First Ever Grow. Closet + CFLs. Posts Welcome!!!

OK so I found some pretty cheap exhaust fans finally, from HTGsupply.com.
Here is a link: http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=46434

That one is 4" 80CFM, they also have a 6" 250CFM for $5 more, and a 8" 500CFM for $10 more. My room is approx 9x7x2.5 in feet, so thats about 158 cubic feet. Would any of these work fine? Would it be beneficial to get the largest or overkill? I want it to be relatively quiet and still get the job done.

Thanks for any input
KB

Ok time for another update, how exciting!! haha. Nothing much new other than a bit of yellow on a couple plants, my largest in particular. One little guy isn't looking so hot, one main leaf shriveled to nothing and the 2 first leaves are pretty bent up & yellow. Some plants look excellent however.

Here are some pics of them with the lights pulled up.

The largest one, showing some yellow spots, too close to the lights? Nutrient deficiency?

The runt, likeliest first casualty as of now.

Some look GREAT though, like this lil gal.

Overhead view with the lights back down.

Side view so you can see how close I am keeping the lights to the plants. I see too many people with CFLs like 6+ inches off their plants it makes me sad

And another

Oh and some colored plastic coated paperclips for some LST practice in the near future. HAHA!



Thats about it for now, I will be buying this exhaust fan as soon as I am done with this post: http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=46447
I figured that I might as well spend the extra $5 for over double the CFMs and Im afraid the 8" might be a bit larger than I want. hope it gets here soon!!

Let me know what you think of things so far, any criticism and advice is ALWAYS welcome!!

KB

These fans look great. Cant see your photos though... I believe that you dont need the large fan and the small would do its job just fine. However if you plan on using that space permanently for growing and plan to add alot more lights buy the large one!

KolorBlind said:

OK so I found some pretty cheap exhaust fans finally, from HTGsupply.com.
Here is a link: http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=46434

That one is 4" 80CFM, they also have a 6" 250CFM for $5 more, and a 8" 500CFM for $10 more. My room is approx 9x7x2.5 in feet, so thats about 158 cubic feet. Would any of these work fine? Would it be beneficial to get the largest or overkill? I want it to be relatively quiet and still get the job done.

Thanks for any input
KB

Click to expand...

For your closest size I would go with the 8" it'll keep the heat down, don't wanna go with a lower CFM then end up with an heating problem. Since your getting an exhaust fan, make sure later on you buy a carbon filter for the smell! Also you will need an intake, do this either by a hole in a wall to another room, or in the door. If threw either a door or a wall buy a vent cover to go over the hole so it doesn't seem too noticeable. You can also add a vent cover for the exhaust. Such as (http://www.dorseyconstructionmaterials.com/gifs/catalog/fullsize/Through_Wall_Vent_Sets_vset93r.jpg).

I myself wouldn't use just CFLs for the whole grow. My advice is to get a HPS (http://www.htgsupply.com/growlighttypes.asp?categoryID=1&subcategoryID=155) from 150watt ($70) to 400watt ($120) they're pretty cheap. And to use the CFLs for a nice add on.

If you can't have a noisy ballast (not saying that they're noisy, they will hum, not sure how loud) then go with a HPS with a digital ballast. (http://www.htgsupply.com/growlighttypes.asp?categoryID=1&subcategoryID=101) They are almost noise free and cost under $200 for 250watt HPS to 600watt HPS.

Getting one of these HPS systems, (which ever one) will give you more yield and will have a faster growing rate. (My opinion.)

Just trying to help ya man! Its your call!

Good luck with ya grow!

shoottokill said:

These fans look great. Cant see your photos though... I believe that you dont need the large fan and the small would do its job just fine. However if you plan on using that space permanently for growing and plan to add alot more lights buy the large one!

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Hmm weird, maybe its because I had my phtoo album set to private, I put it to public let me know if you still cant see em. Anyone else unable to see them? Could you see the ones in the last post?

velaur said:

For your closest size I would go with the 8" it'll keep the heat down, don't wanna go with a lower CFM then end up with an heating problem. Since your getting an exhaust fan, make sure later on you buy a carbon filter for the smell! Also you will need an intake, do this either by a hole in a wall to another room, or in the door. If threw either a door or a wall buy a vent cover to go over the hole so it doesn't seem too noticeable. You can also add a vent cover for the exhaust. Such as (http://www.dorseyconstructionmaterials.com/gifs/catalog/fullsize/Through_Wall_Vent_Sets_vset93r.jpg).

