1st grow, stealth 2 drawer cabinet

Well hello all. I've been interested in this for a long time now, but only recently decided to move forward. I picked up a decent 2 drawer file cabinet at a local store($15). I stripped it out and hung a 4 way light fixture ($2). I'm using two 2700 and two 6500 CFL bulbs. I started with 4 2700s, last night I swapped in the two 6500s. I've drilled exhaust holes in the back corner and positioned the fan to blow out. I'll replace this with a small duct and carbon filter soon. (should have a few weeks before any smells become apparent). I would also like to line the inside, but I haven't found anything cheap.

In the pictures you can see the 4 babies I've got started. They were all germ'ed at the same time and sprouted the same day. I planted them in a Jiffy greenhouse with some other herbs (for cooking). The day after I moved the jiffy pod "thingy" into the pot its in now; the smaller one's leaf tips turned yellow. I didn't think surrounding the existing starting soil in organic dirt would shock the plant to cause this. I've read that over watering as well as under-watering can have this yellowing effect as well. I've watered them every other day, with what seems like an appropriate amount. Although I'm not sure I would know what that amount is. I do not have a green thumb by any means and fully expect to kill these little girls trying to learn... any help to prevent this would be greatly appreciated!

I realize my grow space is... tiny. Would I get better yield from growing/training/topping/whatnot a single plant or multiple?

If I can change a thumb from black to green, I may be willing to expand to a larger space. But for now, I'm sticking with this.

My temp is back down to a constant 78 with the lamps on. The one pot with two growing seems really odd to me. I'm positive they are from the same seed. Is this common?

Any advice on the little one? He is about half the size of the other three in all respects. Leaf tips are still yellow. Is there anything I can do, or should I just cut her down now? With my luck the other 3 will be males...

The leaves that were new growth on the 9th have spread out nicely. The three healthy ones seem to be stretching quite a bit. They seem pretty sturdy when I bend them side to side, but the thin stalks worry me. As for the fourth, well I'm pretty sure she is on the way out .

+rep to any who reply to any questions above.

/BBQChicken


Day 12

are you going to lst? coz that's what i'm planning to do. i'm like a week behind you lol I don't know much about plants yet but i have researched a lot. about your yellowed plant, what is your watering schedule? also i'm growing in a closet of your size and i'm growing just 2 plants under 4 CFL's. more light the better and i'm sure your plants are going to get pretty big! i say just grow two in there. i'm sure two 1 gallon pots will fit in there. that's what i'm doing good luck! subscribed.

I don't know much about plants either. I spent hours every night reading page after page here, just so much to learn. I've been watering every night with enough water to see some drainage. This is because when I poke my finger down into the soil 1.5 inches or so, its dry. I'm testing my ph before and after. The soil started out pretty high (around 7), but my runoff water is finally down to the same as when it goes in. I think thats a good thing.

The little guy just doesn't seem to have much will to live. On day 7, I noticed he was considerably smaller the other plants. He hasn't grown much if any in the past week. I read a lot about people using green tea to water plants as well as work it into the soil as fertilizer. I whipped up a gallon of water, added two tea bags a little Epson salts and adjusted the ph down to just below 6. I didn't boil the tea as I didn't want it to be THAT strong... Well the girls certainly like it. I've seen around an inch growth in the past 48 hours. As for having 4.. I dont have a clue if any will be female. I only expect to grow the best two girls (hopefully I get two).

Yes I plan to lst.

according to what i read the sex of the plant isn't determined from seed. It depends on how you grow it, and optimal growing conditions lead to a higher female:male ratio. It's thus important to give the plants the optimal growing environment, in terms of temperature, pH (personally i think below 6 is way too low. 6.5 is the standard i think), lights etc.

cylee89 said:

according to what i read the sex of the plant isn't determined from seed. It depends on how you grow it, and optimal growing conditions lead to a higher female:male ratio. It's thus important to give the plants the optimal growing environment, in terms of temperature, pH (personally i think below 6 is way too low. 6.5 is the standard i think), lights etc.

