Pickle's First Grow (Sorta)

This is sorta my first grow, I grew something years ago, but that was more an experiment than anything.

Starting Supplies
4' T8 - 1 warm 1 Daylight
1 x CFL 150watt equivalent
Cheapo Seed starter mix.
1 pkg Blue party cups

This is all good bagseed I have kept over the years (Had to do something with them, they were starting to stack up. One will probably be a hermie being I pulled the two seeds from a fresh bud a friend of mine grew outside by itself and created a couple seeds throughout the whole plant, which I have named Delores, in honor of his mom that passed away last year.

All seeds were put into napkins except for Delores, and these other two seeds I had that looked nothing like anything else, I wish I would have taken a picture of them. Only one of the two sprouted and I have dubed this one mutant being it seems to grows very fast.


Here is mutant, 24 hours after being germinated in a expanding jiffy pot, another shot four days later.

Start Date was 3-2-2010

14 days later...

19 days later....


They were a bit droopy and dry this day, I was not at home for 2 days.

what type of lights

23 days later.

Got some real dirt and sorta replanted everything. I was experimenting a little and didn't fill some of the cups up all the way with seed starter mix, I had smaller peat pots i shoved into the cups, on some the roots broke through quite well, and looked very good, others had troubles breaking through the peat, and I removed as much of the surrounding peat pot, and filled the cup completely with fox farm ocean forest, some got moved to another pot before the step up to the larger pots when they get moved, I'm starting them in a very narrow space at the moment but it cannot be helped. Hence the light being high off the plants, I'm hoping to bush them out, and scrog whatever is female, when they are moved to their final room.

I have a feeling that mutant will be a male, but I'm hoping for the best.

On with the pictures, of mutant and delores. delores seems healthy, but I'm not sure why the leaves seem to always curl. Also a few other shots of the other fast growers of the bunch.

That 5hit said:

what type of lights

Click to expand...

4' T8 - 1 warm 1 Daylight
1 x CFL 150watt equivalent 2700k i think.

Not much going on in growth really, but I figured it would be slow cuz they were all put into new soil, should be another day or so before there is anything really major.

Mutant is stretching out a bit because he/hope its a she is on the side with a further away light source, my 4 foot bulb is on a bit of an angle on that side.

My hab's are sprouting nicely seen in the forground, btw i reused some jiffy expanding pods thinking the seedsdidn't sprout. I tore off the lil netting and just threw abut 3 of them into a cup, for one of my seedlings when I transplanted I found a few hab's that had started off on the outsides of the rootball, so i threw them into cups to give them a chance. lol

All comments good or bad are welcome by the way.

get more 42w cfls atleast 3
4 all together
1 will not cut it
bring lights closer

Yeah i gotta get the lights closer its kinda rough in the space, this isn't there final home, i'm just veggin them for a while while the room is being built, they will be put under HPS in a week or so. Thew some scrap mylar on the walls to help a bit, will post pictures before the weekends out.

A Little updated.

Well the final room should be finished soon. I revamed a little bit, I squeezed a set of two foot into the little space. I got the lights alot closer than before, and I have already noticed more undergrowth.

I have been watering from my test bubble buckets, being the water is left out to de-cholorinate and is aerated from the bubbler, haven't really noticed any change over watering them straight from the faucet, but its only been a couple days since I started.

After adding the mylar and the small two foot lights the temp went from 69-70F to 71-75F depending on when the fan is on. I turn it on for 2 hours every 6 hours.

The leaf curl on delores has started to go away as it grows, and mutant continues to tower above everything.

Dolores is in the first picture and staying short fat and busy.

Mutant is quite tall still thinking this one will be a male.

The others are doing well, will have to replanted soon, the room is almost done and should be in there new space with a 400 hps. I wish everything could be replanted today but the space they are starting off in won't allow it.

Not much to report, there has been a few growth spurts, but everything is looking healthy, did see a couple little roots poking out the bottom of the cups on one or two. I am trying to hold out on replanting untill tonight, hopefully the door will be on the room, if i get home early enough.

pickle said:

Not much to report, there has been a few growth spurts, but everything is looking healthy, did see a couple little roots poking out the bottom of the cups on one or two. I am trying to hold out on replanting untill tonight, hopefully the door will be on the room, if i get home early enough.

Click to expand...

Some updated pictures.

Well I was sitting here reading and thought I would update everything.

