First "serious" grow - Rubbermaid stealth
- Thread starter Worped
- Start date
Worped
Well-Known Member
Lots of stuff happening over the past 3 days. Lots of plant growth (as to be expected), some box maintenance, and some heat and odor issues.
Let's start with an update on the plants. Here's the group:
Here's A:
Here's B:
And finally C:
As you can see, they're all getting to be very bushy and they're starting to get some height, particularly in the last few days. I've had to lower the plants a couple of times.
When you look at B, you'll see a couple of unhappy leaves on the lower left-hand side. The last time I watered (3 days ago), with the 1/4 nutes, B just wasn't high enough and some of the leaves were touching the soil. They got some of the water on them and I fully expected to see some burning as a result. I plan on trimming those leaves.
I'm at the point now where I have a series of decisions to make.
The first decision is when I switch over to flowering. I was originally thinking 4 weeks. However, the growth of the plants over the last few days has me a bit worried about height during the flowering process. If I were to flower now, I could probably get away with some leaf trimming along the way to allow light to penetrate closer to the bottom and that's about it. If I wait another week, I'll likely get bigger buds, but I'll very likely have to do some training (as I've mentioned before I'm thinking LST).
That brings me to the second decision, which is tied to the first. I'm not sure when I should start the LST. The plants are just now starting to get some height so I actually have something to try bending. However, the stems are VERY thick, so I don't have a lot of flexibility to work with. I could start bending the very tops and just keep on top of it every day to get a bit of sideways growth.
The next decision has to do with topping. I'd like to try topping all 3 plants, but I've read conflicting information about when I should do it. Some stuff I've read says to do it while still in the vegetative state, while other stuff says to do it a week into flowering. So, which is it?
As you can see, the plants are VERY bushy. Should I perhaps be trimming away some of the leaves to allow the light to penetrate a bit deeper?
I've done a bit of maintenance on the box. The lights tend to droop down a bit because of the weight and the fact that the box is not perfectly vertical (it has a slight angle to it). In order to gain a couple extra inches I made some shims and stuck them under the bottom of the fixtures. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of the shims, but I did take a picture of the fixture once I put a piece of silver duct tape over the bottom (to keep the shims in place).
You can't tell, but I managed to get the lights almost perfectly horizontal, which gave me about 1.5 inches of extra space for the plants.
I also started work on a hood for the fan. I have to get it painted and installed and once complete I'll post all of the details.
Heat is starting to be a big problem. The heat is now very easily in the high 80's/low 90's. It doesn't seem to be affecting the plants right now, but I definitely want to address the problem. I'm thinking of finding a piece of plexiglass and installing it right under the lights as a heat shield.
Man, the plants are getting shhtanky. I'm going to take a look at this filter setup and see if it might work for me.
Let's start with an update on the plants. Here's the group:
Here's A:
Here's B:
And finally C:
As you can see, they're all getting to be very bushy and they're starting to get some height, particularly in the last few days. I've had to lower the plants a couple of times.
When you look at B, you'll see a couple of unhappy leaves on the lower left-hand side. The last time I watered (3 days ago), with the 1/4 nutes, B just wasn't high enough and some of the leaves were touching the soil. They got some of the water on them and I fully expected to see some burning as a result. I plan on trimming those leaves.
I'm at the point now where I have a series of decisions to make.
The first decision is when I switch over to flowering. I was originally thinking 4 weeks. However, the growth of the plants over the last few days has me a bit worried about height during the flowering process. If I were to flower now, I could probably get away with some leaf trimming along the way to allow light to penetrate closer to the bottom and that's about it. If I wait another week, I'll likely get bigger buds, but I'll very likely have to do some training (as I've mentioned before I'm thinking LST).
That brings me to the second decision, which is tied to the first. I'm not sure when I should start the LST. The plants are just now starting to get some height so I actually have something to try bending. However, the stems are VERY thick, so I don't have a lot of flexibility to work with. I could start bending the very tops and just keep on top of it every day to get a bit of sideways growth.
The next decision has to do with topping. I'd like to try topping all 3 plants, but I've read conflicting information about when I should do it. Some stuff I've read says to do it while still in the vegetative state, while other stuff says to do it a week into flowering. So, which is it?
As you can see, the plants are VERY bushy. Should I perhaps be trimming away some of the leaves to allow the light to penetrate a bit deeper?
I've done a bit of maintenance on the box. The lights tend to droop down a bit because of the weight and the fact that the box is not perfectly vertical (it has a slight angle to it). In order to gain a couple extra inches I made some shims and stuck them under the bottom of the fixtures. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of the shims, but I did take a picture of the fixture once I put a piece of silver duct tape over the bottom (to keep the shims in place).
You can't tell, but I managed to get the lights almost perfectly horizontal, which gave me about 1.5 inches of extra space for the plants.
I also started work on a hood for the fan. I have to get it painted and installed and once complete I'll post all of the details.
Heat is starting to be a big problem. The heat is now very easily in the high 80's/low 90's. It doesn't seem to be affecting the plants right now, but I definitely want to address the problem. I'm thinking of finding a piece of plexiglass and installing it right under the lights as a heat shield.
Man, the plants are getting shhtanky. I'm going to take a look at this filter setup and see if it might work for me.
Worped
Well-Known Member
And have it blow across the lights? That was my second option. I have a fan right here, so I think I'll do that today. Well, actually it's a 4" desk fan (ie, not a computer fan) that I'll just attach to the side using some cable ties. I don't want to cut another hole in the box if I don't have to. Having said that, I can install another computer fan to suck air in and cover it with another hood if I really have to. Maybe I should just do that anyway.
