177W CFL Closet-Box Microgrow - Platinum OG 12/12 from seed

Nice planning My baby is just going into flower! good luck and peace

Nice! Went from 177w to 456w! Wish I could figure a way to get that many watts in my room haha.

She's looking a bit better, can't wait to see her when you switch to 12/12. She'll probably improve a lot more after the switch.

Well, I may be jumping back down to strait 400W. With such good ventilation, i'm thinking of simply doing a vertical MH bulb into the box.
Tonight, i'm going to attempt it.... a 400W MH in the box. MAYBE a few supplemental CFL's @ 2300K for some duel spectrum action.
We'll see what i'm feeling. But i'll likely be redesigning the box tonight, cutting up a new one to add the fans more efficiently, setup a PROPER intake with my fan, rather then the square hole for a round duct I have now. And lastly, I can line the inside of the box with mylar and cut the box with it inside, so that I don't have to try to fit it onto existing holes.

I'm honestly trying to figure out how I can essentially build a grow tent inside the closet. I've seen them before, but I don't want to have to buy one... Outside of buying one though, i'm unsure as to how I would make that happen.

Yeah I've been thinking about making my own tent. I was thinking I could use some small PVC type pipes for the frame. Then I figured I could use some Mylar for the inside and just regular fabric for the outside sewn together. I don't know if it'll work but if I try it I'll let you know how it goes. Seems like it would work but I'm no expert haha.

Watch out with that 400W MH dude especially if you're going to coat the inside with mylar, the heat will probably get a bit too high, the highest wattage I've seen so far in a small cab grow is about 300.
And I remember you were already raided once so a 400W beast isn't going to be very subtle in terms of running costs might want to keep that in mind.

You need to consider your noise levels as well if you're going to run a million fans to keep that beast cool. It'll be a big challenge to keep it stealth But I'm curious! Good luck.

No worries.
Since the case is long closed, I can discuss the details. I was a dealer back then, I told pills of multiple kinds. And used the profits to fund my growing. I never sold weed (although I might have if I'd had the chance)
But those days are long over. I don't sell anymore, or do anything that could bring the police to my door.
As power goes...people tend to forget that a TV, will pull something like 3-4 hundred watts each. So it's equivilant to leaving a TV on for half a day. The problem comes, if a HUMAN looks at your power usage, and see's it's spiking and dropping on a 12 hr schedule. And a person doesn't ever get involved unless there's some sort of problem. Short of a REAL issue that needs human intervention, the computer handles everything. And the computer isn't programmed to look for those sorts of things.

My revised setup has 14 bulbs running in it, a complete mixture of 6500K, 5000K, 2700K, and 2300K bulbs. I didn't do an exact count to see how many there are of what, but i'll get a count later and let everyone know, so they know what kind of power im working with.

In regards to her light schedule changes, I've decided to let her run from 7PM to 7AM to take advantage of the cool night air. It's all rigged to a light switch, so I can turn it all off and on in a heart beat. (not that the timer can't take care of it, but at the moment, i've been enjoying a hands on approach, since the vent issues require my attention. But since it's been solved, I can timer it up and let that thing handle it all.

In preparation for the switch to 12/12, I decided to give her a little jump start in the darkness. She ran from 11PM last night, until 7AM this morning. Thereby giving her a single day of 8/16, Starting tonight at 7PM, she'll be on a full on 12/12.

I almost considered asking the mods to delete this thread, not because the usual reasons (i'm gonna get busted, I need it deleted!!!11!) (lol) But because the title is so far off at this point, that it's not even close to being representative of my current setup.
I've changed damn near EVERYTHING since I started. It's truly been an evolving setup since day 1.

Anyway, i'm off to take care of some things.
Glad to know I at least have you 2 guys around with me, even if no one else is interested in a measly little plant.
By you 2 guys, I mean Cereal, and Nerdgrower. Ou8acracker's been around too, just not as much. Either way. Thanks guys... it just wouldn't be the same without you. I always seems to become fast, and good friends with the 2-3 guys that stick around and read my grow

No probs man :d That's what we're here for toking on a joint while browsing RIU, what could be better?

