First Grow! ~2'x4' Closet with LEDs

Closet-Gardenholic

Closet-Gardenholic

Well-Known Member
I am definitely too much of a perfectionist! It is really bad now while I'm off work for the Winter because I have way too much time on my hands, hence why I picked up this hobby. However, it's not nearly as time consuming as I need it to be!

I am curious to see what I can manage this Summer when I go back to working 12 hour days! I'm hoping to keep this closet as a veg space and maybe come up with a bigger flowering room.
We also have a lot of daylight come June once temps are up and our days don't naturally go to 12-12 until September. I'm definitely considering clones and getting some stuff started indoors to move outside.

We also have a shed that I could light proof and keep the plants in for the extra 3 hours of daylight each day to make them flower early.

We will see where things go as things continue with grow #1. So far, I'm hooked and don't see myself losing interest. Excited to have a hobby that will actually "pay off" by the time I go back to work.
 
Closet-Gardenholic

Closet-Gardenholic

Well-Known Member
Wow, a LOT has happened in a week! The Blue Dream and Critical Kush females are doing great! I shorted them on soil, overestimating their stretch, but it's nothing the transplant won't solve.

As far as the mystery, S/he has definitely been used and abused more since I ripped off the roots. First, I snapped the main stem almost all the way testing my boundaries for when I started LST. From there, I decided to top the newest node. THEN after seeing how damaged the top became after snapping the stem, I just decided to take the top off all together below the break.

Here is the progress, or I guess we would say, lack there of.IMG_1643.JPG IMG_1683.JPGIMG_1696.JPG IMG_1698.JPGIMG_1697.JPG
 
perkele

perkele

Well-Known Member
so it is your first grow. the setup is cool dude! all kept tidy!
I think you over due things also.
one of the main rules is, as one dear friend here is saying ( lime73 ), Less is More -I only give my plants what is Needed ...Not what I Think they should get!
Give your plants a bit more space.
How much water do you give them at the moment?at what intervals?.
Sometimes, the less you bother them, the better. Just live them be undisturbed.
Be gentile with the water spraying, the brown spots on the leaves might be from this. The LED is a powerful light and through the water drops it will form a magnifying glass effect and burn your leaves.
 
perkele

perkele

Well-Known Member
to the big one with the top gone...for the moment let her be. when the 4 mains will grow a bit more, you will just tie them down gently(!!!) with some nice hemp rope
 
Closet-Gardenholic

Closet-Gardenholic

Well-Known Member
perkele said:
to the big one with the top gone...for the moment let her be. when the 4 mains will grow a bit more, you will just tie them down gently(!!!) with some nice hemp rope
Click to expand...
You've been a big help so far. Very pleased with the results of taking that top off (as scary as it was)

As far as watering, I use a big one gallon jug with holes drilled in the top so the water comes out slowly. I think you are onto something with the water burns, as the water splatters since the plant is so close to the ground.

I only water when the soil is completely dry about an 1" deep. So far it has been every 3-4 days.

This was not a good hobby to pass time! I've already read Cervante's grow bible. Guess it's time to move onto another read. Any reccomendations? It will be a lot easier to leave them alone once I go back to work late Spring!
 
Moishe

Moishe

Active Member
This is the start of good stuff. I've been lurking around forums for years, and you have the right mentality for a talented grower. Keep it simple to start, keep clones on reserve if possible (not sure if you can block off a small space somewhere to keep clones going). If you are going with soil and don't have any extended vacations planned, I always recommend people running fewer plants veg'd out longer. I'd say stick with 2 or 3 max to start if you're doing a simpler soil grow, pull clones off before you flip to flower, and give it time to fill out its space. I usually recommend flowering 1 plant if possible, because in my experience 1 plant veg'd out longer to fill up the place of 3 smaller plants will give 125-200% the yield, but when you aren't positive on your genetics, you shouldn't do that.

