Learning a Lot on First Ever Grow

Hi there everyone,
This is my first time growing and I am learning heaps. I've gathered so much off these forums and have finally had a go popping some beans. I have a small pc box, which was probably not the best option as I am not relying on the disguise of the PC. I am still hiding it well away at the back of a shed way down at the edge of the yard, and behind a fair amount of junk.
Its been a long time coming and I have worked stealthily away on the box and arranging an excuse to get power out there. I live with a family I love dearly but cannot unfortunately share such joys with. At all costs.

My excitement at seeing the first set of leaves pop out from under the soil, quickly gave way to some practical realisations about what I am dealing with. The space in the box is very small, but having never grown before, I'd be happy with merely a small joint if I can make it that far. Temps are an issue and smell will be later. The temps started high but I was able to address this with an additional fan and some ajdustments to the voltage. The variance is difficult to manage. The dark cycle is pretty cold, down to 10/11C however the light cycle is now mostly under 26/7C. There is considerable variance from the top to bottom of the box also.

My light trap is a variation on ScrubNinja's with smaller components.

The humidity is reading in the region of 70 but I'm not sure how to manage this down or if it is too much of a problem. I have a fan inside blowing the plants and the soil surface is drying out between waterings.

Seedlings are still very small but looking good and healthly in my noob opinion.
My lights are 2x 20 watt white CFLs and 2x 18 watt warm CFLs.

With odour, I am planning to vent out, but am unsure how that will go with PC fans.

The seeds i germed were 1x Crystal, 1x Lemon Skunk and 1x Free Seed. I did not label so I could have any combination and am crossing fingers for at least 1 female.

Like I said, I'm just happy to have some leaves pop. The next setup will be a heap simpler and more suited to the venue. Perhaps even a cardboard box.

Here goes

You can't just vent out. Your gonna need. Carbon filter and fan. During peak flowering times, the smell is outrageous. Litterly smells my whole home up without filter. Even with closet doors closed.

I know its not ideal, but I havent seen much confidence around the forumns in the combination of PC fan and carbon filter to tackle heat, smell and sound adequetly. The vent I had planned will drop out the back of the shed where there is no access, blackberrys and no humans for a while. It effectively backs onto farmland.

Try to find a way to get everyone on board with your grow. You'll probably have a lot of drama otherwise. Good luck!

Sounds super stealth lol just go to the woods lol and transplant them there man better then upsetting the family weed has a mind of its self they could be huge also if ur family does not know what weed looks like just plant in the open but hidden u find a bush and disguise it with the bush

Hi All,
Just thought I would update some pics with a few questions if you dont mind.

Update: The plants look healthy by my own reckoning. Today is day 11/12 from transplanting sprouted beans. I love saying beans.
I'm super excited about this whole project. I have shifted from daily small waterings to a good drench every 3 days or when the top of the soil dries. I'm not sure if this is the right time to do this. I keep hearing that stretch is bad so its encouraging to see that each new set of leaves is pretty close to the last. It seems today that there are 3 or 4 sets of leaves excluding the cotoledons.
With some adjustment of exhaust and internal fans, I have got the temps to a safe upper limit, but I am still envisioning a battle with low night cycle temps when i hit flower. The grow is in a shed. I am looking into a ceramic reptile heat bulb(designed for no light)

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/50-200W-Ceramic-Infrared-Heat-Emitter-Lamp-Reptile-Chicken-Brooder-Incubator220V-/291114803240

Humidity seems problematic also, perhaps because of the shed. It is hovering at 70 ish. Regarding smell, I have settled on a variation of the pencil cup carbon filter. I will post a pic of this soon. I also may upgrade the lighting when I hit the flower stage.

Overall, stability seems problematic because it is semi outdoors. I have an arduino in the post and would like to try out some temperature control with it when it arrives. Eg. all fans on, some fans on, slower speeds. I might try set the heat bulb up with a thermostat plug.

My questions are as follows(appologies if these are basic or answered elsewhere):
1. Are they developing well?
2. When should I start to see some height develop between nodes?
3. What is the best way to test a carbon filter before stinky flower?(air flow and smell)
4. What problems can I expect if I dont get this down before flower?

Loving the feeling by the way. I tend not to smoke very much at all, only getting hold of small amounts every 6 months or so that last me ages. This grow if it works will suit my medication needs pretty well. I now have to deal with the all consuming nature of the designing, growing world. I feel like I am engaged in some higher education. Around every bend there is some bit of physics, biology, chemistry or maths to learn.

