First time Green House WW closet grow - Low budget setup!

Hi all! I have previously posted that I received my equipment and seeds recently. To re-iterate, this is my original list:

I went to a local hydroshop yesterday and purchased these items:

- 400w switchable ballast w/European diamond reflector
- 400w MH and HPS bulb
- Fox Farm ocean forest potting soil
- Fox Farm grow big
- Rockwool microplugs w/tray for seedlings
- 5 square 4-inch pots
- 5 square 3-gallon pots
- Dual timer
- Digital temp gauge w/hygrometer (Max/Min settings)
- Electronic soil ph/nute reader
- Ph control kit

Seeds ordered 10/20 from Attitude:
- Greenhouse White Widow fem seeds 10pack
- Free G15 Power Skunk(5 pack)
- Free Gigabud fem seed(1)

I am only planning on growing 5 - 6plants, so I went ahead and ordered 10 WW seeds in case some of them don't germ.

I am getting an exhaust fan for my closet free of charge from my brother, which is going to be ran from a light switch to turn on/off.

Click to expand...

A few things have changed.

I was high one night and was cleaning up my house and I misplaced or threw away the following items in a home-depot bag: rockwool plugs, 4-inch pots, power strip, and a timer. That didn't stop me however

two nights ago I soaked all 10 fem WW seeds for a good 10 hours until they stopped floating and sank to the bottom, then I placed them in a bread box using the paper towel method. The temps ranged from 58 to 80 degrees, and all 10 seeds sprouted! I was kinda surprised that all 10 cracked, because I usually only crack 6/10 bag seed. The sad part is that I can only plant 5 of them, so I am going to need to pick out the best looking ones

I am going to give them about 6 more hours before I go ahead and transplant them into 5 3-gallon square pots using the ocean forest potting soil.

I went to home depot and purchased a $30 70CFM vent fan...yea I know its not much, but it should vent out all the old air within 5 - 10 minutes. I can't really control the temps in my house being that I do not have central AC or heater, so the temps right now dip into the low 60's at night, and to a beautiful 75 degrees during the day. I have a mini space heater than I can control how much heat, so I might place that at night...and YES I have tested the 400MH and heater over night and it kept the temps around 70 - 78 degrees. I am thinking about purchasing a heater with a thermostat to keep it at a constant temp.

I will post pics later today on the closet I am using and the seeds! I am excited and can't wait

Oh yea...I also lost the water ph test kit as well

Can't wait to post more!

why don't u run your lights at night.

You might want to plant all seedlings. Keep the extra's vegging under some 42 watt CFL's in a closet on 18/6. Then bring them in once the others have finished flowering or are getting close to done. They should stay a bit smaller if you keep the lights close to the tops so they bush out and you can prune them and top them to shape'em in veg for a monster plant with side colas. Then you will have them ready for for round two!

Hey guys...I haven't had time to post any updates, so here it is!

I planted the seeds 4 days ago, and they seem to be doing OK. I have them about 2.5 ft from the 400 MH, which I started the light schedule about 5 hours ago.

The soil looks a bit dry, but its still moist about 1.5 - 2 inches below the top.












The seedlings look a bit stretched...its probably because I waiting until they all sprouted before I started the lights! What do you guys think?

Another question: Is it OK to put more soil in the containers when I go water them? The soil looks uneven I want to add a bit more soil. I also have a fan in there as well to keep temps down and to strengthen the stem.

Let me know what you guys think!

Watered my babies and added a bit more soil. Temps now at 77.5 with 45% humidity. They seem to be growing well and I am starting to see more leaves grow.

Day two under 400 Watt MH. I have the lamp about 20 inches from the tops. Temp is 74.5 Humidity 36%.






What do you guys think?

Day Three: Plants looking strong, and one seemed to droop overnight! I put her up on crutches. Light is at about 20 inches from the top, and a healthy 77.5 degrees. Humidity seems to be low around 30%




http://www.hi-upload.com/upload/uploaded10/S7300762.JPG

i always reccomend using fluoros at the beginning cos you can get them low to the plants (so they dont stretch) and cos they use less electricity and cos you dont really need powerful lights on seedlings. if those guys stretch too much put pencils or somethin next to them though, give em somethin to hold on to whie they get stronger

lookin nice though

Thanks! I went ahead and added more soil to em. The drooped seedling seems like it might be fixing itself...but we shall see.

Day Four: Finally watered them, and one of the runts died Other than that, they are looking good!

I had a seedling that was growing, but the cotyledons were stuck together...I don't know how it happened, but I got a small pair of scissors and carefully pulled them apart. The seedling looks healthy and I will post pics tomorrow.

Day Five: They seemed to like the watering yesterday...they look healthy as hell!

The two runts are also doing OK...here are some pics:











Any comments?

lookin good so far

Day Six: Plants growing bigger! The temp and humidity in the pic.

I have the light about 18 inches from the tops. I am no longer going to directly post pictures, but attach them so they wont be so big

The two runts are doing OK as well.

Day Seven: It's been one long week for the girls, but overall I am happy with the results.

This morning I turned the lights on but forgot to turn on the vent! I woke up 4 hours later and the temps were in the 92 degree range

The ladies are strong and they showed no sign of heat stress, so I went ahead and turned the vent on and the temps came back down.

I posted the pics from smallest to largest seedling, then a group shot

Comments?

Day 8: I am very excited today! The ladies looks healthy as hell and is shooting up more leaves!

Humidity hovered around 35 percent, temps in the 81 - 84 range. I am going to purchase a humidifier that has a built-in hygrometer so that I can control and keep the humidity levels in the 55 - 60 percentile range.

Comments anyone?

Looks like a great start. My stomach dropped when I read that you couldn't use all of the perfectly germed seeds. I would have recommended keeping them cuz your gonna lose plants to being male and possibly from other factors so its always a good idea to start more than your actually shooting for. But they look nice and healthy. Very simialar to my setup. I'm on my 3rd grow and from what I've learned and experienced it seems like you've got it all just about covered. A little piece of advice i'd like to give ya and something I just learned is that I use the FF soil as well and it works great. My first 2 grows I ran in to ph problems and not blaming it on the soil at all, it just fluctuates with adding nutes and things like that. Well my 3rd grow I watered the plants heavily with a dose of liquid lime when I transplanted to their bigger containers and it has helped tremendously. The lime is supposed to keep your ph balanced throughout the grow, which soil ph can really cause problems during some very important parts of your grow. So I feel like the lime has really prevented alot of problems for me and has enabled the plants to grow nice and healthy. Hope that helps you out at some point and sorry for the hella long post haha

Oh yeah and adding mychorizeal(sp?) fungi and extra perilite helps the roots tremendously. I can't believe how fat some of my stems are and it can be attributed to healthy fat roots helped by a great soil mix. The perilite helps to keep your soil airy to get oxygen to your roots and the FF soil already has perilite in it but I just didn't think it was enough and added some and think it has helped. And the mych fungi grow on your roots and enable them to take in more nutrients, water, and oxygen therefor making them fat and happy roots.

Thanks for the info. All the beans I planted are female, so I hope I don't get any males lol. I wish I had used perlite like you suggested when I planted em...

I will post updates later today.