First Grow - Beg, Borrow & Steal - Advice Wanted

I don't know how reputable the source is ( http://www.rentitgreen.com/rental-property-energy-savings/lighting/cfl ) but here is the skinny on CFLs heat production vs. Incandescent:

CFL bulbs are leading the charge to replace standard incandescent because of their ability to fit existing incandescent fixtures combined with the efficiency of fluorescent lighting. CFLs use a quarter of the energy to provide the same amount of light and can last up to 15 times longer than incandescent bulbs.
They come in a variety of size and shapes while some types are enclosed in a glass globe to mimic the look of incandescent bulbs.
Fire potential is exceedingly lower with CFLs as they produce 90% less heat than incandescent bulbs.

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If this and what I found in my previous post is correct there should be no problems having 80 watts on those light fixtures even though they are rated for 75 watts (for fear of fire danger). FYI (the socket rating is 250v 660w [written on both sockets], the 75 watts is for overheating only).

Now I just have to purchase some Y adapters and some white paint.

Xcon said:

When you strip the cord, follow the skinny plug for the "hot" wire. Cut out some insulation on the wire, and hook it under the "hot" screw on the socket. Do the same with the other wire so that they both end on a socket. This is a pic of an older cfl board I made, only 200w but you can see how I stripped the wire for multiple sockets.

edit: the socket will tell you which screw is hot, mine was the gold screw.

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Nice, okay now I got the picture. Thanks for showing the pic, it made things clear for me. I'll have to take a trip to local hardware store and price things out.

ROBSTERB said:

that looks like it means the socket so i wouldnt go above that. your proberly right cfls give off less heat so you should be fine

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On the socket it says 250v 660w, only on the cord or extra sticker does it say- CAUTION:To reduce risk of fire use 75w MAX type a lamp

ikeathesofa said:

Another question: Does anyone have a suggestion on how to build the box? I'd like to have 2 maybe 3 plants at most, probably one most of the time. Space is 3ft 6inch long, 2ft 8inch wide, 4ft high.

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This may seem horribly "ghetto" but it seems like a great idea to me especially when using low heat lights like cfls:

http://www.uhaul.com/MovingSupplies/Boxes/Clothing-moving-boxes/Grand-Wardrobe-Box?id=6560

A nice large thick sturdy uhaul "grand wardrobe box" for hanging clothes in wardrobe bar included for hanging lights from perhaps and only 12 bucks.

Just a thought it may sound like a horrible idea but with some ingenuity you could easily make a great box. It's a little over a quarter inch thick very sturdy easy to cut holes in for fans holes and you could even make a door... or whatever your heart desires. The only problems would be heat exposure to the cardboard and humidity to the cardboards paper but(realistically) I doubt that cfls would damage a cardboard box, especially painted white or with mylar.

menards sells the y adapters there even white ..............u should bleach the bucket

Mr.PurpSkurp said:

This may seem horribly "ghetto" but it seems like a great idea to me especially when using low heat lights like cfls:

http://www.uhaul.com/MovingSupplies/Boxes/Clothing-moving-boxes/Grand-Wardrobe-Box?id=6560

A nice large thick sturdy uhaul "grand wardrobe box" for hanging clothes in wardrobe bar included for hanging lights from perhaps and only 12 bucks.

Just a thought it may sound like a horrible idea but with some ingenuity you could easily make a great box. It's a little over a quarter inch thick very sturdy easy to cut holes in for fans holes and you could even make a door... or whatever your heart desires. The only problems would be heat exposure to the cardboard and humidity to the cardboards paper but(realistically) I doubt that cfls would damage a cardboard box, especially painted white or with mylar.

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Actually, it doesn't sound ghetto at all, sounds like a good idea. I already have lumber, plywood and all the tools necessarily to build a box from wood so I'll probably go that route. Your idea is awesome though and I'd like to give it a try sometime, maybe make one as a portable grow box. I bet the lights would be fine, however I'd be a little worried about humidity, I'd also line the bottom of the box with plastic to keep water spills from destroying the box.

