Stealth Grow Mommy

[kevin]

nice improvements, take some paper plates and make yourself some reflectors to try to get more light to your plants, i made some cool ones, basically you cut slits so you can slide it over the cord. the heat blanket from walmart is a great idea too. get some adhesive spray and glue the blanket to some cardboard, that way you have movable panels. thinking about it, the blanket may be to thin for gluing....my biggest advice to you, don't take anyones word for it, investagate before you do it and don't overcomplicate

 

[skervy]

So, since you need to ventilate anyway, why not just spring for, at the very least, a 150-W HPS? You can get a full set up for about $75 and it will outperform a whole bunch of CFL's that end up costing you the same more or less. Helluva lot safer, too. Wiring up your own fixtures and shit? No disrespect, but that's a good way to burn your house down.

see if you keep your thread here youll just get posts like this over and over you must of missed the part they said they wanna keep it under 50$ lol. your light alone is 1 and a half times that. ventilation and cooling for that light is gonna cost about the same. thats gonna need a cooltoob and nice exhaust which a kitchen hood exhaust aint gonna handle. and lastly if you cant tie 2 wires together twist a connector or even just tape them properly you have some problems and probably shouldbt be growing pot anyways

 

[AgentMcFeather]

Kriegs - I'm sure I could get a better setup if I invested in a lot of things...lights, ventilation, a bigger set up. The point of this grow is really as an experiment. I want to see if an average person with no real desire to spend a ton of money can grow decent quality weed in the comfort of their own home, without expending an insane amount of effort. Maybe after a couple test runs I can upgrade but I really doubt it. I LOVE smoking, don't get me wrong. But I have other things to worry about too. The $ for the lamp could be better spent on toys for my son or taking the family to the zoo. Not saying that other people shouldn't try to have the absolute best setup they can, but for my lifestyle this will work better.

Kevin - I love your outlook. Just learn from your experiences. And this is only the first time I've ever grown. Before I read up on it I just threw some seeds in dirt near a window...it wasn't until I started doing a little research that I thought "well, maybe there's a better way to do this." We'll just call this a test run and maybe next time around it'll turn out better.

Skervy - I'll admit I was a little worried about burning down my house, lol. I actually have a fire extinguisher right next to my bed since the grow box is on my side of the room. I would never want to mess with electrical crap...but hey, that's why I have a husband, right!? For now I'll probably just take your advice, get a couple more Y splitters and some higher watt bulbs for the rest of veging (which seems to be taking forever ) and see how that works.

UPDATE:

So I ditched the plant light for good. I gave it one more try and by the time I came back 30 min later my plant that had started out the strongest was completely limp. It was only standing upright because of the bamboo skewer I'd put in there the first time the plant light was used. Switched back to my good ol' CFLs around 6pm and let them run til 1am before the digital timer shut everything down...checked on them this morning around 7:30 after the lights had kicked back on. The plant is back to standing up on it's own. The bulb got a little close to one of the other plants and looks like it burnt the tip a little but it wasn't a very strong plant so I'm not too upset.

The roads have been cleared and the husband has spent the last hour and a half shoveling a path to my car through 2ft of snow so we're going to try and make it into town today to return those damn plant lights and pick up extra Ys and bulbs. (6500 for veg, right?) I'm really excited for expanding the lighting a little even if it is only 2 extra bulbs. I honestly thing that will be enough because my space is pretty tiny and when you open that box up it's bright as hell from reflecting off the white paint. I really thought foil would work better than flat white paint but boy was I wrong. Goes to show, researching ahead of time would have had some advantages.

Ok, I'm off to get ready for the day. Christmas at the inlaws tonight and my family tomorrow but I'll try my best to do another update, maybe some pics after I attach the new lights.

For now I'll leave you witha picture of my son's swingset after our little blizzard. Enjoy. <3

Edit: BYE BYE PICTURE. I'M AN IDIOT.

 

[Kriegs]

Hey, Agent and friends... I was just thinkin' out loud. All those little $2 doo-dads add up, was all I was sayin' .. Sometimes, it's cheaper overall to absorb one big blow up front, plug it in the wall, then ride from there. But no doubt you can grow nice weed with CFL's; seen a ton of it here in RIU.

I don't have anything fancy myself; even my light is pretty low-rent as HID's go, too. Check my grow link if you have a mind..

Happy Holidays! ... keep on keepin' on; I'll be 'scribed..

