6 Bagseeds 12/12 140w CFL in a Wardrobe Box

After much planning I've finally started my little grow. Right now I've got 140 watts of CFL, 2x23w 2700k, 2x26w 6500k and 1x42w 2700k. The plan right now is to use these lights start to finish and have 2-3 females in the box. I planted 6 bagseeds yesterday afternoon after 12 hours soaking in a shot glass. I'm expecting them to start poking their leaves out in a day or two. I planted 3 of them in 2l soda bottles, 2 in old gatorade bottles and one in a tang container. The 3 in the soda bottles will stay in them the whole time if theyre female and the ones in the smaller ones will more than likely get transplanted.


Ive got them in some organic MG soil(gasp), i'll be feeding them with unsulphered molasses, Jack's classic and dynagro.


I've got an old toy train transformer powering a small cpu fan for airflow. I'll be getting 4 fans from newegg in the mail shortly also. I have a passive intake at the bottom. I'll be getting a small desk fan for inside the cab shortly to keep the lights cooler and strengthen stems.

I'm debating doing a screen of green setup and i'll have that figured out shortly. The light setup is arranged in a temporary manner, i'll be hanging a power strip instead of the extension cord within the week as well.


Right now im just practicing for a real grow, I've spent less than $50 on it so far and i'm just testing the waters. I'm confident it'll work out but i'm also just using this as an experimental run to see what i'll need to fix for the next, more involved grow.






^^This is a 30 second exposure, it doesn't leak hardly any light.

Wow. lemme try and resize these.



Edit - Fixed

Got two sprouts when I woke up, i'll take pics at the end of the day in case I get any more.

So far just the two sprouts, but theyve opened up a lot since this morning. I went back to wally world today to get my light setup fixed, buy a new timer because mine kicked the bucket and to get a thermometer. I need to get more airflow in there asap though, with the door closed temps are 88-89, with the door open theyre 85-86, ambient in my room is 75-77 so I feel like 80 with the lights on is completely doable.

good luck get a smoke alarm

Interesting.

I'm also trying some seeds in the MG Organic soil to see how they do.

daviaces said:

good luck get a smoke alarm

Click to expand...

I have one in my room already, but i'm not worried, the lights barely get too hot to touch, let alone hot enough to start a fire.

Iron883Guy said:

Interesting.

I'm also trying some seeds in the MG Organic soil to see how they do.

Click to expand...

We'll see I guess, I read the nutrient values on the back and they didnt seem off that much so I think it'll at least be acceptable.

looks good...might be alil under the watts needed for that many plants..but a good start.will def need some venting in there...cheap and easy way.get 4 cpu fans...2 on one side 2 on the other.for intake and exhaust.then get another smaller fan to go inside the box to blow on the plants.helps move air inside the box and will build stem strength.heat might start becoming an issue.the older cfl ballast gets the more they start heating up..i learned that the hard way by toasting a plant on lights that new ran at 85 degrees....then on the second grow in the same conditions they now run at 110 till i properly vented them.

also a tip on the mg organic stuff.ive used it with iffy results.you will need to add perlite to it.it has none in it and will not drain for shit,the soil will start compacting and no air will get to the roots.and since no water drains...root rot sets in.also the mg organic stuff tends to have bug problems...when i opened the bag the first time...about 20 flies flew out of it.get a pesticide and give it a spray before hand if needed.i do a mix of 1/3 mg organic,1/3 perlite.1/3 peat moss....that gives it plenty of nutes for the first 3-4 weeks but not too much to hurt the seedling.

I've got 4 cpu fans on the way from newegg already, i'm going to use them all as exhaust though and keep the passive intake. Right now I've commandeered my roommates laptop cooler that has two fans in it and im using that to pull air through in addition to my one fan in the pics.


I used the soil straight from the bag, I didnt mix in perlite or moss or anything, once the plants get a little bigger should I transplant them into a pot with a better mix? If not, what do you think I should do to fix the soil issue?


Also, I only planted six seeds, I'm expecting them to get whittled down to 1 to 2 females if i'm lucky, I think i've got enough light for two small females.

they will be fine for now..but will need transplanted.just keep an eye on them and make sure not to overwater.when you start getting a nice rootball in those containers then transplant them into something bigger with better drainage.and the perlite and peat moss you can get at walmart for about $4 a bag...cheap and really helps the plants

Good deal, i'll go get that sorted out next week and get ready to transplant.


Also, how crucial is it to measure the Ph of everything? I use water through a brita filter and then i'll be adding nutes down the road.

LAXitives288 said:

Good deal, i'll go get that sorted out next week and get ready to transplant.


Also, how crucial is it to measure the Ph of everything? I use water through a brita filter and then i'll be adding nutes down the road.

Click to expand...

ph is one of the easiest things to look over..but that can be a big mistake.brita filters will clean the water...less clorine,lead..impurities like that...but it can still have ph issue...too high too low.and nutes really effect the ph level of your water.my tap water comes out at 7.1 after i add my bloom nutes...hits dead on at 6.5.my plants had issues the first few weeks before bloom..i only use worm castings during veg..which raised my ph in the water..they didnt like it either.the ph level can make a huge difference...i try to keep my ph around 6.3-6.8.make sure you have about 10-20% water run off when you water your plants...that flushes out a lot of the salts that build up during feedings.if its not flushed it can start getting nute lockout...which leads to a whole new lists of problems

Got my 3rd sprout today!

My sprouts are about 1.5"-2" tall and their first set of fan leaves have opened and are starting to grow. How far away should I have my lights? Right now theyre about 4"-5" away, the sprouts have shot up and are growing towards the lights right now, I just don't want the lights to be too far away and have them stretch but I definitely don't want to scorch the plants by having them too close?


Pics to follow within the hour.

your using low watt cfl's...id have them suckers 1-2 inches away from them....looks like they are stretching towards the light.the best way to tell where to put your lights is too stick your hand under it...slowly move your hand up to the light...wait for it to get to the point where it starts getting really hot and place the lights just above that point on the plants...most cfl's dont burn that hot if your vented well...i keep mine as close as i can get it..no burn from it yet

Thats what I thought but I didnt know if that still applied to fresh sprouts. I can pretty much have my skin touch the bulbs before it gets uncomfortably hot.

Just put a small box under them, theyre 1.5" inches away now

good work...now just keep an eye on the temps,soil moisture,and read the plant..it will tell you what it needs...other than that..sit back and watch the babies grow

Temps are an issue right now, i'm about to go out and get a desk fan or two. Soil moisture isnt an issue but I can't say I know how to read the soil/plants to know when to water, but I feel like it's something i'll be able to fully understand in due time. Once I get the fans today i'll be able to throw my 42w 2700k back in there for some more lumens which should help.