First tent setup & grow - Thoughts, Opinions?

Area - 4x4x6.5 Mylar Tent - $80
Lighting - (x11 60w 2700K CFL), (x5 45w 6700k CFL), and (x1 17w/100w GE LED w/ Cover 2700K) - $45.00
Roughly 950 Watts w/ 13,255 Lumens
Lux meter shows a 10 reading average of 62,000 within first 6-7", 42,000 within 8-12", and 7500 at 32"(floor)
x3 Buckets - $14.00
4 way Air pump - $22.00
3ft - 10way Power Strip Bar x2 - $50.00
6" Air Diffuser from Red Drog x3 $30.00
Rock Media - $10
Nutes - $32.00
Rechargeable Dehumidifier (Without 60% RH vs 36% RH with) - $30
Misc (PH Kit, PPM Meter, Straps, Timer etc) - $50-60.00
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Total $363-$380

I saved a little money on fans by recycling some High end CPU cooling fans filtered with replaceable paint mask carbon cartridges that was around the shop. If you had to purchase them, it would be better to get the fans made for the intake/exhaust of your tent and an inline carbon filter.(Saving for upgrade) I have the intake being fed from a vent for the central air, and exhaust out into the room w/ a window fan cycling the air in the room (Exchange Mode) These items would have taken the budget up to around $500.

Started the grow with three plants, one died after transplanting to buckets from the starter box. (Mix between not placing seedlings into the plug correctly which later caused the stem to be shallow and flimsy, and not stablizing the stem while moving enough), the second plant was removed because it was a male, which leaves one lady.

Seed to seedling - 2 days
Seedling to Sprout - 1 Week
Transfered to tent after 1 Week and Veg'd for 3 Weeks
1 Week before flowering all but 1-2 of the fan leaves were removed (Tops left alone)
36 Hour reset Then switched to Flower

Something to note, the two 3ft strips are zip tied together to form a Downward V Shape. Hard to see from photos.

Also, to take photos clearly had to move plant out from under the lights which caused the lower branches to appear more shaded than normal.

The pictures are taken at Flowering week 1, and day 4.

A small update, day 14 of flower

Looks good. How long did you veg for?

Wow sorry just read it, I missed that part

That looks really great. I hope my first run looks as good. It's kind of funny, hilarious actually, that I'm getting excited about my first grow especially as I don't smoke it for reasons I posted in my first noob thread. But I've always enjoyed intellectual exercises away from work which is why I took up cooking (and trust me with the right ingredients I can make food that will keep anybody coming back for more and has). Congratulations on your grow. I hope she produces more than you need.

looks really great for using cfl's. post more picture later on in the flower weeks

Shadymercs said:

Looks good. How long did you veg for?

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3 Weeks of Veg total. Total grow has been 44 Days so far. Anticipating a total time of 86-93 days.

GodfatherKCCO said:

That looks really great. I hope my first run looks as good. It's kind of funny, hilarious actually, that I'm getting excited about my first grow especially as I don't smoke it for reasons I posted in my first noob thread. But I've always enjoyed intellectual exercises away from work which is why I took up cooking (and trust me with the right ingredients I can make food that will keep anybody coming back for more and has). Congratulations on your grow. I hope she produces more than you need.

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Appreciate that and thank you. My only advice is since your living in an apt, to make sure it's stealthy!! Around this area, apartment complexes can come in when your not home for stuff like "maintenance".
If your lucky enough to live in an area where it's legal, than my personal recommendation is to buy a tent. For two plants 4x2x? tent will get you going in the right direction. Plus you can do some shopping and a little research and get a really good deal on one.

And I will be sure to post some more pics as she flowers some more PurpleDankPower.

I'm honestly still trying to process what she did after all the fan leaves were removed a week before flower. There are 3 at the top which didn't get removed because at the time they were new growth, and then two others (one on the bottom, and one towards the top). It looks quite a bit similar to what it looked like before defoliation. I'm guessing next time it would be wise to not veg so long after defoliation so all the node growth doesn't branch out so much.