First run should be all about keeping it simple, having fun, familiarizing yourself with the genetics, and seeing the rewards of a successful grow. Seems like you've got that down, best of luck and I'll be subbed for the ride!
 
perkele

perkele

Well-Known Member
how much do you plan to extend this grow?
now you have them under 18h light with 6 of night?
how much do you plan to veg them?
the watering period 3-4 days sounds about right.
Jorge's bible is one of the best indeed, plus this forum and time invested in learning the ways of this plant.
I think, the more simpler you keep the grow the better.
The nutrient burn signs...well, try to be relaxed with this aspect. The plans usually they show nutrient burn signs (if it's the case) only in about 4 weeks after the burn is happening. And at your plant's stage, you shouldn't have any nutrient issues.
Do you have pre-fertilized soil?
Myself I got very found of Plagron products, very nice, organic and simple to use, always with great results.
Btw, check the link in my signature, after a loooong time I've decided to start a new journal. It'll be interesting, full of bondage and what not.
Good read...this forum has pretty interesting articles and posts.
This is an interesting article for some other projects that you may start, but choose well the strain, would recommend a sativa dominant http://www.growweedeasy.com/manifold#ultra-quick-guide-to-building-manifold
 
Closet-Gardenholic

Closet-Gardenholic

Well-Known Member
Moishe said:
This is the start of good stuff. I've been lurking around forums for years, and you have the right mentality for a talented grower. Keep it simple to start, keep clones on reserve if possible (not sure if you can block off a small space somewhere to keep clones going). If you are going with soil and don't have any extended vacations planned, I always recommend people running fewer plants veg'd out longer. I'd say stick with 2 or 3 max to start if you're doing a simpler soil grow, pull clones off before you flip to flower, and give it time to fill out its space. I usually recommend flowering 1 plant if possible, because in my experience 1 plant veg'd out longer to fill up the place of 3 smaller plants will give 125-200% the yield, but when you aren't positive on your genetics, you shouldn't do that.

First run should be all about keeping it simple, having fun, familiarizing yourself with the genetics, and seeing the rewards of a successful grow. Seems like you've got that down, best of luck and I'll be subbed for the ride!
Click to expand...
I'm excited to have you on board! I did a lot of research before ordering my supplies, and I have done my best to think things through and always be a step or two ahead (SO FAR.) I will be ordering my nutes, more soil, and the final pots in the next few days. I am also considering perlite or something similar to cut the FFOF because I do notice that it has slight drainage problems. Although, with fabric pots this may not as big of an issue.

It makes sense that going with one plant vegged for longer produces more yield than a lot of plants crammed into the same space. Look at how these things grow outdoors! However, like you said, 1 plant is risky-especially when it's a first grow.

At this point, I have a 100% Indica, a 70% Sativa,and a mystery that also looks to be strong Indica. There is a chance the mystery gets culled (hopefully I can see sex sooner than later.) Even if that happens I have 2 seedlings with good genetics and will have no problem filling my space. This grow will give me the opportunity to see how the needs differ among a few different strains, and help me learn to sex. I am also planning on setting up a small clone area in the next week or so with CFLs or tubes, and plan on taking a few cuttings from each plant later in veg.

If all goes well,I will start setting up a bigger flower space during this grow as well. I would like to wait until these are flipped to flowering so I can see how the LEDs do, but I am leaning towards 2 600w HPS in a 4x8x7 tent. I would go ahead and get my next round going in that tent and then just use my closet set up now for vegging and clones once this first grow finishes.

From there it will be time to start thinking about outdoors!

This is going to be a fun season :D

For nutes, I really like the dirty dozen from Fox Farm, but fear it might be a little much for a beginner. I like General Hydroponics GO Box for value and have read decent things. Not like this has been asked 10000000000 times already, but FF, AN, or the GO box for nutes my first time?
 
Closet-Gardenholic

Closet-Gardenholic

Well-Known Member
perkele said:
how much do you plan to extend this grow?
now you have them under 18h light with 6 of night?
how much do you plan to veg them?
the watering period 3-4 days sounds about right.
Jorge's bible is one of the best indeed, plus this forum and time invested in learning the ways of this plant.
I think, the more simpler you keep the grow the better.
The nutrient burn signs...well, try to be relaxed with this aspect. The plans usually they show nutrient burn signs (if it's the case) only in about 4 weeks after the burn is happening. And at your plant's stage, you shouldn't have any nutrient issues.
Do you have pre-fertilized soil?
Myself I got very found of Plagron products, very nice, organic and simple to use, always with great results.
Btw, check the link in my signature, after a loooong time I've decided to start a new journal. It'll be interesting, full of bondage and what not.
Good read...this forum has pretty interesting articles and posts.
This is an interesting article for some other projects that you may start, but choose well the strain, would recommend a sativa dominant http://www.growweedeasy.com/manifold#ultra-quick-guide-to-building-manifold
Click to expand...
I've beeen keeping them under 24 hour light since they started. LED is not costing much and I have not seen anything but fast growth and tight nodes from leaving he light on all the time.

