First Time Grow

Hey guys. I'm in the middle of setting up my first grow. I'm growing inside of my speakers (which is a genius idea if I do say so myself because they're just big mostly empty boxes that no one ever looks at). Two grow boxes by about 1'x8inx2.5ft. Each with 2 70W equiv fluorescent light sticks (color temp of like 6800K) down the side and one big-ass 300W equiv. CFL up top (color temp of 2700K). It's about 4500 lumens per box. Both boxes will house a single plant. Each has an exhaust up top (computer fans with a few unused laptop chargers soldered into them) and a passive intake (no fan) taken from the floor where it's nice and cold. I keep the one I've finished and keep it at around 78-84F. Almost done with the other. Using about 1.5Gal of miracle grow moisture control per box. Using a bag seed of shitty weed in one to get it started and to dick around with and going to wait a little bit and hopefully get my 5 feminized seeds from Nirvana Seeds (anyone know their rep? It's been a week so far) to plant in the other one. Germ'd one of the bag seeds and you could see a little tap root coming out. Planted it about 0.5 inch down in the soil and watered the whole thing. Boxes are on 18 hour a day light cycle. Now for a few beginner questions...

-How long will it take from my planting today to harvesting for a 2 foot tall plant? 3 months is what I've read is normal.
-What should I do and when should I induce flowering to have it ready to harvest at 2 feet? Topping? Tying it down? Bending?
-I know this is damn near impossible to answer but considering my setup and lumen per plant and good temp control, what would my expected yield per plant be in worst case and best case scenarios?
-Does it smell like hell to grow? Could I toss a few dryer sheets in the exhaust and be done with it? I really don't want my entire place smelling like weed (well I do but you know what I mean).

Thanks guys!

Here's the grow box I'm still working on. I'm still missing the backing made of Aluminum foil which brightens up everything up considerably.


An idea of the size


Miracle Grow soil


This is the 300W grow light from my other box that I still have to get for the box I'm working on. It's wired and ready to go. I just need the bulb.


Exhaust fan from the completed box ducted up


Here's the seed I planted in my completed box. You can see the tap root.

No offense. to small of a box. I recommend larger cfl lights 35$ usd price. check out one of my posts on grow room setups here. I see your light setup and all i can see is failure. need more power and room. https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/380982-show-your-cfl-cabinets.html#post4849484


edited found the post of the construction here ---> https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/335071-first-time-growing-ever-well-3.html#post4355398

Don't be motivational or anything... I know it's skinny but is it doable?

I mean it's got good airflow, almost 5000 lumens per plant, temp, and water. More powerful what? The 300W CFL was the biggest CFL they had at the store. It's bigger than my entire hand. I don't see the problem but I'm a newbie so please tell me.

Just bought another 300W bulb for the other grow box and just finished it. I still don't under stand what's wrong with my setup

I'm not trying to be a pest but really. What is wrong with my setup?

I think monster is trying to say that he thinks you don't have enough wattage. Also 300w is the incandescent equivalent, the true wattage is what counts. I think you could grow a plant with the lights you have. check out my grow i've only got about 100w in my box.

That's something else I thought about. I thought LUMENS was what counted. Wattage just has to do with your electricity bill. I also have almost 100W and close to 5000 lumens per box and that's only for one plant. the big one is about 80W and the two small ones are a bit less than 20.

Is that not right? My 300W has like 3000 lumens and the two tubes have like 800 lumens each. It's REALLY bright to look at in the box. I can keep the box at about 80F-81F. I can water it and it has plenty of soil. what's the problem?

For only one plant, you should have enough light. I'm on my first grow, but I know from my own experience. With the 8 CFLs I used, I had 8 plants growing very nicely at one time. I also had 3 small T5 fixtures (very similar to what you have) for side fill lighting. Only two of the plants were girls, but that has nothing to do with lights or grow space. I now have the 8 CFLs and 3 T5s covering my 2 ladies, and they're about 2 weeks from harvest. I surely would have gotten a better grow with more lights - and more experience - but there is NO DENYING that I'm gonna have some decent bud from JUST CFLs!!! You WILL get a crop if you cover all your bases and keep temperatures, moisture and nutes in acceptable range. The lights will be fine - but I'd suggest removing those plastic covers from your tube lights so you don't waste any bit of light output from them. If you try to train and tie your plant to use every bit of your space, you should be smoking it in a few months. Here is a look at my 34 inch CFL girls:



GOOD LUCK AND HAPPY GROWING- Mandi

BTW...I used 26w daylight (6500k) CFLs for veg, and have 42w (2700k) on them now.

I havent really looked into humidity control. Almost always, its like 60%+ humidity where i live. Would it be the same inside as it is outside? Can i just put a glass of water under the intake to raise the humidity? Im not sure if that was a stupid question.

