4x4 closet w/ 400W MH/HPS adj

lightsgreenaction said:

So it looks like I will do the 4" TD inline fan and a carbon filter to match with insulated tubing (can I get good tubing like this at like lowe or home depot?).

I want the insulated kind to muffle noise as much as possible.

I will be updating tomorrow or the next day. They've started growing faster, which I'm glad to see. Plan on going into flowering right around new years. Might stagger it and go from 18/6 (now), to 16/8, to 14/10 to 12/12 over the next few weeks. Can't decide. I like this because it would mimic nature, but might just slow growth and not do any good.

Click to expand...

cutting the light back gradually will only slow down the flowering process.It's a long enough process as it is.Cut the lights to 12-12 when your ready to flower.probably save around 2 weeks time.And if your like me, you want those buds "yesterday"! lol

Yeah, I agree. The more I thought about it, the more I figured that directly mimicking nature is not that important. The important thing is sending the plants the right signals when you want certain things to happen.

I have decided, though, that I'm going to top the tallest plant and try to grow the top as a clone just right in soil. I probably want to get some clonex first, but I'd like to practice cloning in soil to see if I can hold off on doing a clone machine. Are there any good DIY clone machine posts on RIU? Please link me to them if you know of them. I have seen a couple on other sites that are good, but not perfect, for what I want.

It's getting to be crunch time. Both with money and the timing of what I want to do with the plants at the right time. Like I want to flower, like now, but also want to make sure I have everything I need to clone and re-veg the clones once I find out which plants are female. If I can get just a few female clones, it will take me to the next generation, where I can really get creative and have some fun. I'm just worried about not getting successful female clones and having to start over with bagseeds.

lightsgreenaction said:

But for a 400W metal halide bulb/reflector like that what is the ideal distance from the plants? I know the rule of thumb is to hold your hand under it and see if it feels too hot, but that's not a very exact thing. In other words, how far will be too far or really start to effect the light?

Click to expand...

How many lumens does your light throw out? 50k? Going on that number, one foot away your plants get the whole 50k, at two feet away, 12500, at three feet away, 5555 at four feet away, 3571 lumens. The hand test may not be scientific, but it's a good test.

Heads Up said:

How many lumens does your light throw out? 50k? Going on that number, one foot away your plants get the whole 50k, at two feet away, 12500, at three feet away, 5555 at four feet away, 3571 lumens. The hand test may not be scientific, but it's a good test.

Click to expand...

I agree with"heads up", you want the max. amount of Lumens, without burning the canopy of your grow. I keep my 600w hps(+), about 12" away from the tops of my first generation clones. I'd post some pic's, but i'm new to this site and have not been able to figure out how to post pic's, so that you could see them. Any help would be great! Good grow'in!

sp62761 said:

... I'd post some pic's, but i'm new to this site and have not been able to figure out how to post pic's, so that you could see them. Any help would be great! Good grow'in!

Click to expand...

When you go to reply to a post or make a new one, if you scroll further down under "additional options", you will see a button labeled "manage attachments". Click on this button to find the place you can upload pics. Hope this helps...good luck

So, I have done some planning & thinking today. I'm not happy with this grow right now, mainly because I rushed some steps, like transplanting into only three pots and putting 2 or 3 plants in each 5 gallon bucket. I should've waiting a day or two so I could go get some more soil and better pots. I think in the future I will use smaller, square pots (like 1 gallon size), so they will sit next to each other nicely and not have to share root space, even if they get less space overall.

Now, I just really need to get through these holidays. Having some guests stay with me for a few days, so I don't want to be in the middle of making changes or doing anything really with them while they are here. Additionally, their visit is going to be just a few days after I'm gone for about 10 days straight...so it's going to be very tricky to keep these plants alive during this time.

After the start of the new year though, I will have the $$$ and time to complete phase II of my upgrades. This will include building a box that will reside on the lower half of my room, with a T5 fixture and a homemade cloning machine. Thus, I will be able to take clones from the females and revert them back to vegging for a while before re-flowering them. From there, I will just keep taking clones and maybe maintain a small mother under the T5 too, switching it out every couple generations. This is my dream! I'm just stressed about getting there! Being gone for 10 days and then having house guests is really cramping my style, ya know.