 

[Kriegs]

Uhhmm.. one little suggestion, if I may? Watch out for taking photographs with "locational information" in them. But for the snow and ice, that license plate on the front of the gray Mazda there would be easily zoom-able to be read by Mr LEO. Just keeping with the "stealth" idea here.

Of course, if you're in a medical state, no biggee..

 

[skervy]

Uhhmm.. one little suggestion, if I may? Watch out for taking photographs with "locational information" in them. But for the snow and ice, that license plate on the front of the gray Mazda there would be easily zoom-able to be read by Mr LEO. Just keeping with the "stealth" idea here.

Of course, if you're in a medical state, no biggee..

i agree with him there

 

[AgentMcFeather]

Didn't think about it til after I posted. Coming down now. Thanks guys.

 

[AgentMcFeather]

Ok, here's a little post Christmas update.

Day after Christmas I picked up a couple more Y splitters and some 100w Daylight CFLs. I was worried about heat because the bulbs do graze the side of the box every now and then but so far no problems.

Now for the problems with my plants...

This little guy/gal got in contact with one of the lights a few days ago. Tips of the leaves got a little burnt.

This plant started out as my pride and joy. It was easily 2x as big as the rest. Now it's not doing so well. The leaves had a little yellowing and were curling under some yesterday. This morning I checked on it and the yellowing had spread turning the tips of the leaves almost black and extremely crispy.

The front one in this picture (smaller) is doing so-so I guess. Not exactly thriving but not looking as bad as the rest.

This tall one is one that got streched out really badly in the beginning. I thought it was making a decent recovery before it's leaves started doing the same yellowing as the 2nd. I have no idea what's causing this, haven't really done any research yet, but I'm pretty sure if I don't do something fast these are done for. If they're not already...

I have some seeds germinating at the moment but I gotta find out what went wrong with these so the same thing doesn't happen next time. If anyone has some insight I'd greatly appreciate it. Other than that I'm off to do some research and see if there's any way to salvage these pitiful little plants.

It's only failing if you don't get back up, right?

 

[Kriegs]

Those def look like light burns to me which, by my estimation, shouldn't be a long-term problem. It looks like the growing tips are okay - as long as you've got your light spacing issue resolved, they should be okay from here.

The whole light and cabinet setup looks alot better - you should be able to grow fine with that. How warm is it getting in there, BTW?

 

[AgentMcFeather]

Those def look like light burns to me which, by my estimation, shouldn't be a long-term problem. It looks like the growing tips are okay - as long as you've got your light spacing issue resolved, they should be okay from here.

The whole light and cabinet setup looks alot better - you should be able to grow fine with that. How warm is it getting in there, BTW?

I'm gonna hope it's only a light issue but the pictures online of plants with Phosphorous deficiencies look a whole lot like what my plants have going on. I know the little one is from the light, here's hoping the rest are too.

Overall I like the new setup too. I don't have a temp guage in the box but it doesn't get warm at all. Even with my wrist directly where the plants are it barely feels warm, not hot at all. And I have a fan on top of that cause my stems were really weak. Honestly I'm worried about it being too cold in there, but people on RUI have said that their plants survived a frost, I'm sure mine can handle a 60 degree light box. Or maybe I'm wrong since they look like they're dying, lol.

 

[potka]

this isn't very stealth...lol dont put more than one plant in a pot...not even going to criticize this grow anymore. EPIC FAIL

 

[Kriegs]

this isn't very stealth...lol dont put more than one plant in a pot...not even going to criticize this grow anymore. EPIC FAIL

Epic mean-spiritedness from you, too.

We all start somewhere. Some of us have had the benefit of growing a lot of things besides MJ first, or have a natural sense of how it works. Some of us need a step by step menu of every move.. human nature.

 

[kevin]

don't give up on those plants yet, i've seen worse come back. what soil are you using?

 

[skervy]

honestly if you have more seeds you would wanna use just start over them are pretty rough and wayyyyy stretched out. i already suggested a transplant burying the stem and you said you cant so might as well start over done properly next time theyll be nice and short with more leaf growth in a week then them have now and will probably have in another week hehe. also you need to get a thermometer them look stressed out pretty bad it might not feel to hot under the lights but the ambient temp could be high. and 1 more last thing lol keep having to edit my post you can make an easy cheap reflector for them lights with a aluminum pie dish or cooking thingy. their like a dollar at any random store with groceries

 

[AgentMcFeather]

Lets see, where to start.

potka - Asshole? Really? That's cool...

