Jellyfish's First Grows

[Jellyfish]

This thread is going to be highlights of my first serious attempts to grow my own weed, many years ago. All these grows were done in a space I made in a closet that was about 60 inches wide, 30 inches deep and 10 feet height. I eventually had this little closet rocking for quite a few years before moving to another state. But I learned so much from growing in that space. So I'm posting this in the hopes that it inspires others to succeed at growing in a limited space.

Two things fired me up to sho' nuff DO IT- THIS Mr. Green video on YouTube-

And THIS thread on ICMAG, called The Official Hempy Bucket


The first thing I decided on was to divide the closet into two chambers, upper and lower, one for vegging and one for flowering. I framed the closet with black plastic and 2X4's. I separated the upper and lower rooms with plywood and more framing, with a six inch hole for air flow between the two chambers.
You can see I've got some bag seed vegging in little hempy buckets under some fluoros, while I construct the flowering chamber over their heads.

 

[Jellyfish]

I can't remember where I first saw this method of vegging. It involves two sizes of solo cups, and you drill five or six little drain holes in the bottom of the bigger cup, and set it into the smaller cup to drain. I put rocks in the smaller cups for weight. When I see roots coming out of the drain holes, I move the plant to to a small hempy bucket. I still do this with seedlings, just because, habit. And it works. The cards in the photos are me trying to be gangster or something. A real smooth criminal, lol.

 

[Jellyfish]

So, the next thing I found on ICMAG that was a lifesaver was, REZDOG's The Recipe thread. I can't find it (thanks, ICMAG search engine, LOL), but here's the gist of it. All credit to OP Rezdog. This was a good basic feeding regimen for somebody just getting started. It uses General Hydroponics stuff, and it works great with hempy buckets, and with some modifications, tlike adding CalMag, this is still the basis of MY recipe.

==The Recipe==

(All Products are General Hydroponics, pH at 5.5 pH)
(All measurements are per gal.)
6ml flora micro
9ml flora bloom
Kool-Bloom POWDER

VEGETATIVE STAGE AT 24 HRS. LIGHT ON
(18/6,optional)

Veg,Feed:

6ml flora micro
9ml flora bloom

Use the above 1/2-strength on seedlings and clones to 10" tall,then feed full-strength>on.

Based on 63 day 12/12 Flower Cycle:

Day 1-14
6ml micro
9ml bloom

Day 15-21
6ml micro
9ml bloom
1 tsp./Gal. Kool-Bloom POWDER (ONE FEED,DAY 15!)

Day 22-28
6ml micro
9ml Bloom

Day 29-35
9ml Bloom
1 tsp./gal. Kool-Bloom POWDER (ONE FEED,DAY 29!)

Day 36-52
9 ml Bloom
(AND ON DAY 36,a 1 tsp./gal Kool-Bloom POWDER Slam!!)

Day 52-63 (Flush)
5.5-6.0 pH h20 at 50 ppm

This guy is a fan too!

Rez's Recipe Works trust me...I'm black haha..oh​

 

[Jellyfish]

So, when they get about this big in the cup-in-a-cup, I put them in hempy buckets. I put hydroton on top, because it looks better, and it makes it easier to water.

 

[Jellyfish]

I still put hydroton on top of the hempy mix, because it does look better, and it prevents divots in the hempy medium.

 

[Jellyfish]

So I got real industrious (I had so much energy then) with the PVC and the zip ties and some refrigerator racks, and done made myself a scrog.

 

[Jellyfish]

A homemade lighting setup, with four 42, 43 watt CFL Daylight bulbs. These little gems work great in a small space, they don't get that hot.

 

[Jellyfish]

You can see that I'm not using this space optimally, but it WAS my first grow. Not too long after this, I made a second light fixture that held eight bulbs.
I drilled a hole in the closet ceiling and installed a Panasonic fan for exhaust.

The second photo is a long shot showing how my evil plan is all coming together, bwahahahahaha!

 

[Jellyfish]

This is a couple weeks into flowering. I got really excited about those pink pistils, but I didn't know yet how to clone, so nothing came of it.

 

[Jellyfish]

So naturally, since this was my first grow, I harvested it early. But I was sure proud to be holding those buds I grew by my own damn self! And when it was dry enough to smoke, I was sooooo happy when it got me high! I was hooked, not on weed. Hooked on growing weed!

 

[Jellyfish]

This was back in 2010., shortly after I joined ICMAG. This plant is posing in front of the closet she grew up in. I know these plants don't look very impressive, but for a first grow, believe me, I was thrilled! So that was my first real grow.

 

[Jellyfish]

CHAPTER TWO: Jellyfish watches another Mr. Green video on YouTube, and learns how to clone.
@52:43

So yeah, I learned how to clone! I used to take the tiniest cuttings, I don't know why, it makes me laugh now to see my early work. The rubber bands were just a color coding system I was using then, They didn't really squeeze the rockwool cubes, don't worry, lol.
And I used to cut the tips off the leaves, because I read that it forced the plant to concentrate its strength on making roots. I don't do that anymore, I actually think it slows them down.
Anyway, this was my first attempt at cloning. When these little girls took root, I was thrilled again! So much easier than I thought it would be! Wheeeee!

Seriously, if you're just starting out, don't be intimidated by cloning. Your grandma's and aunties and moms been "cloning" plants for centuries, lol! All you need is rusty scissors!

 

[Jellyfish]

Actually, as I look back through my albums, THIS was my first attempt at cloning- I took cuttings off the previous girls, after they had flowered all the way out. I nursed these little twigs for two months, but in the end, only one actually took root.

 

[Jellyfish]

My little clones becoming plants!!!

 

[Jellyfish]

Starting to get my shit together with a couple grows under my belt. I bought every little fluorescent fixture I could find at Goodwill and hung them up in my Veg room with good old zip ties! Zip Ties, the Home Grower's Friend!

 

[Jellyfish]

These are in Solo cups! They don't need a bigger container when they look like this! Happy girls!

 

[Jellyfish]

Looks like I was all over the place at this stage. Trying to do TOO MUCH is a rookie mistake!

 

[Jellyfish]

Eventually I got it together. This girl is just about ready to flower.

 

[Jellyfish]

This was my second or third grow. I added a reflector made out of one of those things for your windshield and some duct tape. Banging right along!

 

[Jellyfish]

This is about two weeks later from the previous post. Everything filling out nicely!