First Grow-Aero-Stealth Box

[donpaul.p]

its all good, the hardest part is finding a good safe location to grow and if your not comfortable growing where you are now then its only going to play on your mind all the time and thats not good for anyone, their is always some risk but you have to decide how much risk is to much,

if the risk is to much at this stage then collect everything you can for when you dont have a big risk of people finding out, by then you will have the whole set up, a grow tent with carbon filter would be the best option, but again this takes up space and it stands out, ive seen people grow plants inside a pc case and in bottoms of wardrobes, smells is the main factor with a stealth grow, if your in your own property then its possible to use a cupboard or a tent to use to grow with, but if you share your place with others that wont be happy with you growing then its really not worth the risk, the last thing you want is doing all the hard work then losing it just before the end,

only grow when its safe or legal to do so, if you want to keep it stealth then you need to make sure it cant be found if people walk into the room, but the smell stands out so unless you smoke bud around where your grow area is then it really will stand out without carbon filters and fans running,

im sure their will be a time for you to grow, usually it just falls into place and when it does you will have everything you need to start a good grow and see it through to harvest, many growers worry about their grow getting found or people smelling their plants, but it can be controlled depending on how close the neighbours are, but if your in one room and people outside the room wont be happy with what your doing then its a big risk if people are not regular smokers around the area, if their are regular smokes then people will be used to the smell, if not it will stand out unless you invest time and money in a good carbon filter and a couple of decent fans,

i worry about smell, in veg its not a huge problem, i plug in some plug in air fresheners just the cheap ones from a super market, that does me for veg, but alot of people smoke bud where i live and i live on my own apartment/flat, so i dont have people walking past my grow space or past the room im growing in, if i did i wouldnt be growing unless everyone in the same household was ok with it and would not be bothered about the smell, while your in you can control the smell, but its when you go out for the day and your not their to use air freshener or open windows, thats when the smell gets out of control, but all this can be controlled with carbon filters but you would need a sealed grow space with fans that create a negative pressure so the only air leaving the tent/grow space is the air going through the filter, by all means 1 plant can be kept hidden with a carbon filter, you can grow one plant with very little to no smell using a carbon filter, but the more air tight the grow box is the higher the temps,

im sure you wil be growing in no time and you will have something worked out, maybe find a friend who smokes bud and see if their interested in setting up a grow and share a plant, having somewhere safe to grow is the main problem,

if your really to concerned abouts others finding out and if its pretty easy for them to find out then its really not worth the risk unless you know they will turn a blind eye or if they was only going to tell you to sort the smell out then it would not be a huge deal,

 

[Skybound]

Yeah, I hear ya. Both my roomies smoke, I don't, but I'm mostly nervous about loose lips, and frequent visitors as we kind of have an open door policy amongst friends. Like if I entrust my roomates, and each entrusts one other person, sooner or later I'll have someone over and hear, "hey, let me check out your grow". I'm gonna keep growing, just not what others think and where. I'm still gonna be secretive and the like and see how long it takes before I hear that heart sinking question, and even then I won't give it up. If my door gets kicked off the hinge for the bell pepper plants I have going, maybe then perspective will be given to many. FYI, i already have 20 lbs of activated carbon and can make a filter, but noisy fans, or even curious visitors can turn my world upside down so I'll just deal with liabilities now and keep learning in the process.

 

[RainStacks]

Just throwing it out there, but you could grow inside of a locked/disguised grow enclosure. There are some sites that sell these premade, but I am sure diy would be very doable too.

 

[Skybound]

My current enclosure is locked, built with 3/4" ply and fixed to the upper corner of my closet (above the hanger rod). Already it is far out of sight, but it does generate some noise that can be heard through the walls into the common areas. I could of course remedy this by taking it down and insulating the crap out of the exchanger fan with spray foam that I have, but the end result is the same. People that I did not entrust to know, now know. That is an extreme liability that I have no way of dealing with other than to relocate and accept the temporary loss of almost all yield. My primary concern with this grow is to gain knowledge and experience to better equip me when I get my 4 site aero with HID off the ground. I am also trying to (in my head) work out a perpetual harvest, but I don't yet have the skill to manage something like that.