Thanks for chiming in. Cheers.

wayno30 said:

menards sells the y adapters there even white ..............u should bleach the bucket

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I've never heard of menards where I live. I bet the local lowes, home depot or walmart has them though.

Funny you should say so, but the bucket was used for cleaning, its last contents was bleach water to scrub moss off of wooden stairs on the side of our house. I'll clean it thoroughly, use a sanitizing solution ( Five Star - Star San [used in brewing beer, let dry, no rinse]) and then drill some holes in the bottom for drainage. Thanks for jumping into the thread. Your comments are appreciated, even though succinct.

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Anyone have any suggestions for converting 3 gallon bucket to plant potter?

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On a different subject, recently received seeds from somewhat notorious Cannabis Seeds . com
About 7 days for transport, but received seeds in nondescript package, in crush proof vial.
The 12 seeds (exact amount ordered) look normal, little fat brown lovely looking seeds.
Price and Shipping seemed adequate so far - though price depends on quality of seeds, age, viability, genetics and if strain ordered is received.
Those things will tell in time. So a qualified satisfied so far (dependent on future germ rates, genetics and smoke quality). Pictures follow:

now i have to look up another word

cannabisseeds.com - they seem to be actually delivering recently, but reputation is very bad
hope you get some good results, i think they occasionally send out better quality

Great ideas but sorry about your seedbank choice... I did the same thing 1 1/2 yrs ago.. Someone told me to pull my 4ft babies..that they wern't going to be worth it... should have listened!!! Need to spend a couple bucks on good genetics ... Peace of mind!!!

wayno30 said:

now i have to look up another word

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LOL. Short, well said sentences. Or something like that.

growone said:

cannabisseeds.com - they seem to be actually delivering recently, but reputation is very bad
hope you get some good results, i think they occasionally send out better quality

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Yeah I know, I've read the reviews. I was sad to read them after I ordered. But one can hope right?

ski guy said:

Great ideas but sorry about your seedbank choice... I did the same thing 1 1/2 yrs ago.. Someone told me to pull my 4ft babies..that they wern't going to be worth it... should have listened!!! Need to spend a couple bucks on good genetics ... Peace of mind!!!

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I agree, but I just didn't have the right info. I'd have been happy to have three pick and mix seeds for the same price but just didn't know. I'm hoping that I'm one of the people that gets lucky. I've read about 50% of people that do okay with these seeds but thats still bad odds.

Planted 3 seeds, supposedly Juicy Fruit. Next is grow box build while seeds germinate. But I think we might be grilling rabbit tomorrow so I'll have to build it in the morning.

This is the makeshift germination setup, taking a que from Starting Your Seeds thread.

Any thoughts so far?

I saw a thread somewhere, in which a guy used a two liter bottle cut up and then re-taped in order to make transplanting easier. That's where I got the idea for the two liter bottles in the picture. I spray painted the outside black because I remember reading somewhere that the roots should not be exposed to light. I also poked holes in the bottom for drainage. Seeds have been in for about 18 hours.

you might do alright with the seeds, we'll have to see, you may get some old stock, which could be legit genetics but low germ rate
i have seen many reports of their seeds being hemp, what they send out seems to change from time to time

growone said:

you might do alright with the seeds, we'll have to see, you may get some old stock, which could be legit genetics but low germ rate
i have seen many reports of their seeds being hemp, what they send out seems to change from time to time

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I guess I'll just have to take my chances on the genetics. Though so far no seeds have sprouted. I had planted three in soil two days ago. Today I planted six more. Here's hoping.

Thanks for all the responses growone. Much appreciated.

On a sad but unrelated note: the reason I haven't responded to posts much lately is that my cat spilled a glass of water on my computer the other night while I was sleeping. So far it seems like the cat probably turned my $800 laptop into a paperweight.
I took it apart and am drying it with a fan, but I don't have much hope. Hard to post without a computer.

ikeathesofa said:

I guess I'll just have to take my chances on the genetics. Though so far no seeds have sprouted. I had planted three in soil two days ago. Today I planted six more. Here's hoping.

