First Grow! ~2'x4' Closet with LEDs

[Closet-Gardenholic]

Hey Friends,

I have been doing weeks and weeks of research on various cultivation techniques, grow products, nutrients, seed banks and anything else you can think of relating to me growing my own bud. I am currently living in a medical state that passed recreational (as long as the recount doesn't change things) in November. I'm ready to start growing my own weed, instead of constantly forking over cash for something that I can't even quality control.

I have decided on a 2x4 closet in my bedroom that I am going to sacrifice as my grow space. Tomorrow, I will be cleaning it thoroughly and getting it set up for the grow. I have purchased 10'x10' of Panda film to cover the entire area. There is no door on the closet, but I have a solution involving blackout curtains, cardboard, a staple gun, and velcro that will keep all light out when I am ready to flower.

For ventilation/fresh air, i have purchased a 4" exhaust fan and plenty of 4" ducting. I plan on exhausting hot air out of the top of the cardboard door with the fan, and ducting the cool air in from an area next to a window. Smell will not be an issue for me, so I have skipped any carbon. Free air freshener!! The closet is in a small bedroom, and I live in a cold state so temperature is very easy to control by opening a window for 10 minutes if things begin to get warm.

For lights, I will be vegging under one Mars Hydro 600, just for a few weeks until my second one arrives. From there, I will continue to veg and eventually flower under both 600s. The true w value on these lights is ~250-300w each, for a total of 500-600. Also the space is actually only about 20" wide which should help with the coverage area of these LEDs during flowering.

For seeds, I have an order that has already shipped from attitude. In the order are:

2x fem BCBD GSC(after reading more about these I'm regretting buying them)
2x fem BF Critical Kush
3x fem Humboldt Blue dream
1x fem bubba kush cbd
1x fem Sapphire OG
1x fem White Widow x AK47 (early)

For this grow, I will only be using 2 of these seeds, most likely one critical kush and the sapphire OG. I also have a mystery bag seed that I have already germinated. I plan on planting this as well and may or may not include it in the grow, especially if it's a male. The taproot is beginning to show so I will get it in a solo cup tomorrow when my soil arrives.

For soil, I ordered FFOF .I've read and read and read about soils and what to use and this is what I'm going with. I'm going to do a quick flush before I plant the germinated seed and do not plan on using any type of additional nutes for the first many weeks of the grow. I will be starting the seedlings in 20 oz solos and transplanting to 1 gal fabric pots around 2-3 weeks with fresh FFOF. This will increase the time I go without additional nutes. Around 5-6 weeks I plan on getting the plants into their 5 gallon fabric pots and under their screen. From there I will continue to train the plant and fill the canopy screen 75% before the flip to 12-12. Late in veg and in flowering I will most likely use fox farm nutes. I wouldn't mind trying advanced nutrients, but their website is full of advertising and annoying to me. Time will tell for nutes...

I will have multiple clip on fans blowing on the plants during the entire grow. I also ordered the ph up down and will make sure to check my ph before every watering. There will be a temp/hygrometer with a probe mounted right outside the closet so I can keep a constant eye on temps and humidity. It is the dead of winter so I'm hoping we won't be worrying about pests.

All of this sounds great, but I am definitely nervous for my first grow and know things are bound to go wrong. Oh well, here's to learning a shit ton on this grow, and many many more successful grows after this one.

I look forward to sharing my progress with you guys and gals and will have some pictures of the grow set up tomorrow. If anyone has any problems with it let me know because I will be putting everything up as soon as my order arrives! I will get a few days before my seeds arrive to monitor conditions and make any tweaks that may be necessary.

Hoping my seeds don't go through Chicago NYC!

 

[Closet-Gardenholic]

Taproot baby!

My UPS order with most of my supplies should be here today. Can't wait to get this girl planted and under her CFL! LED is on the way and more seeds are U.S bound.

Pictures of the grow closet coming later today!

 

[ItalianMike]

I'll be following, best of luck!

 

[Closet-Gardenholic]

Just got my package and couldn't wait to test the ph of my well water! Not bad!!!

About to hang my sunfilm and get my door on the grow area, as well set up my exhaust and get my first baby inside! Should have a little "greenage" in the next couple days.

The real seeds and my first LED will be here early next week. Until then, we have a week to watch this first girl begin to grow! Pictures coming this evening

 

[Closet-Gardenholic]

I'll be following, best of luck!

Awesome! Thank you, I hope I have a decent first grow. Very thankful to grow up in the Information Age, where anything you need to know is right at the tip of your fingers.

Here are a few before pics of the closet area that I'm about to start outfitting.

