Hidden Cabinet Grow - 208w cfl's ---> 260w

Thanks SmellyTreez. They seem to be taking well to the Fimming, within 24 hours they looked like nothing happened. And the smaller one seems to be overcoming all the nute burn or whatever it is, which i expected as it grew bigger and stronger. Yesterday i had to lower the thing as it was like .25inches away from the light, lol, it's growing like an inch a day or something real fast. Sat night i plan to switch to flowering (granted i have the timer and electric down to do it in time). I'll take pics then, trying to keep it weekly with the picture updates.

Okay i'm definitely flowering these things come Saturday night at 4 weeks from sprout. They're growing fast and very well! I have hooked up the time and 2-3prong adapter to fit it and am ready to rock and roll soon.

I'm considering in the future going from 260w cfl's (10x26w) to 250w hps .. if the heat isn't any more than the cfl's i believe i can increase my yield substantially.

Also, i'm hoping to finish my veg box this weekend and get it rolling, putting my perpetual in motion. Oh life is good haha. Never have to pay for weed again!

Glad to here they are growing fast. Can't wait to see your new pics when ya swap over. Perpetual is what I am kinda striving for, just put the mother plant in flower cause she just kept growing...

Lance85 said:

I'm growing in Miracle Grow for christ sakes, the devil's soil! hahaha and they're growing great IMO. I started in big pots, in hot soil, and didn't pre germ.

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Devil soil, ha to funny. I agree, all my soil products are MG. Even use diluted tomato nutes to foliar feed once a week. I do need to get some different soil for cloning, the organic gardeners stuff is to hot. Hmm i think all that MG seed starting soil is just their perlite/peat moss. I have some so i gonna give that a try.

Okay i couldn't wait anymore. Tommorrow i'm flowering at 4 weeks from sprout. Today is 1 day prior to 4 weeks and i couldn't help myself from taking a picture. Look at this growth in 6 days since the last picture (and FIM)! Unbelievable, it was like an inch a day damn near, had to lower the pot a few times.




Beautiful, aren't they!?

I'm not going to have my veg box ready in time so i'm gonna have to take a clone in flower sometime if i do (still have fem seeds left as an alternative). Anyways, this is pretty fricking exciting to me! I feel like i'm doing good for a first timer judging by some of the other journals i've seen at this stage.

Okay these are a day late because i couldn't get it uploaded, but this is the official 4 weeks from sprout photo, minutes before hitting the switch to 12/12.

When i checked yesterday the plant on the left was touching 1 of the bulbs. I put my hand in it's place on the bulb and didn't get any burn or anything. I'm gonna keep it there for right now, if its burnt when i check tonight i'll move it, if not, then hell yes i can grow to 0" from the bulbs! Guess that may be the benefit of the smaller watt cfls, i've heard of growing into the lights with the t4's or whatever since they run cool, so maybe i can do that while flowering!

Ok here's the week 5 update, 1 week into flowering!

My babies


Close up of the tops, looks like the FIM at week 3 worked, i see multiple tops.

Back in the box, i rotated it since one plant has double the red lights, and i can tell b/c it's developing more bud sites than the other.

And a farther away shot of them in the cab. Remember it's a 3ft cab for reference.


Okay, only 7-10 more weeks to go! LOL

I'm going to get some flowering ferts really soon and that's about it i guess. What do you guys think?

Okay here they are 2 weeks into flowering. I wasn't able to check them for a couple days early this week, and lo and behold my main colas grew into the light and were severely burned. They're like half brown half green lol. It will be interesting to see how they bud. Now that i'm at the end of the week, MANY new bud spots have sprouted and i'm not near as worried anymore about burning what used to be the main colas.

I still havn't used any flowering nutes. I will pick them up very soon tho.

Anywho, 2 weeks into flowering:

Those are some nice tight little plants, should be plenty of bud points.

I'm also a fan of fimming and have had some nice results personally. Will keep an eye on this.

I'd recommend getting some flowering feed on the go asap though, it will really boost your yield and the longer you wait to start the less effective that will be.