I myself wouldn't use just CFLs for the whole grow. My advice is to get a HPS (http://www.htgsupply.com/growlighttypes.asp?categoryID=1&subcategoryID=155) from 150watt ($70) to 400watt ($120) they're pretty cheap. And to use the CFLs for a nice add on.

If you can't have a noisy ballast (not saying that they're noisy, they will hum, not sure how loud) then go with a HPS with a digital ballast. (http://www.htgsupply.com/growlighttypes.asp?categoryID=1&subcategoryID=101) They are almost noise free and cost under $200 for 250watt HPS to 600watt HPS.

Getting one of these HPS systems, (which ever one) will give you more yield and will have a faster growing rate. (My opinion.)

Just trying to help ya man! Its your call!

Good luck with ya grow!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice man, I hear ya on the HPS. I really just wanted to see how much I could get with just CFLs for now though, as I have already spent a decent amount on this setup. I would only go HPS if I could afford like a 400W of better WITH a cool tube, and I cannot afford that just yet.
As for the air intake into the closet, I dont know if that will be possible. I rent so im definitely not up for cutting a hole in the door. The closet is in the corner of the house sort of and it would be very hard to draw air in from another room. I was hoping the space under the door would let enough air in the room. I mean, if an exhaust fan is on the air has to be pulled from somewhere right?

Thanks for th help guys!!
KB

I have a very similar setup to yours, my plants are doing fine. I have a box-fan in the closet blowing on the plants on low, it goes off with the light-timer. There is a 1 to 2 inch crack at the bottom of the door. I just leave the door open during the day and close it at night, I put a towel along the crack at night so no light leak if she turns the lights on in the room. My plants are on their second day of 12/12. The biggest of seven is about one foot tall, have a total of 11 2700k lights in there, my temps at plant level are high seventies or low eighties, humididty is always 50% and the plants are doing great. I used tin-foil on the walls and it is working fine. Very low-budget and effective is what I aimed for. Still waiting to see sex, looks like I may have a few bitches but I am not 100% yet, too soon. Your setup looks fine and hope to see some pics. I have to buy a new digital camera, my nikon shit the bed, the lens won't open. Good luck, Peace.

no pic KB cant wait to see tho!

KolorBlind said:

Hmm weird, maybe its because I had my phtoo album set to private, I put it to public let me know if you still cant see em. Anyone else unable to see them? Could you see the ones in the last post?



Thanks for the advice man, I hear ya on the HPS. I really just wanted to see how much I could get with just CFLs for now though, as I have already spent a decent amount on this setup. I would only go HPS if I could afford like a 400W of better WITH a cool tube, and I cannot afford that just yet.
As for the air intake into the closet, I dont know if that will be possible. I rent so im definitely not up for cutting a hole in the door. The closet is in the corner of the house sort of and it would be very hard to draw air in from another room. I was hoping the space under the door would let enough air in the room. I mean, if an exhaust fan is on the air has to be pulled from somewhere right?

Thanks for th help guys!!
KB

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Well I thought the 150watt HPS for only $70 would suit you the best. The reason for this is I thought you were buying too many CFL (high watt CFLs) and they're not that cheap (the 65/68watt) CFLs, and just for some extra money you could get an 150watt HPS with pretty nice results.

To my next subject about your room, you say your getting an exhaust fan, how are you exhaust all the air if you can't have it exhausting threw a wall/door? I'd say cutting a whole in the closest wall to your bedroom wall (or whatever wall is on the outside of the closest) and covered with a vent on is a pretty good idea.

When you move to another place, place another vent on the side of the wall (the inside of the closest) most likely the owner will notice it or care about it. I think everyone would agree with me that the owner wouldn't notice it or care about it, if they did notice it, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't give a shit about it. If your that worried you could always replaster the wall when you move (however you spell it), it isn't that much work!

