Closet CFL Grow - My First Grow

SpaceMonkeyMan said:

Hey they're looking good so far, just babies now but they grow up so fast. After the next two weeks you'll be like

For the top of your door you can try installing a couple small computer fans pointed outward to help ventilate, but hot air rises so i think it should be alright as is, up to you. Your therm said 77 degrees and that's pretty good, it's about the same as my temps.

But yeah, don't worry about people not posting in your thread, seems pretty common around these parts (have you seen my thread?)

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I hadn't thought about using computer fans. I had the door open for a while when I took that picture. When I close the room the temps get up to 85 degrees.

Congrats, you're a papa! Your grow is looking great to me! The advice KFN and SMM have given is right on -- the plant can come within 1/2" of a CFL bulb and probably not be harmed -- my personal preference during veg is to keep the bulbs about 4" away because I know that they won't be able to grow into the bulbs before I have a chance to adjust them. If your picture is indicative of stable conditions (77 degrees / 40% humidity), then you have nothing to worry about. As for C02 and air exchange, as long as the temperature is not a problem, it will not really matter until your plants get bigger. Although it is not optimal, your plants will probably grow alright without it. There is a lot of air volume in there relative to the size of the plants, and some air exchange will take place passively, especially with that gap in the door. Again, assuming your temps and humidity are stable, you could also go the route of supplementing CO2 in the room instead of having a vent fan, and then you wouldn't have to worry about having to explain the weird fans in your doorway to anyone...

One thing that did catch my eye was about you only wetting the top of the soil with a spray bottle. That's okay for the first few days, just don't ever let the soil dry out while they are seedlings -- they can dry up and die very rapidly. You will want to start doing regular waterings soon -- it will encourage the roots to keep digging deeper in search of water and food.

Keep it up!

tastybrains said:

One thing that did catch my eye was about you only wetting the top of the soil with a spray bottle. That's okay for the first few days, just don't ever let the soil dry out while they are seedlings -- they can dry up and die very rapidly. You will want to start doing regular waterings soon -- it will encourage the roots to keep digging deeper in search of water and food.

Keep it up!

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Thanks, I did pour about a 1/2 cup of water on each one this morning. my soil is looking kinda dry but everyone on here has me paranoid about over watering my babies One of my plants is looking kinda bad this morning. Not really bad but it looks like it's starting to "close up". I thought it might just need water so I watered them all and moved the light up to about 2 1/2" from the leaves.

My humidity is stable at 46-50% but my temps are stable at around 83-86 degrees. when I get home I usually open the door for a couple of hours to let the air change and when I do that the temp get down to around 75-78 degrees. I turned the fan off today when I left because I thought maybe the sprout that is "closing up" might be getting too much wind. Its the tallest one so it gets a lot of air now from the fan, the other two are still inside the rim of their pots so they don't get any wind and they both look fine.

Hopefully everything will be okay. Im not gonna panic about it though, its just bag seed (no way was I going to spend money on seeds until I know what im doing )

Okay, Im home from work now and was able to get some pictures. They have grown just a little since last nights but one of them is doing something much different than the other 2. I haven't done anything with them tonight, I watered them just a little this morning but It's been about 4 or 5 days since they have been watered till water came out of the bottom. Do you think I need to water them really good again?

I have some pictures. My camera is really good so hopefully one of you guys can tell me if everything is okay of if I need to change something.

Thanks for any help. ++rep for anyone who will at least tell me what they think

Pic 1: The biggest sprout looks like its closing up

Pic 2: Biggest sprout again, different view

Pic 3: My smallest little baby

Pic 4: The middle child

I woke up this morning and my biggest sprout is doing even worse than yesterday. I watered them last about 12 hours ago with about 2 cups of spring water. I know there is something wrong with her b/c the other two are doing great. I dont know what it could be. I attached a couple more pictures so you can see how much worse she's gotten overnight.

someone please let me know what I can do or if I just need to stop whining and be patient.

hey rent i dont think you need to worry to much bud. i have had this happen to me before as well sometime these plants have defects which are out of our control. i wouldnt worry to much my friend i see a new set of what appears to be a solid set of leafs coming up the midddle so maybe just keep an eye on here. ive had the ugliest sprouts turn into beautiful plants at times. besides that what are your temps? what kind of soil are you using? water? humidity? hope you havent nuted yet im sure your smarted then that.