I'm not really on a time constraint as far as how long these things can go. I would like to harvest around May 1, but a couple weeks later doesn't hurt. I am a quality whore so I plan on curing it for another 4-6 weeks after it's done anyways.

This first grow will not supply me with enough to stop buying completely, BUT now that my state is recreation with some of the most relaxed grow laws, I should be on my way to "self-sufficiency" by my 3rd cycle, as long as I can expand like I want.
 
perkele

perkele

Well-Known Member
Closet-Gardenholic said:
I've beeen keeping them under 24 hour light since they started. LED is not costing much and I have not seen anything but fast growth and tight nodes from leaving he light on all the time.

I'm not really on a time constraint as far as how long these things can go. I would like to harvest around May 1, but a couple weeks later doesn't hurt. I am a quality whore so I plan on curing it for another 4-6 weeks after it's done anyways.

This first grow will not supply me with enough to stop buying completely, BUT now that my state is recreation with some of the most relaxed grow laws, I should be on my way to "self-sufficiency" by my 3rd cycle, as long as I can expand like I want.
Click to expand...
with 2-3 plants at a time you should be selfsufficient in no time!
Veg...depending how much space you have, depending how big your flowers are and what strains you have.
If it's your first grow, as Moishe was telling, try to observe and learn out of this 1st experience, know the plant and it's behavior.
The flowering will be between 10-12-14 weeks depending on the strain.
Or the easiest way is to just put some strong autoflowers from seed to harvest under 12h/12h and you'll have your crop ready in 15 weeks or so with a lot of yeld, depending on the strains. I love Dutch passion and what strains they have!
Make sure the lights are not to close to the plants as LEDs can burn or light stress. Check with the manufacturer and see what is the recommended distance for different stages of the plants.
Light stressed plants will slow their growth and will not grow happy.
A happy plant will be with the leaves pointed up towards the lights
 
Moishe

Moishe

Active Member
perkele said:
Make sure the lights are not to close to the plants as LEDs can burn or light stress. Check with the manufacturer and see what is the recommended distance for different stages of the plants.
Light stressed plants will slow their growth and will not grow happy.
A happy plant will be with the leaves pointed up towards the lights
Click to expand...
This. With LEDs, the light will start to bleach the plant if they're too close, this is bad because all of that surface area is losing its ability to photosynthesize completely. That being said, you can get a little closer with LEDs than sodium because of their low temps. Also I'd recommend a 2 month veg time for your first run if space allows it. Preflowers will have shown in this time, letting you know gender, and you'll have a good from for your girls to pack on weight.

Don't go too crazy with nutes. Pay attention to deficiencies (cal mag is the most common in commercial soils from what I've seen), but I always tell soil growers to divide the recommended dosage on the bottle by 3 when using bottled nutrients. Some of the organics can be more forgiving.

If you wanna snag a decent bag of all-purpose compost and brew some tea, that's your best bet. I find it more cost efficient and much better for the plants to brew up a tea once every week or two to feed the plant along with regular waterings (dechlorinated water, RO systems are worth it if you have bad shit or softeners on tap.) The best part about tea is you can't really overfeed if you give it a good 12-24 hour brew-down, and the only synthetics that I wind up adding in is calmag if it's a pure coco grow.

These are all options for later down the road of course. This shit gets overwhelming when you get yourself in deep. Before you know it you'll have a shedful of backup/retired growing gear and 200 square feet worth of grow room jam-packed with frosty ladies in no-time. If that's your goal of course... But I'll be along for the ride and always glad to answer questions within my realm of knowledge.:leaf::hump:
 
Olive Drab Green

Olive Drab Green

Well-Known Member
Closet-Gardenholic said:
Just got my package and couldn't wait to test the ph of my well water! View attachment 3853354Not bad!!!