 

[Skybound]

A new status update;

as of maybe the last 5 days or longer, I noticed the pH was a little too alkaline. Earlier today I went to the local hydro store to pick up some more things and was made abreast how to make the adjustment. I went to the local grocery and picked up a few gallons of distilled water and mixed up a 25% strength General hydroponics Flora series Early Growth formula and after thoroughly mixing, I tested then adjusted the pH of that nutrient solution. Because I expect to be called into work any minute, in conjunction with the moisture content of the soil being about a 3 on a scale to 10, I elected to do the watering about 12 hours early, with 2 more hours of daylight remaining.

Mixing the solution (this being my first time) was pretty simple, I just had to determine if my soil setup was a recirculating or drain to waste, but for the mix I was trying to make, the formula was the same. Aside from that, I still feel that soil can be construed as recirculating as the nutes aren't applied to root then evacuated, they remain in the medium, (that's my logic)

Adjusting the pH was a little tricky as I have a large plastic syringe to draw with and the directions were pretty vague with the use of the term "use sparingly". I first applied 2.5 ml of pH up and went way too high. I then had to fill the plastic needle portion of the syringe and about 1.5 of those brought the pH to where I wanted it. I also put 2 airstones in the nute/water for about an hour to oxygenate everything and hopefully keep the nutes mixed in well.

Update about my ideal location. I come to find that where i wanted to go is often used for K9 training, so that's also a bust and I have to find another spot. Upon looking at this plant and exchanging breathes with it, I believe that it is an Indica or Indica dominant strain which is what I wanted for the space I now have. I'd eventually like to get into Sativas as that's the kind of high I like when I do occasionally smoke, but the space needed and the flower time is a bit more than I can deal with right now.

Before the pics I'd like to add that I want to FIM it ASAP to begin training the growth and development, but I found some old posts here on 420 that state to wait till the 6th nodes pop out. Does this hold true? I have 4 out, 5th is beginning development and like all noobs, I want to cut it NOW!!! What say you oh ye wise and learn'ed ones?

The pH test in the image is that of the runoff water. My guess is 5.8-6.2

Edit;
i also have a 2 gallon paint bucket, 5 lbs of sugar and a packet of Nottingham's Ale yeast. I want to make some CO2 to get the growth moving a little quicker. I also am having a difficult time keeping daylight temps below 85F, so the CO2 would aid in the higher temps as well.

 

[mcloadie]

2', that is frightening in my space. I imagine though your buds will be massive as you have great light penetration all the way to the lowest branch. I look forward to your next video. if I do go for the closet stretch, I will definitely need the shelf to adjust up and down as gaining the added height goes well past the height of the closet door.

Howdy sky, that space is only two inches narrower than mine, and the same length, it will be fun to see what you can do in thee!

 

[RainStacks]

I am no expert, but my understanding is that you want enough node sites lower to give the plant a chance to form lots of branches. The other consideration is that you want the plant producing fully mature leaves too, this way you wont stunt it. Naturally fim will stunt it, but just temporarily. I hope this helps, I am sure others can add to this.

 

[mcloadie]

A new status update;

as of maybe the last 5 days or longer, I noticed the pH was a little too alkaline. Earlier today I went to the local hydro store to pick up some more things and was made abreast how to make the adjustment. I went to the local grocery and picked up a few gallons of distilled water and mixed up a 25% strength General hydroponics Flora series Early Growth formula and after thoroughly mixing, I tested then adjusted the pH of that nutrient solution. Because I expect to be called into work any minute, in conjunction with the moisture content of the soil being about a 3 on a scale to 10, I elected to do the watering about 12 hours early, with 2 more hours of daylight remaining.

Mixing the solution (this being my first time) was pretty simple, I just had to determine if my soil setup was a recirculating or drain to waste, but for the mix I was trying to make, the formula was the same. Aside from that, I still feel that soil can be construed as recirculating as the nutes aren't applied to root then evacuated, they remain in the medium, (that's my logic)

Adjusting the pH was a little tricky as I have a large plastic syringe to draw with and the directions were pretty vague with the use of the term "use sparingly". I first applied 2.5 ml of pH up and went way too high. I then had to fill the plastic needle portion of the syringe and about 1.5 of those brought the pH to where I wanted it. I also put 2 airstones in the nute/water for about an hour to oxygenate everything and hopefully keep the nutes mixed in well.