Click to expand...

Thats what I've read as well. I'm just worried I'll mess this up.

Day 13

nice growth there! i hope my babies aren't retarded .. are you going to lst? that closet is awful small for any height growth when you get those bigger pots in.. what size pots are you going to use?

cylee89 said:

nice growth there! i hope my babies aren't retarded .. are you going to lst? that closet is awful small for any height growth when you get those bigger pots in.. what size pots are you going to use?

Click to expand...

Well... They seem to be doing fairly well so far. I had to work an emergency shift last night and they didn't watered. The leaf tips turned yellow today. I was really unhappy with that clumpy soil they were in. I should have started them in the large pots to begin with, so I moved them tonight. I'm planning on keeping the two large ones, but I'm interested in the little ones too. As this is my first grow, I don't see harm in trying to keep them alive for now. Practice. The soil I bought was really a bag of mud. I mixed in a few pounds of small rocks (sterile rocks for fish tanks) to help with drainage. I also drilled in the holes for LST.

I passed the 6500k bulbs again today and considered buying another set. I think I'd be better off with 4 6500k until I go to flowering. I'll try to pick them up next time I'm there.

I also bought some Superthrive today, I'm going to use it at our next watering. The soil is mud right now so it may take a couple days.

Day 15

nice.. i hope mine sprouts soon too.. are you going to keep those two plants in the same pot till the end? it doesn't seem big enough

cylee89 said:

nice.. i hope mine sprouts soon too.. are you going to keep those two plants in the same pot till the end? it doesn't seem big enough

Click to expand...

Well that was the plan. I may have to go down to just one plant (which was the original idea). This strand when grown outside only gets about 3 feet tall from what I'm told. I am hoping with some lst and tlc I'll be able to squeeze at least one into the cabinet.

New pictures, nothing to report really. Do the stems seem really small to anyone else? Seems like if the tops get any wider it'll fall over. I have a fan blowing at all times so they are constantly moving.


Day 17

They perked up today. Oh, and I learned to use a camera. The smallest guy that has been so stunted, seems to be recovering with the help of Superthrive, and the new soil.

How often should/can I spray them down? I'm always sure to get the underneath as well. Right now I have mixed a gallon of twice filtered water with 1/4 tsp Superthrive. Is it ok to add some plant food as well? I want them to grow as well as possible so maybe I should leave it alone.

Day 18

Help!

What has caused my baby's leaf to shrivel and die? It is hard and crispy tonight. See the picture from two nights ago. That night I used a wire tie to bend the taller plant to the right so it would not block the light. Tonight the little guy lost a leaf, this leaf was perfectly fine last night.

Day 20

The temp in my box has shot up to around 100 so I had to make some changes. The first pic shows my new exhaust. The rest show growth

Day 22

Growing like a... like a... whats the word? Check out the last picture.


Day 23

I cant believe how much changes every day. I got the temp down to 84. I plan to add a co2 generator. They seem to be doing great without it.

Day 24
Pic 1, all 4 girls
Pic 2, growth of plant 1 from yesterday to today.

BBQChicken said:

+rep to any who reply to any questions above.

/BBQChicken


Day 12

Click to expand...

LOL, To answer your question about how many 2 grow. I would do 1 and LST it if it were me..IMO...

The original plan was to only keep one. I figure I have the space right now to keep them alive, I might as well learn. For instance, the smallest two... I've been watering everyday with food. I expect to burn them but I'd like to know what it looks like now rather than later. My 2nd pot that is growing two plants is just interesting to me. I'm considering keeping them in veg mode while I flower and hopefully eventually smoke the single plant.


My babies look good to me. Should I top the single plant now?

Day 25

lst is best for small spaces. topping adds a tremendous amount of stress to plants, and in that confined a space, your plants may die

I've started a little training the past couple days, she seems to really be responding well. Like a , I sprayed them before taking the pictures.

Day 28