New CFL grow using Miracle-Gro African Violet Potting Mix in 6" pots

Ok, heres the whole layout of my newest CFL grow attempt. I have been putting all this infomation together over the last week since I have had so much free time due to a hip injury. Most things I had, some I built, some I bought. I still need to get the potting mix and the moisture meter and I'll be ready to start germinating the 2 bag weed seeds I have and going on from there. The box is setup and ready to go with lights, fans, pots and trays, and a gravity fed watering system I made using a 1 gallon milk jug. I think I have a good plan this time, so here we go.
　
WILL GET IN THE NEXT COUPLE DAYS:

MG AFRICAN VIOLET POTTING MIX 4.24
SOIL PH METER 8.12
12.36

BOUGHT:

LIGHT SETUP: BULBS,FIXTURE,SPLITTERS,TURKEY PAN 37.00
THERMOMETER W/ HYGROMETER 7.00
U-HAUL GRAND WARDROBE BOX 13.00
PH DOWN 8.00
MYLAR BLANKET THING 3.00
5" ROUND FAN 2.00
80 mm DC FAN 2.50
3-80mm FANS 9.00
6" FAN 10.00
USED DC POWER SUPPLY 11.00
PVC FITTINGS 5.00
2-1/4" ON/OFF VALVES 2.00
121.86

THINGS I HAD:

TIMER 0.00
2 - 6" POTS FOR SOIL AND PIE PANS 0.00
3" PVC ELBOW 0.00
POWER STRIP 0.00
1/4" HOSE, T, 2 - DRIPPERS 0.00
NUTES 0.00
EXTENSION CORD 0.00
CHAIN 0.00
TACKS 0.00
DUCT TAPE 0.00
PH KIT 0.00
0.00
　
SEEDS:
Before I order seeds, I think I will do a 2 plant bag seed grow, just to test out the system and make sure everything works right. The seeds are from some pretty decent pot and I'm not worried about if there male or female right now, just growing some plants and having them not die.
GERMINATING:
I will put the seeds in a wet paper towel (with warm rain water and a few drops of seed starter) then put them in a clear cake dome in the dark for 24 to 48 hours as this part has worked very well for me in the past. When they crack and the tap root is about 3/8" long, they will go right into the potting mix. Make sure they don't dry up. Not to wet, not to dry, just moist.
SOIL:
I chose this potting mix because of the Sphagnum peat and Perlite mix and I have read that plants will grow good in this medium, so lets hope it's a good choice. I will be using 2-6" sitting in pie pans for catching drainage water. I am hoping these will be big enough for this grow atleast, as the plants will grow no taller than 24", maybe 30" max.

Scott's/Miracle-Gro 8 Qt. African Violet Potting Mix $4.24
pH Adjusted Formula Specially formulated for Marijuana plants LoL, which require an organic medium with slightly acidic pH (6.0 to 6..
Developed for use in containers – no additives needed.
Sphagnum peat and perlite provide improved drainage, helps prevent disease, root rot, and sickly plants.
Wetting agent provides even wetting of the soil to help eliminate dry spots.
Miracle-Gro® Advantage Enriched with Miracle-Gro® Plant Food for healthy plants, improved plant growth and blooms that feeds for up to 3 months.
Feeds instantly for a fast, vigorous start to help build strong root systems. Simple, easy to use, no need to feed
for 30 days