Update about my ideal location. I come to find that where i wanted to go is often used for K9 training, so that's also a bust and I have to find another spot. Upon looking at this plant and exchanging breathes with it, I believe that it is an Indica or Indica dominant strain which is what I wanted for the space I now have. I'd eventually like to get into Sativas as that's the kind of high I like when I do occasionally smoke, but the space needed and the flower time is a bit more than I can deal with right now.

Before the pics I'd like to add that I want to FIM it ASAP to begin training the growth and development, but I found some old posts here on 420 that state to wait till the 6th nodes pop out. Does this hold true? I have 4 out, 5th is beginning development and like all noobs, I want to cut it NOW!!! What say you oh ye wise and learn'ed ones?

The pH test in the image is that of the runoff water. My guess is 5.8-6.2

Edit;
i also have a 2 gallon paint bucket, 5 lbs of sugar and a packet of Nottingham's Ale yeast. I want to make some CO2 to get the growth moving a little quicker. I also am having a difficult time keeping daylight temps below 85F, so the CO2 would aid in the higher temps as well.

Let that plant grow, check the ph of your water and forget it. I think you were lucky it survived the fox farms soil at such a young age, that's what your prob was in the beginning. I would get a fan blowing on that plant....always moving. I would kick the shit out of my friend for telling ANY cop anything....this is serious shit....there is very little room for security discrepencies...but it's your ass! Good luck bro, I hope you pull it off....I would have "took care of my friend", and moved to a different town....freedom is very valuable to me...and I am legal! If you don't have a huge amount of money to spend on lawyers this is the golden rule; cops will do whatever they want to whoever they want...whenever they want, they are cops, that is their personality, they like to bust people and have power over people. They are jealous of you, they are taught and believe that they are better than you and don't have to live by the rules you do. If you live in the us you live in a police state...every post, email and fart emanating from you is being monitored..........just a reality check bro!

 

[mcloadie]

I am no expert, but my understanding is that you want enough node sites lower to give the plant a chance to form lots of branches. The other consideration is that you want the plant producing fully mature leaves too, this way you wont stunt it. Naturally fim will stunt it, but just temporarily. I hope this helps, I am sure others can add to this.

#1) keep the light as close as possible without burning or bleaching.
#2) keep a fan gently blowing on the plant.....24/7, this will strengthen the stem and promote circulation.
#3) That plant could go ALL the way through veg in that soil!....without nutrients!

With that said, the light is what will determine your internodal spacing, how close it is to the plant....light intensity. Artificial light is a very poor substitute for natural lighting..........the more quality light we can provide the better our plants will grow. It's quite interesting that that seedling lived in that soil....my soil would have fried it in less than a week!

 

[Skybound]

What happened between me and my friend/roommate is done and over with. I don't fear police or govt. I've done the sovereign thing for many years before getting back into cannabotany and I have learned a lot. I will lay off the notes for a while and hopefully what I added didn't ruin anything. If it survives, I will be doing the film cut in a few days. As I can only provide 4x20wattCFL's, I don't expect a whole lot. I do have 400watt HID, but can't use it at this location, so the only thIng i hope to gain now is experience. Going outside is what i'd like to do, but this has been a cool rainy summer and don't know if it'd survive the cold lows.

 

[donpaul.p]

do you know what kelvin the cfls are your using, for tight node spacing you want the blue light or 6400k cfls, or a mixture of the 2 with more blue light to red in veg and more red to blue in flower
blue light is needed for veg or 6400k in cfls,
red light is needed for flower or 2700k in cfls, the 2700k cfls are the ones you can get for free or from super markets in packs of 4 for next to nothing, the 6400k cfls i had problems finding so had to order of the net,

i guess it depends on what your plans are for the plant

 

[Skybound]

The 4 CFL's are all 6500k. In the future I may add a 2700 or 2, but I have some other obligations that I have neglected for the past month for all this that I have to first address. after returning home from a long 18 hour shift at work, I noticed that the little one responded very well to the pH balancing and 25% Flora meal. The top that I wanted to nip is almost all the way out, all the leaves gained a lot of surface area and size, there are more prominent secondary shoots protruding from existing nodes and the odor has undertones similar to my roommate's bowl. I am greatly pleased to know that I did not err greatly when feeding. i will further provide additional elemental exposure with a CO2 bucket that i will make tonight. It should be emitting CO2 within a day or two, at least that's what all the tutorials lead me to believe.

Here's more pics of what I returned home to find;

 

[KingJohnC]

i would pull that yellow leaf, yellow and dying leaves attract insects.

