Hi everyone!

Before I start, I will post a link to my research thread: "DIY Projector to Grow Box - can it be done?"

The gist of the above post is that I have replaced my DIY Projector with an LCD TV. The projector was powered by a 400W MH light, so I figured what the hell, let's grow some weed! The problem is, the grow area is quite confined. I am limited to about 14-16" vertical space, and 1.41 sqft of area. I toyed with doing ScrOG, but then I came across 12/12; apparently this will result in 14-16" plants, so the choice was clear.

Here are some pictures of the projector after I finished converting it:





And the timer (wires cut open and spliced into the system)



After getting the box ready I germinated the seeds. I took a paper towel, wetted it, and let a bit of the water drip off. Then, I put 4 seeds on top, folded the paper towel around it, stuck it in an old jar, and put that on top of my computer monitor (thanks GrowFAQ). Worked like a charm! Two days later I had some nicely sprouted seeds.

More Pics!

This is how they arrived (Mail Order), in a little plastic tube stuck inside a carved out book. Very smuggle-esque!










Sooo, while the seeds were germinating, I decided to do some test runs on the grow box. As it turns out, a 400W light simply puts out too much heat to handle in such a small area. Even with the glass and two 120mm fans, temperatures at the very bottom of the box grew to the mid 30's Celsius. So, my seeds sprouted but they did not yet have a home.

I planted the seeds in 4 plastic containers with holes drilled in the bottome in a mixture of 75% Pro Mix HP and 25% Perlite and placed them under a (ugh) incandescent light for the short term. I tried to keep a 12/12 regimen, but I wasn't very strict with it. Also, I underestimated the power of the bulb, and placed it WAY too close to the pots. Luckily the plants were still underground, so all is well, but I got some nicely toasted perlite. After a day under the lamp, the first plant broke the surface.

The temporary home (sorry, forgot to rotate the pic):



Say Hello! (Notice the toasted perlite)



A Day Later




The Redesign

OK, so the 400W light was too much. Aiming for the ideal 10000 lumen/sqft light coverage, I decided a 250W HPS would be a good idea. You would think living in a big city, also one of the pot capitals of the world (starts with a V!), you'd be able to find a 250w digital ballast. Nope! I spent all Sunday running around looking for one, but couldn't find one.

The first shop I went to suggested CFL growlights. I didn't want to at first, but after thinking about it for a while (especially the time and cost of ordering a ballast online), I decided to go for it. I bought two 2700k 125W CFL lights for the grow. That provides the lumens I want, and the lights can be touched with bare skin after hours of operation. A definate step up. With these new lights, I needed a new design for my box.

I took a think piece of particle board, and glued foil to one side of it. Then, I drilled little holes through it to run string through. The string loops around the lights haning on the bottom (shiny side) of the board. Next, I stapled/tied some fishing line in a pattern that would spread the weight across the whole board as well as provide some balance. I tied some nylon string to two loops in the fishing line and ran that string over some pulleys at the top of the box. I can now adjust the height of the lamp very easily with two strings. To keep the lights in place, I simply wrap the excess string around some screws and tighten them down with a srew and washer.

Pictures will describe this much better than words:

See the diagonal manner in which the fishing line is attached:



Pulleys at the top of the box:



Just my bad luck though, due to manufacturing differences, one of the two CFL's was slightly longer than the other. The first one fit in with about 2mm to spare (yes, millimeters), while the other was too large by the same amount. After yet another trip to the store to swap it for another, I was in business.



Location, Location, Location

I live in a standard appartment, with a standard balcony. Lucky for me, the position of my appartment in the building leaves my balcony quite shielded from view. I have set up a table at one end of the balcony, grown a wall of Morning Glories to cover it (helloooooooo LSA), and piled various things around it. From street level, you can barely see the table. Around the side of the table, I have used black material to hide the area underneath from view. This is where the grow box will grow. The plan was that fresh air would have plent of CO2 from cars, and the cooler temperatures outside would help keep the box in check. Also, my appartment won't smell like a grow-op!

