Blackberry:105w CFL diy HomeDepot Closet Cabinet

[SnowRider221]

Couple updates... Here's a shot of the little reflector I made with a for sale sign with a wonderful polished aluminum back-side. Also added an additional ceiling mount and splitter which has 2x 26w CFLs (100w equivalent).




Temps are looking good, and i think the 12-12 stretching has just barely begun. I think I'm going to use this grow as a learning experiment and experiment with a couple different options. The Blackberry was vegged for a month, all 3 clones were put right into 12-12, and 2 of the 3 clones will be growing through the scrog in the first page's posts.

As mentioned above all three clones showing nice pretty white hairs, and I'm not sure it I'm jumping the gun with this; but I think I see the first signs of white hairs on the Blackberry as well Can you guys help me out with this one. Tried to get as good of macros as I could without my tripod.


White Hairs or jumpin tha gun?
Another angle
Anddd a very hairy stem a little lower, nothing looking like hairs down this low yet?

 

[TexMex McDirt]

Lookin good so far. Happy gardening!

 

[Yes4Prop215]

good luck mang, i was using FFOF too, had really good results with FF tiger bloom. silverback gorilla sounds nice what is the genetics on that..

 

[SnowRider221]

good luck mang, i was using FFOF too, had really good results with FF tiger bloom. silverback gorilla sounds nice what is the genetics on that..

I've picked it up from three different dispensaries now in O.C. - asked this exact question each time and got three unsure answers... and i know that most of these budtenders are very knowledgeable and many of them can spout off the genetics of almost any strain, so idk what the deal is. All three of them were sure that is a an indica dominant hybrid, and that it has heave kush undertones. One told me it was a symphony of 3 kush's. If anyone else knows this as well I'd LOVE to know, haha its been killin me.

 

[attila76]

Some pointers for the newbie,

#1- Distance from the lights is VERY important especially with CFLs. Their light fades quickly, Stack something under the pots to bring them closer to the plant. As the plants grow use shorter objects to keep the space very close. These things put out very little heat so use that to your advantage. Use a thermometer with a probe and put the probe on the top of the plant to gauge the right distance so that you don't get TOO close.

#2- I dont understand why you would go to flower with them soOOO small? Doesn't make sense. Grow them "in veg" to about 2/3s the size that you want at harvest, then flip the lights. Your current strategy will only result in tiny plants with tiny buds.

#3- Those green little grates: I can promise you that they are not going to be needed to support the wieght of big hefty buds. If anything they will just be getting in the way. I grow 4-6 oz plants without any support at all. (See my album)

#4- White hairs or ?... Those are preflowers. These clones come from a grown veg stage plant. They were there before the cuts got roots. The only use that they have to you is that they indicate sex as female. If they look like mini bananas then you got males.

Good start though over all. Reminds me of my first expedition in medical growing. GOod times all around.

Be Well

 

[attila76]

Also, your blackberry on 2-25 looked nutrient starved, and thirsty. For a little one like that I'd give it nutrients @ PPM 450-550. Soak all of the pot until water comes out the bottom. Being so small that should do it for 1-2 weeks. Wait to feed/water again when the pot feel light and ez to lift.

And the other ones have some other nutrient deficiency. (cloning and rooting is traumatic to every plant and comes with the territory) Not sure of the kind of def, but that doesn't matter. Just feed the with your complete regimen and it will work itself out in a week or two.

 

[SnowRider221]

Some pointers for the newbie,

.
.
.

Be Well

Thanks a lot for the very helpful post atilla! This 105w CFL surprised me and actually does pump out a lil bit of heat. I've got the exhaust fan sucking right across it now, so its very manageable and I've got the plants about 2.5-3" from it now.

There were a couple reasons for throwing the clones right into 12/12, those being:

• I spontaneously decided to add 3 more plants a day into my blackberry's flowering cycle. Only have one cabinet so they kinda had to jump right in without gettin their feet wet per se

• The specialist at my clinic that sold me the clones said that given my space limitations the only way I was going to be able to grow these lanky girls was to put them right on 12/12 to limit height and train the hell out of them throughout stretching.

So do you think I should just get rid of the scrog and try and LST for the only training during the upcoming stretch phase?

Also, your blackberry on 2-25 looked nutrient starved, and thirsty. For a little one like that I'd give it nutrients @ PPM 450-550. Soak all of the pot until water comes out the bottom. Being so small that should do it for 1-2 weeks. Wait to feed/water again when the pot feel light and ez to lift.

And the other ones have some other nutrient deficiency. (cloning and rooting is traumatic to every plant and comes with the territory) Not sure of the kind of def, but that doesn't matter. Just feed the with your complete regimen and it will work itself out in a week or two.

Yeah I've been giving all 4 a 3/4 dose of the nutes for the last 2 waterings, the clones are regaining nice color, but the blackberry's bottom two leaves are still yellow and shriveled, although the set of fan leaves above that do look a much better hue than 4 days ago. Are the bottom leaves just dead and will eventually fall off while the rest of the plant is fine?

 

[reckon]

I really like your setup,.....I just totally re-did my clone closet, and I also have some heat issues, and was looking in here for some "small space cooling" ideas.

I agree with attila76 about those green grates,...I think they'll be more trouble than they'll do good, and also about your rather early flip on the lights, you probably could have let them get a little larger without maxing the area.

if it was me, I'd set up a scrog screen with 2" squares, about 8" higher then the tops of the pots and have it cover the entire cabinet, then as the plants grew in veg, I'd weave the branches through the holes, spreading them out to try and fill the screen,....as the older branches start getting too tall, I'd cut them back (great time to take cuttings as well), trying to even out the growing mat of bud sites,..........then 5 days before you flip the lights, cut a TINY, TINY 5mm matchhead sized clip off of the tallest shoots,...then wait five days and flip the lights back to 12/12,....this takes ADVANTAGE of the stretch, by stopping the tallest branches from stretching too much, and allows the shorter branches to stretch and catch up,...if you do it right, you get an even level, flat topped canopy.

bet you get 5 to 8 ounces of buds if scrogged that cool little box.