Supplies so far
Fox Farm Ocean Forest
1 x 2 bulb T8 4' ( 1 warm 1 cool )
1 x 2 bulb T12 2'( 1 warm 1 cool )
1 clip on lamp with reflector
1 x 150w equiv CFL
1 Pkg. Party Cups
6 x Home depot Homer bucket
3 x Bucket lid netpots
15 x 3" Net pots
2 x 16 Gal. (I think) Rubbermaid Roughnecks.
1 - 8 x 14 plastic tray
1 x 5" Net Pot
1 x 6" Net Pot
1 x 100gph pump ( don't waste your time get something 250gph or more )
4 x 4' 1/2" Hard black tubing


I like making things so I figured I'd try to fab up a cloner, a couple bubble buckets, and see what i can do with a sprayer or two in a bucket with the 100gph pump being it sucks. I had a old aqua clear power head I decided to use instead, MUCH better spray. The sprayer setup in the cloner was kinda a mash up just to see hence 1 sprayer at one end and 2 at the other. I also went with the hard black tubing just so i could take it apart, I will use PVC next time, lesson learned. I'll put up some pictures of my creations if anyone acctually reads this, pictures are always good.

Here are the buckets and the cloner. Comments, questions, tips are welcome.

Smell update its starting to get an odor, glad it will be moved tonight. I did some pruning of the lower branches to get some light underneath to promote more side growth, all leaves trimmed were either the single leaves or 3 leaves on each plant. I also did this for better airflow being they are so cramped in there little space. I noticed where two leaves were touching over night would create a moisture spot between them.

The final room is a 10 x 10' room broken into three rooms more or less, two 5 x 4'3/4 rooms on one side and a open area on the other for staging and mother plants. This design might change over time so I'll be making it so the two rooms can be combined down the road if need be.

These two rooms will give me a way to experiment with nutes, by having a control room. Thats the plan anyways. We'll see how it all works out as time passes.

The only thing really holding up the room right now is the door and lock being installed. I tried to get to it last night but I didn't want to disturb the neighborhood running power tools at 1am. So here's to a productive day if all goes well.

As far as medium goes, I'm going to experiment with a couple things once I know what's female and whats not. I have totally decided on the numbers yet, but probably 3 DWC 5 gallon buckets, 3 5 gallon buckets dirt, and I"m deciding on if i want to make a couple aero/sprayer buckets, because of the cost of the pumps, as I said in a previous post I don't think you can get a good spray on more than a couple of sprayer heads with anything less than 250 gph, and air pumps with air stones/bubble walls are much cheaper.

Each of the 5 x 5 rooms will have a 400 hps for now, depending on how things work out, but will be starting off with one for now and 4' t8's on everything veggin. Gardening on a budget sucks, but you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes. I will also be starting all my outdoor veggies in the room as well. Habenero's, Snow white cherry tomatoes ( very good tomatoe btw) Cucumbers, and a few larger slicing tomatoes. Thats the plant as of now but things might change.

I think the first experiment will be scrog in one room, to see what kinda spacing I get with these unknown strains.

I'm just rambling so I can reflect on this later any comments, gripes, complaints or randomness is welcome.

I didn't get them moved last night, due to how late it was before i got things wrapped up. Room has a door and locks tonight will be transplant to 7qt pots till i see whats female and what is not. One plant that i lost part of a rootball on ( I put a small peat into a larger peat pot, everything was strung through a main root to the lower peat pot, so...) That is comming back slowly, everything else after trimming looks to not slowed. The undergrowth should take off well once its moved to an open area.

Camera isn't at the house, so I cannot post any new photos now, but hopefully later tonight.

Mutant is kinda looking more male'ish every day, real shame it looks really good. I will as always still hope for the best untill I know for sure.

The odor is ramping up for sure, opened up the little area I have them in for now and it smells so good. Well I'll try to post later if anyone acctually is reading/watching.

Things are going very well. Slight mishap with a CFL, it fell and burned a couple leaves on a plant, no harm no foul, I'm sure it will survive. I can't wait to see what they look like this morning after adding the HPS, and moving around some of the T8's in the veg area.

We picked up a 3x3 tent off a friend of ours, and put a sunburst fixture with hortalux 400w in it and put mutant and delores into the tent with 2 of the other bigger plants seen below. Temps in the whole room with the tent door open are around 80F. Going to freeze 2-5 2 liter soda bottles and put them in there tonight to see if i can get it closer to the 75F mark.


I also put 3 of the stretched smaller ones in the tent as well.
Here's the pictures.