New grower, 4 little girls.

Hey everyone. I'm a new grower and just new in general. I recently received my medical card and am going to be growing my own meds. I'm going to document my grow in this thread as I go along, and hope to get some feedback and advice as I go along. So, I don't have pictures JUST yet but they are coming soon. Everything is kind of being thrown together at a last minute balls to the wall kinda pace haha. To start off with, I have 4 little girls. 3 of them are White Rhino, 1 of them Crippled Rhino. I picked up the clones today from a fellow medical patient/grower and they are 4th gen. I will be cloning off of these lil cuties as well.

I will be running an experiment with one of the White Rhino plants by using chicken shit as the main source of nutes to see what we get. The others will be nourished differently with the FoxFarm trio. I have a small closet space to use, and will be lining it with mylar or foil soon. I picked up a switchable 400W ballast for HPS/MH bulbs as well as a Sun Systems Yieldmaster II reflector with 6" vents for fans.

Once I get the little girls close to the appropriate age I will be cloning off of them and running a bubbleponics set up and going for a SoG type approach but within my legal growing limits. Since I am starting out I want go with the tried and trued soil method before I get crazy with hydro/bubble/dwc/whatever. I'm excited to be starting this grow and I will have pictures within the next day or so. Once I get the pictures posted, the thread will be open for general chit-chat.

Thanks for reading so far, and keep it green.

OK, update. So going through the closet I found that tucked behind some of the junk was a large mirror. The interior of the closet is also white so that's a bonus. I won't be lining the walls with mylar now to save time, but there's a wooden shelf dresser bottom in the closet that I lined with some white reflective wax paper. I'll have a tray in there for the plants to catch the water so not as much light will reflect back up, but there should be plenty of throw in there for the light. Especially with how it lights up the bedroom in general once the bulb is fully warmed up.

I have a feeling heat MIGHT be an issue but I am going to pitch an idea to to my dad about putting a vent hole in the side of the closet and running a fan from the light enclosure. I have a feeling the idea will be shot down due to the time needed and his availability but it is worth a shot. I should have pictures posted sometime this evening.

Ok everyone, let's get this party started. I prepared the closet and went to the hydro store to get some odds and ends to get my box started while these plants chill in their soil for this grow. Once they are big enough to clone from, the next cycle will be hydro.

The grow light is mounted with 2 pulleys that have been fixed to studs in the ceiling. Each pulley has an individual rope and is on the opposite side of the closet. I did it this way to allow me to angle the light if needed. There is a mirror in there that I am debating on keeping. Will the mirror be effective in reflecting the light around or will it create issues? I am worried that heat is going to be a big problem in this closet. I still need to get a fan placed in the closet to get some air moved around and hope that the fan alone will be enough to move air around to keep it somewhat cool in there. If not, we might have to move the grow but I'd rather find out sooner rather than later so I don't shock the plants.

Below are some pictures to get everything started. I have put the babies in the closet and am debating on firing up the light soon. I would start it at midnight and go 20/4 and shut it off at 8p. I might just wait until tomorrow to allow me to get the fan to be on the safe side. Actually, I think that I am going to wait until tomorrow to fire it up. Here's the pictures below:

Oh, sorry... Meant to also say that this thread is now open if you'd like to chit chat.

Last night I switched on the light to test the waters in terms of temperature. I had a small box fan inside too. Within 2 hours the temperature of the closet was pushing 90 degrees, and this isn't 100% accurate because I question the integrity of the thermometer. I think I have too powerful of a light for the closet, or I just need to come up with a clever way to vent that closet and keep it stealth. I wonder if I should have gone with CFLs but I am already set up with a system that will allow me to switch bulbs and all of that other stuff so I think I might need to just build a box around the light and the heat issue. Perhaps something fairly small and use a jigsaw to cut a hole in a wall panel to mount an air conditioner inside and seal it in place since I have an extra one. I had also thought of watercooling for the fan duct and it would be easy for me to set up since my computer is already watercooled and I know how to run lines. I am just not too sure on how I can chill the water.

Does anyone know the standard running temperature for a 400w MH and HPS bulb? I know it will vary from manufacturer. I have GE bulbs for now to get started until I can get some cash saved for a little better quality bulb. Right now I have the girls sitting next to the window to get natural sunlight while I try to get this heat stuff figured out. It was explained to me that the clones would stunt a little in the first 2 weeks because of the light cycle changes, so that MIGHT buy me enough time to get something built if needed. My current closet gives me 6 1/2' of height, 2' of depth, and 4' of width in terms of space.

