BigDAWG's-- 2nd INDOOR CLOSET CFL GR()W ( A ReAl JoUrNaL)

bigDAWG · May 7, 2010

Some of you may know me but most of you im sure aren't familiar with who I am.. But im no one special, just another American citizen who lowkey grows pot for his own private recreational use. Although I am "legally" a certified smoker with my Medical Marijuana Card, but thats soon to change as after 11/2/2010 Voters in the state of California should pass a new law that will permit Marijuana to be sold, taxed, and regulated just as Alchohol and will also allow everyone to GROW! So if you live in Cali make sure you vote in November! God bless the USA!! haha

Anyways so this is my 2nd grow and looks as though I will be succesful again. I say this because im currently still growing as I am now into the 5th week of flowering. I have three plants each a different strain; Purple Kush, Tahoe OG Kush, and Blue Dream.

I am going to continue posting new posts in my thread each with pictures and a description and I am going to try to do describe exactly what I've done with my grow so that maybe some people can learn a thing or two from me being either positive or negative. I am not a professional at this and I still have a lot to learn and im learning from the things I do on a daily basis, and from this I also hope to share info with other RIU users so that I to can learn. Hope I can help some people understand what to do and not to do. Growing weed is really not that hard, it just takes a little research and some common sense. I am proof of this. I will now start my thread so I WANT PEOPLE TO POST, but just please wait for me to at least catch up with where I'm at right now, and then feel free to post away. Please leave any comments and or compliments! but just hold up for a day or two.. I'll post a picture of a monkey lol and thats the sign letting you know i'm ready for posters. :leaf:

bigDAWG · May 7, 2010

I started off with this clone, Tahoe OG Kush. Seeing as I feel growing MJ takes long enough to grow as it is I dont waist my time with seeds I bought all my plants as clones (for the 2nd time) from local dispensaries here in So.Cal. I purchased this Tahoe OG Kush clone on 2/14/2010 and didnt have any plans on growing anything more than just one plant as thats what I did my first time... and it's easy to handle, but i'll later tell you why/how I ended up with three plants. Here is a picture of the Tahoe OG Kush clone as it was the day I brought it home:

bigDAWG · May 7, 2010

2/14/2010 I decided to start the clone off in a 5 gallon pot and avoid having to transplant during the grow (this ended up not being the case). I also purchased Cheap HYPONEX soil from Super K-Mart for like $2 (this to was not a good idea). So I prepared the soil in the pot planted the clone (still in the Rockwool) inside a wadrobe closet that is about 3ft. wide 2ft. deep and about 7ft tall, and also watered the soil. I placed it under 4 CFL's and decided to run the lights 24/0. The plant measured about 3 Inches.

bigDAWG · May 7, 2010

2/18/2010 I watered the plant again and noticed the leaves were looking droopy and turned a light green. The 4 CFL's were a 105w 6500k, 65w 2700k, 25w 2700k, and a 30w 3500k. I hadnt noticed really any growth.

2/22/2010 I noticed the plant just looked really weak and looked like it just was'nt enjoying its enviremont. So I kinda worried and switched the lights to the 18/6 schedule allowing the plant some rest time. (my 1st grow I vegged on 24/0 the whole time and it worked just fine) but I thought maybe this plant doesnt like it. And once again I watered the plant.

Watered the plant again on 2/26/10 and then on 3/4/10. Remember its important to not over or underwater! I say this because I had read it a million times.. And it is what I go by, it appears to work just fine!

I simply use TAP WATER and just let it sit out for a couple days before using it to feed the plant. I DID NOT USE ANY NUTRIENTS..just because it was cheaper not to.

bigDAWG · May 7, 2010

3/5/2010 I noticed my planted looked like absolute shit. It looked like it was dead and it really appeared as though it had not grown much at all!! This first picture here was the plant at about its worst moments. And I wasnt happy at this point. Yes the soil even grew shrooms.. :clap:

Although it didnt look good for my plant after this photo I really tried to change some things and its growth did go uphill.