Does anybody have any ideas to give me some reassurance that I'll make it to flowering and get through this first generation? I def have learned a lot and my set-up is improving every pay check, haha.

Since tomorrow is pay day, I've decided to move things forward. I will be switching them to a 12/12 schedule tomorrow and moving ahead my plans to make my room a functional perpetual closet. It's going to keep me busy and my wallet empty for a couple weeks, but I think the result will keep me happy for a long time. I'll keep everybody updated on what's going on as I do everything.

Switched to a 12/12 schedule. Going to try to remember to switch the bulbs out from the MH to the HPS right when it's morning time for them.

Couple of things I've been wondering:

Why does everybody make such a big deal about the dark period being totally dark? Outdoors plants would be exposed to some residual light like the reflection of the sun off the moon ("moonlight"). I don't see how just tiny trace amounts of light are going to effect the plants that much. I think my room is pretty light tight though...

Secondly, since these plants are only 5 weeks only from seed, how long do you think they will take to start showing sex? I'm hoping they will show before Dec. 31 (that would be exactly 3 weeks into 12/12 cycle). I've def screwed some things up on this grow, but it is my first so I feel confident my second will be much better, I just REALLY want to get AT LEAST one female so I can take clones and not have to start from seed again and not know how many female plants I will have again. If I can get one female to provide me clones for the next generation, I will be happy with my first grow. Plus, I would really like to see some bud out of this too! haha

Thanks lightsgreen! sorry took me so long to thank you, but i kinda get wrapped up in so many of these other great threads, and forget to get back.if that makes any sense. Oh well..stoned again! lol

lightsgreenaction said:

Switched to a 12/12 schedule. Going to try to remember to switch the bulbs out from the MH to the HPS right when it's morning time for them.

Couple of things I've been wondering:

Why does everybody make such a big deal about the dark period being totally dark? Outdoors plants would be exposed to some residual light like the reflection of the sun off the moon ("moonlight"). I don't see how just tiny trace amounts of light are going to effect the plants that much. I think my room is pretty light tight though...

Secondly, since these plants are only 5 weeks only from seed, how long do you think they will take to start showing sex? I'm hoping they will show before Dec. 31 (that would be exactly 3 weeks into 12/12 cycle). I've def screwed some things up on this grow, but it is my first so I feel confident my second will be much better, I just REALLY want to get AT LEAST one female so I can take clones and not have to start from seed again and not know how many female plants I will have again. If I can get one female to provide me clones for the next generation, I will be happy with my first grow. Plus, I would really like to see some bud out of this too! haha

Click to expand...

It shouldnt take more then a week or two to show sex. Also any light leaks into the room can cause a plant to hermie. About the moon part I have no clue. But I have seen outdoor plants effected by porch lights, street lights, etc. You want to try to keep them from stressing at all in flowering soo you dont want any light leaks. Your plants look nice but could be better. I am just finishing up my first grow and I the difference between my new plants in veg and my last are doubled. The 3 plants in 5 gallon pots should be different next time. A plant streches its roots straight out until it find the bottom of the container and then starts to fill in the area. So when you transplant it is not going to be a ball of roots anymore like during your first transplant. I would say pick the best female per bucket and remove the other 2 plants. Other then that your grow looks great. I know how it feels to start your first grow as a hobby and start throwing out your money for upgrades Also if you are going for a 4 bulb T5 fixture, It might be a little cheaper to build your own and buy single t5 fixtures. My store charges 230$ for the 2ft4bulb and 300$ for the 4ft4bulb. I ended up picking up 4 single 2ft T5s for 30$. Also the singles attach up to 8 together on one plug. It wasnt hard to build my own and save myself 110$. This is just an idea. The prices around here are crazy soo this was easier. (Also after waiting 3 weeks for the full fixture to come in but was on backorder week after week didnt help)
Just trying to help. Happy Growing

chronichaze said:

