Coco-Loco! My 1st Grow! DIY-grow box + pics.

Hey There! I'm very excited to have begun my first grow and am looking forward to sharing my experiences and pictures with you. I hope that you all enjoy my plants and journal and feel free to discuss my project.

I recently constructed a small, 2x2x5 (wxdxh) grow box to begin my first grow. It is equipped with time-controlled lighting, rewired pc fans, reflective material, and a thermometer/hygrometer. The intake fan is positioned near my room's heater so the insulated box generally stays between 26-32 degrees celsius and between 30-35% humidity depending on the watering schedule. There are currently 15,200 lumens being generated by 7 CFL bulbs although the lighting will be modified as necessary. (4x42w) and (3x26w).

They are an indica strain called "Lemonade" and were germinated between moist paper towels on January 19th, 2009. The germinated seeds were then transferred to rockwool cubes, given clean water and allowed to grow for a week. The pictures below were taken after that first week.



- p.s. - Bonus Sprouts! The two other little sprouts in the 1st picture are a feisty little tomato and a zinnia which will be accompanying the marijuana plants on their journey.

Once the seedlings' roots fully penetrated the rock wool cubes, they were transplanted to some 4"x4" pots filled with coco-coir. Shortly afterward, they were given a diluted concentration of the nutrients shown below in their water.

These pictures of the sprouts were taken on February 2nd, 2009, when they were first watered with nutrients just two weeks after their germination.

As one might have hoped, the sprouts responded extremely well to the additional lighting and nutrients. The plants made great progress during their third week of growth (days 14-21/Feb. 2-9).

The root system could now be seen along the upper part of the inside of the pot and I noted a difference in the coco-coir's retention of water - i imagine being linked to the plants' developing root (absorption) and leaf (evaporation/respiration) systems.

The lower leaves with 3 points continued to grow large and fan further out from the stem while the new sets of leaves emerging from the apical meristem had increasing sets of points each time from 3, to 5, and then 7.

The stem development went from being initially green in the seedling (like a dandelion stem), to brown in the sprout(like a twig), and finally tough (yet pliable), green and fibrous with small hairs in the developing plant.

New sets of opposing leaves with their own stalks and meristems have also begun to sprout from the branch points between the larger leaves and the stem.

Hey, alright! The plants were under the good care of my friend from week 5.5-7 and although some upgrades (transplants + lighting) could not be made, the plants are in great shape.

Beginning Week 7 the 3 'ladies' have been moved to some much needed, larger, but temporary, containers. They were made from the following items i found lying around:
- cardboard boxes ('JUMBO' cereal boxes cut to size)
- duct tape (bag support and H2O-proofing).
- plastic bags (contain coco-coir and prevent cardboard from soaking).

They were beginning to droop from root constriction, but are responding well to the additional moisture and room. I would like to flower and sex them soon so that I can begin to designate my focus and resources to the success of the right plants and get them into some more permanent housing.
- (one is in a large, proper, plastic pot).

Additionally, I have wired a 70 watt HPS flood light (60Hz, 120v) to a cut and stripped extension cord with wire-nuts and have wedged it between some dowels at the top of the garden (grow box).
- NOTE: All of my lighting is hanging from dowel supports wedged between the upper frame and box of the setup. They're just dowels and extension cords, but this allows for adjustments without much of a hassle. Fairly high power/lumen CFL fixtures can be made from extension cords, AC/light socket adapters, and Y-type socket splitters. Check mine out.

Each of the 3 plants has now grown to a height just over 12" and is doing well. They have been receiving 24/7 lighting for the duration of their veg - now with (4x42w + 4x26w CFLs) and a 70w HPS similar to the one linked above. I intend to allow them to develop their roots a bit this week and hopefully begin to flower by week 8.

- I'm open to questions if you have any and would also appreciate some input on when it might be appropriate to begin the flowering stage based on how they look. Thanks + Enjoy the pics.



-p.s. - as you can see the tomato and zinnia are looking good as well! The tomato has grown these sticky, moist hairs all along it's stems and the whole thing smells fantastic while the zinnia has developed a bud that will begin to unfold into the flower!

Following up with a how-to on the construction of a ghetto pot like the ones I'm using temporarily. They work well enough to be used primarily if they are well built and are made from materials found around the house.

The procedure is simple and just requires duct tape and plastic bags with some tasteful holes in the bottom to create a water-proof box containing the bag containing the 'soil'. Later, the plants and their root systems will be easy to lift out and move together.

Hey! The plants shot up as expected, in some of those last pictures you can see that they were about 13 inches tall but now they're a whole 36 inches (3 feet) tall! I've included a picture of the box looking densely vegged.

They are beginning to develop their flowers but I am afraid that the most developed of them has begun to show male characteristics. I could use some help verifying this suspicion if anyone can confirm from the picture that I included, I would appreciate it.

- this is a male, correct? (it's the one in the front right in the picture) (don't be confused by the tomato - front left).

Northern Rites said:

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Click to expand...

Sorry thats a boy IMO

Where in montreal did you buy your fertilizer ?