First Ever Grow - 10 Gallon DWC - CFL - Stealth Closet

Hi everyone, first things first.... You guys rock and without you I wouldn't have been able to germinate!

This will be my first ever grow. I originally was gonna go soil with 12/12 from seed, but decided on this setup instead.



The closet is a wooden clothes closet, 6' tall, 2' wide and 2' deep. The depth makes me a little nervous, may get too crowded but there may be males, so we'll see. It has been light proofed with caulking, then a layer of black/white film from my local hydro shop. Currently thumb tacks are holding it up, but I hope to get some spray adhesive and spend a day attaching it all properly.



DWC Grow with a 10 gallon, light proofed, aquarium with two 7" bubble curtains affixed with suction cups and powered by a Tetra Whisper 40Gal air pump suspended from bungee cords to make it completely slent, also put a check valve in to be safe. Cover WILL be upgrade, unfortunately I was a fool and didn't complete my closet before starting to germinate (complete noob move, I got too excited lol), so for now the cover is a butchered binder.



This will be a complete CFL grow, using a 4 socket bathroom fixture with 4 Y adapters, making it an 8 bulb setup.



Exhaust is supplied by a 12v 3" PC fan connected to dryer ducting and flows out into the room, passive intake for the most part, I have a small 6v wired PC fan in front of the passive intake port just to help move things along. I am in desperate need of a fan to simply circulate the air and provide a breeze to the plants. All upgrades will be completed withing 3-4 days. Temps stay fluctuate from 79 at it's coolest to 88 at it's warmest, I rely on the hand test more than the two thermometers (one digital, one mercury).





The growing medium will be rockwool and hydroton in 3" net pots. Once the plants get big enough I will be using some black/white film to cover the pots to block as much light as possible from entering the resovoir.



I'll be using the General Hydroponics Flora lineup of nutes. I gave the first rez fill about 1/2 strength to get these babies at least some nutes. I know theres some debate over this but this is the particular route I chose to go. I also got some Thrive Alive organic with B1. I also plan on adding some H2O2.



I can use all the advice I can! So please, follow my journal, correct me in my errors, and let me know what I can do to upgrade my setup.

Things I plan on imrproving on....

Some sort of reflector for the CFL's

Using spray adhesive to better secure the panda film to the wall.

Fixing up the wiring.

Creating another intake connected to a PC fan.

Getting a styrofoam cover for the reservoir.

Spacing the plants more evenly.

Adding H2O2 to the nutrient mix.

Add a circulation fan to provide the plants with some breeze to build up some stem strength.

I'm sure there's more that I could list if I wasn't stoned right now

This is more than just growing some drugs... This has become a passion, a hobby, I love it! I wanna make this happen! Even though this is a ghetto setup, it took me lot's of time, research, and money (for my budget). I researched for months and months and can't believe things are starting to come together. I hope I have a lot of input, good, bad, or otherwise.

KEEP GROWIN!!!


ALL INPUT IS APPRECIATED!!!!

It all looked great to me, but I do think you need some REFLECTORS for the bulbs.

Roseman said:

It all looked great to me, but I do think you need some REFLECTORS for the bulbs.

Click to expand...

Yeah, not sure how I'm doing that, maybe some foil? I'm like McGuyver, I'll figure something out. lol . Wow, my hat is off to you buddy! Was looking through your pics, and as always, just when I think I know what I want, I see 105w CFL's! Now I'm gonna have to work on getting a few of those high powered bulbs, I had no idea they came that high of a wattage for CFL! Your harvest is amazing besides, that stalk!!! Damn!!

I'm still very hazy in the pruning/topping area, but I guess I have some time for that. My biggest mistake was rushing into this a little too early, although I did enough research, I didn't fully test my grow cab prior to using it, I sorta depended on having enough time to perfect it while the seeds were germing, lol. All in all it's looking good, I'm a pic whore so expect pictures nearly every day LMAO.

All is going well, today is day 3 since first little sprout leaves appeared. Roots still aren't showing through the bottoms yet, I hand watered them with the nute solution last night since their still a little high off the water, the bubbles splashes soak the bottom 2 layers of hydroton and the sides so I'm hoping it does a wick-like effect and absorbs upwards.











Here they are, in all their glory. Stems are a little purple, I hear something about magnesium deficiency, any advice my peoples?