Well, I built the little hideout quite well. It is completely light proof, so no one will know what's going on inside. Unfortunetly, being light proof also means being relatively air tight (well, tight enough to discourage circulation). So, while the box is well ventilated, the area it sits in is NOT!

Last night was the first night in the hideout, and when I checked the temps this morning after about 6 hours, it was 38C (about 100F)!!! Ahh! Opening the curtain a crack dropped the temperature to 29C. The plants seem to have survived, but one was almost lying down!

HELP!

What would you do? I need to either:

• Ventilate the space. But how do I do that without letting light get out?
• Move the box inside, where it will have no curtain but this be in plain view in my appartment...

Anybody have any ideas?

Thanks for tuning in. I will snap some more pics, as the plants are a bit further along that shown here. For the short term, the box is coming back inside, but I need to find a better solution...

Hi all,

OK, so, I have the temperature issue under control. Here's what I did to solve it.

• Raised the light (duh)
• Removed one of the side doors to my ex-projector, and replaced it with a 90 degree central heating duct. You know, the ones that attach to the floor grills, then bend 90 degrees to run the duct under the floorboards.

The duct has 3 80mm fan holes (but only 2 fans right now) and connects to vinyl air hose which runs from from within the curtained off grow area to outside of it. It is sucking in nice cool air from outside at enough CFM to change all of the air in the box several times per minute.

When I add the third fan and upgrade my handiwork (it was a quick job), I will take some pictures of not only the duct, but the whole grow area so people can get a sense for what I'm talking about.

How are the plants doing?

Great, I think. Here, judge for yourself. This is the 18'th day.






I did notice a little bit of burn on one of the plants though. A quick look at the GrowFAQ leads me to believe I am over-fertilizing, perhaps?



I am watering the plants once every three days. The soil is usually dry by the time I water, but I check it daily and if it's still a bit moist I leave it a while longer. I've read that letting things get a bit dry will encourage root growth. Is that correct?

To be honest, I haven't put much though into the nutrients. I have a bottle of Schultz All Purpose 10-15-10 Liquid Plant Food with Micronutrients. The Guaranteed minimum analysis is as follows:

• Nitrogen (N): 10%
• Phosphate (P2O5): 15%
• Potash (K2O): 10%
• Iron: 0.10%
• Manganese: 0.05%
• Zinc: 0.05%
• EDTA (chelating agent): 1.3%

I am using the recommended amount for indoor plants, which is much lower than for outdoor plants. I am considering either a) using less fertilizer, or b) skipping the fertilizer every second watering.

Any opinions?

Finally, according to what I've read, plants on 12/12 should show sex in the 2-3 week range, which I am right in the middle of.

The following are close up shots of the "crotches" of the stems. I have labeled my plants 1-4, and the following pictures are in that order.

I don't think they are showing sex yet, but if you guys see anything, please help me out. If you need better shots of one of the plants, let me know which one, and I will do my best. I have a cheap macro adapter which may help a little.

This is a test post.

I tried to add a new entry to my grow journal a few days ago, and the forum said it would need to be moderated first. Maybe I accidentally submitted a new thread? If this works, I will re-submit my previous post.

edit: Well, it seems it did work. Moderators: Sorry, please cancel my post from a few days ago. I must have accidentally started a new thread...

So, the post:

Hi all,

OK, so, I have the temperature issue under control. Here's what I did to solve it.

• Raised the light (duh)
• Removed one of the side doors to my ex-projector, and replaced it with a 90 degree central heating duct. You know, the ones that attach to the floor grills, then bend 90 degrees to run the duct under the floorboards.

The duct has 3 80mm fan holes (but only 2 fans right now) and connects to vinyl air hose which runs from from within the curtained off grow area to outside of it. It is sucking in nice cool air from outside at enough CFM to change all of the air in the box several times per minute.

When I add the third fan and upgrade my handiwork (it was a quick job), I will take some pictures of not only the duct, but the whole grow area so people can get a sense for what I'm talking about.

