CFL Rubbermaid Closet grow *pics and updates!*

Okay Guys -

Im growing 3 bagseeds in a RubberMaid grow box that I have been building the last few nights!

I'm currently running 3x42w CFL's, and 1 45x CFL (see pics below). My rubbermaid box has 2 9inch for air circulation and heat control . One is on the bottom blowing ait from outside of the box on the plants, the other on the top is blowing warm air out of the box.

I am using a Hudmity thermometer and a digital weather system so I can monitor temps in the box without having to open the box, or be in the same room.

July 1st
I had been wanting to grow my own plant for YEARS, but until recently it was one of those "One day" things that you never expect to actually do.

When you dump a big bag of pot out on your table and a few seeds start raining down..."i could plant these motherfuckers" immediately comes to mind.
A quick google search about "how to grow pot" led me here.

This site is CLUTCH kiss-ass

I've read A LOT on these forums, read peoples journals, watch a few youtube videos, and picked up THE BIBLE (an old ass version...pre CFL i think)

So 3 seeds out of 6 germinated after 48 hours..I was thrown off at first, then noticed the seeds that did not come out n' play were still quite green and undeveloped.

I picked up some organic pot soil from Home Debot, picked up some small pots, my CFL's, a Rubbermaid, connectors for the CFL fixture (see pic), and a few other things to make er' all start working.

Things started off a bit slow, but after a 2 days my sprouts were starting to grow fast.

JULY 9th

I've done a no-no and added TINFOIL (dull side out) to my rubbermaid. I've order Mylar online, but until she shows up - Tin foil will have to do. I thought about adding white paper but as FIRE SAFE and these small setups sound ...I'll sleep better at night knowing there's no potential of hot + paper = fire going down in my closet!

**I have been keeping the lights about 2-3 inches from the top of the plants.

*** My plant schedule right now is (9:00am - 12:00) 15:9 - it will switch during flowering

**** I have not adeed at Nutes/Ferts

Thanks for checkin this out guys. I have TONS of time on my hands, and am taking this grow very seriously. I new to this stuff and your help will be greattttly appreciated. !

first thing first. Good job and good luck. This is an exciting time. A few words of advise. First with cfls you want them as close to the plants as possible without touching the leaves. The leaves will only burn if they are touching the bulb. Second you will need to look into lst or scrogging if you plan on doing the whole grow in that rubbermaid, or else i have a feeling that you will run out of room. Keep up the good work though

b1izzard said:

first thing first. Good job and good luck. This is an exciting time. A few words of advise. First with cfls you want them as close to the plants as possible without touching the leaves. The leaves will only burn if they are touching the bulb. Second you will need to look into lst or scrogging if you plan on doing the whole grow in that rubbermaid, or else i have a feeling that you will run out of room. Keep up the good work though

Click to expand...

Thanks man - im stoked!

-All add another DVD under each plant to bring them within 1 inch of the bulb (without touching). Thaanks for the headsup!

- I have that whole closet space to work with. Now that I'm getting so into this, I think I may upgrade my setup...Would it shock the plants to change their environment? I would keep the same light schedule - just upgrade lighting and work in a larger space


FORGOT TO MENTION: Planted with Organic Ready to use Soil Mix - African Violet Mix by Premium Nature Mix (HORTIBEC). Ingredients: Peat Moss, humus,Compost, Perlite

yea, nice work on the rubbermaid, man. He's right keep the light,just almost touching them, cause the don't put off much heat. I wouldn't hurt to keep your light on 24/7, if you can, I do. You get really good growth, then what light are you going with? I use a 400 watt metal hylide, if that's how you spell it, and I keep that on for 24/7, till they get 11/2-2 feet tall and snap them into flowering with 12/12, and make sure you don't over water, water only when the first inch or so under is dry. Over watering is BAD, mkes mold, drowns roots, and slows overall growth. Add nutrients about 6th week, once a week, and add 1/4 of what the bottle says, and gradually increase.

Haha, Congrats dude!

Welcome to the group!

Your excited now, wait until the start growing like crazy, then when u flip in to 12/12 and see a white hair, you'll be like OMG this is awesome, i love this!, then ull continue to grow till u die!

Yeah what he said. Best of luck. Remember that you will have to adjust your distance between the plants and lights. I actually keep my so close that it stunted growth and if you can put a couple around the sides that would be good.

dscb said:

Yeah what he said. Best of luck. Remember that you will have to adjust your distance between the plants and lights. I actually keep my so close that it stunted growth and if you can put a couple around the sides that would be good.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback guys - im LOVING this, and trying not to do "too much" too soon. This is my first grow, so bag seed and an inexpensive seems to be a good way to test the waters.