I am always in such a good mood when I come on here , think it has to do with the prospect of harvesting at least an oz or two in a few short months.

Oh, and I promise I won't be leaving that ghetto binder as a cover for long ; )

CHEAP CFLS < a link


ItemShipping Information
1. $24.99

125w Fluorescent Grow Bulb

Model: CF-125Lumens: 6,500Kelvin: 6,4001lb.Usually ships within
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These special fluorescent bulbs are perfect for seedlings, clones, and germination. All bulbs screw into a mogul light socket, and save a great deal on power. We recommend 50 watts per square foot of garden space.
2. $24.99

150w Fluorescent Grow Bulb

Model: CF-150Lumens: 7,500Kelvin: 6,4001lb.Usually ships within
2 business days.

42 watt average $10.00 each

65 watts, = $23.99 average price

85 Watt, average $29.00 each




105 watt average $38.99 each




Or Look for Clamp Reflectors and Bulbs together:




CFLs come in 15, 26, 42, 65, 85 and 105 watts.
The 26s and smaller are like big breasts on a nun, and not good for anything.

26s to 85s do not put out any noticable heat. The 105s put out some heat, but not as much as HID lights.
The 42's are about $9 each.
65 watts are abut $24 to $25 each, 85s are $30 each, 105s are $39 to $42 each, average is $40 each for 105s.
a CFL needs a reflector, like a hood. I like the $10 heavy duty clamp reflectors at Lowes, Home Depot or Walmart. They also offer a cheaper $8 reflector but it is smaller and flimsey.

With CFLs, you need the DUAL SPECTRUM, red and blue. That does not refer to the color of the bulb that you see. It refers to the kind of rays, UVA or UVB, or the color temp, called kevins.
CFLS come in 2700 kevins, 3000, 4100, 5100, and 6500.
2700k is for BLOOM OR FLOWERING , 6500k is the VEG Spectrum. The others are "MID" spectrums or in between.
In outdoors, the sun produces different rays in the spring (VEG Rays called Blue) and late summer for Bloom spectrum, the RED spectrum. (see more below)

CFLs are new on the scene, in 2006 the biggest made was 65 watts. When we talk about CFL watts, we are talking about the actually electricity used, NOT the equivalant. For example, a 15 watt CFL bulb puts out 60 watts.

CLFS PUT OUT LIGHT FROM THE SIDES, NOT THE ENDS OR TIPS.

YOU CAN GET SPIRAL CFLS (15, 26, 42, 65, 85) AND TUBE TYPE CFLS 105s.

this is from a magazine artice I wrote and a newsletter I wrote for Stealth Hydro:
How much light is needed for growing?
Depends on the size of plant you are trying to grow. I'll try to answer this "in general" instead of being specific to one size plant. Light seen and perceived with the human eye is measured in Lumens. There is an ideal amount of lumens for growing and a minimum amount of required lumens. The very minimum amount of light required for smaller sized plants grown is around 3000 lumens per square foot. Let me put emphasis on "minimum amount" of light. However, that's not 100% exactly accurate, since although you may have a 10,000 lumen light, the amount of light that reaches the plant varies with the distance between the light and plants, and the reflectivity of the grow area. The ideal amount is somewhere around 7000-10,000 lumens per square foot for average sized plants. As long as the plants do not show burn, as much light can be used as you want to use. (Note, the sun produces about 10,000 lumens per square foot, on a sunny mid summer day).

Determining lumens for your grow area:
First determine the square footage of your area (example in a 4 foot by 4 foot area, there is 16 square feet, 2 by 2 feet is 4 Sq ft. ) If you have a 1000 Watt High Pressure Sodium Light Bulb, that produces approximately 107,000 lumens. Divide this by 16 (your square footage) 107,000 divided by 16 = 6687 lumens per square foot. So just divide the total amount of Lumens, by the total amount of square feet, and that's your lumens per square foot.

How far away from my plants do the lights go?
The lights in your grow room should be as close as possible to the plants without burning them. There is no such thing as too much light, unless there is overly sufficient heat to dry out and burn the leaves. A good rule is to put your hand under the light, if its too hot for your hand, chances are that the plants will be too hot too, so move the light up until your hand feels more comfortable. For seedlings or sprouts, I keep them a little further away from the light, because they are very susceptible to burning and drying out, at these young stages.