It shouldnt take more then a week or two to show sex. Also any light leaks into the room can cause a plant to hermie. About the moon part I have no clue. But I have seen outdoor plants effected by porch lights, street lights, etc. You want to try to keep them from stressing at all in flowering soo you dont want any light leaks. Your plants look nice but could be better. I am just finishing up my first grow and I the difference between my new plants in veg and my last are doubled. The 3 plants in 5 gallon pots should be different next time. A plant streches its roots straight out until it find the bottom of the container and then starts to fill in the area. So when you transplant it is not going to be a ball of roots anymore like during your first transplant. I would say pick the best female per bucket and remove the other 2 plants. Other then that your grow looks great. I know how it feels to start your first grow as a hobby and start throwing out your money for upgrades Also if you are going for a 4 bulb T5 fixture, It might be a little cheaper to build your own and buy single t5 fixtures. My store charges 230$ for the 2ft4bulb and 300$ for the 4ft4bulb. I ended up picking up 4 single 2ft T5s for 30$. Also the singles attach up to 8 together on one plug. It wasnt hard to build my own and save myself 110$. This is just an idea. The prices around here are crazy soo this was easier. (Also after waiting 3 weeks for the full fixture to come in but was on backorder week after week didnt help)
Just trying to help. Happy Growing

Click to expand...

thanks for the tips. My 2ft x 8 bulb should be here tomorrow. It will fit best in my space. I will def use sep pots next time, prob 2 or 3 gallon size to take up less space though. The square ones to make the best use of the space per pot. I will update once I get everything going as far as the upgrades. I will be putting together the clone machine over the next day or two and starting to get the rest of the room together.

I hope they show sex soon so I can axe any males and prob reduce each pot down to one (maybe two ) females. They are starting to show something at the nodes, but def too early to tell a difference.

Thanks,

Slowly showing something at the nodes, but still can't tell them apart for sure.

They all appear to be happy except the one that has consistently looked droopy, but it hasn't gotten worse...just stayed the same.

I am leaving tomorrow for 8 days! So I plan on watering them tonight and then again right before I leave. Might try to rig something simple to give them water slowly for the next couple days so maybe they won't completely dry out before I get back. It's def not going to help them to be gone, but there's not much I can do about it. I doubt they will die that quickly, they'll just be really thirsty when I get back. I think I will also cover the soil, not completely, with saran wrap to hold in moisture better...these things combined should keep them alive.

I will also hit them with their first nutes tonight, just a super light dose of fox farm bloom nutes. I hope that will make them happy right before I leave.

My other stuff came in. Still waiting on the pump, but I have the clone machine pretty much ready to go as soon as one of the females shows herself to me. I will test out my homemade clone machine and start the next batch of hopefully all female babies. As soon as I get back from my vacation, I will build the veg box and rig up my new T5 light fixture. Everything will come together and I'll start my second grow! Before my first is even done. So I'm excited about that.

Definitely learned a lot this go round. I have better pots (2 gallon size), better soil (happy frog organic), Fox farm nutes (the soil trio), both T5 and 400w HPS, a clone machine, mylar reflective, and other goodies to make my second grow go smoothly and produce some beautiful bud.

I'll update this one with pics as soon as I start to see real signs of sex. Which will obviously be like next Sunday when I get back.

So I've kind of lost interest in this thread/journal, haha, but there has been some funny developments in my grow project since I last updated.

For one, my plants did great while I was gone for about 9 days. I started with seven plants, got rid of one male before I left, and came back to find three more males, leaving me with three females. The three females are doing great under the HPS light, especially since I added a little heater with a digital thermometer that cuts it off when the room warms up into the mid-70's, so the room is now staying between 69 and 82 degrees consistently.

I was adjusting where the heater was sitting last night and somehow snapped the top of the stem of one of the plants though, taking with it the top three bud sites. Of course, my curiosity got the best of me and I smoked the three little buds immediately and got ripped from them, like not able to stand up.

I have described my plans to build a veg box that will be inside the closet I'm using for flowering too. I built the box, only the realize that my plans were for the size pots and plants that I will be growing, not what I am growing. So I can't use that yet, haha. But when I can, I have built the clone machine and it works, and have everything I need to really have a great grow closet.

I'll prob just update again in a few weeks when it gets close to harvest.

So, I know it's been about a month since you heard from me. The grow is still going strong. I'm a little over 6 weeks into flowering, buds are forming up nicely. The pistils have started to turn orange/pink on all the plants. Nice tric development on all buds. I'm very satisfied with my first grow so far!

Hard to tell exactly how much longer they will need, but I'm thinking the two more weeks to give them 8 weeks of 12/12 will be about right, maybe one more. I'm not sure since it's my first grow, but I have read plenty to know when the best time is. It's just a matter of seeing it for myself in person now.

