Noobs First Grow, Constructive Critizism Welcome

Hi guys, first of all i just want to say I have been reading a lot of threads here and I'm loving this forum.

So let me introduce myself... I'm Male, 22 (23 in a couple of weeks), I live in the UK where simply growing a plant is illegal and that is what I'm here to do.

That's enough about me though, time to talk business. My game plan...
I have a small space under my desk that used to house my PC tower but will soon house 2 lovely aromatic herbs .

I have already bought most of my equipment and set up the space to grow in (I will post some pics when i get out of bed) the area is roughly w1'2" x d2'6" x h2'6"

I have lined the area with foil dull side out, attached light fittings to the top where i have plugged 2 45w 6500k CFLs. I have rigged a 120mm PC fan as an exhaust and a 50mm as an intake.
I am growing in MG potting mix with some perlite mixed in there.

So far i have germinated the seeds (big bang fem) in some damp kitchen roll and have just planted them in my soil.

As far as nutes are concerned I am staying organic and cheep (ideally free) I will be feeding them water (where i live we have the best tap water in the country) along with Tea (actual drinking tea, plants love tannic acid http://lifehacker.com/5835747/add-used-tea-bags-to-the-bottom-of-planters-to-feed-plants) molasses and maybe even urine (don't hate)

I also brew my own beer as a hobby so i will be rigging up a simple fermentation system to feed the plants some extra CO2

I want to grow my herbs short and bushy in such a small pace, input from other users who grow in small cabinets would be great. Ive looked at SCRoG, LST, topping and supercropping not sure which will suit me best (I'm thinking a combo of topping and LST)

I am also unsure of how to go about keeping my grow op going once my first harvest is cropped, will I be able to clone at this point or will it be easier to start again from seed.

Thank you for reading, all constructive input is very welcome and i will post pics very soon.

pics pics pics

Looks good m8. You could opt for a solid fertilizer. They are cheap and a small bag should last you for a years. Better to use something like that which your plants will benefit from rather than your urine which will do more harm than good.

I guess you're pretty excited right?

I did a similar little grow way back when and found with a single 120mm pc fan I couldn't keep things cool. I believe in that box I used 3 x 42 watt cfl's.

You going to keep posting updates?

looks like you have things going good to start out. i would suggest getting some 'Y' splitter sockets for your light as you will need more as the plant gets taller. topping and lst'ing is a great way to keep them short ans bushy. if this is your first go around than i would warn you to watch the stretch. it wouls seem like you have height under control until you make the switch then it goes big. so making the switch before you would like to will be ideal to compensate for hoe tall they are going to get. i know ppl that grow out of 3 feet grow boxes, and pc cases and for some heat is a major pain. so keep an eye on your temps. other than that you are ready for the next few weeks before you need to worry about that. you may want to think of a general plant food something along the lines of a 10-10-10 as it has been used many times to grow cannabis without many problems and you can get it pretty cheap. goodluck with it.

I will keep up with regular updates.

Yeah I'm super excited.

Ive read that the plants basically double in size as they flower so if i grow them to fill half the space then flower them.

Also in such a small space i am hoping for quite a quick turn over, will quicker growing reduce the quality of the finished product?

And if heat becomes an issue with the fans i have then i have 3 more that i can rob from my PC case.

Some can get way bigger than double in size when flipped to 12/12. I'd flip'em when there about 6-8inches tall considering the space you have to use. It's strain dependant as well......I fliped my current unknown sativa dominant strain at 12 inches tall, and they reached 4 feet in my flower room.....4x the size. That's with keeping a 600watt HPS as close to the tops without burning my girls.

Tea has a PH of around 5. In soil the PH should be around 6.5 for cannabis. If your going to use teabags in there keep an eye on the PH levels.

I'd like to know how that one goes, not sure how it will affect your soil PH.

You can say you've given it the British touch

Good Luck.

swishsam said:

Hi guys, first of all i just want to say I have been reading a lot of threads here and I'm loving this forum.

So let me introduce myself... I'm Male, 22 (23 in a couple of weeks), I live in the UK where simply growing a plant is illegal

and that is what I'm here to do.

That's enough about me though, time to talk business. My game plan...
I have a small space under my desk that used to house my PC tower but will soon house 2 lovely aromatic herbs

.

I have already bought most of my equipment and set up the space to grow in (I will post some pics when i get out of bed) the area is roughly w1'2" x d2'6" x h2'6"

I have lined the area with foil dull side out, attached light fittings to the top where i have plugged 2 45w 6500k CFLs. I have rigged a 120mm PC fan as an exhaust and a 50mm as an intake.
I am growing in MG potting mix with some perlite mixed in there.

So far i have germinated the seeds (big bang fem) in some damp kitchen roll and have just planted them in my soil.