Hi there, as someone who is only a few weeks ahead of you on his first grow, your babies are looking very nice and healthy, so from that perspective you are doing everything right - keep it up. You have clearly read lots, and that is a very good thing.

I have a few thoughts to lend you before answering your questions...

Consider building a bigger box. Buy a cabinet if you have to. A PC box is, imo, too small. Ganja plants like to grow big! Or most of them anyway! I am totally with you on the stealth aspect, but I imagine if you can get away with doing it in a PC case, you can get away with doing it in a small box - but bigger than the PC box!

Get your temps under control - 10C at night is a bit too cold for them and will hamper growth. Uneven temps within the case aren't good either, but also suggest insufficient airflow within the case, which is bad. Building a bigger case will help with both temp and airflow, but you should also consider putting a small fan inside to circulate air within the case.

Onto your questions:

1) Yes, looking great.
2) Mine are just starting to take off now, just over 3 weeks from sprout. YMMV - you might find they start rocketing soon. Short space between internode = shorter, bushier plants, good for cab grows. What you are wanting is more leaves growing, rather than more height.
3) Carbon filters filter any smell, so test it with something smelly! If you have a decent quality filter though, it will work. No worries. Test airflow with strips of tissue paper.
4) Loads of time before flower, don't worry. Just get a filter when you can. You won't be flowering for another few weeks.

It's great, learning all this, isn't it? I've never been green fingered so a steep learning curve, but a wonderful feeling to be going self-sufficient!

Keep up the good work dude, it's looking great!

Hey FlashBabylon,
Thank you for your words of encouragement. I am ticking over some options for a bigger space to grow in.
I have considered a cabinet of sorts but it seems to risky to have a locked humming cabinet with no official purpose in the shed.
A variation of a rubbermaid on a high out of the way shelf is what I am currently thinking and I'll post a design sketch when I can. Its a little different from the typical crate/rubbermaid design but might work well in my space.
I have reconnected a small internal fan and I will check on the temps first thing tomorrow morning. On looking briefly today, i can start to see some elongation between nodes on one of the plants at least. My next move will be whether I panic excitedly and flick to flower or start to LST and fill out the space a little more before that.

The closest I have to actual experience of training is a brief dabble in bonzai trees some 8 years ago.

I have readied up a carbon filter prototype and am reading more on this at the moment.

Once again thanks for your input.

If I were you I would have a long hard think of ways to make a bigger cab stealthy. You can work wonders with the noise by boxing in and things like that. Perhaps concentrate on concealing the cabinet itself rather than preventing access with a lock.

Anyway, all good in your grow, let it continue. Remember you don't want elongation and stretch between nodes - you want lots of nodes packed tight together.

Been a few weeks now so I thought I'd post an update. I am planning on upgrading to a small cabinet tomorrow. It will give me a little more space but still micro. Still no telling if there is a female in the two but hopefully at least 1 is. Fashioned up a small carbon filter which seems to work but needs improvements. The temps are looking good. Mostly on the 21-25 mark celsius. Have a brave idea regarding night time temperature regulations when I flip to flower.

From what I have read a temp drop of 10*C at night during flower is preferable, so don't heat it too much if it doesn't need it.

Good work on upgrading the cabinet, it seems a shame to do *too* small a grow and not get the best out of the plants.

They are looking healthy, keep it up!

Keep up you good work and creativity. I'll take a seat and watch.

Advice taken and thanks for watching SlimTim. Here is a sneak preview of the new cab. Stealthily completed in an evening. I used a cheap secondhand 3 drawer bedside table, some board to turn the drawers into a door and some velcro to secure and block light. Bit more headroom on this one.
Still have to fit the fans properly ensure good intake holes. I can now confidently add Cabinetry to my list of skills developed while getting a grow up. Other technical areas have included:
Lighting
Electrical
Electronics
Ventilation
Biology
Botany
Genetics
Accoustics
Patience
Chemistry and...
Stealth

Looking forward to 101 in Blunt work at some point

Awesome dude. NIce neat work. Still petite but you will manage.

Have you thought about building a second cabinet of similar size or slightly smaller if needs be, to clone / veg in? You could do a perpetual grow then, and the small yields from the small box won't matter shit then!

Lookin good so far.. Still doesn't look like enough space.. You don't want to spend all this time and effort to wind up with an 8th of some mids..