About to hang my sunfilm and get my door on the grow area, as well set up my exhaust and get my first baby inside! Should have a little "greenage" in the next couple days.

The real seeds and my first LED will be here early next week. Until then, we have a week to watch this first girl begin to grow! Pictures coming this evening
Click to expand...
You don't need to pH in Organics, which FFOF is. Also, you are not going to get through this grow without nutes entirely. FFOF's kinda hot for seedlings, but by 4-6 weeks, aside from transplanting, you will probably need a nutrient system.
 
Olive Drab Green

Olive Drab Green

Well-Known Member
Closet-Gardenholic said:
Wow, a LOT has happened in a week! The Blue Dream and Critical Kush females are doing great! I shorted them on soil, overestimating their stretch, but it's nothing the transplant won't solve.

As far as the mystery, S/he has definitely been used and abused more since I ripped off the roots. First, I snapped the main stem almost all the way testing my boundaries for when I started LST. From there, I decided to top the newest node. THEN after seeing how damaged the top became after snapping the stem, I just decided to take the top off all together below the break.

Here is the progress, or I guess we would say, lack there of.View attachment 3867110 View attachment 3867112View attachment 3867113 View attachment 3867114View attachment 3867115
Click to expand...
You are overwatering. Since you say every 3-4 days, you are probably giving them too much at once.
 
Olive Drab Green

Olive Drab Green

Well-Known Member
Closet-Gardenholic said:
I'm excited to have you on board! I did a lot of research before ordering my supplies, and I have done my best to think things through and always be a step or two ahead (SO FAR.) I will be ordering my nutes, more soil, and the final pots in the next few days. I am also considering perlite or something similar to cut the FFOF because I do notice that it has slight drainage problems. Although, with fabric pots this may not as big of an issue.

It makes sense that going with one plant vegged for longer produces more yield than a lot of plants crammed into the same space. Look at how these things grow outdoors! However, like you said, 1 plant is risky-especially when it's a first grow.

At this point, I have a 100% Indica, a 70% Sativa,and a mystery that also looks to be strong Indica. There is a chance the mystery gets culled (hopefully I can see sex sooner than later.) Even if that happens I have 2 seedlings with good genetics and will have no problem filling my space. This grow will give me the opportunity to see how the needs differ among a few different strains, and help me learn to sex. I am also planning on setting up a small clone area in the next week or so with CFLs or tubes, and plan on taking a few cuttings from each plant later in veg.

If all goes well,I will start setting up a bigger flower space during this grow as well. I would like to wait until these are flipped to flowering so I can see how the LEDs do, but I am leaning towards 2 600w HPS in a 4x8x7 tent. I would go ahead and get my next round going in that tent and then just use my closet set up now for vegging and clones once this first grow finishes.

From there it will be time to start thinking about outdoors!

This is going to be a fun season :D

For nutes, I really like the dirty dozen from Fox Farm, but fear it might be a little much for a beginner. I like General Hydroponics GO Box for value and have read decent things. Not like this has been asked 10000000000 times already, but FF, AN, or the GO box for nutes my first time?
Click to expand...
Look into Roots Organics. I would recommend the dry nutes, but they have a liquid nutes player pack, as well.
 
Moishe

Moishe

Active Member
https://www.planetnatural.com/product/rainbow-mix-grow/
https://www.planetnatural.com/product/rainbow-mix-bloom/
There's the food I recommend to everybody starting out. Also, as Olive said, you've been over-watering. You want to let the root zone dry out pretty well. You'll be able to tell because of how light the container gets if you pick it up. The drooping leaves are a sign of that, and it can lead to lots of problem down the line. The main problem is small grassy buds, anaerobic conditions, and ultimately crop disease incubating in your soil. If you can pick up fabric pots for your final transplants I'd recommend that gives the roots more room to stretch, breathe, and terminate properly instead of wrapping around the edge of your containers.
 
Closet-Gardenholic

Closet-Gardenholic

Well-Known Member
I will drop the light back down now that the mystery plant has recovered some. Thanks for the advice on the nute companies. I'm sure I'll be researching up to the day I make the order.
 
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