My first grow

[dopeheadlogic]

First of all, thanks for all of your guys input in the thread, and on all the different ICMAG threads. I would not have been able to set up my grow as nearly as well if not for this forum.

That said, I recently set up my grow. I am a medical patient in CA, so I picked up some Odyssey Clones from SR71 in Oakland. I have 2 plants set up in a space that is 1 foor 10 in by 6 foot. I have the closet lined with mylar, as well as the 2 doors turned inside out, so that the mirror side is facing in the closet. My light setup is 6 42 watt fluorescents, 3 clipped to each pot, as well as 4 more 26watt fluorescent bulbs connected to two lamps with splitters placed in between the pots. I am using miracle grow soil, and I plan to use coffee grounds as fertilizer. I have one small fan I bought at walmart for ventilation, but it is running a little hot. I was wondering what you guys thought about my setup, and if you had any ideas for ventilation. Thanks.

 

[Jesusbuiltmygro]

Hey man. Well.. like any first setup. It needs some work. If you want to grow the dank and not air bud you will need to give up the fluorescents for digital HID lights. Digital HID's are better in every way beside their heat output (they get hot). Anyway you may know all this, but it quite important to use HID lights to get dense resin coated super buds. Also as a CA resident you should be extra concerned with the fact fluorescent lights are much less effecient. If you used an HID light for that space it could easily be twice as efficient for light output. So, lower electric bill per bud size.

As a medical patient I supposed you have to ask yourself how much do I need. With that in mind you buy the right light to meet that yield goal.

I think for the average person to supply themselves all the time a 600 watt digital HPS would be a great buy. You should be able to get one for like 250 and I think that is with a cool tube air cooled reflector, just add in a Vortex inline fan, some organic nutrients and a hydro setup and you will have High Times quality bud shots in no time.
I recommend Pure Blend Pro's line of nutrients as it's very good and very simple to use. Earth Juice is also quite good and still easy just maybe not as all inclusive, but perhaps more flexible. Anyway organic hydro is probably a great thing to shoot for. It's no harder than soil and the result are usually very significant between hydro and soil. It seems first time growers can dial in hydro with the proper intrustions much easier than soil. Soil takes more experiences and hydro takes more following instructions very well. Soil is harder to fix and more prone to nutrient deficiencies.

Anyway thats some stuff to think about. For now... Those mirrors are not good for reflecting light in the grow room. Mylar is superior in fact white paint is probably better than a mirror.

If you grow in a bedroom it works perfectly to vent your light out into the cold air return of the house. It will be cleaned with a carbon filter so it won't stink. Are those the smaller CFL lights? Those are decent, but nothing compared to HID. Many people will say otherwise, but they are wrong It's SOooo much easier to yield well with HID. Sounds like you already spent enough on these lights to have gotten a way cooler digital HID light.

You will probably want to learn how to clone. If not just for fun, it's definitely useful, but perhaps not necessary in your case since you have access to good clones.

You have to at least get some decent ferts. The liquid organic ferts are the easiest way by far to get all the organic goodness without all the mess and measuring. Just add in a couple ounces of the ferts as the label says and water. Dry organic ferts are nice and cheaper than the liquid ones, but since you have to mix them up yourself they are messier and harder to get in perfect proportion. However in organics proportion matters much less as it's harder to burn plants or 'overdose' them with fertilizer such as it is with chemical ferts.

You need to move the heat out of the area. That means, out of the room, and into the next room at least. The easiest way to do this is to exhaust an air cooled HID light into the cold air return. You can also run your central air unit with FAN ON mode for more ventilation IF the grow area is in the living space.

