GiggleGirl's First Grow-- Bubblelicious CFL

[GiggleGirl]

Bit the bullet-- started seeds germing last night. Two had cracked when I got home from work this afternoon. I did all 10 seeds (from Nirvana) since these were from what the guy at the store called it an "old" pack. Bit afraid they will all work, and it might be more than I can handle. lol.. Can't complain about free trial seeds though eh?


I don't have my entire closet sorted out yet-- when I do i will post. I plan to start pretty simple. I hope for lots of feedback.

I know now why you folks have journals-- I am so excited I need SOMEONE to tell, but my husband just rolls his eyes, and it's not safe to chat around the watercooler. lol.
Thanks for reading!

 

[tahoe58]

hey gg....saw your post in Hum's journal, and can looking for you. Great to see you have taken the plunge. I expect you will find this to be an engaging and enjoyable hobby. RIU is filled with a ton o people with lots of hands on experience, and an interest in helping. don't be worred about asking questions or getting clarification, this group of people is a fantastic community. wecome and good luck!

Bit the bullet-- started seeds germing last night. Two had cracked when I got home from work this afternoon. I did all 10 seeds (from Nirvana) since these were from what the guy at the store called it an "old" pack. Bit afraid they will all work, and it might be more than I can handle. lol.. Can't complain about free trial seeds though eh?


I don't have my entire closet sorted out yet-- when I do i will post. I plan to start pretty simple. I hope for lots of feedback.

I know now why you folks have journals-- I am so excited I need SOMEONE to tell, but my husband just rolls his eyes, and it's not safe to chat around the watercooler. lol.
Thanks for reading!

 

[Pullin' weeds]

I know your situation!

It get to a point where you're just so excited that you HAVE to share it with someone. Like you, my spouse tends to roll her eyes

Welcome and Good luck with the grow!

 

[closet.cult]

welcome. enjoy. keep us posted. good luck.

 

[GiggleGirl]

Ok. So in 48 hours ALL 10 of the "old crap" seeds sprouted. I planted the first five this evening.
Used Jiffy pots and "seed starter" soil. Kept it all pretty loose. Panicked because I didn't know how much water to use. Lol. Hope I did ok. I wasn't this stressed about caring for my real HUMAN BABY. Then again when I was stressed I just called my mom... I guess you are all my mommies now. XOX.

Will plant the second batch tomorrow. Ran into issues this week so I don't really have my cabinet set up yet. I have gone from excited to scared all in 24 hours. I think I had planned in my head to have like 2 females to love. So starting from 10 I feel a bit over my depth. Especially with out my set up totally organized. That'll be my Saturday! Need more lights now-- lol. No worries-- I've got the cash. Sticking with CFLs though.
Besides-- these are my free tester seeds, so what the hell, any bud is good bud. OH, BTW... I have NOTHING to smoke right now. So I am all jittery and anxious and can't just kick back. I don't expect to get anything but what I grow. So I am in a bit of a hurry. I am considering this an experiment and I'll maybe rush a couple of the plants to get some product. We'll see.

Thanks to everyone for stopping in. I was afraid I wouldn't make any friends. I will try to keep things short and interesting. I'm posting (or trying to) my first (boring) set of pics.


Tahoe, nice to hear from you! Especially since I coincidentally spent a few hours last night reading the early posts of your first grow. You reminded me of my buddy (same age and single) he starts project/hobbies out small, gets excited, suddenly decides to "go big". He says since he's single, he's loving not having to answer to anyone else. Ahhh freedom.

Hopefully I'll have everything set up before these little beauties get their heads out.

Happy Friday everyone. Almost time to relax.

 

[matman4444]

wow 10/10 sprouted, nice!

 

[tahoe58]

super super job on sprouting them seeds! and thanks for the comments....'preciate that....yea the freedom after some rather difficult times in the last years is a blessing and most enjoyable. I am grateful for the success I have had with my grow....the decision to go with the BloomBox was certainly a good one....I can't imagine how I would be managing these plants in the previous circumstances. good luck...and I'll keep watching....this one is gona be good!

 

[GiggleGirl]

So do I need lights on my pots when nothing is poking up yet? (I think, no, but sometimes my scientific theories have major flaws...so I decided to ask!)
What about watering-- the outside of the jiffy pots are damp-- is that good or bad. The soil is pretty loose too... hmm. I put the seeds with teh tails up the force them to work harder. I guess I better relax eh-- only been a day in soil. Sigh. Hard not to over analyse.
Think I'll throw the rest of the seeds into pots tonight-- then it's done.
Have a great day folks. Sat AM is the final shopping spree and set up day. Hope I make good choices!
GG

 

[natmoon]

If you require a fast yield from seed fimm them once at about 2 weeks old and put them into 12/12 at 3 weeks old.
Or for really fast put them into 12/12 right now,plants will obviously be smaller though but you can compensate for this by fimming your main keeping plants more times and getting more stems before you flower them

 

[Lord Dangly Bits]

If you require a fast yield from seed fimm them once at about 2 weeks old and put them into 12/12 at 3 weeks old.
Or for really fast put them into 12/12 right now,plants will obviously be smaller though but you can compensate for this by fimming your main keeping plants more times and getting more stems before you flower them

Natmoon, what the heck is fimming? Is this Femming one plant for a mother?

 

[Rocky Mountain High]

Good job, you got it goin on girl!!

 

[natmoon]

Natmoon, what the heck is fimming? Is this Femming one plant for a mother?

Fimming is where you cut 90% of the new nodes away at a slight angle when they are young and it causes a mutation,or whatever you want to call it,of the immature top.
This creates the 2 standard tops that you would get from topping as well up to 7 new heads to grow out of the mutated node.
I have never seen any plant grow 7 tops from one fimm though.
I usually average 5 new tops from the fimm and the 2 that anyone would get from topping.