It's a good thing the cops aren't on your ass anymore. And yes, I thought the MH was a bit too far running it at night is a good idea, but keep in mind that the box needs to be sealed properly so theres no light leaks during the day. You don't want your lady disturbed with light leaks from indoors when she's supposed to sleep (I always turn off my lights when my case goes off, it's like saying "sleep tight" to your plant )

You should probably find a comfortable setup for your box and keep that for a while, changing it up all the time doesn't do the plant any good

Good luck and peace

I'm aware man, i've been doin this stuff for many many years. I know the nuances to the craft. Just a few things I like to get advice on every now and again.
Likely, i'll be keeping her in a seperate sleep box with no possible light leaks during her sleep cycles. The closet stays pretty dark, even during the day. But the fan holes (even with the fans in them) are def an issue as far as light leaks go, so i'll need to deal with that as well.
Thanks for the advice though man! Certainly appreciate the interest in my grow.

I just put in an order at the hydro shop I go to every now and again for some FFOF in a smaller bag. I don't need 1.5 cu feet, and they don't carry the smaller bags in store, so i'm putting in an order with them to get the smaller bag. Hopefully, that'll make the new sprouts happy once they need to be planted.

Agree with nerd grower, that why were here although I haven't toked in a week looking forward to harvest day haha.

And 82f isn't too, too bad. My temps usually hit that in the summer and I never had issues caused by it. You could probably get away with it but I'd think it would be most worth it for HPS in flower. But I haven't used mh or hps, so don't hold me to that haha.

How's your girl been looking?

All of her new growth is healthy, and im keeping my eye on her. Hoping she'll stay looking good.
Pics later this evening.

Ok, so here's the pics. And a major update/reset for anyone just joining us, so they can be up to speed and understand why/how my lights have changed so dramatically.
But first, pics for my regular followers.
She's not much to look at right now, she's just recovered fully and is getting back to the business of growing. A 23 day old should look MUCH bigger then she looks.

ARG, I typed up this long response... and lost it all when I closed my browser thoughtlessly... >_<

Anyway.. Here's the plant. Not much to look at at all, she's badly stunted, and the camera is total crap, takes the WORST pictures... >_<




And here's the revised setup (again... I KNOW, I KNOW... I change it every other day, but this should be the final one for now, after the MH experiment failure)

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And a detailed description of everything that's happened so far coming up for any new viewers!

Statistics;
Strain: Platinum OG (Seed)
Lighting: 5 6500K 27W CFL's + 1 2300K 42W CFL
Soil: Reclaimed FF Ocean Forest (reclaimed as in reused)
Nutes: MG All Purpose 24-8-16, and MG Bloom 15-30-15
Germination Date: Feb. 27th 2014 (7-8 days old)
Grow Location: A U-Haul box stashed in my closet

Date: Event:
*02/25/14 - Planted in peat

*03/01/14 - Sprouted - ON: 11:00PM-12:00AM - 3:00-4:00PM - 16/8

*03/05/14 - 1/30th Nute strength added due to depleted medium (24-8-16)

*03/12/14 - (pure water/just a splash 1/5th watering) Added 4 PC fans to the box as intake and exhaust. 2 each.

*03/14/14 - Added an additional 3 PC fans on a separate adapter, for a total of 7. Making my exhaust system include;
1 Stanly Blower fan, modded to accept ducting, pulling air from my window and the outside, and pushing it into the box directly, 2 PC fan intake's at the lower end of the box, and 5 exhaust fans, running along the top of the sides, and 1 on the top flap of the box.

* 03/15/14 - 1 1PM (2 drops of superthrive in pH balanced water + superthrive misting)

*03/16/14 - Stanly blower fan bring temps down better then expected, therefore, more bulbs have been added to keep temps at a comfortable level for it. Lights at 287 true-watts of light. 7 23W 6500K CFL's, and 3 42W 2300K CFL's running in there, with reflectors.