Thanks for all the responses growone. Much appreciated.

On a sad but unrelated note: the reason I haven't responded to posts much lately is that my cat spilled a glass of water on my computer the other night while I was sleeping. So far it seems like the cat probably turned my $800 laptop into a paperweight.
I took it apart and am drying it with a fan, but I don't have much hope. Hard to post without a computer.

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well, that's a bit of a downer, not sure what your chances from laptop immersion are
but on the seeds, no sweat yet, 2 days in soil is nothing, don't waste seeds if you don't have to, you can never be sure what you have till it's grown for a while

So, some of my worries have subsided. After three and a half days, all three seeds I planted have germinated. (Sucks that I planted six more as insurance, because I was worried about germ rates from Cannabisseeds.com seeds - Juicy Fruit) Since my box is about 70% compleated, i've had to jerry rigg my lights and get them as close to the seedlings as possible. After careful consideration I've thought twice about improvisiong containers, especially ones that are different heights. It's made it tough to keep the lights a consistent distance from the seedlings and give them all enough light.

They all look like they are streatching to me and I've had a fan on them since day one to strengthen the stems but I'm worried by the constant vertical growth. I know I need my lights closer but my current setup will not allow me to easily adjust height of lights. When my box is finished, hopefully tomorrow, i'll be able to get the lights down to and inch or three to the seedlings.

I'm learning so much and my first grow just started!

Any thoughts or comments well appreciated.

Thanks!

Photos:

growone said:

well, that's a bit of a downer, not sure what your chances from laptop immersion are
but on the seeds, no sweat yet, 2 days in soil is nothing, don't waste seeds if you don't have to, you can never be sure what you have till it's grown for a while

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On the subject on my laptop. Not sure if I can cuss on here but... It's a fucking miracle.

After my cat spilled a half glass of water on my laptop. I woke to find it in a puddle, the power off, many components soaked and as I took it apart many of the inside parts were wet. The first thing I did when I noticed water on the computer and the power off after I had left it on was unplug the machine. I then took it apart (I used to work as a computer tech.) and put a box fan on the parts and main laptop chassis in order to dry it. I left it like that for three days, because I know water can get into parts of the computer that are not user serviceable (like a hard-drive). But that if you give it enough time in the right conditions it might dry out on its own.

Lo and behold the god-damned laptop powered on and has been working normally for two days ( I wanted to test it out for a day or so to see if it exhibited any strange behavior). Its been working like a champ. Fucking hell I am relieved, I did not have money to replace it, but it is the basis of my business: Graphic Design. Apparently HP has improved in quality since I worked fixing computers of all kinds ten years ago.

Yay for all that. Now I can start a grow journal.

How does a grow journal work, by the way?

ikeathesofa said:

On the subject on my laptop. Not sure if I can cuss on here but... It's a fucking miracle.

After my cat spilled a half glass of water on my laptop. I woke to find it in a puddle, the power off, many components soaked and as I took it apart many of the inside parts were wet. The first thing I did when I noticed water on the computer and the power off after I had left it on was unplug the machine. I then took it apart (I used to work as a computer tech.) and put a box fan on the parts and main laptop chassis in order to dry it. I left it like that for three days, because I know water can get into parts of the computer that are not user serviceable (like a hard-drive). But that if you give it enough time in the right conditions it might dry out on its own.

Lo and behold the god-damned laptop powered on and has been working normally for two days ( I wanted to test it out for a day or so to see if it exhibited any strange behavior). Its been working like a champ. Fucking hell I am relieved, I did not have money to replace it, but it is the basis of my business: Graphic Design. Apparently HP has improved in quality since I worked fixing computers of all kinds ten years ago.

Yay for all that. Now I can start a grow journal.

How does a grow journal work, by the way?

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i thought it was toast, good news indeed
getting the seedlings closer to the light is a good idea, you'll get stretch like you're seeing if you don't
you might be able set up a pedestal of some sort under the pot(i use bricks)
as for a journal, i just open a thread, so not sure of the journal particulars