Here are some update picks. Stretching our legs in a new space. I'm not fussed about too big a yield at this stage, but thanks for egging me on anyhow. I smoke a very slow 5 grams every 6 months as it is. I have only ever experienced bought cannabis and a friends outdoor grow. Having a little good genetics grown myself will be an awsome thing.
I am still proving to myself that it can be done, and whether I can pull it off stealth like. Oddly I am working through season three of Breaking Bad with the missus after spending an hour or so most evenings building a longboard and checking up on my plants. There is always the chance I may have to sit her down and talk through the fact that I have used cannabis(for mood regulation) consistently since I met her, despite having gone underground somewhat.
The new cab is bigger but not by much. I am considering some hanging bulbs or a different orientation for lights on the other side for flower. I also want some individual hoods on those CFLs. I have an issue I need help with if you kind people don't mind:
They are both in a single pot. Rectangular, but I think not big enough for both. Is that right? I can't tell which is female at the moment so I am thinking to flip to flower, make a call on who the lady is and then pull the bloke and leave her to bloom or repot her into a larger dish and let her rip.

Stealth is good. Quieter than the PC case. I have odour control to attend to in the coming days. I have a modified pencil cup design that I keep meaning to photograph for you. 2 fans push through it reasonably well in the PC case so I am going to keep the design for this cab.
I would like to lengthen the filter by doubling with a second cut cup. I'm no expert but lengthening seems like a good way to increase the air-carbon contact time without impeding flow. Does this theory hold up based on your experience? There is a local company that has some odour control that may be similar to ONA, as I cant get ONA easily here.

Today at work, I picked up on an article on DJ Short spurred on by these forums. Nice way to end the day.

Thanks for watching.

A friend of mine struggled for years with a missus who refused to accept his cannabis use.

He could not bare the fact that something that made up so little of his lifestyle and personality would affect his relationship.

But ultimately, he smokes marijuana and she could not accept it.

Sad to say they are no longer together.

Happy to say he is now settled with a lovely lady who, whilst she does not smoke herself, is more than accepting of his use of cannabis.

It does seem sad that some people have to choose between a lady and the lady mj, I guess I am lucky having a committed stoner for a missus!

Grow looks great, keep up the good work!

Hope the diy carbon filter works well!

Here is my prototype carbon filter. I would like to neaten up verson 2.0. I cannot track down two different size cups like is demonstrated in one or more posts. This design has a flyscreen outer shield. The ends are blocked with circular cut cardboard. Silicone held it to the PC, however the back of the new box has 2 fans that take out downwards into the filter as in the attached drawing.
The bad drawing should be a milestone for these forums, like first message or like.

lofly247 said:

Hi there everyone,
This is my first time growing and I am learning heaps. I've gathered so much off these forums and have finally had a go popping some beans. I have a small pc box, which was probably not the best option as I am not relying on the disguise of the PC. I am still hiding it well away at the back of a shed way down at the edge of the yard, and behind a fair amount of junk.
Its been a long time coming and I have worked stealthily away on the box and arranging an excuse to get power out there. I live with a family I love dearly but cannot unfortunately share such joys with. At all costs.

My excitement at seeing the first set of leaves pop out from under the soil, quickly gave way to some practical realisations about what I am dealing with. The space in the box is very small, but having never grown before, I'd be happy with merely a small joint if I can make it that far. Temps are an issue and smell will be later. The temps started high but I was able to address this with an additional fan and some ajdustments to the voltage. The variance is difficult to manage. The dark cycle is pretty cold, down to 10/11C however the light cycle is now mostly under 26/7C. There is considerable variance from the top to bottom of the box also.

My light trap is a variation on ScrubNinja's with smaller components.

The humidity is reading in the region of 70 but I'm not sure how to manage this down or if it is too much of a problem. I have a fan inside blowing the plants and the soil surface is drying out between waterings.

Seedlings are still very small but looking good and healthly in my noob opinion.
My lights are 2x 20 watt white CFLs and 2x 18 watt warm CFLs.

With odour, I am planning to vent out, but am unsure how that will go with PC fans.

The seeds i germed were 1x Crystal, 1x Lemon Skunk and 1x Free Seed. I did not label so I could have any combination and am crossing fingers for at least 1 female.

Like I said, I'm just happy to have some leaves pop. The next setup will be a heap simpler and more suited to the venue. Perhaps even a cardboard box.

Here goes

Click to expand...

I admire ur great will man! All for a joint. You should have asked

Husseinps said:

I admire ur great will man! All for a joint. You should have asked

Click to expand...

Ha! that's what I was thinking. Prolly cost more in electric and bits and bobs from the shop than the yield, but it's a hobby grow more than anything.