Home made cabinet for 1st CFL grow!!

Well all, I started a journal thread but no one seems to notice the CFL people in there. I am going to move to this section for the support you fellow CFL'rs give.

With that said, I started my first grow 7 days ago and this is how far I have gotten.

I am useing 5 27w 6500K cfls and a 4ft 40w 6500. I also through in a 2700K 40w 4ft'r for good measure. I made the box on top of a work bench that was left in the basement when we bought the house and it turned out great. Painted the inside flat white and made the light bar from a fixture I got at good will.

Germinated 3 bagseeds and only 2 cracked so I planted them and only one came up.
I started another 3 on thursday and this time they all cracked. I let the tail get a little longer this time and planted them this morning. I guess we will wait and see. I also had a seed from a kill sack but not sure of the strain. Waiting for it to crack and I am going to plant her(lets keep our fingers crossed.

I plan on sectioning of a side of the box for a mother plant if I ever get one. I am also going to add 2 42w CFL's by this weekend hopefully.

Let me know what you think about the set up. Also, since I am using M/G organic soil with nutes, when is a good time to start adding and where can I by them locally. Dont want to mess with mail order.

Thanks for the help!

Big

I forgot some picks!

i think its just that there not very interesting and not much to talk about till the plants get big

OK, so things are going good. The first plant is growing but real slow. Think I might have over watered and stressed her a little. Guess we will see. Put plastic wrap over the new seeds I planted this morning to keep the moisture in and one has poked its head through already. Waiting to see if the kill seed is going to crack so I can get her in the dirt.

While I am at it, just wanted to give some props to all the contributers to the forum. With all the people willing to help this should turn out to be a good grow.

Wrking on getting some ventilation holes going so I can cleose up the two openings on the bottom of the cabinet you can't see. The reason you can't see them is because the shelf the plants are sitting on comes up and adds anothe 10" of grow space. Going to use some round soffet vents from Home Chepo to cover the holes. I am going to install at least one PC fan this weekend to go with the little one I have blowing over the plants. Hopefully this is enough for some fresh air and good cooling effect.

Will post some picks when there is more to see!

Big

Seedlings are doing good this morning. All three have come up now and the kill seed cracked so I will get her in the dirt latter.

I am going to Wally World to get their Digital Hygrometer and temp gauge today so I know what the humidity is. If the humidity is to low, How can I raise it easy? I thought maybe a spong soked with water left inside might raise it? Not sure though.

I will search a little more for the answer latter

Big

Well I got the P/C fan installed and the vent holes put in. The temp is staying at 78 degrees. I have the girls on an 18/6 schedule and they seem to be OK with it.

I wanted to ask if anyone has used peat pots before and what the y liked or did not like. I am finding out that it is hard to keep them watered properly. With the fan blowing across them and the temp they dry out after 8hrs or so. I know they are dry because of the weight of the pot and my moistur probe says so. I am going to find some plastic cups to set them in and see if this also helps with the evaporation.

Since I used M/G to start I am trying not to over water because of the nutes already in the soil. I did over water the first plant and I think I stunted her because she is still small.

I am going to get some pearlite and plain black soil and mix it with the M/G to try and dilute the nutes in there.

Glad its only some bagseeds I am messing with and not something I ordered.

Big

Very nice cab
Those plants will grow fast. I have about 450w ( actual wattage ) of CFLs for a 3x4' area and get decent results through flowering. I suspect I would do better with 100w more. I'm sure that I'm approaching a size limit to the practical use of CFLs ( even the 65w and 90w big ones that I use ).
You will be close to 300w with the two new bulbs - if my math is right. That much heat will require a larger vent fan as well. I finally had to put in a 160 CFM and got the temperature right.
Good luck

Man o' the green said:

Very nice cab
Those plants will grow fast. I have about 450w ( actual wattage ) of CFLs for a 3x4' area and get decent results through flowering. I suspect I would do better with 100w more. I'm sure that I'm approaching a size limit to the practical use of CFLs ( even the 65w and 90w big ones that I use ).
You will be close to 300w with the two new bulbs - if my math is right. That much heat will require a larger vent fan as well. I finally had to put in a 160 CFM and got the temperature right.
Good luck

Click to expand...

Thanks for the prop's on the cab Man. I've been prowling on here just getting ideas and knowledge and finaly decided it was time.

Anyway, i had to go get some stuff for the dinner today and picked up some cups and they worked perfect. The lids are from some shakes we had after partaking last night and I had one of those, I think I can use these moments.l Not sure about the runt? She is not looking to good. Glad I have more bag seeds to start if this don't work out. It's all about finding out what works for me. The people on here are rite when they said its my new favorite hobby!

What do you think about the cup idea?Good or bad?

Well things not so good. The runt is starting to dry up and wilt. Not sue what is going on with the plants. Thought i was over watering but I followed the advice of the forum and filled a dummy cup with dirt and felt the weight. Next I watered it and felt that so i believe that the plants are not being overwatered anymore.

As for it being nute burn, that is possible because I am useing M/G organic and I did not add anything to it when I planted them. I am going to add perlite, and some nute free soil to try and cut the shock to the plants.

Temp is staying around 78-82, Ph is around 7 and I am on 18/6. I also moved the lights up an inch because I am thinking I may have burned them.

Please take a look at the picks and if you all have any suggestions I am open to any help.

Thanks,
Big

Ps.
Through in a pick of my Pit. She was cold and the heat just kicked on! Thought it was funny.

This is a pick of the runt that I burned,

good luck good first cabinet grow foundation

Well the plants are still growing but not sure how good. I can see my roots starting to come throught the pots now so I know they are growing but it seems like the plants are not?

