CFL Stealth Dresser & Ordered Seeds! First grow w/ pics

Hey guys-I've been a member of this forum reading off and on for a few years..I havent been around much for the last 2 years or so until a few weeks ago. I've wanted to build this box for years but the timing hasn't been right. This will be my very first grow. I'm going to be running a hydro (bubbleponic) scrog. So here are some details on the setup:




The dresser:
L x W x H: 32"x18"x38"
The drawers have been cut off and screwed into plywood, set on hinges with hidden latches on the side for stealth.
I have lightproofed the whole box using weather stripping & sealed all the edges and seams with duct tape
The interior is covered in emergency blanket reflective sheets


Fans:
1 PC fan intake wired with 5V cell phone charger- I have a second fan wired to a 12 V cell charger in the box but not being used yet.
1 4" duct fan exhaust with DIY activated carbon filter outlet-I originally had a PC fan for the exhaust, but after a few trial runs of a few hours my temps were getting up to 90 degrees F, with the temp outside of the box only being 75 degrees F. The duct booster fan is noticeably louder, but the temps stay around 77* now! The humidity is 40-55%


Lights:
I have a vanity light fixture, 18" long with 3 outlets. I have the lightbulb splitters that allow up to 6 bulbs. I will be using 5 26w 6500k and 1 26w 2700k CFL bulbs for vegging and the opposite for flowering.
Theyre held up by 3/4" strapping. They have multiple holes everywhere so I can adjust the height as I see fit-I had it laying around so I decided to use it.
The distance from the bucket to the lights in the pictures is not the distance I'll be growing at-just a general idea of how everything looks.


Hydro:
2 USG bucket with 4" net pot. Using Hydroton & Rockwool. Height of the bucket is 12", diameter of bucket is 10" holds roughly 1.25 USG of water to an adequate level in the netpot.
1 6" airstone and a little air pump for aeration
Temperature is 65-68*F
I havent purchased nutes yet, but I want the simplest available. Theres a 99% change I will be going with GH Flora Grow & Bloom.
I will be using PH strips and I do not have a PPM meter. I won't be purchasing a PPM meter for this grow. I will be going easy on the feeding & nutes, using 1/4 strength max of recommended amounts every few days or on weekly res changes. This may change depending upon how the plant looks/what it requires, etc. This is my first grow so a lot of it will be experimenting and testing the waters-you can only read and learn so much without getting your own hands dirty. I will most likely buy a meter for my next grow.


Screen:


24" x 12" situated 8" above the pot. On the left its resting on its legs, on the right its sitting on the ledge with a single screw in it to prevent it from moving, yet keeping it easily accessible if i need to move it/adjust anything


The goods:
Just ordered feminised Big Bud x White Widow..Hopefully I will have them in a week or so. ( any reviews on the strain? )


Misc:
All wires go outside of the box, attached to a powerbar on the back-I dont like the idea of water & a powerbar being in the same enclosed space
I plan on filling 60-75% of the screen before flowering.
I might top the plant, I might not, unsure yet.
Currently I only have plans to grow 1 plant under the screen- I may change my mind and grow 2 to cut down on vegging time

I think thats all I have to say for now. Any advice is appreciated.

If you're doing only one plant, I'd ditch the screen and top and LST all the way. Seems to me like a scrog is for many plants, where it would be too labor intensive to tie down every branch individually.

Nice setup, I'd rep ya', but, I'm spent for the day.

Keep it updated, I'd like to follow a grow in that.

I may do some LST as it grows towards the screen but Ill definately be using the screen..ive been looking forward to it for years

Ordered some seeds from herbies 2 days ago, they already landed in Canada..hope I will see them by the end of this week or beginning of next-I just want to get started..the anticipation is killing me lol

Don't rush... The magic to amazing weed, the super secret that NO ONE wants to talk about: PATIENCE! Seriously, start reading, either here, or a book... Don't stress yourself, or your plants, with too much enthusiasm. Keep to you schedule, and you'll be rewarded.

Nice setup. I have the same type of vanity lights. If I get around to it soon enough I'm going to pick up another one and use them as side lighting.