How are the plants doing?

Great, I think. Here, judge for yourself. This is the 18'th day.






I did notice a little bit of burn on one of the plants though. A quick look at the GrowFAQ leads me to believe I am over-fertilizing, perhaps?



I am watering the plants once every three days. The soil is usually dry by the time I water, but I check it daily and if it's still a bit moist I leave it a while longer. I've read that letting things get a bit dry will encourage root growth. Is that correct?

To be honest, I haven't put much though into the nutrients. I have a bottle of Schultz All Purpose 10-15-10 Liquid Plant Food with Micronutrients. The Guaranteed minimum analysis is as follows:

* Nitrogen (N): 10%
* Phosphate (P2O5): 15%
* Potash (K2O): 10%
* Iron: 0.10%
* Manganese: 0.05%
* Zinc: 0.05%
* EDTA (chelating agent): 1.3%

I am using the recommended amount for indoor plants, which is much lower than for outdoor plants. I am considering either a) using less fertilizer, or b) skipping the fertilizer every second watering.

Any opinions?

Finally, according to what I've read, plants on 12/12 should show sex in the 2-3 week range, which I am right in the middle of.

The following are close up shots of the "crotches" of the stems. I have labeled my plants 1-4, and the following pictures are in that order.









I don't think they are showing sex yet, but if you guys see anything, please help me out. If you need better shots of one of the plants, let me know which one, and I will do my best. I have a cheap macro adapter which may help a little.

New Info

Since I wrote the above post a few days ago, I have watered the plants again. You will notice in the pics above, that the topmost leaves of the canopy have a bright green tint. Well, that tint has gotten stronger, and the burns are showing up in more places.

I am thinking now that this is just heat stress, and not over-fertilization at all. Thinking about it, that is much more likely, since I do have 250W in a very confined space.

I just raised the light some more (I realized my thermometer's sensor was at the soil level, not the canopy level). However, I don't have that much more space above. I think I may redesign my lighting system.

I might use some 1"x1" wood beams to build the frame of a cuboid that fits into the top of my grow box. This will have a sheet of heat treated glass from my projector in it to block most of the heat. Then I will probably add a dedicated fan to the light just to move the heat away and hopefully towards the exhaust fans at the top of the box.

Tomorrow I will take some shots of the plants as they are now. Hopefully I will be able to see some sex signs, and you folks can help me confirm what ails my plants

Cheers.

Hey man looking good!!! Few things. First, Great move on getting the CFL's....there by far the best option when your working in a tiny spot. Definitly keep with em. I would definitly recomend LST...your plants are gonna outgrow your space if you dont. I know Northern Lights is a short plant but even with 12/12 dwarf there gonna get atleast 2 ft unchecked. You gotta LST em...it also gives you about 30-50% more buds anyways so its definitly worth doing. I am also doing a micro grow...1.8x1.8x1.8 I am on my 2nd day of seeds sprouting. I will be switching to 12/12 tonight. Also I would suggest keeping only 1 female...pick the best cuz you only got room for 1 in there. IM germin 5 and sexin 3-4 not sure yet to get the best female. You shouldnt be having heat problems if you got it vented right. my lil cube stays a constant 75ish. You got an outtake? if so is it bigger then your intake? if not u got equal pressure=minimal airflow you want ur out take to be bigger then intake. Id also recomend getting a lil 4" fan from wallmart to blow on your plants and lights. There like $5 This is a key thing in small spaces and what i give credit to my good temps. It keeps temps down and simulates wind which gives your plants much stronger stems. And I dont know if you do or not but make sure you got the right ballasts for thos big cfls those cfl's require a differnt ballast then a normal light. You have a fire risk if ur using normal light ballasts. Hope this helps and check my log..im a couple weeks behind so well follow eachothers grows eh? should be fun! Im subscribing to this one. Good luck man ur girls are looking sexy.

