200w+ CFL scrog in the attic

So as a result of RIU getting hacked, I'm restarting this grow journal. Since I haven't even germinated the seeds yet, there isn't a whole lot of catching up that's necessary.

The basic setup is a plywood grow box in the attic, roughly 4 x 2 x 4 feet, with a usable grow area of about 1.5 x 3 ft. I currently have about 15,000 lumens worth of CFLs, but I might add a few more during flowering. I will be doing my first couple grows in soil, but might be convinced to switch to hydro or aero if I'm not happy with the results. This is strictly for personal consumption, not a commercial operation, so I don't care too much about maximizing my yield. I just want to grow some healthy, happy plants.

As far as the strain, I've ordered a pack of Safari Mix, but it came with a Dinafem Super Silver freebie. If I can get the freebie started and clone it, I'll probably save the safari mix for later (or give it to a friend who is considering a guerrilla grow).

This isn't my first grow, but it's my first one in a long time. I did two small indoor grows back in 2003, and then a couple guerrilla grows in 2004. I'm excited to get back to the hobby.

Right now I'm probably a week or so from germination. I still need to add the exhaust ducting and something reflective to the grow box, and I need to buy an exhaust fan. I'll update this journal when I'm ready to germinate.

P.S. Please feel free to comment on my journal!

So things took a little longer than expected to get going, but I'm finally underway! Still need to sort out the exhaust fan and ducting, but otherwise the grow box is basically up and running. Here's a photo of the Dinafem Super Silver seedling:



She's stretched a bit because I left her under a ziploc bag too long to keep in moisture, but now I have her kissing 148w of CFLs (2x42w and 2x32w), so hopefully there won't be much more of that. She's in some soil from my yard, which is teeming with earthworms, so the topsoil is largely castings. I am picking up a bag of proper potting soil in the next couple days and will be transplanting her within the week. Hopefully the soil doesn't retain too much water and rot the roots between now and then.

I'll start updating more often now that things are moving along.

I thought I'd post a few more pictures. As you can see, there's not a whole lot to see so far, but I like to be thorough. First, here's a photo showing the current (seedling-oriented) setup:



Here's what it looks like under my makeshift reflector:



And finally, a few closer shots of the little girl:

Already transplanted her into some good new soil, and she seems happier already. Here are two pics:

looking nice my freind, My little girl is slightly younger than yours. Although im limited on supplies so im just using 2700k 30 watt bulbs, as ther is absolutley no 5000 or 6500k bulbs anywhere but she is super happy and health so far.

iiKode said:

looking nice my freind, My little girl is slightly younger than yours. Although im limited on supplies so im just using 2700k 30 watt bulbs, as ther is absolutley no 5000 or 6500k bulbs anywhere but she is super happy and health so far.

Click to expand...

Thanks for stopping by. I doubt yours is too much younger than my girl, she's not even a week old yet! I'm sure you'll do fine with the 2700k bulbs, at least until you get some 6500k's... you can buy them online if there aren't any available locally.

Speaking of the little lady, time for some more pics (she's now 6 days old):




I realize that posting every day is ridiculous, so I'll probably slow down soon. But kinda like a first-time parent, you take a lot of photos near the beginning....

I just realized the photos are being shrunk, so here's an attempt to directly link to the photo (though this link will go down if imageshack decides I'm violating their terms of service or something):

I'm going to force myself to go a day without posting another photo, but I nevertheless feel the need to post something. So, here are some updates.

First, I'm making some progress on the ventilation/exhaust front. I scavenged a 44 cfm fan from an old PC power supply, and I think I'll start out with that unless temperatures become a problem. Here are the specs, which I found online:

Voltage - Rated 12VDC
Power (Watts) 2.50W
Bearing Type Sleeve
Size / Dimension Square - 92mm L x 92mm H x 25mm W
Air Flow 44.0 CFM (1.25m³/min)
Fan Type Tubeaxial
Noise 32 dB(A)
RPM 2400 RPM
Static Pressure 0.140 in H2O (34.9 Pa)
Weight 0.238 lb (107.95g)
Current Rating 0.210A
Voltage Range 5 ~ 13.8VDC
Operating Temperature 14 ~ 158°F (-10 ~ 70°C)

I've got it hooked up to an old 300mA Radio Shack AC/DC adapter I had laying around, and I'm trying to decide whether to set it at 9v or 12v. I'll probably start at 9 and move it up to 12 if temps become an issue.

I also realized I didn't discuss the soil I ended up selecting. There were two choices at the local farmers' co-op, and I went with McEnroe Premium Organic Potting Soil, which I mixed about 3:1 with perlite to improve drainage. At this point I just have the seedling in a fairly small pot, but once she gives me some clones I'll put them in the final container (a recycling bin) and put the screen in place for the scrog. That's at least a month away, though, so I'm getting a bit ahead of myself.

Until next time (probably with photos again)....

Not a lot to report here, just a few quick photos:







I did also fashion a door of sorts, but I'll save that discussion until I take photos, probably not until I get the fan installed and photograph that too.