 

[GiggleGirl]

Holy Fuck this was a lot of work-- took me most of the day-- Now I can finally sit back with a cool drink and chocolate bar. (Ahh if only I had some weed.)

So, I had some stuff to drop off at a charity store (trying for good Karma!) and while I was there I went through all of their furniture. Found three pieces I figured I could adapt. One already had strange holes in it (Perhaps from a previous McGyver!?)

Got all three for $40, then I ran to another place and bought a bunch of pieces of old lamps etc. I had also bought a brand new lamp cord from HomeDepot -- the plan being to wire the light fixutres up to it and just plug it in.

If you want to just look at the finished product I'll attach the pix here. Then I'll post again with more specifics of construction, incase someone want's to replicate.
I have the following lights inside: 4x42W (no idea what spectrum-- CAN'T find it written anywhere. Just said general purpose) 2 x 29W same make as the 42Ws. 2x27W-- Cool White light. Total Lummens=18,520
Space is about 3'x18"x18" give or take.

So the god damned brand new, store bought, lamp cord was faulty sending me into a solid hour of trying to see where I had fucked up the electrical. But I hadn't. I cut a cord off an older lamp to try it and thus found out about the other one being broken. Grrr...
Also dumped one of my jiffy pots. Searched through the soil until I found the seed. Then by mistake put a book on top of it and squished it. We'll see if it survives-- lol...

Couple of things-- The reflective stuff on the back wall is just there so I don't lose it. lol. The clamp light in the photos is just sitting there because I hadn't put it away-- I'll be keeping the doors slightly open, so probably will add that light in the gap, shining in. Why the hell not?
BIG QUESTION-- are the CFLs too close to the cabinet sides/top? They get surprisingly hot.
Thanks
GG.

Thoughts?

 

[SenorSanteria]

CFL's should be fine there, but it might not be a bad idea to lower them a bit. You want them 2-3 inches from the top of the plant.

Also... its going to get MIGHTY hot in there. Wheres your fan?

 

[GiggleGirl]

So here's what I did.

I painted the interior of the box white.
Space is about 3'x18"x18" give or take

I bought these light fixtures from a charity store that recycles building materials. Cost between 50 cents- $1.
I put lights in the fixtures and figured out how to place them in the cabinet. ( Important to figure this out with the biggest of your bulbs!) Drilled holes, popped the threads through and nutted them in. I have the following lights inside: 4x42W (no idea what spectrum-- CAN'T find it written anywhere. Just said general purpose) 2 x 29W same make as the 42Ws. 2x27W-- Cool White light. Total Lummens=18,520 .

I wired blacks to blacks and white to whites and pigtailed them to the lamp cord. Cord gets plugged into a powerbar.

The "daylight" lights are a much different colour-- bluer-- than the "general purpose" I only had two of the daylight ones since they were lower Watt. and I find them hard to find. I plan to rotate the positions of plants so they get close exposure to both spectrums. I placed the lights pretty far apart with the possible intention of putting a third row in the center. The lights are fixed, I will raise and lower the shelf with the plants. Notice the shelf is just a piece of wood on upside down flower pots. I'll use random things to create the heights as I go.

I wonder about what happens if the lights touch each other or the sides of the cabinet. It was a tight fix lenghtwise-- I think I managed to avoid actual contact.

It gets hot in there if the doors are closed (over 100) there is a hole in the top of the cabinet that I covered because of light loss, but I may be able to use it to vent iwth a computer fan (If I can figure out where to get one and how to wire it.) ... So for now I will keep the doors ajar, the fan in front and keep and eye on the temps. I can pop the clip on light infront and point it in if need be. Teh fan is just sitting on a rigged up shelf in front. Ummm... anything else I need to mention? Don't think so... It was a fair amount of work. Lots of running around shopping too. I plan to mylar the inside of the other two cabinets and use a bathroom vanity light to put in the multiple lights on a moveable shelf.

I bought everything I intend to need for quite a while. (except maybe more bulbs) The goal is that this little cabinet can be home for my eventual clones. The two larger cabinets will house my plants in flower. I'll set those up another day. I've likely spent about $200.

So... think this will work?
Oh, and yeah, I have 10 little seeds that germed, not yet poking their heads up. Didn't intend to start that many plant at once, so normally I will have fewer plants in these cabinets.
Thanks for reading.
GG.

 

[GiggleGirl]

Nothing's popping up and I am getting stressed. I put then in soil on the 10th. Maybe a bit deep. How much moisture do they need?!?! So many others have leaves by this point that now I am panicking. Breathe, Breathe Breathe.
Thoughts?
OH BTW it gets to be about 81degrees under the lights and humididty is low in the 40 range. That's with the fan I show on. Any suggestions?
GG

 

[SenorSanteria]

Did you plant them with the tips down? Some do take a little longer- i wouldnt panic for 2 or 3 more days.

Keep the soil moist though. Not saturated... but moist.

81 degrees sounds perfect.

 

[tahoe58]

you can chill for a bit....no need to panic.....they can take more time.....you're doing all the right things....

 

[GiggleGirl]

Thanks folks.
I dumped another one of the pots (Letter:C) cause I am an idiot. Found the seed-- it had little tiny roots hairs on it! Replanted it. Decided I will not under any circumstances go back downstairs until after work tomorrow. I wish I had a time locked on the door to keep me out! lol. Moist but not saturated- god that's stressful -- I need to get a turkey baster.

Thanks for the reassurance!
GG

 

[NeedMeMeds]

sure they will be fine... do u plan on leaving them in this box for flowering? going to be a very tight fit i would think.