Its all your choice, just trying to help you out the best I can!

Good luck man!

velaur said:

Well I thought the 150watt HPS for only $70 would suit you the best. The reason for this is I thought you were buying too many CFL (high watt CFLs) and they're not that cheap (the 65/68watt) CFLs, and just for some extra money you could get an 150watt HPS with pretty nice results.

To my next subject about your room, you say your getting an exhaust fan, how are you exhaust all the air if you can't have it exhausting threw a wall/door? I'd say cutting a whole in the closest wall to your bedroom wall (or whatever wall is on the outside of the closest) and covered with a vent on is a pretty good idea.

When you move to another place, place another vent on the side of the wall (the inside of the closest) most likely the owner will notice it or care about it. I think everyone would agree with me that the owner wouldn't notice it or care about it, if they did notice it, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't give a shit about it. If your that worried you could always replaster the wall when you move (however you spell it), it isn't that much work!

Its all your choice, just trying to help you out the best I can!

Good luck man!

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I dunno - I think KB has it right. If he just cuts a hole in the wall and installs an exhaust fan it'll blow all the hot air in between the wall space and suck from the cracks in the door. No way an 8" fan is going to make a vacum in the closet... Only worry I would have is about the humidity - if the wall space isn't open enough or is sealed and not continuous throughout the house then there might be mold issues...could always run some ducting in the wall space up to the attic like some people do or just outside via a vent. Or under the house if that is easier. But then again if you're at just 50% humidity it prolly wouldn't be a problem at all.

Let us know how it goes and gl!

Thanks so much for the mixed feedback guys, nothing better than hearing multiple opinions. I think I will just stick to one exhaust hole for noe on the backside of the closet venting into the walls. If its not enough I will see what can be done from there but I really want to avoid cutting holes in the door or in a wall that is visible from the outside of the closet.

About the pics, its really weird, if I am at home on my computer I see them in the posts, but not from work here. I have them uploaded to my RIU photo album and linked form there. I was using photobucket but got a little paranoid and figured it owuld be best to keep everything on one site. How do you guys post pics? I just want to keep them in the post instead of having small thumbnails.

Ill try and get these photos loaded asap, the very first post is using photobucket links, you guys can all see those right?

Thanks
KB

**EDIT** OK I think I found the problem. I guess I had renamed my RIU photo album AFTER I posted the pics. I named it back but a few of the older pics names have changed. The new post should have all the pics in it, but is there a way to edit an old post??

Bump...

Let me know if you guys can see the pics now, I will figure something else out if not.

KB

If you're talking about the pictures with the paperclips at the end, I can see them all now. Looking great man, I'll be following this one. I'm doing a CFL grow currently in two 37 gallon Rubbermaids stacked. I germinated 3-26 so we're pretty close growth-wise. It'll be fun to watch yours, keep it up man.

Yeah pics are all ok now. They look great too!

UPDATE

Growth Stage: Day 9 of Veg Cycle
Light Cycle: 20/4
Lights in use: 5x26w @ 6500K & 3x23w @5500K CFLs
Grow Medium: Jiffy organic seed starting mix in Jiffy peat pots.
Nutrients in use: 1/8 Tsp of Superthrive in 1 Gallon of Distilled Water. First day using Superthrive.

Ok so I made a few changes to the grow, and figured I would start making a couple to the thread as well. I might as well try to make every update post look more uniform and be somewhat informative. Im not the most creative guy so pardon my lack of flair

First off, my plants aren't looking real great at the moment, but Im working on that. The petals on almost every one have turned yellow and some of the leaves are drooping and turning a bit yellow themselves. After some reading and posting I have tried 3 things to help out.

1) I switched from tap water to distilled water. I buy it in gallon Jugs from walmart for 77 cents each. I also lowered the amount I was watering them considerably, I think over watering is the main problem.

2) I raised all the lights up about 2-3 inches.

3) I installed a 250CFM exhaust fan in the closet to pull out hot air & bring in fresh air from under the door. For now I have it set on a timer and it turns on at 4:00PM and turns off at 7:00PM which is during the time when the door is closed the longest. Hopefully this will put an end to the 83+ temps I was seeing before.

