First Grow- Lots of questions

[NW Rush]

So basically my plant is inside an old book shelf that i stripped down to the frame and wrapped in emergency blankets. The height of the box is adjustable but i still need to insulate it because right now its at a constant 62 degrees F. My plant is about 5 weeks old and its just in a pot with some organic soil and is hand watered every other day. The dimensions of my box are roughly 2.5 x 3.5 x 5ft(Tallest i can make it). Inside i have 2 t8 fluoros(5000k) that are 17w and put out roughly 1200 lumens a piece as well as 1 23w cfl(2700k) but im not positive on the lumen output. I keep it on a 24 hr light schedule and thats about it; my grow consists of pure basics, but some of the more mature leaves are getting slight yellowish spots but there is only a couple and one can barely be seen in the pic. and my leaves are getting pretty dry. Next on my list to add to my box is some sort of ventilation with a filter on the end(some sort of carbon scrubber).

Any questions, tips or critiques on what needs to be added to my system would be greatly appreciated,
Thanks.

 

[m3snwbrder98]

So basically my plant is inside an old book shelf that i stripped down to the frame and wrapped in emergency blankets. The height of the box is adjustable but i still need to insulate it because right now its at a constant 62 degrees F. My plant is about 5 weeks old and its just in a pot with some organic soil and is hand watered every other day. The dimensions of my box are roughly 2.5 x 3.5 x 5ft(Tallest i can make it). Inside i have 2 t8 fluoros(5000k) that are 17w and put out roughly 1200 lumens a piece as well as 1 23w cfl(2700k) but im not positive on the lumen output. I keep it on a 24 hr light schedule and thats about it; my grow consists of pure basics, but some of the more mature leaves are getting slight yellowish spots but there is only a couple and one can barely be seen in the pic. and my leaves are getting pretty dry. Next on my list to add to my box is some sort of ventilation with a filter on the end(some sort of carbon scrubber).

Any questions, tips or critiques on what needs to be added to my system would be greatly appreciated,
Thanks.

Sounds like a couple more lights couldn't hurt, youre looking at less than 6000 lumens probably right now. Fresh air is a plus! get that ventilation asap, maybe attach a computer fan for exhaust and a hole with a filter on it for intake or something

 

[ow.douglas]

There are a few issues there that I would check into before going for a scrubber. It doesn't appear that there is very much soil in that pot, not very deep. You are going to find yourself root/pot bound pretty fast if you are not there now. I would try and lift the soil that is in there now and fill from the bottom and make that pot at least 75% full with the soil mix. If you do that you should be OK from a nute standpoint because those organic mixes contain some nutes. If you don't add more soil, i would consider starting a mild nut mix with your watering. Five weeks in and that limited amount of soil, consider it, anyhow. That's not a ton of light but, I would deal with the soil issue first and move on from there. Good luck.

 

[Rusty Crutch]

From what I've been told you need to give your plant a little bit of rest every day. Supposedly plants release toxins during their night cycle which may be what is dis-coloring your leaves. 20 hours of light per day is plenty. I have also found that lightly misting your plants helps to stop them from drying out between watering and with the use of weak nutrients in the spray can also increase growth rates. As fas as fluorescents go I use them for getting clones ready and not much else. Even just one 150w HID above your plant would make a huge difference. My first grow was in soil but i switched to hydroponics for the second grow and never looked back. You can eliminate over watering/over fertilization and with the automation of water/light/ventilation its great to be able to shut the door on your setup and not have to touch it for a week or more.

 

[riddleme]

So basically my plant is inside an old book shelf that i stripped down to the frame and wrapped in emergency blankets. The height of the box is adjustable but i still need to insulate it because right now its at a constant 62 degrees F. My plant is about 5 weeks old and its just in a pot with some organic soil and is hand watered every other day. The dimensions of my box are roughly 2.5 x 3.5 x 5ft(Tallest i can make it). Inside i have 2 t8 fluoros(5000k) that are 17w and put out roughly 1200 lumens a piece as well as 1 23w cfl(2700k) but im not positive on the lumen output. I keep it on a 24 hr light schedule and thats about it; my grow consists of pure basics, but some of the more mature leaves are getting slight yellowish spots but there is only a couple and one can barely be seen in the pic. and my leaves are getting pretty dry. Next on my list to add to my box is some sort of ventilation with a filter on the end(some sort of carbon scrubber).