Is it a bad idea to re-position my plants every now and then? Usually once a day I will turn my pots 180 Degrees. Sometimes the plant will start to grow towards a certain light - so the "spin" will help straighten out the stem.

I'll post a picture of one of the plants in a few minutes. I've noticed something a little funky that I need some help with.

Thnx guys - Keep checkin back!

SirNastyFinger said:

Thanks for the feedback guys - im LOVING this, and trying not to do "too much" too soon. This is my first grow, so bag seed and an inexpensive seems to be a good way to test the waters.

Is it a bad idea to re-position my plants every now and then? Usually once a day I will turn my pots 180 Degrees. Sometimes the plant will start to grow towards a certain light - so the "spin" will help straighten out the stem.

I'll post a picture of one of the plants in a few minutes. I've noticed something a little funky that I need some help with.

Thnx guys - Keep checkin back!

Click to expand...

Okay - attached are the pictures I am talking about! These have been under light for 8 days now, and are on a 15/9 schedule. The new leaves seem to be very strange looking...they almost look like an "S" shape, and not coming out "straight". Im not worried per say - just wondering if this is normal.

Thanks guys

i always rotate my plant once a day. Also i have changed my grow area once cause my space was to small and it did nothing bad to the plants. Instead they reacted well since the new area was able to keep better temps and what not.

OKay good

My leaves have grown quite a bit since those pictures this morning. The leaves have grown quite long and are now straight.

I gave them a good watering this morning and it looks like they needed it.

WOW i think i may try this....it would be good for a apartment

Get those lights within an inch or two and you will stop stretching and they will get fatter

[QUOTE="SmokinForever";2725314]Get those lights within an inch or two and you will stop stretching and they will get fatter[/QUOTE]

It's been 3/4 days now since I moved the lights closer to the plant.

They are now MUCH fatter!!
Ill post pics in a few min!

Questions:

Now that things are starting to grow much faster, should I introduce nutes? Is it still too early?

When should I transplant? I'm having to water a small amount each day, or every second day - from what i've read this could mean the root system is developed and it's time for transplant. thoughts?


Thanks guys - this is my first grow and all help is appreciated!

SirNastyFinger said:

It's been 3/4 days now since I moved the lights closer to the plant.

They are now MUCH fatter!!
Ill post pics in a few min!

Questions:

Now that things are starting to grow much faster, should I introduce nutes? Is it still too early?

When should I transplant? I'm having to water a small amount each day, or every second day - from what i've read this could mean the root system is developed and it's time for transplant. thoughts?


Thanks guys - this is my first grow and all help is appreciated!

Click to expand...

JULY 13

Things are going well since my last picture update! The leaves are finally starting to grow in size, and the closer proximity to the lights seems to be paying off.

13 days in - I have noticed a few things:

-Today the leaves are curled and are pointing UP (see pics below) is this something I should be worried about?
-I water a small amount each morning when I turn the lights on. I am using small pots at this point, and with the lights close to the soil - it dries up VERY fast.

Thanks for any input guys!

To me it just looks like its reaching for the light, 1-3 inches away from plants. They look good n healthy. just keep doing wut u r doing & make sure u do not over water them. Just simply put ur figner bout an inch or so in the soil to see if its dry or not.

Looking good there. A personal recomendation, as a micro grower myself, would be to try and find small square containers to plant them in. This will help you with space inside your box and room for the roots to grow a little. I found some in the walmart rubbermaid section that worked perfect for me.

bigger BLACK pots will make a world of difference minimum 1 gallon, wait till you have 4-6 sets of leaves before you start adding nutes to your watering schedule, we grow in the same fashion, by your mylar from the camping section at wallyworld look for emergency blankets there cheap $3, leave you lights on for 18hrs due to the fact of low light output and intensity you should see grow increase within 2 days, im running 3 shop lights with ge daylight bulbs totaling 6 tubes and only 3 150 cfl, i see about a inch of growth a day, i also suppliment with natural outdoor light every chance i get and let them bath in the sun on the porch, if this helps kindly + to rep

some other rubbermaid grows iv seen just paint the inside white and the outside black. time consuming but i like the idea of less material in the box.

Put them flours just off the top of them babies,their strertching big time.