeping.

They grew under these conditions for several months. The veg stage took much longer than I had anticipated. Keep in mind my plants are only getting water, and are growing in plain potting soil (no nutrients). I also never topped, fimmed or trimmed my plants whatsoever. That was the sort of thing I was afraid to try. So about three months in, my plants were growing too tall to fit in the bookshelf, I had to move them outside. I had five plants at the time, and this was going to be difficult. My parents were sleeping one night and a friend of mine and I took the plants out of the house and into my car, by stuffing them in my soft guitar case after covering them with black plastic bags. A few were in my friend's large, loose purse. They were growing in cut-off two liter bottles at the time. I moved them to a place in the woods near my house, and put them right on the edge of the trees because it was night time and I figured they'd be fine overnight. I left the garbage bags on to hide them, though in retrospect I should have left them uncovered.

I went back the next day and carried them out to a deeper spot, where I put them in trees. I brought five plants out in to the woods, but only three survived the move. I never knew whether these were girls or boys.

The plants stayed out there for two or three months. It's hard to remember exactly. I would take trips back there every week or two to pour a load of water on them, and every once in a while a capful of Miracle Gro Pour-n-feed plant food, and was otherwise relying on the rain. I should probably mention also that I transplanted them into larger pots. Two of them, that is. The other one dried out pretty quickly and didn't make it. So I was left with two plants up in trees, doing the best they can. I was lucky enough to have one of these turn out to be a girl. I found this out when I took a trip out there and found that there was a tiny flower starting on top. The other was too far up in the tree for me to tell, but I assumed it was a girl.

After they had been out there for a while and had started to flower, I moved out of my parents house and finally had a place I could grow conveniently. When I went back to take the plants down, the girl was looking pretty good, and I found out the other one was a big tall boy with plenty of pollen sacs. This one had been flowering for a good while. The girl was not too far away, and I got pretty worried that she would start making seeds. I moved her into my new place and that's where she is now.

When I moved her inside, I had no lights suitable for growing a large plant. I still had not been doing much research, and I went out and bought what I assumed was a good light. I ended up with a warm white 18-watt bulb, which I thought was just fine. My plant had been growing in my closet with this light for a month or so before she made her first and only seed. I had no idea what it was until it was already a whole seed.

I removed the seed and eventually put five 26-watt soft white CFLs on it, after joining this forum (thanks to the bubbleheads). My plant has been flowering for a long time, and seemed to be taking way too long. I figured this was from a lack of proper nutrients, and so I made a new custom soil mix using bat guano, potting soil, peat moss and bone meal, then kept feeding it with pour-n-feed. After a bit of root shock, the flowering took off pretty well. I don't know exactly how long she's been flowering, but it has been well over three or four months. I know she's not done, though. Not enough orange hairs.

Anyway, now that I told you this horrible story of abuse, I figure I should show you some pictures.

Attached Images

	IMG_1398.JPG (240.6 KB, 91 views)
	IMG_1399.JPG (236.8 KB, 78 views)
	IMG_1403.JPG (178.6 KB, 76 views)
	IMG_1400.JPG (215.8 KB, 75 views)

oh the joys of a first grow..
good luck..!

After this grow I have done a lot of research. I feel like bubbleponics is going to be a fun experience. I set up my system today with materials I got at a local hardware store and fish store. These babies are all bagseeds as well, because I know now that I'm going to make plenty of mistakes, and I want to work out the kinks before I spend big money on good genetics. I went with peat pellets instead of rockwool and pea gravel instead of hydroton, because I already had these and I figure it will probably still work. If not, I'll make the investment. I'm growing with plain water right now, feeder tubes to three of the four pots. The one I am not tube feeding I will be watering manually, and I labeled it accordingly. I did this to demonstrate the difference between DWC and bubbleponics, both for myself and for you guys. I figure the more of us that do so, the easier it will be to prove the point. Plus I just want to see for myself. I ph-adjusted my water today and started feeding the roots with the feeder tubes, and watered the manual one. They are growing under two 26-watt daylight 6500K CFLs. I'll be picking up a timer and bigger lights soon, and I have some General Hydroponics FlorGro on the way. I'll update when I see some new nodes!

P.S. - I know this method works, but I gotta say I'm a little concerned about light pollution. I did the best I could with the pots (using sticky fabric electrical tape), but the white paint bucket lets in a lot of light anyways. I may wrap it with some thick black plastic sheeting, since I'll be upgrading the lights.

That's it for now, more to follow!

Attached Images

IMG_1397.JPG (192.0 KB, 31 views)

By the way, I also put four seeds in soil, so I could do a Bubbleponics vs. DWC vs. Soil grow-off. I'll try to keep things as even as I can other than the growing media. This is mostly for my own curiosity.

Looking good bro. +rep for the comparisons! Cheers!

__________________
Hooked on 'ponics works for me!

Nice work so far. Scribed. +rep for the ingenuity!

__________________
Come check out my first grow HERE!

here ... if u want a GOOD light for that girl then get this http://www.4hydroponics.com/lighting/sl-pulsar.asp

it is a mini, either 250w or 400w the ballast is in the hood, and it is switchable so u can use mh or hps in it (giving the proper light spectrum for the staeg of growth)
and it comes with both bulbs ... ull be shocked ... it is MUCH MUCH more effiecent then ANY cfl... buds will be bigger,, denser, all around MUCH better.. i have done both.. and will NEVER use cfls again.

__________________
Everything i say is a lie!!
HEY!!! http://www.rollitup.org/general-mari...ml#post3383728

I'm thinking that if this grow works out well I'll probably invest in and HPS system, but I can't afford it right now. CFLs seem to be good for beginners, and low on heat too. Plus they're cheap as hell and last forever!

__________________
My DIY bucket: http://www.rollitup.org/grow-journal...-go-again.html
My journal and posts are fictitious

Ok, so my babies have been in the bucket for two days, no nutes, and they're still growing. I've got my third nodes coming out now, can't wait to see how they take off once the roots grow through!

__________________
My DIY bucket: http://www.rollitup.org/grow-journal...-go-again.html
My journal and posts are fictitious

Here's some pics of my babies and the inside of the bucket. You can see why I'm worried about light getting in.

Attached Images

	IMG_1408.JPG (61.1 KB, 16 views)
	IMG_1409.JPG (68.6 KB, 14 views)
	IMG_1410.JPG (75.2 KB, 15 views)
	IMG_1413.JPG (63.4 KB, 21 views)
	IMG_1415.JPG (85.6 KB, 27 views)

__________________
My DIY bucket: http://www.rollitup.org/grow-journal...-go-again.html
My journal and posts are fictitious