Unfortunately, it's tough to say when the plants are so young. Occasionally a seedling will just peter out. It could be genetic or disease or anything else. The important thing, especially when they are so small, is not give in to panic. Keep treating it just like the other ones -- since they are doing well, all things being equal, this one should do well under the same circumstances. A lot of people will start to convince themselves that they should water more, or less, or change other things in the environment, and that will usually make it worse unless you are sure of the source of the problem. It sucks to feel powerless, but just let it be. If you do lose the seedling at this early stage, it is not a huge setback. Good luck!

dopewear said:

besides that what are your temps? what kind of soil are you using? water? humidity? hope you havent nuted yet im sure your smarted then that.

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Hey dopewear, Thanks for the reply. I know I shouldnt worry too much but it's pretty hard not to worry.

My temps are pretty steady at around 80-85 degrees and my humidity is steady at 47%. Im using jungle growth soil mixed with perlite, the soil is fertilized but im not sure how much. Its also NOT time released. Im watering with pure spring water (the cheap kind, $1 a gallon). I know my soil is a little basic at 7.5 ph but im going to get some ph down for my water and start to take it down the next time I water.

It does look like healthy leaves starting to grow Thanks for putting my mind at ease.

tastybrains said:

Unfortunately, it's tough to say when the plants are so young. Occasionally a seedling will just peter out. It could be genetic or disease or anything else. The important thing, especially when they are so small, is not give in to panic. Keep treating it just like the other ones -- since they are doing well, all things being equal, this one should do well under the same circumstances. A lot of people will start to convince themselves that they should water more, or less, or change other things in the environment, and that will usually make it worse unless you are sure of the source of the problem. It sucks to feel powerless, but just let it be. If you do lose the seedling at this early stage, it is not a huge setback. Good luck!

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Thanks TB, I know it's really too young to tell, my others are doing fine so im going to do like you said and just keep doing what im doing. I dont want to cause her too much stress or, like you said, it will make it worse. I found one seed in an eighth of some dankity dank I was smoking last night so if she takes a turn for the worse Im just gonna plant another

Thanks to both of you, your help has been very well appreciated (if I could rep you guys every time, I would )

Hey dude! congrats on the lil ones!! Your setup looks really good dude! one thing i have noticed is if you want to reduce heat you need a few things like ventilation, i seen you have a fan but do you have anywhere for that warm air to go in the closet? You should have an intake and a exhaust, fresh air in and hot air out. I seen you have Mylar reflective stuff, if you think it is causing excessive heat, trying using white paint, it seems to be reflective and doesn't hold heat. Anytime i can lend a hand let me know bro! i am a fellow newb and seen you posted in my grow journal, this has been a great learning experience so far! just dont panic, it could take a few days for the new leaves to pop up! check out mine for a reference any time ! Im going to pop by to check out how you are coming along! What day are you on since the germinated and you planted

Good luck dude wish you the best!

Hey and post a pic of your ph meter!!!! im looking to get one and this sounds pretty cool!!!
Thanks again!

MikeyPeenz said:

Hey dude! congrats on the lil ones!! Your setup looks really good dude! one thing i have noticed is if you want to reduce heat you need a few things like ventilation, i seen you have a fan but do you have anywhere for that warm air to go in the closet? You should have an intake and a exhaust, fresh air in and hot air out. I seen you have Mylar reflective stuff, if you think it is causing excessive heat, trying using white paint, it seems to be reflective and doesn't hold heat. Anytime i can lend a hand let me know bro! i am a fellow newb and seen you posted in my grow journal, this has been a great learning experience so far! just dont panic, it could take a few days for the new leaves to pop up! check out mine for a reference any time ! Im going to pop by to check out how you are coming along! What day are you on since the germinated and you planted

Good luck dude wish you the best!

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Thanks for stopping by my thread! I never thought I'd be so excited to watch a plant grow I feel like I should be doing stuff but I guess mostly its a watch and wait game.

Tonight I will be at 1 week since I planted my germinated seeds. The seeds sprouted out of the soil only 4 days ago.

I do have a passive exhaust on top of my door. I will probably be installing an intake fan as soon as I figure out how to keep the light out when it comes time to flower. I know I should have a passive intake and a fan for the exhaust but I want to keep the holes to a minimum.

MikeyPeenz said:

Hey and post a pic of your ph meter!!!! im looking to get one and this sounds pretty cool!!!
Thanks again!

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Its a pretty good meter, its especially good to measure the moisture at different levels in your soil, I might want to try a different method when the roots start growing (I dont want to damage the roots) I will post a pic when I get home from work, I got a 12 hour work day and get to drive home in a tropical storm, yay me

Well, I think my biggest seedling is about to die. I guess she had no vigor, no zest for life :sniff: Im going to give her tomorrow to see what she looks like and if she hasn't improved, Im going to germinate another seed and plant her soon so she's not too far behind the pack.

