First time grower, first time cfl grow

Alright peeps. I've been pretty lame keeping this thread going but have kept taking pics so still going to drop the weeks pics in now if you are still keeping a look in. I'm pretty concerned about my humidity levels at the moment as I can't get them to drop below 70% and they really need to be lower for this flowering - no rotting bud please. If anyone has any solutions please let me know (has to be cheap as well). I've tried fans on for longer, different exhaust times, rock salt in a bowl in the cab, etc, etc. Please let me know. The other thing is I dont think I can see signs of sex yet and really should be starting to see something now?!?!? Day 12 flowering?!?! (Day 12 flowering post will be posted seperately).

Anyway:
Day 34-36 (33-35 in soil) Day 10-11 flowering

As mentioned above - no sign of sex and humidty through the fricking roof - please help!!?!! Still watering and nuting at about 33% with Plagron Bloom and have done a fair bit of crap LST to keep the canopy level and wide and hopefully allowing the main cola point to receive as much light as possible. PICS:

Plant A Day 10 flowering node shot:

Plant B Day 10 flowering node shot:

Plant A day 11 flowering canopy shot:

Plant A day 11 flowering:

Plant B day 11 flowering canopy shot:

Plant B day 11 flowering:

https://www.rollitup.org/members/dafoe23-122475-albums-start-picture51840-photo0540-copy.jpg

Day 37(36 in soil) Day 12 flowering

Very quickly here are the pics from today. Little bit of LST done but nothing artistic lol - finding it more difficult to get plant time at the moment. More nutes added but really struggling with humidty - not a problem yet but will be when bud appears (if it does) all help appreciated on this one as could really end my grow. Not sure what I am expecting during flowering especially looking at the shape of my plants at the moment - any ideas? Are all these tops going to bud up? Fingers crossed I guess but most of the lower branches are level with the topped main stem now and all are getting light (300w CFL flowering light). Comment away please. PICS:

Plant A Day 12 Flowering:

Plant A Day 12 Flowering canopy shot:

Plant B Day 12 flowering:

Plant A day 12 flowering canopy shot:

man thats a nice grow your stalks are getting nice and thick i cant get over how big your leaves are getting thats nice man i hope my grow goes like that! mine are rigth where yours are keep the fourm goin this infos helping huge

Cheers Illbill. Got to admit Ive been surprised on my first grow at how quickly it all spurts along after the first few leafs. Hold in there fella!

Hey! I just finished reading your journal. Very impressive man! Plants look great and dont worry im sure the will show sex very soon! One thing i noticed is that you slightly overwater. It is not causing any harm to the plants but maybe all that water that runs down to the trays you have under the pots is increasing humidity? I think it is a factor... How about covering those trays with something so water does not evaporate and increase humidity and empty them from exess water when it collects? Best luck to your grow man!

dafoe when should i start to clone my plants i think they are ready it would be nice to get a few cuttings in the next few days maybe im goin to youtube some vids today about cloneing cause i dont really know how or what im doing!

dafoe23 said:

Hope this is the right place to post - total newbie so sorry if I'm cocking this up!

OK, so I have decided to grow a bit of the good stuff as I've been having real problems finding anyone that sells around where I live at the moment and always fancied turning my hand at the indoor gardening so to speak. Thought I'd provide a diray/log for anyone that is interested so all replies and tips are much appreciated! Keep in mind that I am a total beginner though and this is my very first grow

I have decided to grow "Power Africa" under a 250w CFL (mainly due to cost and being a first timer I didn’t want to shell out loads just in case it all goes tits up, although since seeing lots of others flowering under HPS and the yield they are getting I just hope I’m not seriously disappointed at the end of all this).

I've constructed a grow box from sterling board measuring 4ftHx3ftLx2ftD and have decided to use 250w CFL's all the way through both stages and see what the outcome is – (HPS users feel free to laugh and mock but as I said, first timer and limited funds). I bought 5 feminised Power Africa just to make sure I don’t end up having to cull my crop - it’s got to be heart breaking!!!!

Strain Vital Stats:
Genetics: Skunk/Haze x Durban Poison
Variety: Mostly Sativa
Type: Hybrid
Harvest Date: End of September
Flowering Period: 8-9 weeks


Location: Indoors/Outdoors/Greenhouse
No. of seeds Per Packet: 5
Characteristics: Large yielding, fast flowering sativa dominant strain.
http://www.seedsman.com/en/cannabis-seeds/seedsman-feminized-seeds/seedsman-feminised-5-seed/power-africa-5-seeds

Grow Box Vital Stats:
Lighting: 250w (Actual Wattage) CFL with reflective hood, controlled by a set of eazi rollers.
Height: 4ft
Length: 3ft
Width: 2ft
Coating: Reflective insulation foil that I had left over (Bought in Tesco’s)
Fans: 2 x 54cfm passive intake pc fans, exhaust 1 x 124cfm pc fan (exhaust fan in post but fittings already in place and have wired up one of the intake fans as the exhaust for the time being until other fan arrives just to keep the temps correct and provide good circulation and new air exchange)
Filter: Will be constructing my own due to funds lol but have found a great article on construction: https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/101248-best-diy-ez-walmart-carbon.html

Right, I will post my pics and snips day after day unless I get no replies and find I’m boring the shite out of everyone. I’m actually at day 5 whilst writing all this but wasn’t until now I decided to post. So, wish me luck and here goes!!!!!

Click to expand...

