A failure in progress

Greetings everyone I am new to the site and due to its mass amounts of information I have read through I am attempting my first shot at a crop. Please feel free to comment my journal or yell at me for doing something wrong. I am growing in a closet that's roughly 4ftx4ftx7ft. The strain etc... is unknown I acquired the seeds from a bag of good middies that are perfect to toke a few hours before bed (although they do tend to adversely effect my ability to play Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2). I didn't want to spend big bucks on good seed in case my efforts prove to be futile my first time around. I am using a 125 watt Sylvania Infa red bulb for my light source and an incredibly unsafe lamp to power it. I have a large fan as well as a small desk fan circulating air throughout the space. I have a hygrometer and thermometer mounted at the plants level which I use to monitor and maintain as well as graph out averages. I have two exhaust fans built into the door one bringing air in and one pushing air out. I am about two weeks into the process and so far things seem to be going swimmingly!


- Just an overview of my setup


- A little bit closer to the stars of the show! I read allot of peoples warnings of transplant shock so I started (after germination) my plants directly in their permanent 3gal homes (if this is a bad idea please smite me ) A few of them have the crooked dick syndrome (for lack of a better term) The others started off much the same way and have straightened up over the past few days hopefully the trend will continue!


- Extreme closeup Woooah! (every stoner enjoys Waynes world). My soil is comprised of a bag of Fox Farm's "Ocean Forest" potting soil and a brick of compressed coconut fibers (supposed to be great for maintaining moisture).
I am using Fox Farm's "Big Grow" liquid fertilizer (one tblspoon per gallon of water)


- I used two old fans out of a PC and an old 12volt adapter for my air return and exhaust. (Yet another fire hazard... at least I will get hi before burning to death!) These fans are built into the door I only turn them on for four hours a day or if the closet becomes too humid.


- Rob Zombie posted up when the fans are running! Now you see em...


-Now you don't... I found it fitting that the flip side of the poster is a pic of the creators of the song sweet leaf! Black Sabbath owns and they cover up my fans while not in use.

Well that's it for now I hope you found this interesting. Sorry for the poor picture quality I used a cell phone, I plan on getting a digital camera soon.

Until next time, Peace
- J-Breeze

looks pretty good, but one warning - it is waaay to early to fertilize - nothing but water for the first few weeks.

looks good but i would vegg with cfl or t5's , 24hrs then flower with the hps u should invest in a 400watter

Ozzie will raise suspicion.......He always does

Nice I'm digging the feedback guys much appreciated and I literally have a notepad that everything you say gets transcribed on.

-I will lay off the fertilizer for a week thanks.

-I will have enough money for a different light within a month hopefully and use the HPS when it is time thanks for the tip.

-Lastly Ozzie doesn't create suspicion unless people kill themselves with suicide solution in their tape deck hahaha . You are right though I should hang a picture of Jesus over it lol.

Thanks again,

- J-Breeze

how about a pic of this unsafe ballast and light

robert 14617 said:

how about a pic of this unsafe ballast and light

Click to expand...

Truthfully I misspoke in two instances... The bulb was given to me by a friend who used to grow and he told me it was an H.P.S. While attempting to photograph it for you I read the label and its actually an I.R... I should of relied on the fact that my friends are incompetent . And I lied to you all again when I referred to it as a ballast as it is just a regular glass lamp that I gutted. Sorry for my poor choice of words I will fix my original post to reflect these discoveries. However it is still unsafe as its directions specify not to exceed 60 watts. But manufacturers low ball these numbers to assure they don't get sued, whats an extra 65 watts right hahaha its only doubling the suggested limit! wall: me when my house burns down) But here is a closeup of it... you be the judge lol

Sadistikal87 said:

Truthfully I misspoke in two instances... The bulb was given to me by a friend who used to grow and he told me it was an H.P.S. While attempting to photograph it for you I read the label and its actually an I.R... I should of relied on the fact that my friends are incompetent . And I lied to you all again when I referred to it as a ballast as it is just a regular glass lamp that I gutted. Sorry for my poor choice of words I will fix my original post to reflect these discoveries. However it is still unsafe as its directions specify not to exceed 60 watts. But manufacturers low ball these numbers to assure they don't get sued, whats an extra 65 watts right hahaha its only doubling the suggested limit! wall: me when my house burns down) But here is a closeup of it... you be the judge lol

Click to expand...