 

[Closet-Gardenholic]

Phew, that ended up being a much bigger project than I anticipated. I am terrible about underestimating how long things actually take!

Anyways, I've got the room set up almost the way I'd like. Don't judge me for my wiring setup just yet. All of this is temporary until my LED lights show up and I get some extension cords. I will definitely be tidying things up so cords won't be in my way.

I only ran into 2 snags that I didn't think about before hand.

1) Velcro Sucks on walls so I'm going to have to come up with a better way to make a light proof seal when closing the door. I'm thinking bungee cords across the front with hooks on either side.

2) My air intake has to move when the door opens. Lucky the room is small enough this isn't a big deal. Exhaust is fine with plenty of slack to open and close door.

Now we wait!
I'm a little cool and a little dry, but I'm thinking some water trays and the heat from my LEDs will fix that problem. I may also invest in a humidifier.

 

[Closet-Gardenholic]

Hey friends,

Good news first...She broke the soil! Bad news is I'm still having slight humidity issues. We are having wind chills of -30 tonight and I am still able to maintain this temperature(with wood alone to boot!) The problem is the wood stove is drying the shit out of my house.


I've got the humidity up from 22% to 32% by placing giant bowls of water on the wood furnace. That should evaporate a couple of gallons of moisture into the air pretty quickly. I also have a damp towel and a couple of water trays in the closet, and there's still a lot of water left in those bowls to evaporate.

I am thinking a humidifier in this bedroom may get me the extra 15% I need without the worry of wetting towels and filling water trays. I'm sure this will change once I get the other plants and LED lights as well. Haven't had to use the exhaust really yet, in fear of drying it out even more.

I've got the baby "under the dome" to create a rainforest type effect. She came up pretty fast with temps steady in the 70s. Hoping to get this humidity thing straightened out before she starts stretching in the dome.

My seeds are in the US but still no tracking info as far as customs. 1 of 2 Mars 600 left
California UPS ground yesterday, but it's a long way away. I'm just going to let this girl do her thing through the weekend and try to keep her from stretching!

P.S- I just read that the CFL works better on its side. Coming up with a coat hanger solution to fix that since it looks like we have a few days on the LED.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[Closet-Gardenholic]

So it's been a couple days, and the baby is doing great! I bought a pretty big humidifier which is making a huge difference counteracting the dry air from our wood furnace and stove! Happy to say that even with -30 wind chills, I am no easily able to maintain temperature AND humidity.

CFL is now on it's side and only 1-2" from the baby. She seems to be loving it!

The good seeds and my LED should be here before Christmas! Merry Christmas to me!!

 

[Closet-Gardenholic]

Looking for advice on which 2 good seeds to start, and whether 5 or 7 gal fabric pots are my best option.

Should I be looking for 2 Indicas, or 1 and 1, or similar flowering times, or will it even matter which 2 I choose? I'd like to have some variety, but don't want to cause to much confusion on my first grow, especially when it comes to nutes and flushing.

Since I don't know the sex of the mystery seed, there's a chance it will not be included in this grow. I'm thinking 5 gallons if I end up putting 3 in there, or 7 if only the 2 fem seeds make it.

Sound legit?

 

[Closet-Gardenholic]

4 days from germination

 

[SeekingGreen]

Hey there CG. I too am a new home grower in a newly legal state (slightly to the southwest of you unless I miss my guess). I'm running a 2 x 4 tent and I HAD planned on 3 girls in 7 gal air pots. But due to a small disaster (-1) while depositing my 3rd germinated seed into its solo cup and a brief but considerable panic (+2) afterwards, I ended up with 4 seedlings, all now looking fat and happy for 7-9 day old babies. Assuming I will go forward with all 4 (they're fem'd seeds) I have adjusted my grow plan down to 5 gallon pots and training to a 2'x1' space per plant. Not ideal for where I want to get to, but an easier way to start. My motto for this first grow is to keep it simple in any way I can.

So for your questions I offer the following:
what strains to pick? 1) whatever makes your heart happy 2) whatever makes your job easier 3) don't underestimate the beauty of having a backup should disaster strike one of your ladies.

What size pots? Well how long do you want to veg? Will you be doing a lot of training (see the mainlining thread if you haven't yet) to spread it sideways? If you have big veg plans or want a broad bushy baby then 7 gallons will give you more hip room to boogie. But 5 gallons will take you pretty far too.

2 versus 3 plants? flip a coin. I'd go with three just out of a desire to maximize everything, but YMMV.

Good luck!