I found a large oscillating fan, put it in the closet, aimed it partially upward and set it to high. I have the small box fan down below running too. I can feel a slight air leak through the cracks from the closet door which I think is good, but I'd like to feel a little more come through. I might lightly crack one of the doors. I have a black cloth to hang in front of the door that can be tacked up when needed to make entry to water, investigate, and talk to my babies.

I just fired up the lights 20 minutes ago and I have the thermometer set. I will check it in 40 minutes, then again in another hour. If we are still good I will gradually let it run one more hour and check it at that interval to see if there is a steady rise and if it levels off after a certain amount of time. If so, also the temperature it peaks at. The babies are still in the window reaching for the sun and have a tray of water beneath the pots to soak up into the roots. I've also been misting the stalk here and there, keeping it slightly damp the majority of the time. We'll see how things take off.

I think I have the temperature thing figured out. I have a black curtain that is half translucent and allows some air to pass through. I've covered the closet door with the curtain and have positioned two fans inside the closet. The fans suck air from the crack on one side of the door and then cycle it out through the other side with that door wide open and the air blowing through the curtain. There's very little light spill and the temperature appears to be mid 80's so still a little too high for my liking. I am thinking that once I start with my bubbleponics, that should help drive down the temperature. I've also been sketching out a grow box design that is around 7 feet tall, 5 feet wide and 3 feet deep. The plan is to build a wall in a way that would allow me to install an A/C unit and then I'd see about placing an exhaust fan towards the top. This idea is pretty bad ass but I have it pretty much all in my head right now.

I've also removed the mirror from the closet. It adds a little more space now that it doesn't have to have a slight tilt to remain upright and gives about 2 more inches of play which can make all of the difference. Attached is a picture from before I removed the mirror. The plants are currently in their first 4 hour stage of being off. I'm going to run them 20/4 for the first couple weeks and then switch to 18/6 for the rest of the veg. There are also talks of getting an outdoor shed type setup from Home Depot or Lowe's to convert into a decent grow room so we can not destroy the house with modifications to really get this where I'd like it to be.

The girls are getting a little too warm from the light. I had it about 18 inches from the plants but they seem to be baking a little bit as well as looking a little droopy. I am going to let the soil dry out completely, then I am going to soak with water and clonex, then water every other day with a light moistening of the soil with the clonex solution for a couple weeks. I am considering transplanting to the bubbleponics and avoiding the soil thing altogether. I think I can pull this off so on payday I am going to get the materials to finish building the tank and start putting it together. That might also raise the humidity a little bit and help cool off the room.

I just hope I didn't hurt the babies, but time will tell. I have the light raised to about 2 1/2' above the tops of the plants and am waiting for the soil to dry now. It will probably be tomorrow. I just want to give em a quick soak with some light nutes and then stick to the schedule. before long i'll be doing foxfarm hydro nutes with the bubble tank.

I went to Lowe's and picked some stuff up. I would have paid probably $40 instead of $56 if I could have gotten about 100 feet less of tubing than I really needed. Oh well. So phase one of the bubble tank is done. I just need to cut holes for the netting puts and mount them. I plan on using the small hole in the handle to route the tube for the air stone and will use a drill bit to widen if needed. I still need to purchase the hydroton balls and get them soaking, as well as some good hydro nutes. I've heard good stuff about the Roots Organics line.

Please, does anyone have any feedback or recommendations? I'm a lonely soldier in this thread, but about to join the bubblehead crew very soon.

Measure twice, cut once. I know this trick, but I didn't follow it unfortunately. I put some of the finishing touches on my bubbleponics tank such as cutting holes for the netted pots, however one of them was too big. I'll have to redo the lid, but everything else is ready to go. I'm debating on whether I should keep my current plants in soil for the growth period and use the tank for my clones when they are ready, or transplanting from the soil to the bubbletank.

Any way, I had thought that the heat was baking my plants from the light. I'm sure the light contributed to some of the deficiency of the plants, but I am sure they are in some short of shock right now too. They started to spot on some of the leaves and I am not sure if they are getting burned from something in the water, or if they are just using some of the nutes to develop new growth. New growth is starting to come out now. I added some CloneX to my water and gave the plants a healthy watering, and will water them again once the soil is ready so I can promote some good root growth. I'm excited to see what this bubbletank will do with the growth and the added oxygen.

