Cupboard under the stairs cfl grow. (my first indoor)

Hey guys this is my first post. I have grown 2 times outdoors in the summer, both resulting in my plant being ~5' tall then being found and killed by someone or something. I have been reading around this forum for the last several months trying to figure out how I wanted to do my first indoor grow when I moved into my new house. Well, that time has come and I decided to go with a cfl grow because (from what I have read) it is fairly easy, cheap, and pretty reliable. I will be in this house for the remainder of my college career so slowly I will be getting a better setup over time but for starters what do you guys think:

Room: 3.5'w x 5'l x 4.5'h, Its the cupboard under my stairs.

Lighting:
8x 14w 5500k cfl
2x 20w 6500k cfl
2x 26w 6500k cfl
Lights are plugged into hanging power strips. 18/6 schedule.

Medium:
~80% MG African Violet potting soil *
~20% Perlite (for drainage)

Water:
Chlorinated city tap water, left to breathe for 48 hours minimum.

Seeds:
from a bag of good mids (crystals, orange hairs etc, not quite beasters)

*This is a debatable topic, but i read a few posts giving this soil props for being dead on in PH levels and being easy to come by. As far as i know there aren't any shops around that would sell anything better. Home depot is pretty much my only option.

I germinated 4 seeds until they cracked and started showing some tap root, and they are currently planted in 4 seperate 6" wide pots. Since these seeds are not feminized I am expecting to let them grow for a while, kill at least 2 or 3 of the plants and keep the 1 or 2 strongest looking ladies.

Things I still need:
water phing kit
thermometer
small oscillating fan
(let me know if there is something else that is crucial)

Things that worry me:
-I planted the seeds earlier than I ever have in the germinating process, they were showing ~1/8-1/4 inch of tap root.
-The temperature in my basement is like 65-70 degrees, a little cool. (suggestions for generating a little excess heat so the cupboard warms up some more?)
-I have no real way to control humidity. I think the basement is slightly more humid than the rest of the house but its definately not like 50%-70% humidity.
-The soil. Is there too much nutes in the MG african violet to start sprouts in? Will they burn out and die?

I will have pictures up of the setup in several hours, right now the plants are in their 6 hours of dark and I don't want to disturb them. I hope I can recieve some pointers from some of the pros and that maybe someone can put my worries at ease. Sorry for the long post, I tried to keep it organized.

UPDATE:


The white sheets are dollar store mat white plastic table clothes. I can't paint the room white on account of my dad wondering why the whole room is white if he ever looks in there again. (Not worried about him finding the plants, he doesn't live here.)

Make sure you get those things...thats all i have right now and it seems to be doing good...i'm also doing college/stealth grow...i flowered my plant at 7 inches tall due to time and its 4 weeks in and 23 inches tall with nice buds! just keep your hopes up they definetly work. Make sure you give it the nutrients it needs too..i use bloodmeal mixed in with soil but only like a cup and a half seems to work.

Hey thanks for the quick reply. I can't seem to find anywhere that carries pHing equipment for whatever reason so I will order it off the internet tonight. Where might I find bloodmeal to use for nutes?

btw you don't by chance go to osu do you?

no i dont go there lol that would be cool tho...but go to a hydroponics store just look local one up if you want and you need nutrients and just the bloodmeal nitrogen supplement to mix in with your dirt you can buy that at lowes usually or any hardware place

Well you had good tap roots and if you are worrying about it being too cold you are in luck! I would love for my room to want more warmth. That gives you the excuse to add more lights!

If your worried about humidity you could always make sure that your air is constantly moving or make just a little hole/crack to get some outside air exchange. I can't say anything for sure about the nutes though. If you have a good beginner strain it will probably be more tolerant of over feeding. Also, it seems that the nutes are released each time you water, so I would recommend making absolutely certain that you are only watering enough to keep the soil moist and only after you have let it get so dry that the plant is starting to wilt before you water it again... All that flushing and whatnot could just cause you to poison your plants in a soil with otherwise good nute concentration. Or you could sift through and pick out all the fertilizer pellets.

Remember that too much of the wrong care will kill your plant faster than dropping the poor thing. With all that aside though, that is a deadly, deadly honeydew of a setup and I think you will have some damn fine nugs out of that.

Alright well what you guys have said so far puts my mind at ease a little bit about my growing conditions. I ordered a water pH kit and a soil pH meter off the internet. I will pick up a fan and thermometer tomorrow after I get out of class. I guess all I can do now is wait a few days and hope for the best.

Thanks a lot guys. Update in a day or 2.

woohoo, good morning little *lady*

It's really a confidence booster when you finally get to see her poking her head up to get some light.

I can tell you this. Being organized is a great thing. It looks like you ar on your way. I am a little concerned about the soil mix. I am concerned that it may be a little hot for seedlings. I guess there is only way to find out and that is to get going and see how they do. I started my first grow on a budget with used equipment and bought one piece at a time as I upgraded. I am also organized, to a fault according to my wife. So many lists. hahahah Good luck with your grow.

gonna keep an eye on this grow ,
you could do with some reflective material for a reflectorr

go to walmart, emergency blanket in the sporting goods section. like $1.99

louis1robinson said:

gonna keep an eye on this grow ,
you could do with some reflective material for a reflectorr

Click to expand...

Kingb420 said:

go to walmart, emergency blanket in the sporting goods section. like $1.99

Click to expand...

Are you guys talking like a makeshift hood type deal for over my lighting or to line the walls around the place? My gut instinct says that reflective material would make a good light hood but from what I read sometimes it can cause focused light creating an ant under magnifying glass effect on my babies. I just don't want to burn them.

Managed to find a thermometer but I am having a hard time getting a fan due to seasonal change (how are fans seasonal?). Is there anywhere that someone knows for a fact still would carry a small (8-12") 3 speed oscillating fan? The only 1 home depot had was hardcore, like 65 bux, that's fucked up.

About time for my plants to go to darkness for a while so no more messing with them till later tonight. Thanks for the support everyone.

Hi, seems like a good set up. About that MG soil....the nutes that are in that soil need to be dissolved by water so your plant can take them up. So, as long as you dont overwater your plant it should be ok. A lot of people that use MG overwater their plants and THEN they get burned by the nutes.
Good luck & happy growing.

I hear you on trouble finding a small fan this time of year! Been hunting for a week and haven't found what I need yet. Bonus is when you find some they will be on clearance...so check the far back corner or clearance rack of the store! Managed to find a nice looking one for 6 bucks called a hurricane or something...yeah...even on low its way too strong so my search continues.

Day 3 update:

The first to sprout seems like it is coming in well, its greening up nice and has small leaves now. The other ones are not showing any sprout, although I can see the top of a seed and a tiny growth starting on one. One shows no sign of life. Is it safe to dig around a little in the dirt to see if the ones showing nothing are even growing at all or should I just try and be patient and let them go for a few days?

In the second picture you can see the top of the seed inside the red box, I could not get a better picture of it, the flourescents make it hard to focus with my camera.

The third pic is the one that has no signs of life :/

Still unable to find a small fan to put in there, however I sacrificed the fan in my bedroom for now until I can find something better.

yea definitely get some kind of relfective stuff around the or white paint if possible...also theres a thread where a guy cut aluminum pop cans to make a reflective cover for over each CFL so that the back of them were covered and you could concentrate light on the plant only. they just slid over the bulb cuz he cut the top out it was pretty cool