Something else that's hard to really tell from the picture's now that she's filled in, is that she is a 3 way mutant. I was really hoping this plant was a girl when she sprouted her first 3 set lol!

Viperlock said:

Appreciate that and thank you. My only advice is since your living in an apt, to make sure it's stealthy!! Around this area, apartment complexes can come in when your not home for stuff like "maintenance".
If your lucky enough to live in an area where it's legal, than my personal recommendation is to buy a tent. For two plants 4x2x? tent will get you going in the right direction. Plus you can do some shopping and a little research and get a really good deal on one.

And I will be sure to post some more pics as she flowers some more PurpleDankPower.

I'm honestly still trying to process what she did after all the fan leaves were removed a week before flower. There are 3 at the top which didn't get removed because at the time they were new growth, and then two others (one on the bottom, and one towards the top). It looks quite a bit similar to what it looked like before defoliation. I'm guessing next time it would be wise to not veg so long after defoliation so all the node growth doesn't branch out so much.

Something else that's hard to really tell from the picture's now that she's filled in, is that she is a 3 way mutant. I was really hoping this plant was a girl when she sprouted her first 3 set lol!

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Under normal circumstances in an apartment I'd be concerned but, for some odd reason, a previous resident in this unit installed a deadbolt on the laundry room door. I requested a new door over a year ago and nothing has happened since. Now it has a new lock and the key is on my ring. But, yes, eventually I plan on putting together a stealth cab I can keep in my closet. I'm in the process of drawing up plans for one (I'm a steel designer / 'structural engineer' - no degree, by trade.

GodfatherKCCO said:

Under normal circumstances in an apartment I'd be concerned but, for some odd reason, a previous resident in this unit installed a deadbolt on the laundry room door. I requested a new door over a year ago and nothing has happened since. Now it has a new lock and the key is on my ring. But, yes, eventually I plan on putting together a stealth cab I can keep in my closet. I'm in the process of drawing up plans for one (I'm a steel designer / 'structural engineer' - no degree, by trade.

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I tend to trust experience over a piece of paper myself . The one thing I can tell you from experience is to remember wood swells and expands. Toss in moisture from growing plants and it waves. You also have to be careful of woods that smell, it can impact the smell and taste.

Viperlock said:

I tend to trust experience over a piece of paper myself . The one thing I can tell you from experience is to remember wood swells and expands. Toss in moisture from growing plants and it waves. You also have to be careful of woods that smell, it can impact the smell and taste.

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I'm sorry you lost me there. I may be having a very dense day.

GodfatherKCCO said:

I'm sorry you lost me there. I may be having a very dense day.

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No, you aren't dense. What he said made zero sense in context of the conversation at hand.

GodfatherKCCO said:

I'm sorry you lost me there. I may be having a very dense day.

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I believe Viperlock was trying to explain the risks of using wood for the construction of your grow cabinet. When wood becomes wet/moist/damp/ it begins to soak up all the water, damaging and eventually rotting the wood. When you throw a couple full sized plants into a small wooden cabinet they will transpire quite a bit.. creating a lot of moisture inside of your enclosed cabinet.

JohnCee said:

I believe Viperlock was trying to explain the risks of using wood for the construction of your grow cabinet. When wood becomes wet/moist/damp/ it begins to soak up all the water, damaging and eventually rotting the wood. When you throw a couple full sized plants into a small wooden cabinet they will transpire quite a bit.. creating a lot of moisture inside of your enclosed cabinet.

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Ahh, okay, not planning on using wood. Probably PCV early on but I'm designing a few made out of steel tubing for an internal frame and sheet metal for the exterior.

Your plant looks really happy

My personal experience with CFL is that it's great for veg but not great for flower. I think there's something lacking in the output spectrum that means plants flower for longer. Anyway you've got a bunch of watts in there so let's hope that helps. cheers

GodfatherKCCO said:

I'm sorry you lost me there. I may be having a very dense day.