Good looking setup, looks like you researched well. Great stealthy look. You could do more than one plant with this setup.

Germinating 2 seeds right now. Using the paper towel method for one & put another seed directly into PH-soaked (5.5 for 24 hours) rockwool. Its under a little humidity dome sitting in the window getting some sunlight. Nice and foggy with the humidity-warm in there too! I was thinking about doing more than one plant..I'm really indecisive. Im pretty sure I could fill up the 2 sq ft screen with 1 plant and get a pretty good yield, im just not sure how much longer it will take than using 2 plants.
I have about 8" of void space to the left of the screen, under the carbon filter. Im trying to figure out if its in my best interest to extend the screen and add another couple bulbs (would add almost 1 sq ft of extra screen space) then grow two plants..
OR
the option im trying to research up on to see if it will work, is create a separate little chamber inside the box for a couple clones to veg while my main scrogging plant is flowering. Problem is, this is my first grow and I know I need to experience a grow to see how big this plant will get, vegging times, stretching during flowering to really design a proper build. I obviously want to maximize my yield to the fullest potential with what I have.

Im currently researching: (please answer the questions if you can while im doing my searching!)

The best time to take a clone off of a plant for a perpetual harvest..ex. If I veg for 4-5 weeks, then flower for 8 weeks..Total of 13 weeks, should I Take a clone in the 6-7th week so when I've harvested my scrog, I can put the vegged plant directly under the screen (maybe veg another week-totally dependant on how big plant is compared with screen), switch to flower, take a clone & repeat?

How long it will take for a fresh-cut clone to be vegged nicely under a screen & have a root system to support flowering

If 1-2 CFLs will support clone/vegging minimally so the plant doesnt grow out of control in the small vegging area

Any advice is appreciated!

Super pumped..bought GH nutes today, 3 part grow micro bloom..Its really testing my patience lol

Anyone have anything to ad? Btw just wanted to say Herbies delivered really quick. Took a total of 4 business days which is pretty fast for crossing an ocean

This an amazing setup, I know what I want my next grow box to be IF I dont go with one of those nice grow tents...You could bump up that lighting situation too, they had a 4 socket vanity at HD for like 5-8 bucks.

Thanks..Yes I saw the vanity fixture with 4 bulbs aswell..Im going to stick with the one that I have for this grow and its somewhat trial-and-error..When I work out any deficiencies in the box as they (may) arrive, I can decide where I want to add more lights and how many more I can use.

Hopefully I will see a sprout from the rockwool today..Its day 3!

Good plan. Your setup looks incredible, you got solid intake and exhaust and plenty of room for another fan just blowing air around inside the box.
I switched to soil after having my bubblebonics setup go bad on me late in the game. I only had a few problems, One was that I didn't realize how much the water inside the bucket warmed up or how often I'd be changing out water and PH balancing and stuff, BUT I plan to go back to hydro when I get a new place. Hydroponics are totally worth all the good digital PH/PPM meters and temperature controllers etc. that go with it though, they make it way way way easier in the long run. Right now I only use PH up and down and some great soil and some FF nutes and my girls are doing amazing. Can't wait to make a new hydro setup with all the stuff I learned from the first time.

Yeah my bucket temp seems to be getting on the warm side. Im going to buy some hydrogen peroxide & insulate the bucket. Im concerned that the 2 gallon bucket is going to be too small for the grow..I may use a rubbermaid 40L bin instead. I just need to figure out the best way to attach the screen to the lid, or potentially ditch the scrog (even though I was pumped about it) and LST/mainline them. I have 2' ~ between the top of the bucket and the lights at max height

One of the seeds popped through the rockwool. Ill take a few pictures later!

Anyone else want to chime in?