I'm stoked to become a bubblehead and see what I can do with this.

nice set up. mine is close to the size of yours. i cool mine the same way. leave the door open when the lights are on and the temps never get more than a few degrees warmer than the rest of the house. i have not messed with clones. if you are going to move them to the net pots you should do it before the roots get to big. i transfered 3 from soil when they were about 6", and they had a mess of roots. put them in a tub of water and let the soil fall off the roots, gently. good luck. i use the black house from lowes for my pump, it is very flexible. i will check back to see those girls growing like weeds

So 2 hours ago I intended to post an update but my feeble mind got sidetracked by smoking a bowl. Pffffft, fucking stoners. So, not too much is new with the grow other than the little girls are starting to get bigger. I think I've found the hearty plant of the 4 and she's going to the mother of my future baby girls when I clone. She's doing pretty good, except for that larger fan leaf. The temps are too hot today because it's 100 degrees outside and my house is lacking in A/C, so hopefully they don't get too bad for too long. It's getting cooler at night so I am sketchy on letting that cool air in and changing the temperature range too much. Eventually I should be able to just keep the window lightly cracked to regulate the room temp with the cooler evening weather. Here's an updated picture of the biggest of the girls:



I am going to be transplanting the girls to the bubbletank soon with the assistance of my mother who has a green thumb.

transplant took place today. now we'll see what we are working with....



I am using silica stone for the medium, hence why you see a bit of the white. I rinsed them off in the bag until the water was clear and clean however the stones will release silicates into the system that should help the plants a bit. I am running FoxFarm right now on week 1 strength. The plants have been in the soil for a couple weeks. I hope they don't shock and freak out on me.

Things went to hell with the tank. The water temperature got too hot and started to kill the plants. I was able to recover 3 of them, but later on one still died because it never fully recovered and I couldn't baby it. I still have 2 White Rhino plants and added two Blackberry clones to the mix. The plants are back in soil, have been transplanted into 3 gallon pots, and I'm using a mix of Fox Farm Ocean Forest and Fox Farm Light Warrior at a ratio of 2:1 mixed in. The soil is pretty nice and fluffy, holds water well, and drains pretty nicely. In terms of nutes I have switched to the Canna Tera Vega and Canna Tera Flores nutes. I'll be checking into their PK 13/14 soon as well as some other stuff but it's on the spendy side. I've heard nothing but good things about their stuff so I figure it's worth a try. Right now the tallest plant is sitting at about 11 inches.

Since the last update I am right at 20" on the tallest plant. The blueberry plants are a good 6" taller than the White Rhino. I have swapped the MH bulb for an HPS bulb and will be flipping the switch on Sunday to 12/12. I'll be taking a few cuttings soon from the bottom to clone off of. Once I get a separate veg area I'm going to keep a mother on hand. Depending on circumstances I might even start the next grow with some teens if they are available so I can veg em for a couple weeks and go straight to bloom. We'll see. I still want to go from seed to harvest just to see the entire process but I'll definitely need to get my cloning down.

I plan on going aero for cloning and keeping with soil, or moving to coco. I don't have the cash to invest into a system that will keep my res cool for hydro and heat is always going to be an issue in that room without a lot of money to overhaul it just for a good grow site. If this was a more permanent location for me, I'd make the plunge since it can be done gradually here and there. Anywho, here's a couple pictures showing them when I got them, compared to where they are now:

Flipped the switch on Sunday to 12/12. We're off to the races. Here's the closet:



And here's the structure of one of my Blueberry plants:



Today I took cuttings off of the plants to clone and have them under a floro below the main plants inside the cabinet. I am hoping to score a nice steel 2 door storage cab to convert to a veg and clone area.

Found a small infestation of mites from a donor clone that came in. It had gotten a couple of my other plants a little bit but I caught it fairly early. I treated the plants with some Floramite SC and let them sit out away from under the HPS bulb in an open lighted area to let them dry naturally. Apparently it has a residual effect that lasts for about 21 days and should also kill the eggs too. I hope so, since I'm half way through week one of flower. I have a feeling they are going to overtake the closet and grow too tall, but we will see. I've been told they will still veg for a bit, but then the growth will slow as they work on making buds. I sure hope so: