Bud Manstrong's too-many-CFLs-in-an-IKEA-closet grow

Just thought I'd throw a pic or two up here. If I were a good doobie (huh-huh), I would have taken pics as they were growing up, but I never got around to it.

These are the four ladies left from six original plants. (Two males were killed off about three weeks ago.) Three are Top44, one is Afghani. The plants grew from seedlings in 18/6 for about two months, then it took me about two weeks to get them to 12/12. (I shaved the light period down an hour every other day, and also moved the light period from daylight hours to nighttime hours, so I could tend to them when I was home.) After that ten-week period, it's been about three weeks of 12/12.

First pic is the big spindly plant. I topped it a long time ago ... the cut point is about halfway up the plant. I ended up bending the three biggest branches together because of a lack of room. They seem to be happy enough now. Pic was taken in the middle of a flush.



Second is a pic of the other three plants in my closet ... two IKEA wardrobes back-to-back. Room for four relatively large plants in there, but it's getting crowded. There are a dozen 40W (actual) 2700K bulbs in there.



Gettin' stinky in there!

- Bud

very sweet i'm diggin it

those are nice plants

jfa916 said:

those are nice plants

Click to expand...

Thanks. For my first grow ever, I think it's going well. I just wish I had switched them to flowering much earlier...the three Top44's are very big already, and I'm running out of room at the top of the wardrobes. The Afghani is still nice and stocky (it's actually sitting on a box in the back corner, to get it up closer to the light).

I just wonder what they're going to look like in another 4 to 6 weeks!

- Bud

if yoy keep growin like that they will flourish and give you a nice reward,i love the afghani strains always a winner in my book.tried any afghani goo?

nice Fox Farm reflector! haha

How about some updated pics?

The grow is four plants in two back-to-back IKEA wardrobes. Total interior space is 3' x 4', and about 6' tall. Air intake is through the cardboard box that's snugged up to the rear of the wardrobes (pics in a sec). Light is 12 40W 2700K CFLs in three fixtures of four each. Been flowering now for about 7 weeks.

Cat litter containers to the side are dechlorinating water. Wardrobes are lined with mylar.



Here's the rear. The dryer vent is connected to a bathroom exhaust fan in the closet, and is pushing air up through a small (2") vent that goes directly to the roof. Can't smell anything outside ... it exhausts on the roof of the house, and it's too high up to smell anything before it gets dispersed.



The cardboard box on the rear of the wardrobes doubles as a drying rack. Just put the twine in yesterday. Air intake is through louvers in the side (positioned so they don't allow ambient light into the wardrobe) and then through a window fan unit between the box and the wardrobe. The system is limited by the fact that the exhaust is being forced through a long, 2" pipe, so even when the window unit is on low, it's pushing more air than the exhaust can remove.

The drying rack will provide darkness, and a small amount of airflow, and the smell will go out the roof exhaust.



Here's a shot of the fan in the back of the rear wardrobe, and a shot of the exhaust fan, on a shelf at the top of the rear wardrobe.

Originally, I thought I'd just do one wardrobe, so the exhuast fan was closed off by the front doors, but when I realized I needed more space to grow, I had to add the second wardrobe to the front.



Some buddage:


I see some cloudy trichs, although they might just look cloudy because of the angle I view them from. No amber trichs yet. The hairs have been dark for a couple weeks now, but more calyxes keep appearing, so I think I'm good.

Made a few mistakes on this, my first grow. Let the plants veg for too long, so now they're a bit out of control ... next time I'll top them before they get to be four feet tall!

Comment? Criticism?

-- Bud