Cold Grow In uninsulated/unheated Metal Shed

[Homer13063]

Hi Y'all.
I'm a new grower. I started with an outdoor Purple Kush clone I received on 7-7-2011. I stuck it in a 2-gallon pot with dirt. After a week I noticed very little growth so I removed the cube from the dirt. Absolutely no growth. I the made a major investment at my local Ace Hardware $4.99 for a bag of potting soil. Lesson learned. Even though the dirt was great for the garden, not so much for Buddy (she was my little buddy). I used (2) 1 gph drip emitters and a secret fertilizer from an older & established manufacturer. After seeing the prices for any brand that refers to Cannabis, I rejected them and through many hours of research, I found the perfect one. Anyhoo, 1.6 oz.'s later I was happy. No pests, pesticides, Disease, etc.

Now I couldn't wait for next spring so I'm using this time to sift through the many different grow options, and growers opinions. I came across an article that stated Cannabis/Marijuana is in fact a weed. It has propagated for millions of years without our intervention. I'm now growing DWC in my shed with temps 32 degrees through 60 degrees and CFL only. I only use one brand and my plant loves it. 92W total. I noticed that the air pump and water agitation, She is growing great. Forgot, this one is GDP, and beautiful. I'm expanding my grow from 1 to 5 plants DWC.

no emmiters, coconut planter lining in 10" net, then filled with perlite only. Unrinsed perlite.

Set it and forget it. 2-weeks into 12-12 changed cfl's to 2700k. Frosted buds are visible. I don't know how this plant is surviving and producing, but it is.

I'll share some pics if interested.

 

[SFguy]

Doh!! Lets see em.. Dude

 

[Thedillestpickle]

hahaha so your saying its Eeeeeaaazzzyyy to grow? ok i just started so ill keep that in mind. Im trying to cover all the bases but maybe over complicating things half the time. DWC with netpot is a good way to go though so no wonder its doing well

 

[ohmy]

32 degrees through 60 degrees .......................how do the water farms work frozen?

 

[Cannabisculture]

lololololololol.

yea...what ohmy said

 

[Homer13063]

I don't know how it's working. BTW: SFguy... You're beautiful! with that out of the way. The Plant is a deep green like I've never seen before. I tried to clone her, but it was too late. They wouldn't take i guess because she was starting flowering stage? Anyhoo, She's sleeping right now. This was from the 14th. I didn't go for mass quantities for a first time indoor grow with these temps, so she's all alone. 2x65w 27k + 2x23w 27k. 4 bulbs total.

 

[Homer13063]

Have you ever felt slight warmth on your air pump. That continuously pumping along with a squirrel cage type clamp desk fan on low. Buds starting throughout. I'm a believer in that all leaves serve a purpose... unless they're dead. She's 14" tall so you can gauge. My test wasn't to get the greatest bud production, but just see what I could do. I just like lookin' at her!

 

[hellraizer30]

32f pffff stuff just dont add up?

 

[Homer13063]

It's just a test. I'm not going to heat a shed. It's pitch black in there so I switched lights on during night for heat. That did nothing. I switched to 5am to 5 pm. The coldest part of the day is early morning so it's COLD, but not freezing. Bubblers don't stop circulating and fans move the air. I just mastered super cropping on a male bag seed I grew so I'll know for next time. One other thing is my water. I use tap water from cold and hot. I get the extra minerals from my hot water heater. My PPM's are 70 normally, and 130 (+-) from hot faucet. My nutes are at 1300 normally. Anyhoo, thanks for the tips folks!

A work in progress. This site has been a great help, but I have to experience failure and accomplishments to dial in my grows.

 

[Chadness]

Well done.
I used to grow in my shed though the winter. It was great.
My temps used to go from abou 4C up to about 25C throught the day.
My yield suffered a bit ( I had a perpetual grow harvesting 1/2 Lb every 2 weeks)
But the trichome production went up as the cold stresses them them and thrichome production is a stress reaction in flower.

Someone please correct me on this if I am wrong.

Good luck on your first grow.

 

[Homer13063]

Thanks!

If I had the $$$ I would definitely do things different. This is just 1 of 3 mini-rooms (boxes). 1 veg, 1 pre-flower, & the shed. I'm looking forward to spring/summer, but for now I'm having fun!

Isn't that what it's all about?

 

[doser]

Deffinitley showing purple coloring from the cold. The heat from the pump will warm the res solution and help maintain a survivable condition but make no mistake, the plant would be doing better with heat. There is a huge diff. in helping a plant survive and helping it thrive. Your yield will suffer significantly and this is fact not an opinion.

 

[Homer13063]

It's Grandaddy Purple. I thought it was the strain, not the cold. Thank you for the info! I was wondering why everything is purple.

 

[Homer13063]

Deffinitley showing purple coloring from the cold. The heat from the pump will warm the res solution and help maintain a survivable condition but make no mistake, the plant would be doing better with heat. There is a huge diff. in helping a plant survive and helping it thrive. Your yield will suffer significantly and this is fact not an opinion.

After viewing other GDP plants, I'd hafta say I'm right on track.

Using only 27k CFL's definitely enhances the "purplinity" of the pic.

It's still a work in progress! Thanks for the tips!

 

[Homer13063]

Well done.
I used to grow in my shed though the winter. It was great.
My temps used to go from abou 4C up to about 25C throught the day.
My yield suffered a bit ( I had a perpetual grow harvesting 1/2 Lb every 2 weeks)
But the trichome production went up as the cold stresses them them and thrichome production is a stress reaction in flower.

Someone please correct me on this if I am wrong.

Good luck on your first grow.

Muchos Gracias!

I loved the line about triche production. She has a lot of activity under the canopy. I'll post a new pic in a couple of days. I haven't seen her in awhile.
It seems the less I do, the more I get...(?)

 

[Homer13063]

My Avatar is Purple Kush. My first outside grow. She was great! 1.7 oz!

Anyhoo, here's some new pics from the shed.

Near zero visibility in dense fog. Use caution.

29°F



I'm not gonna wash my hands for awhile. She smells GREAT!

 

[Chadness]

Thats awesome.
Haven't tried purple kush or any kush for that matter lol

I got 3 NYPD and 4 Jock Horror going on at the moment. We're just about in summer here so its getting hot.

When i was growing in my shed like yourself it was a lot cooler in the shed and i still only ran the lights during the day.
The buds were smaller but really frosty. Some of them would stretch heaps. 20 small plants would average 8 oz per 2 weeks. spring or autumn (fall) would yield more around 10 to 12 oz.
I'm sure your plants will be fine in the cooler months until you harvest.
Good luck.

And here is a pic of my Jock Horror 5 weeks old from seed.

Will get flipped to flower on 1/1

 

[Homer13063]

I got a hold of some supposedly G13 seeds. 2 of 19 sprouted and are nothing like your Jock Horror! I have a bagseed going but she/he won't tell me his/her sex yet.

Thanks for the boost of confidence! I needed that!

 

[doser]

It's Grandaddy Purple. I thought it was the strain, not the cold. Thank you for the info! I was wondering why everything is purple.

I just harvested a couple of colas from an la confidential that was as purple as can be. Buds look pretty dank. Has a funny smell to the flowers though, hard to explain but sort of an ammonia type harshness? Hard to explain but the point is that although the plants are taking their time maturing, the buds filled out nice and I think the cold isn't hurting much except that they are taking a while to mature. No big surprise. Been quite cold here, not twenty nine deg. but cold

 

[burrr]

snowponics! lots of o2 for the roots.
http://www.420magazine.com/gallery/data/500/spruce.JPG