Thanks Spindles, i think i'm gonna pick up some flowering feed today and then add it with my next watering in a couple days. I only have one more text book of height i can lower this thing so hopefully the stretching is almost done. I think i read somewhere most happens in the first couple weeks of flowering. Otherwise i'll have to start LSTing this thing lol.

Picked up the flowering nutes, god they were cheap i should have gotten them 2 weeks ago when i started flowering!

Okay 7 weeks total, 3rd week of flowering.
In the box, all the way lowered. Getting too high and burning spots again!

Out of box

LST'd it with fishing line

Back in the box, raised by a txt book, and LST'd. Man i'm working with like 4" MAX i hope it doesn't stretch/nug too much higher!



What can i say, i didn't want a small, early flowered, yeild. I probably overgrew this one for the box but if i manage it, will have an efficient yeild I think.

Forgot to add, so far there is like no smell at all. I can smell plant .... when i'm right next to it ... but that's it. Maybe this really is a low odor strain and i can get by without a carbon filter/odor control? We'll see! So i'm thinking 5 weeks left, b/c 8 week total flowering seems like a solid number. Maybe 10 weeks total, or as far as i can go with my height restrictions LOL we'll see!

4th week of flowering is done. I had to move it out of the house and into someone else's a few days ago, so I'm not able to take my Week 4 shots right now. I'll probably catch them at week 5 or something but they're looking great! Now that i'm at a safer place, i'll try to get REAL camera photos, not these darn camera phone shots.

Okay so it's been a little while. Here they are as of a few days ago, 6.5 weeks into flowering, 10.5 weeks total.



For a first timer who Fimmed and LST'd, i'm very happy with the canopy management! Look at all those bud spots in that little cabinet!

I'm a little worried about the bottom though. They are light deprived and lagging behind development wise compared to the top bud spots.

Should i trim them down to save energy for the top? or
Harvest top when its done and harvest bottom later?

take the lights and spread them around. A fellow RIU member said, "if possible, each leaf deserves a CFL bulb." So basically, surround the plant with the lights like a christmas tree and everything will grow evenly. Otherwise, I am absoultly blown away by your success my friend. I can't believe this all happened in the crawl space, I read once that crawl spaces are not suitable for plants due to high moisture so mold was a big concern. But, you have proved that statement incorrect.

Lance85 said:

Harvest top when its done and harvest bottom later?

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I'd probably do that. Looking great man!

stofficer2 said:

take the lights and spread them around. A fellow RIU member said, "if possible, each leaf deserves a CFL bulb." So basically, surround the plant with the lights like a christmas tree and everything will grow evenly.

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I'm sorry but if you looked at them pictures of his you might notice how arranging the light in the way you suggest would be rather impossible with how small the grow area is in reference to the foliage/canopy.

I think you are correct to quote the fellow RIU member, if ya don't mind me askin... whom said that? I would like to see what other good info that member provides, i have read the nice sticky at the top of this sub-forum about CFL Proximity to Foliage. I try an replicate what our Sun provides as best I can, an within budget of course!

Cransi said:

I'm sorry but if you looked at them pictures of his you might notice how arranging the light in the way you suggest would be rather impossible with how small the grow area is in reference to the foliage/canopy.

I think you are correct to quote the fellow RIU member, if ya don't mind me askin... whom said that? I would like to see what other good info that member provides, i have read the nice sticky at the top of this sub-forum about CFL Proximity to Foliage. I try an replicate what our Sun provides as best I can, an within budget of course!

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I wish I could remember. If anything though, his plant out grew his space! Which is awesome I on the other hand grow with a 20"x20"x16" space in my closet and I am constantly fighting temps. I have a total of 4 PC fans and 1 4" fan.

Okay so yeah i can't move lights around it, as mentioned, because
1. They're stationary on top
2. I filled up the whole cabinet space THOROUGHLY

Thanks for the props guys, i'll hopefully get REAL camera shots come harvest time, instead of all these camera phone shots. Also, i didn't lollipop it, just letting it go natural. If need be, i'll harvest the top and let the bottom catch up.