Im thinking about supplementing Co2 for my girls. I cant keep the heat down enough so I heard that they can stand slightly higher temps if they get some Co2.

My other ladies seem to be doing well. I can see some new growth since 2 days ago but it seems like they should be growing a little faster. I know I know, be patient. Im sure there is all kinds of cool stuff going on under the soil, then she'll shoot up like a rocket...right guys?

What do you guys think? They came out of the soil 5 days ago.

Other than that, not too much to report on. Feel free to comment, please do

Im gonna go

Some pics from today:

MikeyPeenz said:

Hey and post a pic of your ph meter!!!! im looking to get one and this sounds pretty cool!!!
Thanks again!

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Here ya go Mikey, I picked it up at lowes. It works pretty well to check soil moisture but its not very accurate with the ph. The light meter is useless. Its not bad for $10 though.

Hey rentjr,
Your set-up looks awesome and you should do very well I look forward to your progress and I will subscribe, so keep up the good work and feel free to check up on my ghetto grow room grow,sometimes there the best.

Like I said my friend I will be posting more pics today,just need to remember how to add them to my old thread,I'll figure it out thats why I'm a newbie.

Peace out,
zoso914 P.S.I added a picture of my Awesome Grow Room Ha HA HA

hey bro, sorry to hear about the loss of one of your girls, hopefully the other two will compensate, thanks for the pic too bro, i was looking for this today and they didnt have any, same with a small fan, fucking seasonal shit

Ne wayz, everything is looking good so far! keep us updated ok!

zoso914 said:

Hey rentjr,
Your set-up looks awesome and you should do very well I look forward to your progress and I will subscribe, so keep up the good work and feel free to check up on my ghetto grow room grow,sometimes there the best.

Like I said my friend I will be posting more pics today,just need to remember how to add them to my old thread,I'll figure it out thats why I'm a newbie.

Peace out,
zoso914 P.S.I added a picture of my Awesome Grow Room Ha HA HA

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haha, nothing wrong with a ghetto grow room. Looks like you and I are kinda on the same page Do you have alink to your thread? Post me a link and I'll subscribe. I can't wait to see how well we do.

MikeyPeenz said:

hey bro, sorry to hear about the loss of one of your girls, hopefully the other two will compensate, thanks for the pic too bro, i was looking for this today and they didnt have any, same with a small fan, fucking seasonal shit

Ne wayz, everything is looking good so far! keep us updated ok!

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Yeah, Christmas kinda takes over for two months huh? Im kinda sad about about my girl too but soon ill have a fresh seed ready to replace her. I going to top the other 2 that way the one I plant next will be on the same schedule b/c I have to veg and flower in the same room.

Looks about right for the first week. You have the first real leaf (other than the embryonic first set) and a nice little second set / first node growing. The lower leaves were yellowing on your lagging girl, but the grow tip looked green. Don't kill her just yet (unless the situation is changing for the worse) -- sometimes they will squeak through. Or, maybe take the top of the soil that she is in and transplant it to a small cup and set it off to the side, in case s(he) recovers later. That is one reason I usually start my seedlings (but not clones) in small containers and progressively transplant them. That way, you can discard the weak and (eventually) male plants, and only transplant the queens of the crop to the full-sized containers. Also, II know it sounds retarded ... but I have never had the stomach to give up on a plant until it either died completely or proved itself to be a male. I just can't kill it, even though it's a worthless, half-dead plant... And yet, several of my best-yielding plants started off as the runts that I thought wouldn't make it.

Oh man. Am I really that much of a retarded, plant-hugging hippie? Maybe you actually can smoke too much weed.

Hey rentjr,
By the way I'm a jr too.Wanted to let you know that I am sending you a friend request and you can visit my public profile and check out my new pictures. My group is northern hemispheres if you would like to join.

Hey man, it's been a few days ... inquiring minds want to know: how are things going?

tastybrains said:

Hey man, it's been a few days ... inquiring minds want to know: how are things going?

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Hey, guys. Sorry I've been gone for a while its been a week and my poor girls aren't growing much at all They are stunted really bad (I think) and I dont know why. They still dont have even 2 nodes. The ebryotic leaves are starting to yellow and the true leaves are not super green anymore. It appears they are starting to turn a greyish color around the edges. I know its hard to say whats wrong without pictures, I will try to post a couploe when I get home tonight. I really dont want to lose them as I have spent more than $100 already.