How do I decide which lights to use?
Efficiency is very important when choosing a type of light. The wattage is not the most important thing, different types of light produce different amounts of lumens per watt. For example, a 300 watt incandescent will produce about 5100 lumens. (not that you can grow with incandescent bulbs) While a 300 watt Metal Halide (just an example, they do not come in 300 watts), will produce 27,000 lumens. Obviously far more efficient for growing, while still using the same amount of electricity.

Approximate light production:
Incandescents: 17 lumens/watt
Mercury vapor: 45-50 lumens/watt
Fluorescents: 60-70 lumens/watt
Metal halide: 90 lumens/watt
High pressure sodium: 107 lumens/watt


Incandescent lights: Incandescent bulbs are the most popular type of lights in the world. They may come advertised as incandescent, tungsten, quartz, halogen, or simply standard. The important thing about incandescent bulbs when it come to growing is simply this: they suck. Using incandescent bulbs to grow plants is like trying to flag down the Space Challenger with a burnt out match! You can do it, but it won't work. There are some incandescents which are sold as "grow lights." They usually have a blue coating and usually come in 60W and 120W sizes. While they may seem like a good choice to new growers, they are next to useless; they produce some light at a usable spectrum, but only have about a 5% efficiency and generate more heat than usable light. Most of us have these in our homes right now. Don't use them for growing, instead opt for a Compact Fluorescent, CFL, as a cheaper but more efficient alternative.

Fluorescent lights: Fluorescents are far more useful than incandescents. They are efficient enough, and much less expensive than HID (High Intensity Discharge) lights. Compact fluorescent tubes, (commonly called CFLs) are popular with growers because of their good output to size ratio. Compared to standard 4 foot tubes, CFLs are smaller, more easily moved, and more can fit into a given small area. CFLs are good for small grows on a tight budget, and for novice growers, since they do not require any special sort of wiring or understanding of the necessary bulbs for a given fixture, and the small wattage ones (23, 42 and 65) are very widely available. Fluorescent lights come in many different Kelvin (spectrum or color) ratings; often the spectrums are labeled on packaging as being 'cool white' or 'warm white.' Cool white is more blue, and is good for the vegetative stages of growth. The bulbs are ultra white. Warm white light is more reddish in spectrum, and is best for the flowering stage. The bulbs are almost cream colored.

Color rating - Measured in Kelvin (K). The higher the number, the more bluish the light. 4000K-7000K is mostly on the blue side of the spectrum for Vegging or GROWING, while 3000K and under goes from a white spectrum, to a redder spectrum and is best for BLOOMING or FLOWERING.


High Intensity Discharge (HID) Lighting Systems:

Mercury Vapor (MV)
Mercury vapor lights are not the most efficient light for growing. They are very bright, and relatively cheap. They do emit light at the wavelengths necessary to support your plants growth, but not nearly as good as a MH or HPS light. Much of the light emitted by MV lights is bluish-white. Street lighting is what most MV lighting is used for.

Metal Halide (MH)
Metal halide lighting systems are optimal for use in the vegetative phase of growing. They emit mostly blue light, which encourages vigorous growth of foliage. They are very efficient, but can get rather expensive to start with; fluorescents may seem more appealing because of their lower price, and they are not much different when compared on a lumen-to-lumen cost level. These lights can be used through-out the grow, but leave a lot to be desired in the BLOOM stage.

High Pressure Sodium (HPS)
High pressure sodium lights emit mostly orange, yellow, and red spectrum light, which is perfect for the flowering stage of the plants growth. They are (in my opinion) the most efficient type of light available for any application if you are not on a budget and can vent the grow area for heat. HPS lights can be used through-out the entire grow. They produce more dense and usually larger flowers or fruit than any other light. HPS lights are generally a little more expensive than MH systems of similar wattage. They are more commonly used by experienced commercial growers because of their ability to produce tighter denser flowers, higher lumen-output-per-watt, and will produce from start to finish.

Just like everything else, available grow lights are evolving. Remember how the sun produces 10,000 lumens per square foot in the mid-summer. Well, today there are CFLs that can actually duplicate those lumens. If you can not grow under the sun, then bring the sun inside. Yes, you can have 20,000 lumens covering the entire grow space with the new 105 watt per bulb CFLs. Three of these bulbs in the proper reflector actually yields 20,000 lumens.This is what I get with my CFLS:

am very happy with 4 65s,a dn 4 85s, vERY HAPPY, adn the additional 105s are great, but I have to keep a fan running and I am not as STEALTHY as I used to be.