Yea eventually your plant will drink a lot! Like I was refilling my 4 gal rubbermaid like every 2 days sometimes more often when she was flowering. The rubbermaid does a shit job of light proofing the water so you're going to want to wrap it up tight with mylar or something. I looked back at your pictures and your scrog is too high, LST is a totally viable option, or you could bring your screen down a couple inches. Someone else should have some input

Well, the screen is about 8" above the bucket, and I can max out around 18" between screen and the lights so I think its in a half decent position...Right now I have both seeds in 1, 2 gallon bucket with water splashing on the bottom of the rockwool to keep it moist. When I start to see roots coming out of the bottom I will separate them into different containers. I might grow one in soil and one in hydro for a taste/yield comparison..I also might just put them both in a rubbermaid lol Some people are coming to visit for the next couple weeks so any modifications are at a hault..Will just be watering/observing during this time.

Updates:

One of the seedlings still has the shell on, I tried to remove it and got half of it off, the other was stuck on and I didnt want to break the fragile stem so I left it. The rockwool looks pretty damp in the pictures, but I took the picture immediately after putting a few drops of water around the stem to keep the area moist.

I wrapped the bucket in emergency blanket/duct taped the lid

I am noticing temperatures in the bucket in low 70s..When the roots start to reach the water I will need some hydrogen peroxide and to maybe start using some frozen water bottles to cool it.

Currently I have 2 6500k bulbs about 1.5" above each seedling, and 1 2700k bulb a couple inches away for a little mix of spectrum

I have grow/micro/bloom from GH-I will start using them at 1/4" strength in probably a week.

Any updates? I'm curious to see how you're doing over there!

Updates:There has been more and more growth, both are about 1.25 inches tall now. Today is day 14 since planting. It seems that my plants are growing a lot slower than other journals and posts I've seen here of their day 14. This might be from me moving the plants around- lifting the rockwool up and out to check the dampness at the bottom of the cube (trial and error setting everything up). I also noticed that around the edges and tips are a lighter green then the middle. After some research it may be a nitrogen deficiency, over watering or too much heat. I fed them yesterday for the first time. GH recommends 2.5 ml / gallon of each Grow, Micro & Bloom. I used 1ml per gal of each to start them off and see their reaction. Its been about 12 hours and they have grown a little bit but no real change. I replaced the bucket that held 1.25 gallons with a Coleman cooler than holds 5 gallons to the fill line. I bought a piece of foam for the lid instead of hacking the original lid apart. It keeps the water chilly now! When I placed the rockwool into new pots, I noticed there still hasn't been any root growth. I have mostly been soaking the bottom 1/4" of the rockwool, then adding a few drops of water from the top once a day. I may mist them later tonight with water, not sure though! I am going to stop dripping from the top now that they seem to be stable seedlings to promote more rootgrowth. Temperatures have been a little high (80-85), this may contribute to a little slower growth as well. This is will 3 26W CFL bulbs...The room temp around the box is anywhere from 78-90 itself, but I will be controlling the room temp with AC to a little less than 80 degrees. I may also remove the carbon filter from my booster fan for better airflow until they start getting stinky. The res temp is 65~ at the moment. I PHed it yesterday to around 5.7 and will be checking the PH soon today. Im noticing how tedious it is using a cylinder and the drops- I may just go buy a PH meter from the hydro store here. I rebuilt the screen, out of a PVC frame to lift up with the lid when it comes time to take the cooler out. The screen is a total of 27" x 15". Currently 8" higher than the lid, but I will reduce that to 6" or so after putting in the dresser to see how it would look. One of the issues I have (ill correct this for next grow!) Is the bottom face of the dresser has a 5" lip that the door seals on- so for me to get the res out I have to lift it 5" before I can pull it out. Thats not easy in the location its in with 5 gallons in an awkward position lolComments are appreciated!Some pics of the new and improved operation:

For some reason it eliminated all my of paragraph spacing in my last post & the manage attachments to upload pics wouldnt work..A new uploading window would appear but it would be blank. Going to give the pics another try in this post and then ill retry fixing the spacing of the last one.

They do look a little small for that far along. Also cover the top of the rockwool cubes with some clay balls. When I did my DWC setup I ended up not actually feeding them anything besides PH balanced water (because I didnt buy any nutes yet) until they had roots coming out the bottom about 3 inches and it worked out awesome.