For us to help with ventilation you'll have to explain the area more. Closets are hard to cool. I recommend leaving the closet door open and putting a blanket over the doorway to block out the light some. Then run a duct into the cold air return. The cold air return is the one that heat and AC doesn't come out of. As the name implies it sucks in air. The cold air return with usually not have an on/off lever like the other vents. So run a duct in there, run the duct to the closet and hook an inline fan to it. You can buy a cheap inline fan from home depot for like 35 bucks or a kickass inline centrifugal fan, which you will want eventually, for around 85-100 bucks or so. You have a large space. You could grow a lot in there. If you're needs increase you may wish you had gotten a bigger fan, so if you can I recommend a Vortex fan rated over 400 CFM. These fans are very easy to hookup.. one side blows, one side sucks. You hook flexible duct to each side and it works just like a water pump would. These work great for air cooled lights and carbon scrubbers (they remove the odor). In any case you have to have the door open to vent air out of the closet. The blanket and some tacts are the easier and cheapest way to do this. I tact up the blanket to the door frame. This hides the holes from the tacts and works great to hold up the blanket and shape it around the exhausting duct. Closets are always harder to vent since they are just dead ends and rarely have HVAC vents in them. The duct may be ugly, but it will work great to move the heat out of the closet and not simple heat up the bedroom. The heat will be more dispersed throughout the house.

 

[Jesusbuiltmygro]

Oh yea a good place to get that stuff cheap is mdhydro.com I recommend the MD Hydro brand lights for the best deal and good quality, plus good prices on most everything else.

Oh yea another hint. Panda film is VERY useful. Rapid Rooters are GREAT for cloning. PH is VERY VERY important. You should test the PH of your run off... the drain water that comes out the bottom of you pots. Also make sure the pots are big enough. Should be like 3-5 gallon for nice bushes. You can flower anytime really once the plants are past a foot, even 8 inches can get you some nice cola budsickles. That is switch to 12/12 lighting any where from 8-18 inches. I recommend small bushes as they are easy and help you understand the plants natural structure better.

A great threat for soil growers is anything from Three Little Birds or 3LB. Look up threads from that guy for great step by step insight into soil growing.

A great thread on hydro is Big Tokes Bio Buckets and thats what I recommend you go for once you can get some upgrades. Hydro is much easier most of the time and yields vastly better for most people. You should at least try out a DWC bubbler for fun just to see what I mean by increased growth.

good luck

 

[dopeheadlogic]

Thank you so much man. I really appreciate all of your help. If you are ever in the bay area send me an aim message.

 

[dopeheadlogic]

also, I think i will purchase with md hydro, but i am not sure what I should get. I would like to get a decent setup, capable of growing at least a lb. Thanks again.

 

[dopeheadlogic]

I ordered the 400 watt MD hydro system, with a 400 watt hortilux bulb. In addition to the CFLS, how much is my max yield?

 

[suckerrepellent]

about .5g/watt is pretty solid, .7g/watt is pretty good. so for yours between 200 and 280. however, don't be discouraged if your yield is much lower on your first indoor run. your experience is the best yield/quality enhancer. make sure you look into, with much consideration to cost and time availability, the method with which you want to grow also. finally, make sure you don't wait for pests/mildew to take action! spray your plants with neem oil early and often. the toughest part about diagnosing problems is not knowing what to look for, which can happen on your first try (did for me). oh and look at it like a hobby, it will be more fun that way to put in the minute work for the best product. have fun.
SAGE

 

[dopeheadlogic]

thanks! I have been meaning to grab some neem oil, I think I'll take care of that tommorow.

 

[dopeheadlogic]

My growth is going well, but 3 of the bigger leaves of two of my plants are drooping heavily, not discolored, just drooping. All other leaves look robust and healthy, other than the tips being kinda brown. Does anyone know what is going on?

 

[dopeheadlogic]

i got my mdhydro set up today, the 400 watt ballast. i am a little confused about setting it up though..anyone have any guides?

 

[dopeheadlogic]

Something is starting to be wrong with my plants. The majority of leaves are fine, but lately growth has slowed and a few leaves have yellowed and turned black on the edges. Like so:
http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/1698/nonamedq9.jpg

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/1844/61851963zg5.jpg

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/1926/33333333se8.jpg

Help!

Thanks.

right now I am at week 4 of veg state, up until a few days ago they were under a 360
watt clf setup, now under a 400 watt hps. Just started fertilizing yesterday.