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Well if you are talking about this comment "I tend to trust experience over a piece of paper myself .", it was in context to "I'm in the process of drawing up plans for one (I'm a steel designer / 'structural engineer' - no degree, by trade." where you mention not having a degree. The rest is in context to you mentioning a stealth cab, and my personal experience of growing in a stealth cab and the fact that the wood warps very easily as JohnCee clarified.

MrTwist1 said:

Your plant looks really happy

My personal experience with CFL is that it's great for veg but not great for flower. I think there's something lacking in the output spectrum that means plants flower for longer. Anyway you've got a bunch of watts in there so let's hope that helps. cheers

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That's what I am hoping, and also why I didn't just flood it with one kind of cfl. Here's hoping the mix makes a difference. I am not expecting HID results, but hopefully she does well enough to make some good flowers.

Viperlock said:

Well if you are talking about this comment "I tend to trust experience over a piece of paper myself .", it was in context to "I'm in the process of drawing up plans for one (I'm a steel designer / 'structural engineer' - no degree, by trade." where you mention not having a degree. The rest is in context to you mentioning a stealth cab, and my personal experience of growing in a stealth cab and the fact that the wood warps very easily as JohnCee clarified.

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Ahhh... gotcha.

Trust me I trust experience over a piece of paper as well. I'm one of those types that prefers to be out in the shop with the guys figuring stuff out and drawing it up than a useless suit that sits behind a desk with absolutely no idea about how things really work but 'the computer says it does so you just must not know what you're doing' type. I've learned more from guys with bloody knuckles than I have from books and specifications.

As far as wood goes I'd agree with you as well. In addition to the warp factor and the potential smell factor either from the grow to the wood or vice versa. That said I've seen some interesting wood micro grows that were pretty ingenious since I decided to start researching the art.

All of that said I'm very neophyte in all of this and I'm trying to soak up as much good info as I can about the art and this board seems to be one of the ones with a lot of very experienced people that I can truly learn from so thanks for your help

GodfatherKCCO said:

Ahhh... gotcha.

Trust me I trust experience over a piece of paper as well. I'm one of those types that prefers to be out in the shop with the guys figuring stuff out and drawing it up than a useless suit that sits behind a desk with absolutely no idea about how things really work but 'the computer says it does so you just must not know what you're doing' type. I've learned more from guys with bloody knuckles than I have from books and specifications.

As far as wood goes I'd agree with you as well. In addition to the warp factor and the potential smell factor either from the grow to the wood or vice versa. That said I've seen some interesting wood micro grows that were pretty ingenious since I decided to start researching the art.

All of that said I'm very neophyte in all of this and I'm trying to soak up as much good info as I can about the art and this board seems to be one of the ones with a lot of very experienced people that I can truly learn from so thanks for your help

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I know the feeling . See I was almost tempted to make a humidor style dry/cure box out of red cedar until I did some research on why no one uses humidors to cure/dry. Red Cedar is an awesome wood for tobacco, however people who have tried to use it for marijuana are saying that it tastes and smells like the red cedar. The red cedar is good for keeping out mold and bugs, plus it handles moisture quite well.

Viperlock said:

I know the feeling . See I was almost tempted to make a humidor style dry/cure box out of red cedar until I did some research on why no one uses humidors to cure/dry. Red Cedar is an awesome wood for tobacco, however people who have tried to use it for marijuana are saying that it tastes and smells like the red cedar. The red cedar is good for keeping out mold and bugs, plus it handles moisture quite well.

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I can see that. It makes complete sense. When I make a spice mix I keep it in glass bowls to protect the flavor. Subsequently it would seem to make as much sense to use glass as much as possible for your bud. I'd think it would protect the flavor.

You sound like you really know what you're doing. When I get around to designing my box do you mind taking a look and giving me some critique?