Indoor Growing Jethro's Stealth CFL Closet Build and Grow
in the The Grow Room
forums; I wanted to post this in the grow-log section, but apparently my thread would need to be reviewed to be ...
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Jethro's Stealth CFL Closet Build and Grow
I wanted to post this in the grow-log section, but apparently my thread would need to be reviewed to be put in there, so I'll just plop it here.
I've been keeping a personal journal of my grow on the side for a while, and I decided to share it with you guys. This is my first grow as well as my first box build. I watched a couple DVDs about growing and such, and then went to work with construction of my box. I spent more than I had originally anticipated, but that was because I decided to use higher grade plastic containers than the average person. I'll detail everything in order below. I'll go over the build first, and then the grow.
Pack a big bowl as this adventure has already been going for a month at this point and it will be a big read.
Construction
I had been browsing the net when I came across a link to a little closet RubberMaid grow that one gentleman setup (I believe he's Canadian too). Here's the link to his grow.
So, I swung by the local Home Depot and various others (Canadian Tire, Princess Auto, Wal-Mart, etc.) to pick up the needed supplies. The other guy said he spent approximately $140 on his setup. I figured he snagged some good deals and such, so I budgeted for about $175 to cover the box, lighting, wiring, PC fans, and any other little thing.
The containers worked out to be about $30/piece. This was quite a bit of cash to throw at the boxes, but I just loved their oh-so-perfect size for the closet. They are like 2" narrower than the closet I planned for them, so it was maximum utilization of the space.
Here's where I mounted a 120mm Thermaltake PC fan that pushes 78CFM. This will serve as only exhaust port on the box.
Some more initial construction photos.
Mounting the monitors for the box. The temperature gauge records highs and lows automatically.
Initial light install. At this point, it's powered by 7x27w CFL bulbs from Wal-Mart. I think they were $12 for a 4-pack of them. So, $3/bulb isn't too much of an investment. If you did your math there, you'll notice I purchased 8 bulbs but only 7 are in use. I accidentally only half screwed in one bulb and it fell out on the first upside-down test. I spent the next 10minutes cleaning up the glass. 
Some test fits.
The Plants
I decided that buying seeds and germinating them would be too difficult for my limited experience. Instead, I opted to get clones from a friend. I knew I wouldn't be able to ask anything about strains since it was piratically a miracle I could get the plant anywhere. So, two clones entered the box on the evening of April 16, 2007. Here they are in all their over-watered, over-fed, and over-grown glory. They were very ready to root.
April 16, 2007
I re-potted the plants in some no-soil mix from the local hydroponic store.
The food.
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April 18, 2007
Switched the lighting from 7x27w (189w and 10,300 lumen) to 6x27w + 2x43w (248w and 13,800 lumen).
The ladies are looking good.
April 21, 2007
Added some mylar to the box. Nothing else really new.
April 23, 2007
The plants are growing like weeds.
Plant 1
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v374/sockington/tcc/gardencure/april23/02.jpg]/img]
Plant 2
April 24, 2007
LST started today.
April 26, 2007
The weaker plant was infected with some spider mites, and thrips.This is where the adventure started.
The course of action? Under recommendations from the local hydroponic store (the guy is a medicinal grower), he suggested cranking the humidity to 100% for two weeks as well as this "Doktor Doom" insecticide spray to contain the outbreak. As well, all infected leaves were trimmed and the remainder where inspected for damage. I knew that places like to push product, but having the spray isn't a bad thing.
April 29, 2007
The plants really took a hard hit with the pesticide. Most of the leaves got damaged and chemical burns. This really slowed growth for a week or so.
April 30, 2007
I switched the lighting down to 2x43w + 4x27w to reduce the heat. It worked perfect.
May 3, 2007
Nothing really new. The plants are still recovering from the spray and the bugs.
May 6, 2007
The plants are looking better. I named this one "Lazarus" as it rose from the dead. The other one is now named "Jesus" to be his partner in crime. Heh.
May 7, 2007
Another day in the box.
May 10, 2007
Things are looking much better. I topped one plant since it was out-growing the other and clone was needed for something else. [IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/SOCKIN%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/msohtml1/01/clip_image002.gif[/IMG]
May 16, 2007
This is the last day of vegetation before being switched to flowering.
The carbon filter setup.
May 19, 2007 - Day 1 of Flowering
First day of flowering. Switched food to Growtek's Bloom food along with some Advanced Nutrient System's, "Bud Blood." I hope this will be able to control the first couple weeks of flowering "super-growth."
May 20, 2007 - Day 2 of Flowering
Lots of stretch. Healthy though!
May 22, 2007 - Day 4 of Flowering
More LST fun.
May 24, 2007 - Day 6 of Flowering
The plant has some light burn on the tips from before May 22nd's LST.
Last edited by JethroTull; 05-26-2007 at 06:35 PM.
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looks too early to tell from the pictures. Everything there just looks like new growth, doesn't look like it's showing yet. If you see nice white pistils your in the clear. The setup looks really good, well thought out and you seem very in control of your environment.
Good luck, you should get a nice little result from your system.
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Ganja Smoker
Pot Head
That's a nice setup, and one that's easy to upgrade the lights, etc.
However, I think there is one dramatic improvement you could make to make this system a lot better.
Install some mechanism to lower and raise the lights. Lumen output greatly diminishes as distance from plant increases. CFL grows are very successful if you can keep the bulbs within at least 4" of the plants. At least for the wattage you are using.
This would keep your plants from stretching so much, and speed up your grow.
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Nice setup...you got any sweet ass car pics? You have to have a muscle car somwhere
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Originally Posted by
FirstTimeGrow
This would keep your plants from stretching so much, and speed up your grow.
I put various buckets underneath the plants to boost them higher. 
If you can't lower the lights, raise the plants. 
Originally Posted by
Cugine
Nice setup...you got any sweet ass car pics? You have to have a muscle car somwhere
Nope. No muscle car for me. My toy barely has the torque to turn the wheels.
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Originally Posted by
JethroTull
I put various buckets underneath the plants to boost them higher.
If you can't lower the lights, raise the plants.
Nope. No muscle car for me. My toy barely has the torque to turn the wheels.
Dammit man....lol..
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Originally Posted by
Cugine
Dammit man....lol..
The rest of the lineup doesn't really fit either. 
97' Nissan Altima SE
90' Nissan 240sx SE
87' Toyota MR2 (as seen above)
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