I added 2 26w 2700K's to the mix along with 5 26w 6500K's and the 2 40w 4 ftr's. My Ph is between 6 and 7, and my temps are a steady 78 and 68 when dark. Have them on an 18/6 schedule. I did have to move the pc fan because the temps shot up to 86 when I put those 2700Ks in. I also made it into a active exhaust and a passive intake with a 4in fan blowing over them. I also purchased some soil that is nute free and contains a mix of soil,sand and perlite. I am going to mix some of the M/G Organic to it at a 80/20 mix for my transplant.(If I ever get their?)

Its all good though. this is my first time and I am still working out the bugs. Glad they are only bag seeds. I still have about 15 more waiting in the wings in case this fails.

Thanks for the look. Any comments gladly accepted.

Big

Well still growing. Its been 2 weeks and they are still alive. Roots are starting to show on most of them so I guess that is a good sign? Will probably wait another week to see what the hell is going to happen before I transplant them. All the measurments are within specs, so we will just have to wait and see.

You can see in the pics that I added some home made reflectors from some pop cans. I got the idea from the DIY section and made a few mods of my own. First I want to send out some rep to UptheDownstairs for posting his beercan reflector how-to. I used basically the same idea except I notched my opening instead of cutting a hole. Covered the edges with electrical tape and now you can just slide them on around the base of the CFL. They are easily positioned any direction you need and did I say they are cheap to make! Dont have any Mylar handy, but going around to the used stores(Goodwill,Salvation Army) today and see if I can pick up a sun shade for cheap. Going to try and use some of that on the reflectors?

Gotta go. Will post later if the sunshade thing works.

Big

Trying to post some picks Hopes this works. Went to Goodwill and picked up the sunsceen for .75 cents and used some spray adhesive and attached it to the reflectors i made erlier.

Any comments?

Not sur whats going on.

bigman4270 said:

Not sur whats going on.

Click to expand...

I see they got the link to my pics fixed. Any comments on the set up or my girls is appreciated

bigman4270 said:

Not sur whats going on.

Click to expand...

Hi bigman

Been looking through your thread, nice little cabinet I also grow in small space like that so I'll subscribe to your thread and watch it develop.

Your seedlings do lack health at the moment. It's hard to tell from the pics but I'm wondering if you over watering slightly? Seedlings at that stage I personally would only use a spray gun on, set on a fine mist, plain PH'd water only and just a light daily misting over the baby followed by a 2 or 3 quick sprays directly into the soil...... and thats all they need. When I used those peat pots I would also spray lightly all round them, just enough to lightly dampen them. Not sure how this compares with your watering regime? .... hope it helps.

I use 4" bathroom extraction fans in my cab, one at bottom left = IN and one at top right = OUT. They are more powerful than PC fans by far but not as good as a proper RVK fan!

Lets get you through this seedling stage for now. Put the metre aside and feel the soil with your finger, it should be just evenly moist not 'cloggy' at all. How does it feel?

Good luck, you got a nice cabinet there to work with

maturesmoker said:

Hi bigman


Your seedlings do lack health at the moment. It's hard to tell from the pics but I'm wondering if you over watering slightly? Seedlings at that stage I personally would only use a spray gun on, set on a fine mist, plain PH'd water only and just a light daily misting over the baby followed by a 2 or 3 quick sprays directly into the soil...... and thats all they need. When I used those peat pots I would also spray lightly all round them, just enough to lightly dampen them. Not sure how this compares with your watering regime? .... hope it helps.

I use 4" bathroom extraction fans in my cab, one at bottom left = IN and one at top right = OUT. They are more powerful than PC fans by far but not as good as a proper RVK fan!

Lets get you through this seedling stage for now. Put the metre aside and feel the soil with your finger, it should be just evenly moist not 'cloggy' at all. How does it feel?

Good luck, you got a nice cabinet there to work with

Click to expand...

Thanks for looking through the thread Mature. I was hoping someone would pick up on the comments appreciated line. Since this is my first grow, any and all help is welcome.

I think you are rite on with the watering regiment. I just can't seem to get it rite? I have a spray bottle and I am going to start useing as suggested with just Ph'd tap water. I have not added any nutes to the soil because I used the M/G Organic to start and it already has it in it.

I watered yesterday Morning an now it feels dry on the top but the cups still feel heavier than if they were dry? Should I just folier water and let the cup get dryer before I spray the soil? I was going every other day with watering but obviously its to much.

As for the cab, I built this with things I already had around the house. The pc fan I am useing was donated to me so for now it is working. Switching to active exhaust and passive intake helped with the temps. I know I will need more as time goes on and I add more lights, but for now its good. I also have several types of fans to use for circulation as the plants need it. For now I think that little 4" is working great. It is just enough to keep the girls( I hope at least one) moving a little.

Again, thanks for the help with my new favorite hobby.

Hey bigman, I was looking through your grow as well. It seems like your temps will be ok but for as much of an open area as your box is, it seems like you will need better refelctors for those lights. I have 10 cfls going right now and only 2 plants, so dont expect much out of that lighting with that many plants. Im pretty sure that could be a reason why your plants are so small. At two weeks my two girls were about 8" tall and bushy. Its also a difference in strains but something isnt right there with your grow. Hope I could help a little, good luck to you!

hey bro nice setup...im also on my 1st grow w/cfl's it does look as though you have stunted there growth i would get them transplanted and just regular water for about 2 more weeks until they begin to take off...right now im only on my 4th day of 12/12 there only about 6 inches tall but im in a tight spot check out my grow got a few pics for comparison im watching... good luck