Kriegs - Step by step guide? That's me.

kevin - I'm letting them go until my new seeds are ready. I'll decide at that point I suppose. I'm using Scott's premium potting soil. I wasn't sure of what was best so I went middle of the road on cost.

skervy - I know they look awful. I thought they were doing good til I came on RUI and saw that plants 2 weeks younger than mine were huge while mine looked like mere seedings. Sad day in my world. Taking your advice on the aluminum pan thing. I saw that you had one in your setup and planned on getting one Saturday while I was at walmart, but forgot. May or may not have been high at the time. I'm sure you can guess.

Mini-Update

I checked on the seeds I have in a paper towel and baggie. So far 2 have got a little root sticking out and another looks like it has just cracked open. There are 6 random bagseeds. Since they're all getting individual containers I'm doing less. I don't have too much room as you can tell. I feel like I have a little more experience and a lot more knowledge this time around so I'm hoping for better results. Gonna give the current plants a day or two more to prove to me that they can do it, or the cat gets to rip them to shreds like he wanted to earlier in the week...

 

[skervy]

i dont use one in mine i have a ghetto home made reflector with computer side panels spray painted white. i was gonna try the pie tin thing but i figured it would be like a heater for me running 12 bulbs since its made to hold heat and cook stuff and whatnot. try this. dump out the old plants put your new seeds in there. cover them with suran wrap however the hell you spell that or a baggy or whatever. move the lights a few inches over the pots. leave them on 24 hours for a week or so. take off the baggy or whatever you used after they sprout up and the leaves open. swap em to 20/4 after they get goin. then 18/6 after a couple weeks or so. thats how i did mine and im satisfied with the results im sure you could just go from 24/0 to 18/6 but i went for the slower transition

 

[AgentMcFeather]

Apparently I was mistaken. My bad.

I texted my husband yesterday to pick up a disposable aluminum roast pan for it...he came home with 3 disposable aluminum pie pans. So 1 more day before I can get it set up. He's gonna pick it up today after work. I suppose we'll see if it's the right one this time. Plants still not looking good from what I can tell. Didn't really get a chance to take a close look yet.

Checked on the seeds this AM. Still only the 2 roots but 2 others are cracked and about to sprout. I also had the husband pick up a pack of 16oz cups so I can try my hand at this party cup growing. I know everyone worries about their plants being root bound but I'm pretty sure SICC disproved that school of thought. I'd love one of my plants in a normal pot to turn out like his party cup plant did. If I get too scared or it stops doing well enough I can always move it to a bigger container.

 

[AgentMcFeather]

Well the tiny plant just sprouted it's first MJ leaves. I think I'm gonna let it run it's course. And one of the messed up plants with the yellowing/crispy edges is making a come back. The leaves at the bottom are still all messed up but it's got 4 more MJ leaves coming in. As for the other 2, they're going in the trash today. My seeds are doing nicely. I'll probably plant them this evening or tomorrow morning. I'm going to let the roots come in just a bit more.

So I have a question...do I need to do anything to my soil before I plant the seeds? The first time I just threw them in dirt and watered but I didn't know if I had missed some vital step. I'm trying to do this without any nutes but maybe there's something else major I should be doing. If not I guess we'll know after the fact.

Everyone have a good day. I'm off to get high and watch some kids shows with my son.

 

[elduece]

this isn't very stealth...lol dont put more than one plant in a pot....

I couldn't disagree with that. Ditch the whole stealth-"it's good in t he ghetto"-frugal BS and start doing some real planning. As a basic example, just get more lights, gallon+ planters, bloom ferts, designate a closet space and start hole-sawing through walls for ventilation. It's not that hard and don't go too cheap.

 

[skervy]

I couldn't disagree with that. Ditch the whole stealth-"it's good in t he ghetto"-frugal BS and start doing some real planning. As a basic example, just get more lights, gallon+ planters, bloom ferts, designate a closet space and start hole-sawing through walls for ventilation. It's not that hard and don't go too cheap.

thats just funny all i can say on that your forgetting the point some people wanna grow for a few bucks not 500$ as for the soil just mix in some perlite and your good to go. you cant get by with no nutes i tried and around 2-3 weeks they needed it. you can get some schultz 10-15-10 all purpose from walmart or whatever has a small garden section still left in winter. its only like 5$ and doin me good so far. using it through flowering to but adding molasses so ill see how it turns out as a flowering nute