*03/17/14 - Massive damage and burning. (Likely due to a combination of pH imbalance in the soil finally taking effect, and a grave miscalculation in my super thrive ratio equation, resulting in burning of leaves.) Runoff pH'd at 4.5. {OUCH!}

*03/19/14 - Flushed Soil with 3-4x as much water as there is soil. After flush, pH'd at approx 5.9.

*03/20/14 - Attempted to run a vertical 400W MH bulb in the box, as ventilation is more then sufficient, however the heat proved to be too much for such a small space, and the idea was scrapped and the CFL's were replaced with a better configuration.

* 03/21/14 - Transplanted into Miracle Grow Soil. - Thoroughly watered.

*03/22/14 - On @ 11PM-3/21, off @ 7AM On again @ 7PM. Now geared for 12/12. Ordered a small bag of Fox Farms Ocean Forest at the Hydro shop, as 1.5 cubic feet is a little much for my needs. Will transplant her into it when it arrives. The new sprouts will deeply appreciate it once they pop.

*03/23/14 - Normal grow has resumed, damage mitigated. Change in lights are currently 3/1 Veg spectrum (6500K-5000K) 1/3 Flower Spectrum (2300K - 2700K) 26W *8 {208W} - 6500K, 26W *2 {52W} - 5000K, 27W *2 {54W} - 2700K, 42W *2 {84} - 2300K. Equaling 398W of mixed spectrum lighting. {260 Veg, 138 of Flower} Will be moved short term to adjust the perlite content of the soil. Removing approx 1/3 of the current soil, and replacing with perlite, to be mixed accordingly.
Also, slowly replacing all my 4 year old CFL's with new ones of equivalent strength. I understand that CFL's lose a lot of their luminosity after a few years of use to be sure. So I've been collecting, and replacing them. I more then likely have something in the area of 30 CFL's right now, but only 14 in use.

Current plant status, and setup is as follows;
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You'll have to excuse the SHIT pictures... the camera i'm using is borrowed, and evidently has no talent for taking macro shots.

Thanks for reading!!

Feel free to ask me anything you like!

Man, your electric meter is working overtime. Ease up on the lights for that plant. Just seems like a lot of kilowatts wasted to start with. Sorta like people that give nutes to early and wonder why they never have success. Just my 2 copper disc

I'm with maxed on this one, putting a small sun a few inches above a new plant doesn't seem like a good idea maybe you should ease off the power until your girl can get a bit bigger and sturdyer.
Her growth seems so slow and painfull :/ I mean, I'm running at just under 100W and my girl is looking fabulous. Might want to think about it more isn't always better.

peace

I think she's fine. Thanks for the input though. I'll consider removing a few for the time being, but quite frankly, this is very much like what I did for my last grow, and despite having 1 plant instead of 4, it seems to be just as effective. If I hadn't fucked up with that damned superthrive, I would be looking at a much nicer plant right now.

Well at least it isn't an autoflower, they suffer so much grow early screw ups at least you can let her veg for a little while longer to repair the damage done

Yeah, im considering going back on my new 12/12 schedule. It also makes me nervous because it means that they have to come on 4 hours before I get home from work.
I'm thinkin about switching back to 16/8 for awhile, give her a chance to veg out (maybe 2 weeks or so) so that there's a decent set of buds on her when she starts flowering.
:\
So indecisive... it sucks.

Yeah sucks! But hey, if you can't leave your box running on its own for 4 hours there must be something wrong

I would probably veg it for a few more weeks, she's pretty tiny.

NerdGrower said:

Yeah sucks! But hey, if you can't leave your box running on its own for 4 hours there must be something wrong

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I didn't say I couldn't. I said it makes me nervous. My room mates can be... snoops. And she's far from the stealth box I was aiming for when I started, lol.

Greeengal said:

I would probably veg it for a few more weeks, she's pretty tiny.

Click to expand...

I'm already reached that conclusion. I set me alarm for this morning when the lights were to go out, and instead of letting the timer do it's thing, I pulled it out of the box and stuck her in the sunlight.
Keep in mind though, she was always meant to be small.