Any questions, tips or critiques on what needs to be added to my system would be greatly appreciated,
Thanks.

62F is to low for good healthy growth should be 75 to 85 for veg and low to mid 70's for flower

Some organic soil, well if it's hot like MG your watering wrong and actually your description of watering is vauge???

no info on humidity or ph both important factors/elements of your garden

No ventalation??? yet???

How many plants? just this one?

 

[NW Rush]

Sadly, this is the only plant i have at the moment until i have more money for a bigger & better set up. Where can i get a good timer with a three prong plug in? Is it uncommon to plug a power strip into one & if not is this in anyway dangerous?

I added more soil to the top not to long after the pic was taken but i will work on lifting out the plant and putting more under it but won't this disturb the growth? Also my watering style is plain and simple, i just pour it on top of the soil just as you would any house plant, i mix a little miracle grow plant food in with the water but it's a very small amount.

Just today i bought 2 more 23w cfl's and sockets for them so i will put those up soon. If i built some sort of home made reflector to put around the fluoros would it do anything, because the housing that it's in is doesn't seem like it reflects very much of the light.

As far as ventilation/air flow would a normal desk fan work until i can locate something more ideal? It's probably about 5-6in. in diameter(The fan blade) and i could remove the external housing if space becomes an issue.

Hopefully soon i will be able go hydro, i already have an airstone & pump as well as my reservoir, only thing that is holding me back is i need to save up a little more money. Just curious what is all necessary to maintain on your hydro setup? such as ph of the water, humidity, etc. I'm just planning on going the simple reservoir method, because it seems cheapest as well as lowest maintenance IMHO.

Thanks for all the help, I'll work on getting more pics after i set up more lights, insulate the box, add ventilation, Etc.

 

[LANERBLAZE]

From what I've been told you need to give your plant a little bit of rest every day. Supposedly plants release toxins during their night cycle which may be what is dis-coloring your leaves. 20 hours of light per day is plenty. I have also found that lightly misting your plants helps to stop them from drying out between watering and with the use of weak nutrients in the spray can also increase growth rates. As fas as fluorescents go I use them for getting clones ready and not much else. Even just one 150w HID above your plant would make a huge difference. My first grow was in soil but i switched to hydroponics for the second grow and never looked back. You can eliminate over watering/over fertilization and with the automation of water/light/ventilation its great to be able to shut the door on your setup and not have to touch it for a week or more.

misting your plants is ok... but i duunno if id mix any nutes in the spray...... burn the leafs...

 

[mjh0817]

by hearing and looking at the picture you have alot of issues you will be seeing in a few days. first your leafs are growing with raised ridges which sometimes indicates both nutrient burn and really root bounding. second your t8's are ok but using 6500K are for veg and 2700K are for flowering. 2700 just dont produce enough blue spectrum. also Miracle Grow nutrients are terrible for cannibus. third 65 degrees is a bad temp for this plant as well in low temperatures humidity decreases. moreover i can say that if you re-pot; add more soil with rock drainage*, add and replace cfl's with 6500K ones, and somehow figure a way to raise temperature you should see better, healthier growth.

also foliar feeding should be done with water in the beginning depending on ferts.

 

[NW Rush]

The only reason i put the 2700k cfl in was because i was told a mixed spectrum is good for the plant but thanks for the tips, I'll work on getting more 6500K lights and re-potting the plant.
Here's a new pic as of today but i havent really had time to put in any work on my box yet.

-Also if miracle grow is poor plant food what would you recommend? Preferrably something i can find at a local store.
Thanks.

 

[Rusty Crutch]

misting your plants is ok... but i duunno if id mix any nutes in the spray...... burn the leafs...

I regularly foliar feed my clones with a weak seed and clone mix until they graduate to the grow room. I've found that misting under HID can cause lensing of the water droplets that burn the leaves but 4 fluro its fine. Dunno does that make sense? I'm wrecked.
These people know more about it than me.