The reason i dont have the covers off as i had before is because it encases the heat and i think the tradeoff for keeping the temp near perfect is worth it. also, that will prevent the plant leaves from being burned on the light. does that make sense?

those boxes look small, are you just using them to geminate and then transfer them soon? I'm on my first grow as well using CFLs.. I vegged a clone way too long.. like 2 months.. its been under 12/12 now for about 2.5 weeks and is already growing out of control its like over 3 feet tall about 2.5 feet wide.. . I also pruned it early so it'd grow more bushy .. firends are thinking it'll be like 5-6 feet before its done.

veg i used 7 CFLS 6500 lumes on 12/12 i'm using 6 cfls 2700 lmes and one 15w tube

This pic I have up is OLD its about 2 week before flower. so about 4 weeks ago

Well im going to induce flowering ASAP. And im also going to top it but ive read about people harvesting at 2 feet tall.

yeah I made the mistake only becuase I didn't predict the height it would get once you start 12/12.. i should have got 3 clones and started 12/12 at about 6 inches to a foot instead of 2 feet.

also don't top it during flower
keep us updated on your grow once you switch

Jesus zubey! you STARTED flowering at 2 feet! lol you're going to have some big ass plants.

I was wondering about when to topping during so thanks for clearing that up.

Here's a thread about my grow! https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/401641-first-grow-boom-box-bag.html . I just gotta a little baby sprout today out of some bagseed! Hoping to get my fem'd WW from nirvana shop soon and start another grow. I'll start a thread about that whenever those get here.

snowman4839 said:

I havent really looked into humidity control. Almost always, its like 60%+ humidity where i live. Would it be the same inside as it is outside? Can i just put a glass of water under the intake to raise the humidity? Im not sure if that was a stupid question.

The reason i dont have the covers off as i had before is because it encases the heat and i think the tradeoff for keeping the temp near perfect is worth it. also, that will prevent the plant leaves from being burned on the light. does that make sense?

Click to expand...

Yes, a glass of water will raise humidity a little bit - but your current 60% is good enough anyway. The temperature of your grow box will affect that too. The higher the box temp, the lower the humidity - and it will go up for a while when you water the plant too. You don't really have to worry too much about humidity in veg, unless it's VERY low, like in the 20's. When you get into flower, you WANT humidity to be low, so as to avoid mold on your buds. Levels in the range of 20-30% are better, as mold won't be likely then. I guess in your limited grow space, the light cover may save you some leaf burns after all. Mine had frosty white covers that I removed. They cut the light output too much, and I have the space to keep the leaves away. Your heat output isn't really going to be different with or without - they're going to reach a certain temp due to the actual light itself, and the ambient air temp they're combining with. If your covers are fairly clear, you shouldn't lose a huge amount of light. If you find your plant grows in a more narrow shape that allows clearance of those tube lights, I'd pop those covers later to take advantage of every lumen you can. -Mandi

You mentioned you plan to top...here is the best thread you'll find on it. Uncle Ben really knows his stuff, and you'll learn all you need to know in the first page!

https://www.rollitup.org/advanced-marijuana-cultivation/151706-uncle-bens-topping-technique-get.html

manditroy said:

Yes, a glass of water will raise humidity a little bit - but your current 60% is good enough anyway. The temperature of your grow box will affect that too. The higher the box temp, the lower the humidity - and it will go up for a while when you water the plant too. You don't really have to worry too much about humidity in veg, unless it's VERY low, like in the 20's. When you get into flower, you WANT humidity to be low, so as to avoid mold on your buds. Levels in the range of 20-30% are better, as mold won't be likely then. I guess in your limited grow space, the light cover may save you some leaf burns after all. Mine had frosty white covers that I removed. They cut the light output too much, and I have the space to keep the leaves away. Your heat output isn't really going to be different with or without - they're going to reach a certain temp due to the actual light itself, and the ambient air temp they're combining with. If your covers are fairly clear, you shouldn't lose a huge amount of light. If you find your plant grows in a more narrow shape that allows clearance of those tube lights, I'd pop those covers later to take advantage of every lumen you can. -Mandi
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You mentioned you plan to top...here is the best thread you'll find on it. Uncle Ben really knows his stuff, and you'll learn all you need to know in the first page!

Uncle Ben's Topping Technique to get 2 or 4 MAIN colas

Click to expand...

+rep

Thanks for the info. It's nice getting real world suggestions instead of reading ANOTHER tutorial. My covers are clear and I didn't notice much of a difference with it on than off. But like you said if it stretches a bunch, I'll try to take em off. Is there a way to lower humidity during flowering without actually having to buy a freakin dehumidifier? Also I've heard it's better to have lower temps (like 74F) during flowering for higher potency so lower humidity and temps is going to be kinda hard.

That is a nice cute little box you got there!!! I think for what you are doing, it will be fine for now... but flowering might be a problem as far as height goes. Also, IMO, you should replace the aluminum foil with mylar or flat white paint (even spray paint)- aluminum foil doesn't distribute the light/heat evenly, and you can get bad burn spots. Best wishes with your grow! *Captbooyah

captbooyah said:

That is a nice cute little box you got there!!! I think for what you are doing, it will be fine for now... but flowering might be a problem as far as height goes. Also, IMO, you should replace the aluminum foil with mylar or flat white paint (even spray paint)- aluminum foil doesn't distribute the light/heat evenly, and you can get bad burn spots. Best wishes with your grow! *Captbooyah

Click to expand...

Not sure if this is a stupid question but could I just cover up my lights and the soil and just spray paint the sides or would the fumes probably kill the plant? Well like I've said before (I think). I plan on topping it ASAP and I'll bend it or whatever I have to. I'll keep it managed