Potting Mix, 0.14-0.14-0.14
Guaranteed Analysis F1144
Total nitrogen (N)* . . .0.14%
0.07% ammoniacal nitrogen
0.07% nitrate nitrogen
Available phosphate (P2O5)* . . .0.14%
Soluble potash (K2O)* . . .0.14%
Derived from: ammonium nitrate, ammonium phosphate, calcium phosphate, and potassium sulfate.
*The nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium sources have been coated to provide 0.10% slow-release
nitrogen (N), 0.10% slow-release phosphate (P2O5), and 0.10% slow-release potash (K2O).
Information regarding the contents and levels of metals
SOIL PH METER:
HoldAll Moisture, Light and PH Meter
Scientifically accurate No batteries required Measures moisture, light and soil PH. Promotes healthy plants.
It's only $8 and it can only help with watering.
WATER:
Florida rain water with a ph of 6.2. It rained hard the other day so I filled a 3 1/2 gallon bucket to have on hand. It will stay outside and I will fill 1 gallon jugs to bring inside. I am using this because it has to be better than the 8.0 tap water here.
NUTES: 　
These are nute I will use.
Jack's Classic® dry All Purpose 20-20-20 for the vegging stage and Jack's Classic® dry Blossom Booster 10-30-20 during the flowering stage.
I also have GH Products floraGro® 2-1-6 and GH Products FloraBloom® 0-5-4
I will just use the rain water with no nutes for first 2 weeks as the potting mix has nutes in it, maybe a couple of light 1/4 strength waterings with veg mix during the 2nd week depending on growth. Then I will switch to 1/2 strength for weeks 3 thru 8/9 and then flush/water with straight rain water for weeks 10/11.
I will go every second to third watering with nutes, so water one day.. Wait 2-3 days then water with nutes.. Wait another 2-3 days and just water again and so on... Don't over water, water when container is light, or 1-2" down is dry.Water them slow and fully. if you use a 1/2 gal pot it should take about a 1/4 gal of water to water them. Just a rule of thumb. Water the plants slowly with 2x the volume of your pot, if your pots are 1/2 gallon use 1 gallon to flush. This depending on potting mix dryness and rmember, the strains I will be using are all small plants.
I came up with a cheap gravity fed watering system, I use a gallon jug with 2 tubes in the top. 1 for a vent and the other runs to the pots. To start it, you just blow in the vent tube and the water starts to run. Them I use a T to split it for 2 plants and installed a on/valve before the T. Once you get the flow going, you can the turn the valve off and on and the line stays pressurized, very simple system and very cheap to make. The 1 gallon jug will empty in less than an hour, so keep an eye on it if you don't want to use the whole gallon.
GROW BOX:
I chose to use a U-haul Grand Wardrobe Box. The size is 48" H-24" W-21" D. For a small grow, it seems to be the perfect size.I had 2 white shelfs from my old grow cabinet and they worked out great. I used 1 for a floor in the box and the other 1, I put on top of the box for all my supplies to sit on, the box is very sturdy. For the door, I just taped up the top of the box where it drops downin the front, then cut the door on the other side. Plus, this box comes with a metal bar to hang your light from all for $13. Also, being cardboard, it is very easy to cut out holes for fans and vents and such.Also, I be hanging more mylar to fininsh the bottof the box. Didn't need to with the hydro tub setup in there. I know it is carbord grow room, but i no concern about it being a fire hazard. Everything is wired right and hardly no water involved, it is very safe if you just do it right.
LIGHTS:　
I made the reflector/hood from a aluminum turkey pan, a 3 bulb chrome light fixture, an extension cord, and 3-Y blub splitters for a total of 6 bulbs. I screwed the fixture to the inside of the pan and through to a piece of 1" x 2" x 18" wood, which aslo gave me a place to hook the chains to, works great. Total cost was $37 with the 6 bulbs.
5 - 23 watt 2700k and 1 - 23 watt 6500k bulbs for a total of 138 watts and 9600 lumens. I used 1 6500k bulb just mix in the light spectrum. I will be adding 4 more 23 watt 2700k.I will hang 2 from each side of the turkey pan hood and that will give me a total of 244 watts and 17000 lumens. Still thinking about this due to heat.
I will go with a 20/4 light schedule for the first 3 weeks and then switch to 12/12 for the rest of the grow which should be about 6 to 8 weeks.
I plan on doing 24 hours of darkness at the time of switching to 12/12 and make sure its the same am hour that the light turns on at, so either do 24 or 36 hours. The theory is, it's suppose to put the plant into "super bloom" during the flowering period, we'll see.
TEMPS:
I bought an Acturite digital temp/hum gauge for $8, and it works very well.
The lowest I can get the temps right now is about 84 degrees with the lights on and about 73 degrees when dark and this is still without the 4 new bulbs, not good.
See below in fans.*
HUMITNITY:
Running between 21% when lights are on.and 37% when the are off. No plants, just a dry run now (fans, lights running with the 2 pots in place) so I know whats going on in the grow box before I start.
FANS:
1 - 6" fan for air intake down on the lower right side and 1 - 80mm fan just above it, 1 - 80mm hood vent, 2 - 80mm for exhaust on the side to remove heat from the light hood, and 1 - 5" for exhaust at the top left. I took an old computer power source to use as a DC convertor for running the 12v computer fans, works great and was only $11 on ebay.
* I am thinking about building a cool unit out of a small cooler with pvc pipe and a couple fittins running to my intake fan in the side of the box and using frozen ice packs to blow cooler air into the box to help pull down the temps. If I have to, I will.
So I laid an ice pack behind the 6" intake fan and the temp has dropped to 82 and hum is 23%, not bad, the cool box thing should really help, and the ice pack stays cold for quite a while. The cool box idea is looking better and better. I'm gonna work on this and will update on it when I have it working right.
TOPPING:
I am going to cut the very top of each plant at about ten days if there big enough. This will give me 2 main colas and increase the yield. I will try to use the top cuttings as clones just to see what happens.
CLONES:　
I will use a clear strawberry box that has holes it and is hinged. I will do 2 clones in it to have on hand for the following grow after harvest. Just take the cutting, dip it in clone gel, place it in pre-soaked 30mm Jiffy peat pellet, stick it inside the "clone box" and place them in the grow box. Wait for the roots to shoot out the bottom of the Jiffy peat pellet and then transfer to a new 6" pot filled with fresh potting mix and place it in the grow box.
HARVEST:
When you harvest, use cardboard boxes. They can absorb some moisture. Cut the buds off, anything over one and half inches long, and manicure them right then and there. Then, using cheap masking tape, make rows 3 or 4 inches apart, across the box opening and hang them from the tape. Then run an oscillating fan on low, blowing OVER but not on them, just to keep air moving. Do not allow the buds to touch each other. By drying just the buds alone, you can dry them in 5 to 7 days. The big buds are 7 days, the small buds in 5 days, till you can snap the stems. then put the small popcorn buds in boxes, not piled up or touching each other, and stir them around daily too. What you want to do is dry the buds first, and then CURE them, by placing them in jars, and opening the jars daily for a few minutes, to smell them, for 30 days. If they smell funky, take them out of the jar and dry them again two more days, then back in the jars. You have to watch those big colas close to make sure you don't get mold.
Also, trim the leaves close to the buds, and the larger green fan leaves. Keep them separate in shoe boxes a fan blowing over them too. These will be used to make hash with using a hash press. The hash press is really a clay extruder that can be had for about $20 at Micheal's arts and crafts. Can't wait to get to this stage.
　
Well, there you have it, the plans for my 3rd attempt at growing. This will be my first attempt growing in soil, my other 2 grows have been hydroponics and I still have a brand new DWC 4 net pot hydro tub setup that goes right in to the grow box with minimal changes, but that will be another grow on down the road. I've done a lot of reading on this site and had a lot of good advice from some great people on the R.I.U. site. I feel that this time will be much better, lets hope. When I get the few other things I need in the next couple days. I will keep this thread updated every few days or as needed with pics and information of the grow's progress. Wish me luck and come along for the ride.