Dual Spectrum 65 High Output Fluorescent BulbsLow heat, energy efficient light bulbs for use with Stealth Hydro Dual Spectrum Lighting Systems. Available in blue (vegetative) and red (flowering) spectrums.


65s are 23.99 each.



Price: $23.99 Dual Spectrum II High Output Fluorescent BulbsLow heat, energy efficient light bulbs for use with Stealth Hydro Dual Spectrum II Lighting Systems. Available in blue (vegetative) and red (flowering)
spectrums.



85s are 29.99 each
Multi Spectrum Fluorescent Tube CFLLow heat, energy efficient light bulbs for use with Stealth Hydro Multi Spectrum Lighting Systems. Available in 6500 K (vegetative) and 3000 K (flowering) spectrums.
Price: $38.99



And $9 each for the 42s.

The pics do not show the 42s that I put on the sides, on a STAND I made from a metal shelf.

I like being able to move the CFLS around, adn lower them down in between the plants, the clamp- reflectors are just $10 each.Lowes, Walmart, Home Depot:





then one of these:


and if you want to add two lights to a reflector, you get a Y spliter.

Lowes and Home Depot have 65 watt CFLs now for $16.95.

Wow, that was a lot to take in, I know a good amount of that already but I definitely got some good new info from it, thanks!!! I started a mini time-lapse lol, I threw my vid cam in there and let it take a pic every minute, not even a half hour and I can see the difference! lol, Gonna have to post it here when it's done, not gonna do the whole grow, maybe just today, more for fun than anything else...

Bottom line:

It's about day 4 since I put them in the closet, only problem so far is that one plant is growing roots slower than the rest, I rotated the plants to see if it makes a difference. The rest look good, thin, but good. I also noticed that on the longest root, there was some sort of dark substance on the root, I'm hoping someone here can explain? I've been running the lights 24/0, seems to be working ok. I'm really looking forward to what you guys think and if it's growing at the correct rate, right colors, all that. And finally, the pics:

Is that Hydroton dust on the roots where you possibly did not rinse the rocks good?

Is any light getting into the tank, making algae?

I can not tell, but see if that brown ont he roots is slimey, (algae) or if it is hydroton dust?

Might be time for a DRAIN and REPLINISH, with weak nutes at first.

I am not a DWC expert, I use a submersive water pump and feeder tubes to each cup and root base to feed mine.

.

There may be a small amount of light getting in, I had to fix the bubble wall stone and noticed sediment on the bottom of the tank, so a little later I'm gonna drain and refill... it's about time anyway

They all look good, nice color, but on one of them the roots seem to be growing out rather than down, I'll give it time.


Going through a bit of a hardship, but trying to get myself a PPM meter truncheon.

I know, I know, the "presidential solution" of the binder is unacceptable

Now, my BIG question.....

Would a 150w HPS be indefinitely better than CFL in terms of fatter/denser buds? My one fear with CFL's is that I'm gonna get really scrawny buds, I sooo fear that. And if a 150w IS better, would it get much hotter than 12 CFL's?

Here are some pics......

Keep us updated!

lol @ the binder

as for your hps question, i say use both. ive seen some amazing things done with cfls when you keep bulbs 1" from bud sites.

Looks like the water is full of hydroton dust.

I believe it's from the nutes, for a 7gal rez General Hydroponics recommended 17ml of the grow, bloom, and micro... i only added 10ml of each, they seem to be taking to it well, but when I added it in the water turned that color. I'm also using thrive alive which is dark in color. Who knows? It may be a combo of algae getting darker colored from the nutes? I'll worry more if it continues after tonights drain, clean, and refill.

Well, another one of my brilliant presidential solutions bit me in the ass... Basically I tried to plug the open end of one of the bubble wall stones, and over time it failed, so all the bubbles were coming out as one big stream of large bubbles at the open end of the tube.... exactly the opposit of what we want. So I bought another one of the correct size and now it's looking great, it even seemed to grow more today as compared to the past few days. So thats a plus.

Tonight is gonna be the drain and refill, the girls should enjoy that. Got a few things in the works in terms of fixing this all up.

