Hi! My intro and 1st go at a 1000w closet grow

Hey all

I'm a california native and just wanted to start this off with a proper introduction! This seems like a great resource and friendly community to be able to learn more about 'the art of growing' in.

I've gotten past the point of being able to enjoy my growing herbs all by myself, and now feel the need to share it with somebody (everybody) else. I had the urge to start a grow setup, and wanted to get the right equipment to be able to expand if/when i got the opportunity -- for now all I have is a 2' x 6' closet to work with. 1000w in that space might be overkill, but tbh with the thickness of the canopy right now I'm glad i have all the juice I can get (experimenting a bit with different pruning methods, but I want to see how these guys come out just lightly pruned).

i've got 5 plants i've raised from clones: started off with 2 Blue Dream, and then a few weeks later got a chocolate something-or-other kush and 2x GDPs. With only one light, i left 'em in veg for a while so the little guys could catch up to the BD, but there's still a noticeable size difference. all the better for trying out a variety of sizes and seeing which i like better!

I'm using the "lucas" formula with GH nutes and had superthrive in the mix when they were a bit younger. Right now they're a week into flower and boosted with Koolbloom. I have a bit of fungi that i put in the root system too, but I honestly don't know if that's been doing anything to encourage root growth, and i haven't been reapplying it. I'm using a neem oil spray for bug control (damn little gnats and flies.).

The room can get pretty hot, so I have a 6" inline fan hooked up to the light fixture pumping through ducting out of the closet and through a carbon filter to help with the smell when the time comes. The average temperature ends up being around 80-85 during the day, and then cools off in the night cycle. The reservoir is in the room, but covered to keep light out. I throw a little OH in the water, but have an air stone to keep it oxidized. Right now I'm watering by hand about once a day; i have the equipment for the irrigation setup but would rather keep a closer eye on it. I'm also pretty sure there's plenty of co2 with the inline fan circulating as much air as it does in such a small space.

comments/recommendations always welcome, if friendly and in good taste ^^

((oh i mentioned in another post somewhere, but one day when i came home from work i found that the fan had been blowing so hard it blew the ducting off and left the room to cook up to around 120F. not chill. so i went to ace and got some gorilla tape to keep that shit on, and now it stays. but that's why some of the tips of the leaves on the blue dream bush are a little crispy.))

oh and lighting! It might be obvious from the pictures, but they were vegging under a 1000w MH at 18/6, and a week ago switched over to a 12/12 cycle with a 1000w hortilux HPS

Where did you learn how to grow? what are you using for a closet, dimension wise and what lights. give me the specs man!

haha .. i realized i still left some details out

I'm growing in a coco-fiber soilless mix, in a 2 foot x 6 foot (ish) closet that's just one of the closets in my room I've emptied out and purposed for the occasion. I've lined it with that white visqueen shit, max reflectivity. I've got a 1000w galaxy electronic ballast that I've used with both the MH and the HPS lights, and it's hooked up to a light hood that houses the light itself which is cooled by the attached inline fan, pumping air out of the closet when it's closed up and recycling it out into the room through the carbon filter.

The reservoir I use is 9 gallons -- I refill it with a 100% nutrient solution until I've refilled another 9 (or so) gallons and then remix and clean out the reservoir. I should really hook up an intricate irrigation system with the piping, drip connectors, and water timer I have but just kinda lazy watching them grow. It's more intimate hand-watering, and for the first grow i'm ok with paying attn on a daily basis.

Haha ur the shit and really appreciate the herb i love the word intimate when talking about the ladies ha.

14 days of flowering have passed (since 4/20), and I am amazed at the progress of these beautiful plants. The chocolate chunk towers above the rest -- the two bushy Blue Dreams are simply fattening up and growing only marginally in height (i'm leaving them practically un-pruned so I'll be able to see any difference in bud quality the lower in the canopy you go (they still look fucking incredible though, no way i'm cutting them). The Blue Dreams are the oldest, and are the only 2 sitting in 3 gallon pots. The other 3 (chocolate chunk and GDPs) are all in 1gallon pot, but all are watered once a day and since all seem to be in agreement with that regiment and continue to flourish ... I'm down.

I've got 3 more 3 gallon pots, but I was thinking that 3's might just be too big. With the chocolate growing as it is in it's 1 gallon pot, I'm thinking 2 gallons at max would suffice. I got the 3's just for uniformity and because I thought I would need them, but I have to stagger them in the closet and 5 just barely fit. If u have experience on this dilemma, please inform meh .. ^^


I'm working on getting a camera so I can take higher definition pictures of the developing colas. it's stunning to watch this process for the first time.