hers some pics of my failed last attempt, went away for lees than 24 hours and came home to a dead plant. still dont know what happened and thats why i will try this potting mix grow. never give up.

Yeah dude never give up, you learn more every time you try and it is definitely worth it when you're successful. Perhaps instead of topping you should look into lst, it kinda has a similar effect and works pretty good with cfls, just a suggestion though. Good luck

hey hash, thanks for the advice, since i havent started yet, i might just have to look into that.
i fixin to line the bottom of the box right now, kinda hard tho with this messed up hip to get down on the floor, but hey, im a trooper, LoL. now if i could just get to home depot for my dam potting mix!!

Concord Dawn said:

hey hash, thanks for the advice, since i havent started yet, i might just have to look into that.
i fixin to line the bottom of the box right now, kinda hard tho with this messed up hip to get down on the floor, but hey, im a trooper, LoL. now if i could just get to home depot for my dam potting mix!!

Click to expand...

No problem, i just think lst is another good way to create multiple tops without much stress. Determination is gonna be good for growing so keep troopin

HashMash said:

No problem, i just think lst is another good way to create multiple tops without much stress. Determination is gonna be good for growing so keep troopin

Click to expand...

i found this in another thread, not sure really what to do, hell might do both, LoL. we'll see, thanks again man. the pic is something i found somewhere, that would be awesome, LoL.