Pce

__________________
CFL Growers Motto."I Do Cuz I Can, I Can Cuz I Want To, I Want To Cuz You Said I Couldn't"
http://www.rollitup.org/cfl-growing/...ml#post2175982

I am considering LST. I haven't read too much into it, but I was going to try something exotic like growing in a spiral! lol, maybe a but much for a first grow.

You really think I won't be able to fit two females? I know it will be tight, but I was hoping for two...

I have 2x 120mm fans (loud, high capacity ones) moving air OUT of the top of the box, and 2x 80mm quite fans moving air in. I am adding a third 80mm fan. Since the main opening in the box is the duct, the 120 mm fans draw through it by creating negative pressure even though they are not close to the duct.

Here are some pictures:

The area on my balcony


Box with 2 120mm fans on top:


The duct on the side:


The 2 (soon 3) fans on the inside of the duct.

Notice, I have one blowing down to where the plants are now, and one blowing level at about mid-box height. Where should I blow the third one? Up, level, or down?



The lights are self-ballasting

Thanks for the reply!

The medical situation

So, here are two shots from 5 minutes ago:




Is it:

• Heat stress
• Nute-burn (Don't really think so)
• Over watering (Don't really think so)

We are having quite a little heat wave here, so right now the temps are:

Day time (night for the plans) is around 30c (86 F) outside and 32c (89.6f) in the box. I can't really do anything about that... I'm probably the only one here who wants our shitty weather back!

Night time (day for the plants) is around 20c (68 F) outside, and 30c (86 F) inside.

Thing is, when it's NOT this hot (which is most of the time), the temps are pretty much in check. Right now, though, they are really pushing my plants to the limit and there isn't much I can do about it! It sucks!

Anyways, I'd like to get this sorted soon. I really hope it's not heat, because everything else is fixable.

Thanks!

excellent work so far, i can see two easily fixed problems where you can kill 2 birds with one stone:

1) the pots are too small
2) the pots are transparent (light damages roots)

upgrade them to pots with at least 2x the substrate, and make sure that they arnt transparent. take a quick peek at my grow for the size pots you want (my plants look to be at exactly the same stage as yours)

other than that i really wouldnt sorry about a few little bits of discolouration here and there, its perfectly natural.

__________________
6 strain grow completed and its Harvest thread

Right, I forgot to mention that. These are temporary. Once I know the sex and discard the males, I will move the 1 or 2 females to a large, opaque pot which is already prepared.

SEXY TIME

Alright! It's time to get these plants out of the tiny containers they are in. The roots are starting to press up against the sides! I've been waiting until they show sex... and they are!

I am not putting the pictures directly into the thread, because I have flooded this journal with hi-res images, which can probably get annoying to those with small monitors/slow internet.

Oh, what the hell. Just one direct image. Ladies and Gentlemen, plant #1, my only CONFIRMED female:



Here are the links to the rest.
Please help me sex them!

Plant 1 (Female)

• Day 21: bayimg - image: web28-p1-d21.jpg - free uncensored image hosting
• Day 22: bayimg - image: web29-p1-d22.jpg - free uncensored image hosting
• Day 22: bayimg - image: web30-p1-d22.jpg - free uncensored image hosting

Plant 2 (Probably not female)

• Day 21: bayimg - image: web31-p2-d21.jpg - free uncensored image hosting
• Day 22: bayimg - image: web32-p2-d22.jpg - free uncensored image hosting

Plant 3 (Perhaps?)

• Day 21: bayimg - image: web33-p3-d21.jpg - free uncensored image hosting
• Day 22: bayimg - image: web34-p3-d22.jpg - free uncensored image hosting

Plant 4 (Perhaps?)

• Day 21: bayimg - image: web35-p4-d21.jpg - free uncensored image hosting
• Day 22: bayimg - image: web36-p4-d22.jpg - free uncensored image hosting

Comments Please! I want to get the females into the larger pot ASAP!

Thanks!

well plant number one looks like a female the rest dont seem to be showing pre-flowers yet just post some pics of them as they start to mature if there male you should start to see kind of a ball rather than a oval shaped flower with a hair or two sticking out of it, also some may hermie so watch out