The 5 gal pot with two plants in it hasn't caused any issues so far. They both are doing fine, one is a little ahead of the other (about a foot taller and more developed buds). Overall, they are all doing fine, still very green and happy looking. I'm planning on feeding them nutes one more time (tiger bloom) next weekend and then just using molasses and maybe a little nitrogen (just a little) for a week, then just molasses. Essentially, just cutting back on nutrients slowly and phasing everything but molasses out for the last week or so. I just don't want to cut them completely out too soon since I'm not sure exactly how long they need, ya know.

I will put a few pics of them up soon to show how much progress they've made and get some feedback on them.

Can you help me out a bit and go into how you solved your heat problems? I'm going to be using a walk-in closet to try and flower 4 plants and im very concerned about moving air and heat.

Many thanks!

lightsgreenaction said:

So, I know it's been about a month since you heard from me. The grow is still going strong. I'm a little over 6 weeks into flowering, buds are forming up nicely. The pistils have started to turn orange/pink on all the plants. Nice tric development on all buds. I'm very satisfied with my first grow so far!

Hard to tell exactly how much longer they will need, but I'm thinking the two more weeks to give them 8 weeks of 12/12 will be about right, maybe one more. I'm not sure since it's my first grow, but I have read plenty to know when the best time is. It's just a matter of seeing it for myself in person now.

The 5 gal pot with two plants in it hasn't caused any issues so far. They both are doing fine, one is a little ahead of the other (about a foot taller and more developed buds). Overall, they are all doing fine, still very green and happy looking. I'm planning on feeding them nutes one more time (tiger bloom) next weekend and then just using molasses and maybe a little nitrogen (just a little) for a week, then just molasses. Essentially, just cutting back on nutrients slowly and phasing everything but molasses out for the last week or so. I just don't want to cut them completely out too soon since I'm not sure exactly how long they need, ya know.

I will put a few pics of them up soon to show how much progress they've made and get some feedback on them.

Click to expand...

Anonymouse said:

Can you help me out a bit and go into how you solved your heat problems? I'm going to be using a walk-in closet to try and flower 4 plants and im very concerned about moving air and heat.

Many thanks!

Click to expand...

Yeah no problem. A couple of factors played into fixing my heat problems. The main thing is that the closet is in my basement, and I started growing in the first week of November, just when the temps were starting to go down here. So my basement really started to cool off, making it harder for my room to heat up as much.

Then, I added a fan/filter combo. The TD 100 with a can fan carbon filter. I placed it at the top of the room and vented it into the adjacent room. It's actually pretty cool, because it's in the basement I was able to vent it out the top of the wall and then box off this little area where my kitchen sink pipes come down and add your basic vent screen thing. This made it look like the central heat and air unit is connected to my laundry room and even feels like heat is flowing in the winter (haven't experienced a summer yet).

These really fixed my heat problem, and it wasn't a major problem to begin with.

The most important thing to find a way to do is vent at the top of the closet, to pull out the hottest air that has risen to the ceiling and vent in cool air near the bottom. I didn't really need to vent in cool air because air is pulled in through tiny holes since in is in my basement and not completely air tight like you would find with walls with drywall on them.

If you can't move air out with an exhaust fan of some type, with enough CFM to move the air space in your closet out in 5 minutes or less, then you should grow with CFL lights because they will produce less heat. Using any higher power lights will produce too much heat most likely, especially anything more than 400w, maybe a 150-250w wouldn't be that bad.

Anyways, hope this helps, good luck.

So I snapped a few pictures last night but only a couple turned out not blurry, then my camera's battery died. I will try to remember to take some more tonight, because the lights are on 9pm-9am and off during the day.

I'm hoping they really fill out these last couple weeks. Nothing to do but wait and see.

Here's the pictures I took tonight. Really hoping these fill out over the next two weeks!

lightsgreenaction said:

Here's the pictures I took tonight. Really hoping these fill out over the next two weeks!

Click to expand...

As you can prob tell, these were taken under my HPS some with and without a flash.

How far away is the light from your plants? And also what are you feeding them? They should be a lot bigger at 6 weeks under a 400W HPS. Do you have any kind of reflective material around them?