Topping is mainly done to create multiple heads on your plant. Now, if you topped your plant...and then started training the new tops by pulling/tying them down to the outer edges of the buckets then you are opening the plant up for more light , that is Low Stress Training or LST. You are not supposed to top during flowering, you will stunt your plant. If you are going to top, do it at least 2 weeks before flowering. This will give the plant time to bounce back and be good and strong for flowering. That's about the extent of "trimming" you want to do. I hope to God you are not considering lopping off fan leaves.

heres a couple more pics. i put the mylar in to finish the box all the way down and my temp/hum for the dry run. still working on those temps. temp is 84 and hum is at 27% with ice pack laying on the 6" intake fan. it goes right back up to 88 without it. will try to get a small cooler to make the cool box tomorrow along with my potting mix. in the middle of the lights off cycle, the temp is 75 and the hum is 35%.

Yeah top or lst or both just keep it short and bushy
Box is lookin good, keep workin on those temps and soon you'll be in business

So I lowered the lights so that the bulbs are 4" above the pots, and the temp is running at 95 and the hum is at 16%, these readings are with the gauge sitting on top of the pots. When I moved it down on the floor between the 2 pots, I got this reading, temp 82 and hum 26%, not sure whats really right???

pics of temps and what i still need.

Concord Dawn said:

So I lowered the lights so that the bulbs are 4" above the pots, and the temp is running at 95 and the hum is at 16%, these readings are with the gauge sitting on top of the pots. When I moved it down on the floor between the 2 pots, I got this reading, temp 82 and hum 26%, not sure whats really right???

pics of temps and what i still need.

Click to expand...

go by the top of the pots, they say to go by the temps at the top of the canopy .... 95 is way high for you. and that sounds about right with the bulbs being about 4 inches above the pots ... do you have a fan blowing directly over the lights??
is the room sealed completely or are you able to open your door if temps go up too high?
I didn't read what kind of cfl's your using but i'll check that.
also ..i don't know if you saw in my grow journal but after you plant those seedlings ... try and keep the lights about 6 inches away from the light ... i kept mine at the 2-3 inch distance from my seedlings and ended up stunting them a bit ... you want them to stretch out of that soil a bit before you drop the lights down and start working on making them compact.
and if your thinking of keeping em small go with LST for sure .. tie those fuckers down.... you'll be amazed at how strong your stem gets and when you have growth spurts the amount of tops you'll end up with if you keep tying them. GREAT LOOKING SET UP THOUGH... btw ..like the turkey pan idea ...i have to do that with mine.
LAST...
FUCK THAT METER...it is shit for measuring ph i have the same one .. and you see the problems i'm having ..lol
good for testing moisture though so i'd say you can't go wrong with it

ataxia said:

go by the top of the pots, they say to go by the temps at the top of the canopy .... 95 is way high for you. and that sounds about right with the bulbs being about 4 inches above the pots ... do you have a fan blowing directly over the lights??
is the room sealed completely or are you able to open your door if temps go up too high?
I didn't read what kind of cfl's your using but i'll check that.
also ..i don't know if you saw in my grow journal but after you plant those seedlings ... try and keep the lights about 6 inches away from the light ... i kept mine at the 2-3 inch distance from my seedlings and ended up stunting them a bit ... you want them to stretch out of that soil a bit before you drop the lights down and start working on making them compact.
and if your thinking of keeping em small go with LST for sure .. tie those fuckers down.... you'll be amazed at how strong your stem gets and when you have growth spurts the amount of tops you'll end up with if you keep tying them. GREAT LOOKING SET UP THOUGH... btw ..like the turkey pan idea ...i have to do that with mine.
LAST...
FUCK THAT METER...it is shit for measuring ph i have the same one .. and you see the problems i'm having ..lol
good for testing moisture though so i'd say you can't go wrong with it

Click to expand...

thanks, ok so if i move that thing all over the box, the temps are like81 down to 77, there only high when i set in right on top of the pots, those are all the fans i have in the box, plenty of flow.

pic 1 is on floor in front of big fan, 2 is intake, 3 and 4 are ehaust and 5 is the hood fan suck air out of the hood. the only place the temp is real high is right under the hood.

im runnin 6 23 watt bulbs which is equal to 600 watts i guess, i dont get how you can run the lights 2" above the plants and not get a high temp reading right there? the temp is fine everywhere else in the whole box.

