1st grow: master kush, indoor

Here's links to my previous, related posts regarding this grow:

https://www.rollitup.org/grow-room-design-setup/337329-need-some-advice-thoughts-my.html#post4249819

https://www.rollitup.org/introduce-yourself/335988-hi-everybody-been-loving-herb.html#post4246582

Update: Got my seeds a week ago, used the paper towel method to germinate 6 of the Master Kush, all of them had a nice root after 3 days in my closet! I planted them in African Violet soil, small planters, in the order of the length of their root (so I can note if root length = vitality, later on). I made sure the soil was moist and I misted the top of the soil a bit after planting.

Now to wait for them to "arise".

Any advice on watering at this point? I'm thinking I'll just keep an eye on the soil and add a bit of water/mist when it seems dry. Don't want to drown the little guys or make them rot. I'm using plain water that has gone through a Brita filter and then rested for 24 hrs to let the chlorine dissipate.

Still haven't constructed my box. At this point I'm thinking of going with a great big cardboard box I'll buy from U-Haul. Seems like the cheapest solution. I shouldn't need it for a while, I'm going to let the babies grow in natural light for a bit first. My spare room gets a lot of sun so it should be fine. Once they are established, I should have the box made and I'll stick 'em in there for some CFL therapy.

I'll see if I can post pics once there's something interesting to post.
 
Update:

Box and lights: Have build my box. It's a medium sized cardboard box, I lined the inside with mylar from a 5 dollar emergency blanket, punched a 6 inch long by 1 inch high slot on either side for ventilation and placed a small lamp inside for light, after modding it to hold 4 bulbs, using y-splitters. The lights are currently 4 CFLS, all 23 watt, 2 6500K and 2 2700K.

Plants: I've got a bunch of Master Kush plants in there, as well as 1 fem Motavation, 1 fem Serious Chronic and 1 fem Sensi Star. They seem to like the setup and are growing much faster than in my feeble sunlight. I cut off a bunch of rust-fungus damaged leaves off the Chronic and Sensi Star, but they seem to be recovering. My #1 plant is doing really well, it's much bigger than the others. I sure hope it is a female. If so I'm gonna clone it like crazy, eventually.

Soil, water and nutes: using generic potting soil, brita filtered water and no fertilizer as yet. I'm waiting until the soil is dry on top and a bit down before watering, that seems to be working fine. Not using nutes yet and not sure when I should start.

Problems: Current main problem is rust fungus, I think anyway. Little brown/orange spots on various leaves. It killed a couple and almost killed a couple more. All of them currently have a few spots, but it doesn't seem to be advancing fast anymore, I think because the humidity has gone down, finally. In the box it is hot and dry, that probably helps.

Questions:

1. I'm going to make or buy a spray to help fight the fungus. Any suggestions?

2. I've read up on CFL lights, and my current mix of 2 natural light and 2 soft light bulbs seems to be working fine for vegging, but I wonder if all natural light would be better. Thoughts?

3. When do you start flowering? I've read all the FAQs on this site, but I'm still not sure about that. Do you just start when you want to? When the plant is big enough, in your own opinion? When you run out of space? Or do they start flowering on their own, even if you are giving them 16+ hours of light a day?

The Future:

I'm going to make another identical box for flowering, same setup. I may get 46 watt bulbs sometime to replace the 23 watt ones I'm using, but I'm concerned that it might increase the heat too much inside the box. Right now it's very warm in there, but the plants seem to have no problem with it. It would be as hot if they were outside in the blazing sun, so I'm sure they will be fine. Thoughts?

I may post pics in the future, might borrow a friend's digital camera.
 
Top