Evening all! Hope we are all ok. Very quickly wanted to say thanks to:

Shoot to Kill - reading all this must have taken ages lol but cheers for hanging in there! Took your advice and took the trays out completely - no water running from the bottom though and still humidty is high. Going to have to post on problems page to see if anyone can help I think.

LadyF** - Thanks for the comment!!!! Nothing more than smoking your own as well fingers crossed!

IllBill - cant really help you there as its my first grow. Would be an idea if you started your own journal though and post pics in there so people can help you.

Day 39 (38 in soil) Day 14 flowering

Pics only here as not much to say except the humidty is worrying me for later. LST seems to be working well though and quite a canopy developing:

Plant A:



Plant A Canopy:


Plant B:


Plant B Canopy:

Day 40 (39 in soil) Day 15 flowering

OK folkes! New update - got to say the LST is REALLY working now. These are my fav pics to date just because I'm starting to see the potential for this grow. Hopefully signs of sex will be a bit easier to see soon as I'm having difficulty, although they were feminised so should be fine?!?!

PICS:

Plant A+B:



My fav pic to date - Canopy of both plants after some LST and growth:


And another canopy shot of both just to indulge me!!! Do these look like potential flowering points to anyone????:

looking nice man, what the humidity at? what is the ambient humidity at? dont spend money on small dehumidifiers, they suck. Best way to control humidity is with a dehumidifier. If you increas exhaust it can help you but only if the ambient humidity is lower than that in your cab. And if you cant get it lower, get more ventilation in there and you will be fine. mold hates good ventilation, you got plenty of time to figure it out. let me know what conditions us got snd ill try to think of something

Hey Mr Bitti. You're a star! The ambient humidity hadnt even crossed my mind - you were totally right!!! The room is underground and when I measured the humidty it was 70% so no wonder I'm struggling! It's exactly the same in my cab! I am trying to find a decent yet reasonably cheap dehumidifer to dry the room out and then hopefully my cab will follow (so my cab methods may even be working just they can't reduce lower than the room itself)?!? I don't think its a problem yet as no mold or fungus that I can see but really need to sort it quickly as flowering is well under way now.

Day 41 (40 in soil) Day 16 flowering

SEX SEX SEX oh yes! Here is the evidence that these puppies are female (I think anyway lol) Nothing much more to say except that I think my canopy is looking good - definitely need advice to confirm this though so please take a look and let me know:

Pics:

Sexing it up (Are these females? I believe so?!?)


Plant A & B together:


See you all tomorrow!!!!

Day 42 (41 in soil) Day 17 flowering

Ok very quick update. Just going to put my pics up and see if anyone replies? Canopy looks good to me but I may be wrong?

Pics:

Plant A:


Plant A canopy:


Plant B:


Plant B canopy:


Plant A & B together:


My fav pic today of Plant A & B's canopy - bring on the yield! (Although how no idea how much it will be?!?)

looking good bro.
Give it a couple more days and you'll defo beable to tell sex. tho, tis lookin v much like a fem.
if the genetics are good, they wont hermi on ya.

if you see any sacs on a tiny little stem, tis bad news.

good luck bud!

dafoe your babies are looking good man canopey is bushy but not to bushy thats deadly my fucking plants wont gain any height im still getting new growth out the top.. id deffinatly say ou got at least one female..and whats a hermi man i dont get that shit.. keep up the thread maybe cheak out my grow ill be adding pics today.. props man!

Hey Mashedlad, Cheers for that. Am pretty sure they are fems but you just never know this early.

Very quick update today and only 2 pics.

Day 43 (42 in soil) Day 18 flowering

Pics:

Canopy shot of both plants:


Bad 2 shot of both plant A & B:

yo dafoe its all looking good. yea cheap dehumidifiers often break down fast within one yea. i payd 80 bucks for a 30 pint hair on ebay and thought one year of use would be worth the 80 bucks. I think goldstar or maytag probably has way better quality and durability. You can keep RH at 70 untill harvest but you must have excellent ventilation. My room fluctuates from 40-60 RH but i have air moving everywhere always. mold hates air movement. so if you increase the air movement inside the cab it will lower the threat. you still have plenty of time probably 4-6 weeks before it will be a problem, so take your time and buy something you think is good.

Cheers Mr Bitti, you've really helped me through this grow!!!! I have changed my PC fans so they are on inside the cab every 15 mins for 15 mins - waiting on desk fan to arrive to increase the air flow inside. I'm bidding on a dehumidifier on ebay so hopefully that will help sort out the basement humidity from 70% so that my active intake is pulling in dryer air. Still have a few weeks I guess but want to get it sorted asap. Am taking your advice though so thanks again.

hi dafoe23, i am a newbie and i am currently growing one plant (nebula strain)with one cfl bulb for light, and i am just wondering if the tin-foil cover helps at all with growth. My plant looks like yours on day four, but sadly im on day 6. I realized that my temps were too high and brought it down to the 87-90 degrees mark, can you please update me on how your babies are doing? cheers

Hey aaronbering, thanks and welcome. Glad to hear your plants are coming along. Don't however put any foil around the base of the plants like I did as it can cause hot spots where the light reflects back up under the plant and will singe the leafs (check out my day 6 or 7 I think and you can see what leaf burn looks like). I used hydroleca balls in the end as they preserve the top layer of soil and reduce mold but are also good for holding moisture and slowly releasing it to the plants. My babies are coming on well and I'm just short of 3 weeks into flowering - update to come!