I went ahead and added 1/8Tsp (half the recommended dosage) of Superthrive to a gallon of distilled water. I read on the package it is good alone for helping plants recover so I have added no other nutrients as of now. I will probably add 1/4Tsp of Alaska Fish Fertilizer (5-1-1) here in a week or less to the mixture, does that sound about right to everyone?

Another simple "cosmetic" addition to the garden are some ID tags. I wont give names until I find my 4 beauties of the bunch, so I am sticking with simple numbers for now. I used pieces of popsicle sticks and ran out at 12, so the un tagged one is unlucky plant #13. Plant #13 also happens to be the worst off of all the plants. Plants #1-3 were the first to sprout, after that I just took my best guess as to which were oldest so they are roughly in order of age.

On to the pictures.

An overhead view of all the ladies, I lined them up for the mugshot and placed them in numerical order. Plants 7-13 in Pic 1, and plants 1-6 in pic 2.

Here are a couple pictures of my largest lil girl, plant #1 that was the first to show yellow tips. The petals are pretty yellow, and the main leafs are yellow at the tips and curled under quite a bit. The new set of leafs coming in look great though. Same plant in both pictures.

Here is a picture of ol' unlucky plant #13. The leaf on the right was 100% shriveled up only 4 days ago as you can see in an older post. Its amazing how well plants recover, the leaf is about 60% green again, but as with the others the petals look kinda sickly, and the left leaf is yellow at the tip and somewhat deformed haha.

My exhaust fan came in a whole day early!! I just had to take advantage of the pleasant surprise so I got right into it and 20min later I had a 6" hole cut in my closet wall. The fan fits very snug into the hole, the only problem is after it runs for about 10sec it starts vibrating & making a decent amount of noise. In fact, there's pretty much no way it could be on with company over, which isn't a biggie. Here is the link if anyone is interested, it was only $25: http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=46447

And finally, here are some more shots of my light setup so you can see how much I raised them. The tallest plant is about 3-4 inches away, with the smallest being about 4-5 inches away. As soon as I see some good green lush foliage I will start lowering the lights again.



So that's about it for now. Everyone's comments and suggestions have been great! I will have my girls in some 1 gallon jugs before too long and any input on how much bone meal to add to my Sunshine soil mix would be real helpful. I was thinking about 1 tablespoon to each gallon container, too much? too little?

Thanks a ton guys
KB

To help reduce the noise some, cut the hole 1/8" in dia bigger, then jam insulation in there til its nice and snug, see if that help w/the noise

Where in the hell am I? said:

To help reduce the noise some, cut the hole 1/8" in dia bigger, then jam insulation in there til its nice and snug, see if that help w/the noise

Click to expand...

Yeah, some insulation would definately help. Or even maybe some spray insulation foam - put a bead around the entire thing and it should hold it in real tight.

Are there nutes already added to your sunshine mix? (should be on the back) If so let us know what they are - appologies if you already listed them.

Where in the hell am I? said:

To help reduce the noise some, cut the hole 1/8" in dia bigger, then jam insulation in there til its nice and snug, see if that help w/the noise

Click to expand...

Funny thing is, after running for about 4 hours today, I turned it on when I got home and I had to actually look at the blades to make sure it was going lol. It is easily 10 times quieter, Im thinking it just needed to get worked in. I will still look into putting some foam or insulation around the edges though.

Gastanker said:

Are there nutes already added to your sunshine mix? (should be on the back) If so let us know what they are - apologies if you already listed them.

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That was one thing that was throwing me off a bit. It doesn't have any NPK ratings or percentages on the packaging at all. The only useful info I found was this: "Contains 85-95% Canadian sphagnum peat moss, horticultural grade pearlite, dolomite lime (for pH adjustment) & a wetting agent."

It claims on the bag that no nutrients need to be added, and it was about the best stuff my local nursery had. But then again the local nurseries dont exactly practice growing cannabis indoors. Whats your guys' take on this soil? Use as is? My only other options are to mix some bone meal or some regular potting soil in with it.