And finally, here are full-res copies of the last couple photos:


Click here for direct link to photo


Click here for direct link to photo

Today was a busy day for me with the grow box. I finally got the fan installed, attached my air intake (direct tap from my central a/c duct), and gave my girl her first watering since she was transplanted on 4/8.

I didn't take any photos of the fan/air intake yet, as those can wait until I've finished the inside with something reflective (any suggestions?), but here are some photos of the plant:







As you can see, she's just pushing out her third node now. I'm not sure how nutrient-rich the organic soil I'm using is, so I'm curious if anyone has suggestions for organic fertilizers or how soon I should start feeding. Any feedback would be appreciated!

P.S. Here's one of the closer photos at full res (right-click and view image for the actual full-resolution):

So, I have a few updates on the Super Silver girl. First, a photo from earlier today, underneath a single 42w (6500k) CFL, which I've decided is sufficient until she gets wider or taller, since I can only get one bulb close enough to her anyhow:



Shortly after taking that photo, I decided to FIM her just above the 3rd node. The plan is to encourage the development of a few branches, so I can clip a couple of them to be clones and then start training the rest onto a screen. Here's a post-FIM closeup shot:



Then, a few hours later, I checked in on her to see how she was doing. Other than a few small splotches on the leaves (I'm hoping it's from being too close to the light, so I raised it an inch), seems like she's okay:



I also took a couple photos of the grow box (/tent?), since I hadn't done that yet. First, here's a shot from the outside with the inner flap of the double door still closed:



As you can see, the sides are plywood, but the entrance side is more like a tent, from 5mil plastic, which I've also lined the inside of the plywood with to make it light- and air-tight. I still don't have anything reflective covering that up, so I'll save inside photos for when that's in place. Finally, here's a closer shot that shows the air conditioning duct that serves as my air intake and the exhaust fan above:

I'm trying to limit myself to one update every 3 days, so here we go...

The kinda sick looking leaves are still kinda sick, and possibly slightly more so, but it doesn't seem to be accelerating or spreading too far, so I'll just keep an eye on it for now. Here are some pics I took last night of the affected leaves:




The reason I've basically ruled out the bulb burning them as the cause is this leaf is directly above one of the affected leaves (i.e., between it and the bulb), and shows no sign of splotches or anything:



Other than that, the plant is looking pretty good, growing at a nice rate and not stretching too badly:



I gave her a good solid watering today, since I realized I had been under-saturating the soil during the earlier waterings (no water came out the bottom), so it was drying out completely in like a day and a half. I also sprinkled a little Espoma Plant-tone on the soil before the watering, so here's to hoping she'll respond well to the low-level nutes this early in veg.

Finally, the nodes below my attempted FIM are starting to sprout out pretty good:



I'm hoping she'll be a little bush within a week, and perhaps I'll take clones sometime in the next 10 days or so.

Just a helpful note: CFLs put out more light sideways than straight up. But looks good so far but its like people nowadays, any can make a baby but it takes a man to raise one right!

SmokaVer9 said:

Just a helpful note: CFLs put out more light sideways than straight up. But looks good so far but its like people nowadays, any can make a baby but it takes a man to raise one right!

Click to expand...

Thanks for stopping by! Interestingly, I asked that very question awhile back and someone posted results of tests that showed the opposite was true:

https://www.rollitup.org/cfl-fluorescent-lighting/513791-best-angle-cfls-placed.html

Some people say 180* angle and some 90* I did a small grow with just cfls and I had mine at 110* angle and they seemed to like it very well.

I can't seem to keep myself from updating more often than I planned... I'm sure I'll slow down the updates soon enough, but I'm still excited about the whole thing.

First off, the nodes below where I fimmed are starting to develop noticeably:





Also, the top fan leaves are getting much wider than I would have expected for such a sativa-dominant strain:



I'm happy to report that the brown splotches don't appear to be getting any worse, so it was probably just some heat stress before I got the fans installed and the a/c pumping cold air into the box.

Other than that, the big news of the day is that I decided to switch from 24/0 to 20/4, so I hooked up my timer. I imagine she'll start stretching a bit more now that there will be a darkness part of the cycle, brief though it is. For the time being I still have just two bulbs, each 42w, one is 6500k and the other is 2700k, for a total of 5600 lumens. You can kinda see the difference in color between the bulbs in this photo:



I don't think I'll be adding any more bulbs until the branches start to spread out a bit, allowing me to position lights right next to the leaves.

I'm working on getting the screen/container setup for the scrog, so that'll be my next update (probably 2-3 days).

man i have super silver on 12/12 mode as we speak get ready for the stretch also from what i have experienced this strain might need minimal watering, also if you dont have patience (i lack in that dept.) the throw her out and get something else. it is a slow sob to flower at day 32 in flower and it looks like an indica on day 10 of flower.. i will get a smoke report on this strain in about 8 more weeks lol. also that grow room/tent might not be tall enough for this strain.

looking good there. good luck. i also read that the spiral cfl's are better when placed perpendicular to the plant.

Looking good, sub'ed for the ride! Happy 420 and safe growing!