Hawaiian Indica CFL Closet Grow

After some initial success two years ago, my friend found some bagseed in some Hawaiian Indica. The constraints of the grow were as follows: All materials must be “off the shelf.” The grow must be contained within my utility closet and be undetectable and reversible without leaving any damage. The grow will be done with CFL’s and must provide maximum return on investment.

Veg day 1 of 1 overall:

On this day I transplanted the newly germinated seeds, #1 and #2, into soil from the paper towel on a salad plate method I used to germinate them. I had 100% success with this method.

Veg day 1 (more or less) of 5 overall

I transplanted the rest of the newly sprouted seeds. Veg process is really beginning. Not much else to report

Veg day 4

The crop has taken to its new soil planters. They weren't getting enough sunlight in my window so something had to be done. I grabbed a few things around the house and rigged up a really ghetto solution to a lamp in my living room. That had to do until I could get my grow area ready and do some shopping.

Veg day 5
It’s the weekend. I went to some stores and got some supplies. I obtained some clip on lamps, Y-connectors and bulbs. I laid down some boxes on the floor. I am using a shower curtain rod with some old light-proof window shades for some “privacy” and also to help keep my lumens in place. I didn’t have time to build a frame to support my light cluster. That will probably be later this week or on the weekend. I used a light bulb changer, propped against the wall, to hold the lights in the meantime. I am using 4x 5600k 27w and 2x2700k 42w CFL’s. I plan to expand this rapidly with the size of the crop. I have an off-the-shelf window box fan blowing air around the grow area. The crop isn’t ready for a direct breeze and the CFL’s aren’t running hot enough to need direct airflow. I expect more rapid progress. I have been using tap water that has been sitting out so far. I plan to start RODI h20 soon. I had much better results with that last time.

Looking good MakinTheMagic, keep it up!

I noticed the "do not post in others grow journal unless asked." I ask for comments. Criticism is welcome as long as its constructive and not hating/flaming me. I encourage any ideas you have to improve my project. Post away!

It’s time for an update. I’ve invested in some more lights and fixtures. I have some reflectors but have not implemented them in the grow area as of yet. I think they will make more sense when the plants are larger. I came across some more bag seed and now have an additional 11 seeds that germinated in the last few days. I also got 2 bag seeds from some dirt weed. 1 has germinated and may be included to see it differs. They are under 7 5600k 1700L CFL’s and 4 2700k 2700L bulbs. I calculate that to be about 22700 Lumens with an approximate 2 ft^2 growing area. Lights are about 3” from the plants. They are getting about 2 shot glasses of RODI H20 each day. Here are some pics from today. The smallest plants seem to be stalled, is it normal to have some duds?

I have bad news to report this week. 3 of my original 6 plants died. 1 more might not make it. The two remaining have some hope but have some fighting to do. I have some good news to report. I came across 14 additional seeds. 13 of those seeds have sprouted. 12 of them are also Hawaiian Indica. 1 is bagseed from some mids I came across. I germinated it to see how it may differ from the Hawaiian indica. So far I can say it seems to be slower growing.

I am not sure the exact cause of death for my 3 plants from the first group. I think its second time growers bad luck. I knew what to do from the start. Also, I have a lot more free time than during my prior grow. Therefore the plants got too much care. They were watered every 12-24 hours instead of every 2 or 3 days. They got light, way too much, and probably too much heat. I believe these 3 deaths are due to over-watering and/or root rot. Allowing the soil to dry out didn't help so I watered and gave nutes. That was a death sentence. I think they were also in bad soil. I used a MG moisture control potting soil. It got really dry and dusty. It ran a ph of ~7.5. I transplanted the 3 survivors and also the new batch to a different soil mix in 6" pots today. I used generic top soil. Its a lot grittier and seems to hold moisture better. It is running a ph of about 6.5. So far, about 12 hours in I see no results positive or negative. I'll update in a few days when I see some results.