Other than that my main concern is still heat. Im thinking my intake is too restricted, but also the exhaust fan is blowing in between the walls & I don't have any duct connected to it so its blowing straight against a wall that's about 4" away from the wall i cut a hole in. A friend of mine is an HVAC guy and Ill spitball some ideas with him, but any input from you guys is appreciated too!!

Thanks
KB

KolorBlind said:

Funny thing is, after running for about 4 hours today, I turned it on when I got home and I had to actually look at the blades to make sure it was going lol. It is easily 10 times quieter, Im thinking it just needed to get worked in. I will still look into putting some foam or insulation around the edges though.



That was one thing that was throwing me off a bit. It doesn't have any NPK ratings or percentages on the packaging at all. The only useful info I found was this: "Contains 85-95% Canadian sphagnum peat moss, horticultural grade pearlite, dolomite lime (for pH adjustment) & a wetting agent."

It claims on the bag that no nutrients need to be added, and it was about the best stuff my local nursery had. But then again the local nurseries dont exactly practice growing cannabis indoors. Whats your guys' take on this soil? Use as is? My only other options are to mix some bone meal or some regular potting soil in with it.


Other than that my main concern is still heat. Im thinking my intake is too restricted, but also the exhaust fan is blowing in between the walls & I don't have any duct connected to it so its blowing straight against a wall that's about 4" away from the wall i cut a hole in. A friend of mine is an HVAC guy and Ill spitball some ideas with him, but any input from you guys is appreciated too!!

Thanks
KB

Click to expand...

I think your plants are showing some signs of overheating not deficiency... You have correctly put the lights higher as you said... I would not use any fertilizer or nutes atleast untill flowering or untill they show signs of underfeeding. They are too small for nutes it will burn them. I think the lights were the problem in your situation and your plants should already should look much healthier. Nice fan! Lets see some pic updates!

shoottokill said:

I think your plants are showing some signs of overheating not deficiency... You have correctly put the lights higher as you said... I would not use any fertilizer or nutes atleast untill flowering or untill they show signs of underfeeding. They are too small for nutes it will burn them. I think the lights were the problem in your situation and your plants should already should look much healthier. Nice fan! Lets see some pic updates!

Click to expand...

I concur! Sunshine is (in my experience), a gr8 soil to use! If there was no N-P-K rating, then it IS nute free. Ya arent gonna need nutes fer a couple weeks, tho, brah! Yer good, lets just hope yer babies bounce back like mine ALL did!

shoottokill said:

I think your plants are showing some signs of overheating not deficiency... You have correctly put the lights higher as you said... I would not use any fertilizer or nutes atleast untill flowering or untill they show signs of underfeeding. They are too small for nutes it will burn them. I think the lights were the problem in your situation and your plants should already should look much healthier. Nice fan! Lets see some pic updates!

Click to expand...

Yeah I figured the lights being too close was probably a big factor. Although I haven't been 100% informative as to just HOW MUCH I was over watering them at first. I have never grown anything and I had a 32oz spray bottle that I would take the sprayer out and water with. On the first watering as the seeds sprouted, I used the entire 32oz bottle on all the plants. That comes out to about 72-73mL EACH PLANT (not including the fact that I filled the bottle over the 32oz mark)! I have since learned my lesson, and my 32oz bottle has lasted me 3 waterings now and its not quite empty. So hopefully that in conjunction with the raised lights will let my babies bounce back with no problems. As stated before I am using Superthrive at 1/8tsp per gallon since it is not a nute itself.

Where in the hell am I? said:

Sunshine is (in my experience), a gr8 soil to use! If there was no N-P-K rating, then it IS nute free. Ya arent gonna need nutes fer a couple weeks, tho, brah! Yer good, lets just hope yer babies bounce back like mine ALL did!

Click to expand...

Ok awesome I will stick with just the sunshine by itself then and add nutes to the water when needed. What should I do with this 2Lb bag of bone meal I bought though? haha. Is bone meal any good for cannabis? I think I meant to get blood meal but the woman was like "well you don't really want to add that to anything edible" so I didn't buy it as to avoid suspicion hahaha!


Thanks guys, Ill get some pics tonight if there are significant signs of improvement of or the plants are worse.

KB