The socket is really just a normal light socket and the light is a red spectrum flood light (there like $5) Toss it out man, grab a $8 pack of 32w or 23w 5500k CFL's and a Y splitter for another $2 and you'll be increasing the used spectrum the plants get by like %800, not to mention those Floods burn hot as F#$K. A 42w 5500k CFL gives off like 500% more used light and %1000 less heat than that bulb does (the % is just guesstimates but floods are a NO NO)

Still lookin good man, gonna have to watch

Alright man will do as soon as I get a chance to get to the store. Thank you so much for you're input. This community is awesome and very helpful to a beginner such as myself.

You guys kick ass keep it coming and thanks again!

J-Breeze

Forgot to say love the F'n poster man



But you do know that if you got a Poster of Sabbath before ozzy left to make his own band that by high-on metal head law you are required to also have a poster of Ozzy's 1 and only right hand man!
(RIP RR!)

"But you do know that if you got a Poster of Sabbath before ozzy left to make his own band that by high-on metal head law you are required to also have a poster of Ozzy's 1 and only right hand man!
(RIP RR!)"

Point taken, noted, and acted upon : )



R.I.P one of the greatest guitarists that have ever lived!

WoOoOT your the man

A few inches at a time.


Close up


I think I have mixed to much of the coconut fiber into my soil as I haven't watered my plants in several days and the soil is still extremely moist. (or I may have over-watered them a few days ago) This limits my ability to fertilize because I want to avoid root rot. Its also obvious now that my confusion with the light is hindering the growth of my plants. They just gotta hold out until wed. when I buy some 42 watt cfl's.

Oh and Sidv...

What is a "Y-splitter" ? I am unfamiliar to this. I am going to the shop on Wed. and want to grab one of those as you suggested but have no idea what I am looking for.

I still believe I have a chance to turn this one around... wish me luck!

There just the 1x to 2x adapters for lights.



(if you buy 3 of them and screw 2 into the 1. you end up with 4 cfl's in an X pattern on one socket


Oh and sorry man I think the real name for them is "twin socket adapter"

SidV said:

There just the 1x to 2x adapters for lights.

(if you buy 3 of them and screw 2 into the 1. you end up with 4 cfl's in an X pattern on one socket


Oh and sorry man I think the real name for them is "twin socket adapter"

Click to expand...

K thanks man... How many cfl's should I run? two or four?

I personally would go with 4, but its all up to you and what you feel when you hit that Isle.

I may opt to go with smaller bulbs (23w etc) and just get lots of them so you cover every bit of growth with a cfl
(less you plan on also using the cfl's during the flowering period then i may go with 42's).

Just make sure you get the correct spectrum (i could throw out numbers but honestly i do not remember the flowering spec think it was like 2700k for flower and 6300k for veg.)

I personally like the 5500k for veg, always had better results. But i run my veg area lights 24/7 so that could also play a factor.

Oh and your white backing for everything is fine (had to say that before i said the next part )

At hobby stores (you know those craft shops that you go into thinking RC planes & Cars only to find the stores loaded with old ladies and fake plants). Anyways in those hobby stores they have a gift wrapping paper (comes in like 2x2 squares in packs of like 10 or something like that). The wrapping paper looks almost like a mirror. (Thats basicaly el cheepo mylar. nab some up if you want and line the walls of your area.)

I wouldn't water with ferts until you get your cfl's (the heat from the flood is most likely the cause of 75%+ of your soils water loss and this will result in a def buildup of salts in your soil). In pots that size (least from the looks ) i would say don't water untill 1" down in the soil is dry but to be safe 1/2". (does coconut fiber act the same as the coco clonex cubes? sponge like?)

when you get your cfl's you'll see your plants jump into high gear man. You've already done the hard part now you just have to stay on point and get the the end result

SidV said:

The socket is really just a normal light socket and the light is a red spectrum flood light (there like $5) Toss it out man, grab a $8 pack of 32w or 23w 5500k CFL's and a Y splitter for another $2 and you'll be increasing the used spectrum the plants get by like %800, not to mention those Floods burn hot as F#$K. A 42w 5500k CFL gives off like 500% more used light and %1000 less heat than that bulb does (the % is just guesstimates but floods are a NO NO)

Still lookin good man, gonna have to watch

Click to expand...

He needs 6500k and 2700k. 6500 for veg 2700 for flower.

Scribed for this. Dont forget to minimize the total area of the room as much as possible when you hook up the CFL's. Theyre defenitly not the best at covering large areas with small amounts.

Fditty00 said:

He needs 6500k and 2700k. 6500 for veg 2700 for flower.

Click to expand...

Ya couldn't remember for the life of me (lol, the mouse pointer was too heavy for me man, can only drop down pages takes too much energy to lift that damn thing up to the search button