 

[Closet-Gardenholic]

Thanks for the suggestions SG. The seeds are taking forever to get here! I am going to go with one Sativa dominant(blue dream) and one Indica(most likely the Critical kush.) The CK should be done a week earlier than the BD and it will give me the opportunity to see the different trich color phases.

The poor mystery baby received some abuse for her birthday. The taproot grew through the bottom of the solo cup within a week due to an excess of water under the cup after the first watering. I was going to trim the cup around the bottom to free it from the root before transplanting, but was holding when I made the final cut, and the bottom 1" of the cup along with about 2" of root dropped to the table.

I went ahead with the transplant, and by that time my LED had arrived. Here she isAnd the chaos before the transplant

Still hoping my seeds arrive before Christmas. Also looks like I'll be ordering one more 4" fan to use as an intake. There is one currently exhausting and my temp stays right at 76 with the 1 600 MHLED.

I'm going to need that extra bit of cool air being pumped in once I have the second light in

 

[SeekingGreen]

S/he looks pretty happy in the new home.

 

[Closet-Gardenholic]

S/he looks pretty happy in the new home.

Holy Leaves! I am loving the symmetry. Over the next few days I'll be building some sort of mesh or screen platform 6-10" off the ground. I have the height in the closet to do it, and there are a lot of benefits.

1) The plant will never sit directly in water, and will be much easier to flush when the time comes
2) Temps just 10" off the floor are much more stable and warm due to a very cold unfinished basement and hardwood floors.
3) Plants will be more accessible and easier to train.
I will also mount my power strip off the floor high in the closet and run/attach all my wires so they aren't hanging all over the place/on the floor.

Temps have been extremely easy to control with the single 600 LED. 4" exhaust with a 100 cfm inline fan, as well as a 4" intake (currently no fan.) Even without the intake fan, I was able to drop the temp from 76 to 70 by turning on the exhaust and propping the intake duct in an open window.

I plan on adding a second 100cfm inline to the intake duct to move air a little faster once I get my second LED. However, I still haven't touched 80 yet, so it may not be necessary until the outdoor temps warm up in May or June.

 

[Closet-Gardenholic]

I decided to go ahead and tidy up the grow space a little more. I came up with a temporary solution to get the plant off the floor using the braces for the shelves that used to be in the closet. Depending on how it works, I may do this all the way across a few inches lower. Then it will be easy to slide a Rubbermaid around underneath during watering and flushing.

I also got my wires out of the way. I'll only be adding one more light and maybe 1-2 more fans. Shaping up nicely!

My seeds are in state, but I doubt they will make it to my town by tomorrow. You never know! It is Christmas!

Thanks for the help guys

 

[420herbalist]

In the middle of flower on my first grow. I went with a single plant in a 7gal smartpot. I did not want to try different strains at the same time as I was worried about size/height difference. Having two lights makes that less of an issue for you though. I would at least try to keep them similar as far as sativa/indica dominant, that should make things easier on you. Having room to check them out, tend, salivate over or whatever makes identifying problems and such easier as well. Also on the humidity, I was pretty concerned about mine initially but swings back and fourth have not been a problem for me. My house is old, this time of year it can go from 20%rh one day to 50+% the next. As long as you are not too high or low consistently I wouldn't be too worried, the plant will tell you for sure though.

Keep it up, looking good so far! So worth it once you see those buds forming.

 

[Closet-Gardenholic]

Hey guys!

Seeds came today and I went ahead and grabbed one Blue Dream and one Critical Kush to germinate. Once they pop I'll start them the same way as Mystery #1. She is growing extremely fast. Should I be concerned about the downward tilting lower leaves. You can see them best in the first pic.

 

[Closet-Gardenholic]

24 hours and seeds have pretty much popped. I will give them 12 more hours to make sure the taproot had decided to fully emerge.

Mystery #1 ended up with an 11 day head start. She's not very tall, but she's bushy! 4th node is taking off before the leaves fully develop on the 3rd!

 

[Closet-Gardenholic]

Here's day #12 for Mystery #1. Hard to believe it's already been almost two weeks!The other two popped overnight and are now planted. Hopefully they break ground by Wednesday! Everything's going smoothly so far. However, it won't be long before mystery #1 needs some training to maximize her potential.

 

[cheech86]

I finished my first grow last summer and i was always questioning myself and worrying about little things. Now though with that one grow under my belt and all the reading i continue to do i really dont fuss or worry over anything in my grow. As long as you stick to the ground rules your plant will be fine and even if you run into problems you will be able to correct them. But you seem like you have done the needed research and always thinking of improvements and thats a good way to be shows your enjoying it .

Anyway they look lovely so far and your in good hands around here should you face any problems. Good luck