I've also modified the grow area. I aimed the fan so its not directly blowing on the plants. I spread out the lights and raised them up. I made sure the fan was blowing on the lights. I obtained a thermometer and am keeping the grow area around 80 during the light and 75ish at night. Humidity is at about 30%. I want to get that up a bit. I am trying to do less, water every 2nd or 3rd day, less volume of water, more targeted at the roots.

I am hoping my refinements improve my results going forward, saving the 3 from batch #1 and maximizing the results from batch #2.

I just upgraded my grow space and took some new pics. I am using 14x 27w 5600k cfl's and 6 42w 2700k cfl's. I am getting some good results. My oldest 3 are a month old now. The biggest 2 are about 4" tall now. They are showing signs of maturity within the last week and are sprouting new leaves. The new batch is looking even better. Never subjected to harsh conditions, they have reaped the benefits that resulted in a 50% attrition rate from batch #1. Some from batch #2 will be bigger than batch #1 within a week or two. The younger batch is about 2 weeks old. They are starting to harden stems and form genitalia. The biggest have a set of 3 and are about to put out a set of 5. Their water consumption is picking up. I've been using rainwater when possible to reduce costs and give them a taste of some (dirty) water.

Here are 2 close up pics of my 2 best/oldest

Its that time of the week when I have time to water the girls and take some pictures. This marks the 5 week mark from germination for the oldest plants (#’s 1, 3 and 4). The plants from the 2nd batch (#’s 7-20) are really taking off and may overtake some batch #1 plants soon.

Here are some pics from the past week: I'm facing some sort of nute/ph problem as I am getting leaves that turn yellow, then brown and fold up and die, older leaves yellowing and slower growth. It might have been overwatering or wind burn. anyone have any ideas?

scribed
+ rep for all the gatdamn pics

i love threads with lots of pics
and books
and i hate movie's with subtittles
and i hate people who watch tv with subtittle (its in english why do i have to also read it ............. wife)

That 5hit said:

scribed
+ rep for all the gatdamn pics

i love threads with lots of pics
and books
and i hate movie's with subtittles
and i hate people who watch tv with subtittle (its in english why do i have to also read it ............. wife)

Click to expand...

thank you! i added a few more pics. vids to come

I think it might be a pH. problem as a high or very low pH can keep the plant from being able to uptake nutes. correct me if i am wrong. You might want to add some perlite to your soil when you transplant it help aerate and help with drainage.

you shoud try hempy buckits

greenjacketdude said:

I think it might be a pH. problem as a high or very low pH can keep the plant from being able to uptake nutes. correct me if i am wrong. You might want to add some perlite to your soil when you transplant it help aerate and help with drainage.

Click to expand...

the ph has gone from high 6's to high 7's. i haven't added nutes or anything. any suggestions to bring the ph down?

i should have added perlite when i put them in these pots but went against it.

Here is my weekly Sunday update. Despite chemistry concerns, the crop has been developing secondary branch/leaf sites at the nodes. They might be a little sick but not dying. They got water today for the first time in a week. This seems to work much better than 2 or 3x per week. My pots could use some perlite and gravel for drainage. Will get it next time I transplant. And on to the pics....

I've been worried about my crop due to some leaf yellowing and slower growth. I thought I had problems with overwatering. So I cut down. But I realized that the soil was drying very unevenly - very quickly on top and slowly at the bottom. The pots weren't draining water through the bottom at all. I did a rebuild on the pots, taking out the root ball and placing some rocks at the bottom to improve drainage and observe the roots. I was quite surprised at the root activity. There was easily 3x more root than plant above ground. Drainage was much improved. After the transplant, the soil was flushed and allowed to drain. Miracle grow 8-7-6 plant food was added to the water at the recommended concentration. Hopefully I will see an improvement in the next few days.


Are these plants root bound? Should I transplant now? Or how much longer?

i would move those to 5 gallon buckit