EDIT*** I was not as detailed as I want to be so I want to fill you guys in on a little more 411. I never add nutes, dont ph the soil, my grow temps tend to be high, and just kinda seems as though I do things people say you shouldnt. But my grows still turn out fine and my plants always look healthy, I've never had much of any deficiences or big problems. By this time my temperatures were OK not the greatest usually between 75-85 degrees F. I also decided to try a few new things such as ventialtion (fans blowing air in and out) this worked beautiful and the plant responded to the fresh air! There was a point where I was also adding some CO2 to the closet using the DIY remedy (water, sugar, and yeast) this to appeared to be helping. And before 3/6/10 while I just had the Tahoe OG plant I also tried LST for the first time and was doing so for about a week and then decided to let the plant go and continue on with the natural straight up way it is suppose to. Not only did I release the plant from being bent over after about 1 week I also accidentally broke the top node (newest growth)... So I had shocked this plant more than anyone would want to I'd say. Before untying the plant it had done what it was suppose which was confuse the plant and allow for the branches to begin growing upwards and act as main colas.. Heres a few pictres of the Tahoe's life before March 6, 2010. FIRST PICTURE IS IT AT ITS WORST!! lol the 2nd to last picture you can see where I accidentally "topped" my plant

bigDAWG · May 7, 2010

3/6/2010 I really did'nt know exactly what was the deal with this clone as my 1st grow seemed so much better and I was starting to wonder if maybe I just got lucky or something.. But that wasnt the case. The problem was being cheap and using cheap soil, and I didn't like the fact that I started off in such an oversized pot and wondered if maybe this too played a factor.. So I decided to go out and try to save this plants life and build its future haha.. and also buy a couple (2) more clones incase my idea of trying to save it just killed it and left me back at ground 0. Giving me a better chance to end up with buds in the end. I was determined to be succesful! I bought two new clones which were Purple Kush and Blue Dream.

I went to my local Hydroponics store purchased new pots and bought a bag of FOXFARM OCEANFOREST soil mix.

I also went to home Depot and bought some more lighting, I now had about 280w worth of various light spectrum CFL's and a couple 15w T8 GRO-LUX bulbs

First pic is the Purple Kush and the second photo is the Blue Dream

bigDAWG · May 8, 2010

3/7/2010 Simply the day after the transplant of the Tahoe OG and the planting of the new clones. When transplanting I actually gave all 3 plants a little VITAMIN B-1 and added the solution to the water. Once again just bought the stuff in the plant section of Super K-Mart

bigDAWG · May 8, 2010

3/8/2010 I decided to try and ditch the CFL's and get better lighting because everyone swore that CFL's although useable are the worst way to go, and I only wanted the best for my plants so I found this on Craigslist for $40. I was looking for a 400w HPS set-up with everything I needed such as a bulb, fixture, reflector, and a ballast. I knew with the money I had my chances were near impossible but I THOUGHT I lucked out when I bought this. When I got home I looked at it and inspected everything and came to realize that I had actually bought A MERCURY VAPOR set-up that I thought was suppose to be a HIGH PRESSURE SODIUM set-up...yea laugh it up! lol.. After researching it didnt take long to find out that Mercury Vapor bulbs were virtually useless and I had done nothing but bought an old warehouse light that would basically be good for maybe just... lighting up a parking lot!? LMAO win some you lose some. Although I knew I had to still go back to the CFL's I still wanted to figure out a better way to to use all the light they have to offer.. :idea:

I did so the following day..

bigDAWG · May 8, 2010

3/9/2010 Determined to get more use out of my CFL's and spending little to no money doing so I came up with this.. Its simply a fruit box lined with tin foil and holes punched in it to accomodate the bulbs, in which I also added more bulbs and used the V or double connectors (can't think of what they are actually called right now) allowing for 2 bulbs per socket. Heres how this ghetto but practical contraption looked: And as you can see I was no longer losing light and it was now all being reflected towards the plants not up into useless space..

bigDAWG · May 8, 2010

3/13/2010 First watering since the day I transplanted which was 7 days prior. And as you can see my grow appeared to be doing just fine.. I also topped the Blue Dream as well as the Purple on this day. After this my grow took off!