More pics will be coming soon.

Ok, drained, refilled and nuted, I also took out 2 of the 4 flowering bulbs (for a current total of 6 bulbs), can't be doing too much right now except creating heat... The color and growth seems nice, but maybe a little slow?

The color change was from the GH FloraMicro, as far as the sediment, who knows? Maybe I thought I washed em more than I did.

They ARE growing, so things could be worse. Just needs so much work, and when I started I had funds enough for it, now I had some unexpected bills and gotta make due until I conjure up some cash. Need better fans, more fans, and may switch to a power strip for the lights to simplify things as far as adding and subtracting bulbs. I'm still contemplating a 150w HPS, but don't know how beneficial a 150w would be versus CFL's, once again I'm too lazy for pics...

I washed the brown stuff off my roots, it was forming mostly on the roots which were exposed to the air, is H2o2 the same stuff you buy in the pharmacy to clean cuts? Is that the 3%? If not, what type of store would sell it and what else is it used for? The roots are white again though, so at least it doesnt seem permanent.

I was starting to lose my confidence for a minute for a few different reasons, failure and errors can be tough on new growers, but I think this refill should fix things up, I think I should remove a little from the rez, it's only about a half inch from the bottom of the net pots, but 3 out of the 4 plants have roots over 7-10 inches long, but very thin and minorly starting to sprout those offshoots of roots that make it look like teeth (if that makes any sense to you guys).

That damned binder is bothering me just as much as you guys lol, I'm trying to find a local store that has the right sized rubbermaid bin to replace the whole rez, you would be suprised at the lack of selection at inner city home depot's and such.... and I'm a resourceful guy, I look at whatever I can use, but alas, not one container with suitable measurements

Ok, pictures will come in a few hours....

DoubleBubbler said:

Ok, drained, refilled and nuted, I also took out 2 of the 4 flowering bulbs (for a current total of 6 bulbs), can't be doing too much right now except creating heat... The color and growth seems nice, but maybe a little slow?

After a drain and replinish, you should get a growth spurt because of the oxygen bath the roots got .

The color change was from the GH FloraMicro, as far as the sediment, who knows? Maybe I thought I washed em more than I did.

They ARE growing, so things could be worse. Just needs so much work, and when I started I had funds enough for it, now I had some unexpected bills and gotta make due until I conjure up some cash. Need better fans, more fans, and may switch to a power strip for the lights to simplify things as far as adding and subtracting bulbs. I'm still contemplating a 150w HPS, but don't know how beneficial a 150w would be versus CFL's, once again I'm too lazy for pics...

If you go to a HPS, then you'[ll have to spend more $, deal with HEAT and VENT.

I washed the brown stuff off my roots, it was forming mostly on the roots which were exposed to the air, is H2o2 the same stuff you buy in the pharmacy to clean cuts? Is that the 3%? If not, what type of store would sell it and what else is it used for? The roots are white again though, so at least it doesnt seem permanent.

Yes, 3%, read this:
Peroxide - Marijuana Growing


I was starting to lose my confidence for a minute for a few different reasons, failure and errors can be tough on new growers, but I think this refill should fix things up,
this is how we all learned, trial and error

I think I should remove a little from the rez, it's only about a half inch from the bottom of the net pots, but 3 out of the 4 plants have roots over 7-10 inches long, but very thin and minorly starting to sprout those offshoots of roots that make it look like teeth (if that makes any sense to you guys).

That damned binder is bothering me just as much as you guys lol, I'm trying to find a local store that has the right sized rubbermaid bin to replace the whole rez, you would be suprised at the lack of selection at inner city home depot's and such.... and I'm a resourceful guy, I look at whatever I can use, but alas, not one container with suitable measurements


Walmart has perfect 8 gallon ones
Ok, pictures will come in a few hours....

Click to expand...

You're doing good!

Ok, here are pics, fresh off the camera.... One seems to not be growing all that much, hoping that will change since I just drained and refilled... Yay for oxygen baths!!!!

Oh, and I'll be adding the 3oz per gallon of the 3% Peroxide, thanks for the link and for posting that Peroxide info in the first place, and all ya help! I'm still in the phase of checking them every hour or so lol. I'm still on the 24/0 regimen so it does no harm, the roots will appreciate the H2o2 cocktail tonight!

I'd do 3 tablesppons per gallon.