 

[SnowRider221]

although I wish there was something that could have been done about the setup, in order to harvest / cure with plenty of time for move out date of this house that I'm renting right now, I had to go with this plan. Would have loved to have vegged them and at least topped them while still in veg. The blackberry, however, did veg for a full month, and was as big as you see it in all these pictures on the day of the flip.

I also just got back from Fry's with a 120mm pc fan and a filter for it that I may be able to squeeze a layer of activated carbon into it's going to pull a lot more air than the 80mm I have, and although temps aren't an issue at present there is going to be a time in the future when I can't do anything else training wise and the tops of the plants are going to hug those cfl's quite nicely. Best to prepare in advance and get the bulb running cool throughout the grow.

 

[attila76]

How hot is too hot???

Good question. They say that 72f is ideal. But thats too simplistic. As with everything it depends.
Some considerations:
-High levels of Co2 (1200-1800 ppm) a higher temp of 85 is ideal. This combo increases plant metabolism substantially.
-Normal levels of CO2 and high heat of say 90f and above can slow plant metabolism to a crawl, and so therefore 72f really is ideal under those circumstances.
- Temps in the mid to low 80's are very acceptable and you will get fine results.
- High temps and dry air are perfect for spider mites and other plagues so do be aware of that.

 

[SnowRider221]

How hot is too hot???

Good question. They say that 72f is ideal. But thats too simplistic. As with everything it depends.
Some considerations:
-High levels of Co2 (1200-1800 ppm) a higher temp of 85 is ideal. This combo increases plant metabolism substantially.
-Normal levels of CO2 and high heat of say 90f and above can slow plant metabolism to a crawl, and so therefore 72f really is ideal under those circumstances.
- Temps in the mid to low 80's are very acceptable and you will get fine results.
- High temps and dry air are perfect for spider mites and other plagues so do be aware of that.

I've been at a base of 84 with the lights on, ranging as high as 87 and as low as 76. Lights off I'm at about ambient temps of my room which is in the 72-76 range. Plants are lookin healthy this morning, the chemdawg 91 cuts are starting to get a definite funk smell to them from up close

 

[ganjamann1]

why are the lamps so far from the plant ? its best when cfl:s is like 5cm from the plant .

sry bad english

 

[SnowRider221]

why are the lamps so far from the plant ? its best when cfl:s is like 5cm from the plant .

sry bad english

All pictures posted so far are when i was still getting everything set up. There is now a 105w and 2x 26w mounted on the ceiling, and a single 26w that hangs right in between all of the plants providing supplemental light.

 

[Tatz]

Search for Dr Bud greengenes, you´ll find he hardmounted lights, looks like works fine to me !!! (Dr God is Bud !)

 

[SnowRider221]

It's Official; white hairs on the big blackberry as well today (9 days into 12/12)! This means 4 pretty girls to fill out this cabinet nicely!!

I went ahead and ditched the little SCROG and I'm just going to let them get their stretch on as o right now and tie shit down as I need to down the road.

Lastly, these Chemdawg are stinkyyyyy already after just over a week of flowering. The tub of odor absorber I got at my hydro store just isnt cutting it, and I need to make a lil carbon scrubber this weekend. Couple questions in this regard:

• Can I build a small scrubber for my 80mm PC fan exhaust, or do I need to upgrade to a better exhaust fan?
• I've seen two types of scrubbers used in micro grows on these forums, those that use panty-hoes and activated carbon from the fish store, and those made with carbon screens used in air filtration devices and such. Which should I look into when it will preferably be installed onto my 80mm PC fan exhaust.
• Are there any ready-made mini carbon scrubbers or anything to the same affect?

 

[Classyathome]

Nice...

 

[SnowRider221]

PIK CHURS for all!

White Hairs on the big blackberry


All 3 Chemdawg 91s in a little comparison shot comparison shot


Like I said, gettin biggg


And one artsy shot for ya; I liked the way the light came through this fan leaf.



Lastly, can someone help me address the carbon scrubber questions mentioned in my last post ?

 

[ganjamann1]

All pictures posted so far are when i was still getting everything set up. There is now a 105w and 2x 26w mounted on the ceiling, and a single 26w that hangs right in between all of the plants providing supplemental light.

ok thats good is this your first grow ? i have one 125w CFL but have never use it to grow cannabis, so do u get good smoke from one 125w ?

bad english again XD

 

[SnowRider221]

ok thats good is this your first grow ? i have one 125w CFL but have never use it to grow cannabis, so do u get good smoke from one 125w ?

bad english again XD

This is my first indoor grow with CFL's so i have no results to post as of yet; I have, however seen many amazing results from people using between 150-300 watts of CFL's. Very dense nugs can be produced this way, contrary to popular belief. Look for a thread in this forum called CFL CLUB

 

[Tatz]

Wow !!! Looking great there, them girls is gonna give ya lots of hours of pleasure, even before smoking !!!
When it comes to CFLs, DrBud is my idol !! Amazing work !!!
(http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=69713)

About the carbon scrubber, I think the best I´ve seen here is this one;

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=29402
Quote "
<DIY pro style carbon filter

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

first and formost, the design of this filter came from an old OG thread done by Son is Shining, and i'm building it from memory, so all thanks go out to him.

that said, here we go. i'm building this one to fit a 6" vortex, but it can be made bigger or smaller, depending on your needs......> "

Check it out, it´s very easy to build, pretty cheap and, like the man says, it can be adapted to your needs !