 

[mcloadie]

IF you remove leaves, you can cut the petiole...leaf stem a little away from the stem, it decreases the chance of plant damage and supposedly doesn't send a message to the plant that it lost a leaf....that plant looks good.....I can tell that it's growing quickly. I have seen a lot done with these types of light....you can still have a STELLAR harvest at any level! Lookin good, the soil looks nice too! +reps!

 

[Skybound]

I will knock those lower dead leaves off in a few minutes. thanks for the reps too. I got the CO2 bucket online now. I believe it will be producing in the next 48 hours as I didn't use the rapid yeast, I used regular ale yeast (about 3/4 of a pack to 3/4 of 5lb bag of sugar and about gallon and a half of water). I will be gone for another day, so I can't wait to see what I come home to tomorrow. The next watering is scheduled for Wednesday. Do you think I should give another half gallon of 25% Flora series oxygenated water, or just a regular pH correct distilled water? If the latter, I can drop one of the 2 airstones in there for a few hours and maybe alternate between the 2. Also, what do you think about putting the oscillating fan on a timer to alternate on/off every half hour? This would allow the CO2 levels to build right around the plant as the air hose terminates about 2-3 inches above the top right at the center of all the lights.

 

[mcloadie]

I will knock those lower dead leaves off in a few minutes. thanks for the reps too. I got the CO2 bucket online now. I believe it will be producing in the next 48 hours as I didn't use the rapid yeast, I used regular ale yeast (about 3/4 of a pack to 3/4 of 5lb bag of sugar and about gallon and a half of water). I will be gone for another day, so I can't wait to see what I come home to tomorrow. The next watering is scheduled for Wednesday. Do you think I should give another half gallon of 25% Flora series oxygenated water, or just a regular pH correct distilled water? If the latter, I can drop one of the 2 airstones in there for a few hours and maybe alternate between the 2. Also, what do you think about putting the oscillating fan on a timer to alternate on/off every half hour? This would allow the CO2 levels to build right around the plant as the air hose terminates about 2-3 inches above the top right at the center of all the lights.

Can you seal up the space?, if you can, keep it sealed as much as you can while introducing co2, your temps can be higher too. Don't let anyone tell you the co2 isn't enough to work.......trust mcloadie...it will make a dramatic difference! I would give it plain water...aerated is always good, til week three in that new soil, then the 25% mixture will be good. That soil is known for being hot, so the 25% solution should be just right. I would give it that twice, then up it to 50%, plants hate rapid changes.....they just do in my experience. That plant looks great! I like your light setup, can you make a reflector out of an aluminum basting pan or something?, something that will go over the cord and rest above the lights?

 

[stealthgrow]

All caught up on your grow. Holy ups and downs
Glad you worked everything out.
Subscribed

 

[RainStacks]

Everything looks like it is moving along very nicely now. Nice work. Some very good info getting bestowed for us here too. I do have one question. If you seal the area can't you poison the plant with CO2? Does the plant need other gases as well? Would it not benefit from the air being renewed? I am really interested in this CO2 stuff. Very cool.

 

[mcloadie]

Everything looks like it is moving along very nicely now. Nice work. Some very good info getting bestowed for us here too. I do have one question. If you seal the area can't you poison the plant with CO2? Does the plant need other gases as well? Would it not benefit from the air being renewed? I am really interested in this CO2 stuff. Very cool.

Just you coming in a and out of the room once a day will provide enough fresh air for em. It's a trend right now to have "sealed grow rooms", you have a greater degree of control..............as far as co2 poisoning, you could never get the concentrations high enough to harm you or your plants, now if you start using tanks....research!!!

 

[mcloadie]

Everything looks like it is moving along very nicely now. Nice work. Some very good info getting bestowed for us here too. I do have one question. If you seal the area can't you poison the plant with CO2? Does the plant need other gases as well? Would it not benefit from the air being renewed? I am really interested in this CO2 stuff. Very cool.

6co2+6h2o in the presence of chlorophyll and an appropriate light= c6h12o6+6o2.........that my friend is how a plant works...it's actually very mechanical and I perceive the whole thing in this light to avoid complicating my understanding, AND, keeping a grip on what I'm actually trying to do. This is the fundamental equation of a plants growth and development....I am a fundamentalist grower.....that's how I was trained......