3/17/2010 Watered, now heres where my grow began to get exciting! From ventilating my room as much as possible and getting more use out of my "shitty" CFL's the plants loved their enviremont and they rewarded me!

bigDAWG · May 8, 2010

3/20/2010 Because my plants were growing rapidly I had to water just 3 days after I had previously watered, they had sucked the soil dry! and as you can see I was pleased with what I was watching.. see for yourself.

bigDAWG · May 8, 2010

3/22/2010 Had to water AGAIN!

3/26/2010 Again, had to water.. But thats basically all i was doing and it was from the bathroom sink at that! On this day I also transplanted all the plants into 4 gallon pots which are still the pots they are in as we speak. keep in mind I was still vegging with the 18/6 light sched turning off at 7pm and back on at 1am

bigDAWG · May 8, 2010

3/30/2010 was my last day of vegetation!

4/01/2010 first day of 12/12! ON @ 7am OFF @ 7pm watered on this day as well and you can see that they already appeared to look sexually mature and the plants were starting to bud anyways

bigDAWG · May 8, 2010

4/10/2010 watered

4/12/2010 Showed first real signs of flowering. Although the plants had showed their sex before I even started to flower (white pistils) and they just looked ready, and so was I..

bigDAWG · May 8, 2010

4/14/2010 Plants were stretching nicely but I trimmed some fan leaves allowing more light to cover more of the bud sites. Some suggest this but most dont reccomend to do so. For me I think it was fine! And when I trimmed the plant focused more on growing buds than growing buds and fan leaves.

4/15/2010 watered on this day, but it wasnt just like any other watering.. The plants appeared to be happy as hell or really thirsty, because I know they stick up when you water but check out how they were nearly sticking STRAIGHT UP!

bigDAWG · May 8, 2010

4/23/2010 watered, although these pics were taken the day after on the 24th..

bigDAWG · May 8, 2010

4/28/2010 watered heres a couple pics on this day of the blue dream and the Tahoe OG. I had RIU in mind hence the paper with bigDAWG written behind it.

ReaxBeats · May 8, 2010

Wat up bigdawg, nice grow there for a second into your journal i thought the outcome of the tin foil would've burned the plans but then again you dont have it very close. They are looking way healthy, ima stay posted.

Good luck!

bigDAWG · May 8, 2010

5/5/2010 watered and heres some pictures the next day on the 6th.. just 2 days ago.. I also trimmed most of the fan leaves.. Call me stupid call me smart it is what it is and they are already GONE! lol

*** The first picture is all the plants together***
***The next 4 pictures is the Purple Kush***
***The following 5 pictures is the Tahoe OG Kush***
*** And the last 7 pictures is the Blue Dream***

bigDAWG · May 8, 2010

Although we had a couple posters... despite my colorful and large print, Im done and I have caught up with where I stand on my grow today (didnt take as long as I thought) Although there is probably a lot more that I could have said and definately a shit load of more pics, but I tried to keep it as simple as possible so people dont mind reading it.. I am 5 weeks into flowering going on 6.. Switched the lights to 12/12 39 days ago! AS my grow gets close to the finish and I harvest I'll continue to update you guys with pics until then.

Ok POST AWAY! I Appreciate any input whether you say something I agree or dont agree with and I love compliments.. who doesnt? And feel free to ask any questions, I don't mind. Only stupid question is one not asked..

BigDAWG's-- 2nd INDOOR CLOSET CFL GR()W ( A ReAl JoUrNaL)

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