If heat is still a problem after all of that, then I'll go with the heat shield.
323cheezy
Well-Known Member
i think youll probly need to flower soon cause it dosnt seem like you have enough space....node spacing looks great....4 weeks sounds good... i would wait till their almost a foot.... as for topping....if you decide too.... you know theyll need 2x as much room...so if your space is limited its gonna ge crowded...i wouldnt wait till flowering to top them....it dosnt matter if their in veg or flow... what matter is what height or node your at.... id do it at the 5th or 6th node....i think itll be best if u topp them soon.
Worped
Well-Known Member
Uh-oh... Looks like I'm developing some problems. I'm seeing little spots on two of the plants (A & B). I've had a look at some of the plant problem guides, but I'm not quite sure what my particular problem is. Here's a look at the spots:
They aren't showing up all that well in the picture, but there are lots of little grayish-black spots appearing all over the place. I don't think it looks like nute burn. The heat in the box is pretty high, so that's certainly a possibility, although to me it kind of looks more like the plant is having a pH problem. I make sure my water is somewhere in the 6.2-6.4 range, although I don't know what the soil itself is.
Any thoughts?
They aren't showing up all that well in the picture, but there are lots of little grayish-black spots appearing all over the place. I don't think it looks like nute burn. The heat in the box is pretty high, so that's certainly a possibility, although to me it kind of looks more like the plant is having a pH problem. I make sure my water is somewhere in the 6.2-6.4 range, although I don't know what the soil itself is.
Any thoughts?
323cheezy
Well-Known Member
I seen it amillion times....and its not so minor...but theyll make dont trip oooooutttt mmmmmmmmmmmaaaannnn...... thats just what happens when you have a small space...not alot of circulation......but look at it this way....you have a bushy couple of pants....keeep truckin..
Worped
Well-Known Member
It's starting to get REALLY bad. Most of B is now affected and I really think that I'm going to lose it. It's looking pretty thin. A is about half affected and C is starting to develop spots.
I've removed the plants from the box so that hopefully they'll dry out a bit so that I can test the soil pH and to get them away from the heat.
I've removed the plants from the box so that hopefully they'll dry out a bit so that I can test the soil pH and to get them away from the heat.
323cheezy
Well-Known Member
One time i tryed to put this herm i had, in a box and flower it early....the first day i put a fn directly on them....but some light seeped threw...so i closed the box further....leaving less circulation... the next day the leaves were all brown and shriveled....thats how i know when my ladies arent getting ventillation....
eyesdembleed
Active Member
great build. sorri bout the ladys tho. That desk fan should go in there anyway the air movment is always good. where did you cut the second intake?
Worped
Well-Known Member
The second intake is on the opposite side on the box, on the top half. So there's an intake on the bottom half and one on the top.
Worped
Well-Known Member
It's been a rough few days for the plants, to be sure.
While I still need to check the pH of the soil (that will be today's project), I'm pretty certain that the plants were suffering from some serious heat stress. I gave them a bit of a rest from the box on Monday and put them outside yesterday and they haven't gotten any worse. I replaced the existing PC fan with a 73CFM version and the temps have come down a bit. I will be adding a 73CFM fan to the second intake today to blow across the lights. That's going to be a LOT of air movement and hopefully that will take care of the problem for me. If it's still not where I need it to be, I'll be adding some sort of heat shield.
As I said, the plants don't seem to be getting any worse. They've really stretched out a lot over the past couple of days and there's still lots of new growth, so it's looking like I may be over the hump. Because they are getting quite tall now, I'm going to start tying them down and I'm going to switch to 12/12 starting tomorrow morning.
Here are some pictures. The leaf damage is pretty evident.
Here's A:
Here's B:
And finally C. This one seems to have weathered the storm quite well.
While I still need to check the pH of the soil (that will be today's project), I'm pretty certain that the plants were suffering from some serious heat stress. I gave them a bit of a rest from the box on Monday and put them outside yesterday and they haven't gotten any worse. I replaced the existing PC fan with a 73CFM version and the temps have come down a bit. I will be adding a 73CFM fan to the second intake today to blow across the lights. That's going to be a LOT of air movement and hopefully that will take care of the problem for me. If it's still not where I need it to be, I'll be adding some sort of heat shield.
As I said, the plants don't seem to be getting any worse. They've really stretched out a lot over the past couple of days and there's still lots of new growth, so it's looking like I may be over the hump. Because they are getting quite tall now, I'm going to start tying them down and I'm going to switch to 12/12 starting tomorrow morning.
Here are some pictures. The leaf damage is pretty evident.
Here's A:
Here's B:
And finally C. This one seems to have weathered the storm quite well.
323cheezy
Well-Known Member
honestly man...rubbermaid grows are the tuufest(not that i have ever done one)...but imagine trying to emulate mother nature in a box....plus it probly gets hot in there...remeber light(sun and temp), water(nutrients), air(ventilation, release of harmful gasses)what u need) are keen when growing.... plants need to fart and burp tooo....its a release....so in conclusion get a bigger space.....
Sexologist420
Well-Known Member
your space is fine. Im growing in a single 22gallon rubbermaid with 3 42watt cfls and my temps are between 78-83. I hvae 2 computerfans for intake, 1 4"massey fan blwing over my plants and lights and I have another 4" massey fan. It is in a closet. Just do that and you will fix ur heat/ventilation problem. You could get away with 1 pc fan on bottom and 4" over plants/lights and another as exaust. Pretty plants btw. Perfect sterotyped Ganja leaves 
Pce
Pce