1st time grow - Stealthy cab w/CFL's - Need some pointers

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hillzbilly

Member

  • Hey folks, Just about to try my 1st grow. I've done a bunch of reading but without a doubt, I'm a growin' gimp. I had to be stealth and since I don't have money falling out my arse, I didn't break my wallet doing it. I hope I have something that will work. I posted a pic for some feedback. Cab size is 24h x 23w x 13.5 front to back unoccupied space with light at max height. Using bag seed of god knows what, but it was good
    . Lights are 146 actual watts cfl. My primary bulb is a 400 watt (equiv) monster that I had to mount sideways to maximize grow space. Two more 23w (100equiv) will go in as the plant pops. I'm thinking LST (wanna do 1 plant to avoid the multi-plant, rain on my parade penalty, just in case). Looking for advise on pot size and suggestions on start up to get the most outta this. If possible, I'd like to do a 1 and done (one pot start to finish since I'm worried about fookin somethin up during transplant) but if stepping it up during grow would be better, I'll risk it. I'm trying to stay as off radar as possible so I'm not ordering anything to be delivered which has me struggling to find a good soil that I can get local. (smallish town) So how about it weedmasters? I'd really appreciate some points in the right direction.
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sworth

sworth

Well-Known Member
Phew! Where to start? ;)
LST for sure.
Is that pc fans at the back? Cos you haven't mentioned ventilation...
 
H

hillzbilly

Member
I hear ya on the where to start....and sorry. As mentioned, I've done a bunch of reading so I "know" the basics but where I am struggling is specifics. Since my cab is small, I obviously can't go with a 1.5 gallon (or I could but I think that I would have no room for flowering, but since I have no friggin clue, I dunno :) I was hoping for a go with X tall, Y wide based on the measurements given. With 24" of height, I didn't want to run out of room but don't want to root lock either. On the soil, I'm thinking plain (non-Miracle Grow) potting soil mixed with 1/4 perlite and was hoping for a "you can find just about anywhere" plan B option.

Re: Ventilation - Your right, 2 pc fans. Passive intakes in the bottom with filters on them. The black that you see on the fans is cut to fit carbon filters (hardware wire on them to keep the filters from hitting the blades). I made it with the angled back on the cab to add a secondary pass layer of carbon on the outside (3 layers). If my calcs are right, I'll be changing the air 7 times an hour, even with the restrictions added by the filters.
 
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hillzbilly

Member
Well, since it's my 1st grow, and I have no clue how it's going to go, I'm going with some Xcellent bag seed of unknown type. If I can pull this off and end up with something smoke-able and more than 2 bowls worth, I'll think about running the risk of mail ordering something better. :)
 
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hillzbilly

Member
And...you lost me :) Topping I understand....I was planning on just keeping the center cola under the height of everything else to avoid chopping it (trying to minimize what could go wrong 1st time out). Do you think results will suk without topping? FIMing has me off to google :) Thanks for the replies!
 
cheechako

cheechako

Well-Known Member
hillzbilly said:

  • My primary bulb is a 400 watt (equiv) monster that I had to mount sideways to maximize grow space.​
Click to expand...

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Don't talk "equiv" - that is meaningless. And most of the light will come from the sides. So it turns out you've maximized the light by mounting the bulb the right way. Cool deal, eh?

Good luck with the grow!
 
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hillzbilly

Member
Gotcha - Re: "equiv" and glad to hear that mounting sideways max'd the bulb yield. I was going to make some "candlestick" like fixtures for my 2 23 watt boosters. Guess I'll have to figure out a way to get them to go sideways rather than up and down. Thanks for the info.
 
super smoking puffer

super smoking puffer

Member
topping is the easiest thing to do if youve managed germinating and planting the suckers you will manage topping if they stretch tie them down look on youtube there amazing tutorials on topping and tieing down your plants ;)
 
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