As far as nutes are concerned I am staying organic and cheep (ideally free) I will be feeding them water (where i live we have the best tap water in the country) along with Tea (actual drinking tea, plants love tannic acid http://lifehacker.com/5835747/add-used-tea-bags-to-the-bottom-of-planters-to-feed-plants) molasses and maybe even urine (don't hate)

I also brew my own beer as a hobby so i will be rigging up a simple fermentation system to feed the plants some extra CO2

I want to grow my herbs short and bushy in such a small pace, input from other users who grow in small cabinets would be great. Ive looked at SCRoG, LST, topping and supercropping not sure which will suit me best (I'm thinking a combo of topping and LST)

I am also unsure of how to go about keeping my grow op going once my first harvest is cropped, will I be able to clone at this point or will it be easier to start again from seed.

Thank you for reading, all constructive input is very welcome and i will post pics very soon.

Click to expand...

You can use diluted urine. It won't hurt them. Sativa will grow taller than an indica. I'm growing the Master Kush and it's a hybrid. Cloning while you're in the vegging state will cut your turn around time and guarantee you female plants of the same genetic quality.

Ok little couple of pics to update this thread.

1 seed germinated quiker than the other and therefore has had about a 36hour head start on life in soil. (this plant is called Mary)

The second is just showing its head above the soil (she is called Jane)
Creative names, I'm sure no one has ever thought of that one.

At the moment i just have a couple of low power lights in there, my thinking is that i will bring out the big guns when they have had a few days to settle in. Advise on when is best to expose them to full lighting would be appreciated.

Looks like in the second picture she's pretty stretched lower the lights, or get more. Sub'd

jlevin said:

Looks like in the second picture she's pretty stretched lower the lights, or get more. Sub'd

Click to expand...

Thanks

I wasn't wanting to put in my 'big' light bulbs (in case they there too delicate for strong light) now they have the proper lights on them and have stopped stretching and are just growing their leaves out.

Good! i'm looking forward to this grow, your box is very organized

swishsam said:

Ok little couple of pics to update this thread.

1 seed germinated quiker than the other and therefore has had about a 36hour head start on life in soil. (this plant is called Mary)

The second is just showing its head above the soil (she is called Jane)
Creative names, I'm sure no one has ever thought of that one.

At the moment i just have a couple of low power lights in there, my thinking is that i will bring out the big guns when they have had a few days to settle in. Advise on when is best to expose them to full lighting would be appreciated.

Click to expand...

Definitely stretching on you. I keep my lights about a foot above the seedlings and it works. I use a 125 watt dual spectrum CFL.

your biggest problem is going to be your height. you have 28 inches so remove 4 inches for your lights, 6 inches for your pots, and you have 18 inches. My current strain, violator kush has an average height of 20 inches, but seeing as how you have your seeds planted already, you can't let your plant veg higher than 9 inches for sure. Flowering early doesn't harm the plant at all and as long as it gets it's full flowering period, it'll be just as strong. Learn how to lst like a mofo

So Ive got another few pics this morning.

Starting LST on Mary, I've had bonsai trees in the past so i am quietly confident that i can train these two girls. Jane is still a little way behind.

To my limited knowledge they are looking healthy enough, no discoloration of the leaves. I just wish me camera would focus on the leaves not the soil.

They are getting 24h or light. and just a little mist of water on the top layer of soil. I also have a shot glass of water just sat in there to help raise the humidity in these early days.

I'm going to start properly feeding them soon, both nutes and CO2.

Thanks for all the input guys, +rep to you all.

gonna be watching this thread, check out my grow journals aswell bro just started some ak48 in a cupboard using some cfl's and got a greenhouse grow with some tutti fruity or juicy fruit cant remember which.

Your gonna have to flip into 12:12 at like week 3 for the space your using. I envy it though, genius. Mines way to big an absurd for two plants lol. I didn't have any better ideas though lol. But our plants seem to be at the same point in growing, so I'ma subscribe and keep up with this. +rep.

you said you grow in soil right? your plants won't need nutes for a few weeks now. Adding nutes now would actually do more harm than good. Co2 isn't necessary for plants these size either. Simply breathing in there while you're working will raise the co2 levels to 500 ppm. co2 is great, but wait until late veg/flower

Destillat said:

you said you grow in soil right? your plants won't need nutes for a few weeks now. Adding nutes now would actually do more harm than good. Co2 isn't necessary for plants these size either. Simply breathing in there while you're working will raise the co2 levels to 500 ppm. co2 is great, but wait until late veg/flower

Click to expand...

Ok, thanks. I am growing in soil.
I think I'm just getting a little giddy, reading so many other grow journals and watching loads of youtube videos.

Welcome and 22 with a cat on your lap? Come on...