6 23 watt bulbs is equal to 138 watts, not 600 lol. Whatever the incandescent equivalency is on the box is completely meaningless for any growing applications. CFL's run real hot in tight spaces without tons of air movement. I've experimented with a few CFl setups and your box looks like it would run around 10-15 degrees above ambient if you stick with 138 watts. Keep your house temp between 65-70 and you should be ok.

donkeyote said:

6 23 watt bulbs is equal to 138 watts, not 600 lol. Whatever the incandescent equivalency is on the box is completely meaningless for any growing applications. CFL's run real hot in tight spaces without tons of air movement. I've experimented with a few CFl setups and your box looks like it would run around 10-15 degrees above ambient if you stick with 138 watts. Keep your house temp between 65-70 and you should be ok.

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Yep you always wanna go with actual watts of the cfls and that's plenty right now for sure ..maybe too much ..
Your ideal temp though are the temperatures on top of the pots ....so you gotta get them down...
Figure as your plants grow closer to those lights the temps will keep rising and burn the shit out of them, I think im in the process of doing that to mine now..
So i say if your temps are that high raise the light if you can ..if not unscrew some bulbs for the seedling... You don't need all that wattage. i only used about 2 27 wt daylights for each on my seedlings ... and that was a bit too much.
worse comes to worse ...like the last post said ...keep your house that temp.
and add more fans if nothing else works..

also now that im looking ..if you maybe get rid of the reflector you can lower the temps.
it's a turkey pan so it's gonna throw off alot of heat with all that foil

hey thanks don, yeah i knew that with the wattage, dont know i put the 600, LoL, the house temp is right at 70 day and night, so i guess im good there. the is box 21x 24x 48, plenty of air flow with all the fans and still working on the cooler air box with ice packs running to the smaller intake fan, kinda like a/c for the grow room, im board, havent been out of the house in like a week and a half with the hip thing. so all i have to do is smoke, be on R.I.U. and look at this grow box, LoL. just want to have everything right this time before i start growin again. still looking at seeds and from what i can tell NIRVANA has the best deal goin, 5 fem seeds of all the good strains for $36 or $43 and $10.85 for shipping. now i just have to decide which 1 to go with.

ataxia said:

also now that im looking ..if you maybe get rid of the reflector you can lower the temps.
it's a turkey pan so it's gonna throw off alot of heat with all that foil

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hell yeah man, if i even cut the sides off all the way around, that should help a bunch, i'll start with that and see what happens, great idea, thaks man.

ok, cut the sides off and the 1st pic is the results, 91. hood at 4", moved up to 7" and only went down to 90, now at 11" and waiting to see what happens. 2nd pic sides off, 3rd is the bar that came with the box, works great to adjust the height.

the 4th pic is my water hose and dripper, you can see the on/off valve on the side, hooked to a gallon jug that sits on top of the box, you can water as much or as little as you want.

this is crazy, temp still at 90/91, this is why i didnt just hurry up and start any plants yet, dam!!

ok, last post for the night, gonna take a qaaulude and pass out, LoL. with the temp taken off to the side, its only 84, 1st pic, put it back in the middle and added yet another 6" fan from the bathroom blowin on the hood, waitin now to see what happens, will post in morning, im out.

Looked right before the lights went off at 2 am and the temp was 86 and hum at 25%, getting closer. The dark temp was 77 and hum was 31% at 7:30 am this morning, which is a half an hour before the lights come back on and without the 2nd 6" fan not running as I plugged it into the timer with the lights. See what happens today, hope I'm not over thinking this.

Hey, Concord. Your set up looks good. Heat problems have delayed the start of my grow, too. I'm running 8 23w bulbs in a 36'' h x 31" w x 16" d cabinet with one pc fan for intake and one for exhast. I'm also running an 8" fan on the lights and temps are in the high-80s after only a couple hours. I'm planning on adding a few more fans for intake, another for exhaust and drilling some 2"-3" holes and making some light traps so ambient air has room to flow freely. I hope you achieve some sort of set up that'll give you optimal growing conditions. Looks like you're getting close! Definitely going to keep an eye on your grow for any tips