First Grow! Stealth Stereo Cabinet CFL Bagseed Attempt

[DJMattz0r]

So I have been reading about growing for quite some time. I played around with germination for a while, then to go for it. I had been contemplating doing a stealth PC box, but never got around to building that so I converted a stereo cabinet into a small chamber [17'' wide x 18'' tall x 15'' deep]. Started a seedling with some seeds from a big nug of mids I had. So strain is unknown.

Is it Indica, Sativa or Hybrid? What percentages? It looks Indica dominant from the thickness of the leaves.

Is it in Veg or Flower stage? Switched it to 12/12 roughly 1 week ago when I had my box figured out. It isn't complete but works for now until I decide to finish it. I vegged for approx 3 weeks before switching to 12/12 btw.

Soil or Hydro? I am using MG moisture control potting soil as it was relatively cheap and I am trying to not spend much money to do this.

If soil... What size pot? I just transplanted her into a 6'' pot.

Size of light? I have a strange mix at the moment, two 26w 2700k CFLs, a 23w 2700k CFL and a 27w 5000K CFL. I am hoping to mount them a bit better in the next couple of days and optimize them.

Is it aircooled? Yes, I have some passive intakes on the back with light traps and a PC fan of unknown CFM pulling through a carbon scrubber as exhaust. There is also a small fan just moving air around in the cab, this helps to keep the temp on my lights down.

Temp of Room/cab? Not sure as I have yet to purchase any sort of thermometer, however I tend to test the temperature after sealing with the lights on and it probably gets into the low 80s.

RH of Room/cab? Again, unsure but the RH isn't super high as the air tends to circulate well.

PH of media or res? No PH strips, this is one thing I will be purchasing very soon.

Any Pests ? Not yet (crosses fingers)

How often are you watering? She has been thirsty lately as I have almost been watering her every day. I check to make sure the soil has dried up a bit before I water though.

Type and strength of ferts used? I am going for budget so I bought some MG houseplant food (lol) for the veg cycle (8-7-6); and some MG bloom booster (lol again :/) for flowering (15-30-15).

I had some discolorations on some of the first fan leaves, could have been a little nute burn along with some burns from water drops on the leaves. new growth looks great though.

I was trying to upload some of the older photos and I couldn't get the uploader to work, kept saying could not generate image or some nonsense...

I basically made a veg box out of a shoe box and used that until I built something better, now I have my cabinet and it seems to work so far.

Here is a picture of her, I decided to name her Pandora and hence the box is Pandora's Box. (it sure looks like a jumbled mess, this will hopefully be straightened up as I remount the lights)

I transplanted her into a 6'' pot today as well as starting some LST. This is approx 1 week into flowering but I haven't seen much flowering type stuff happening, maybe too soon but I thought maybe the cause was the power strip on/off light and maybe it had thrown off the light cycle but I have been told it shouldn't make a difference. So here is Pandora all bent over.

I will see if I can get the photo upload process to work better for me so I can update with a chronological picture line type thing....

Thanks for reading through, peace.

 

[Lil Neutrino]

Subscribed I don't have time to read it atm but I'll do that later tonight...looks good from the pics though!

 

[DJMattz0r]

Subscribed I don't have time to read it atm but I'll do that later tonight...looks good from the pics though!

Thanks Neutrino! Glad you are taking a look later, and just for you I will put up a few pictures of the internode growth for preflowers, but I don't see anything yet still.

So I seem to still be having problems with this photo uploader, I don't know if it just doesn't want to upload multiple photos at a time or what, but I was even having problems doing one at a time earlier. Keep getting this message: Unable to create image: [/home/vhosts/html/420magazine/gallery/uploads/77521/p_00136.jpg]

I did get a few to work though, here are some preflower pictures. No hairs or balls that I can see thus far.

Picture of the top before I LST'd.

And here is a picture I just took, she has already perked back up and moved leaves after the LST.

She was started from seed about a week after 4/20 so about a month old at this point. Thanks for lookin.

 

[obliviconsent]

Awesome looking so far. I have a similar grow. I use M/G nutes but very carefully cuz I use wally world soil with time release nutes. I'm suscribed.

 

[Lil Neutrino]

So I have been reading about growing for quite some time. I played around with germination for a while, then to go for it. I had been contemplating doing a stealth PC box, but never got around to building that so I converted a stereo cabinet into a small chamber [17'' wide x 18'' tall x 15'' deep]. Started a seedling with some seeds from a big nug of mids I had. So strain is unknown.

Dang, that is a seriously small space! It can be done though...your height is going to give you the most problems by the time you factor in the pot height and the clearance needed for your lights. On a positive note growing in that small of a space means a small plant which translates to lower required wattage. How that affects heat levels will depend on your ventilation system.

Is it in Veg or Flower stage? Switched it to 12/12 roughly 1 week ago when I had my box figured out. It isn't complete but works for now until I decide to finish it. I vegged for approx 3 weeks before switching to 12/12 btw.

So four weeks...you should be seeing preflowers within the next week! Three weeks is a decent veg time, starting LST at 1.5-2 weeks would have been better but no biggie. If anything you'll just have a harder challenge

If soil... What size pot? I just transplanted her into a 6'' pot.

How tall is that pot?

Size of light? I have a strange mix at the moment, two 26w 2700k CFLs, a 23w 2700k CFL and a 27w 5000K CFL. I am hoping to mount them a bit better in the next couple of days and optimize them.

If you see some 6500K bulbs on sale for a good price buy one (or two...or three...because you KNOW you're going to do this again even if you don't admit it to yourself lol) and replace that 5000K bulb with it. If you know someone with a Sam's Club or Costco card borrow it and check their CFL prices...I got a four pack (or was it a 5-pack even?) of 23W CFL's from Costco once for under $4 Also check in stores you wouldn't normally consider like Big Lots...sometimes they have 'em for dirt cheap too!

Is it aircooled? Yes, I have some passive intakes on the back with light traps and a PC fan of unknown CFM pulling through a carbon scrubber as exhaust. There is also a small fan just moving air around in the cab, this helps to keep the temp on my lights down.

PC fans tend not to like having any resistance (head pressure iirc)...be aware that it may eventually burn out and you'll need to replace it. I haven't used any carbon scrubbers yet but it is quite amazing how much smell such a little plant can put off...that 13" one from my first grow made my bedroom reek if I didn't leave a window cracked. Also look in to air neutralizers like ONA, for small grows they work quite well ime. I use them and while it doesn't quite cover-up my current plant's smell it noticeably reduces the odor...first grow it worked very well though.

Temp of Room/cab? Not sure as I have yet to purchase any sort of thermometer, however I tend to test the temperature after sealing with the lights on and it probably gets into the low 80s.

Get a thermometer ASAP...one of the few tools I would consider essential. I suggest one with a remote probe, usually says "indoor/outdoor" on the package, that way you don't have to open the grow box to check the temp.

The other being a pH meter. I use a Milwaukee pH600 digital pen...cost me $18 iirc and has been indispensable to say the least.

RH of Room/cab? Again, unsure but the RH isn't super high as the air tends to circulate well.{/quote]

It is possible to circulate very humid air...I used to live 20 miles from the Gulf Coast and believe me lol, wind can be very sticky and moist!

PH of media or res? No PH strips, this is one thing I will be purchasing very soon.

I don't suggest the strips...you need something more accurate. Refer to my comment about the Milwaukee pen.

How often are you watering? She has been thirsty lately as I have almost been watering her every day. I check to make sure the soil has dried up a bit before I water though.

Sounds like you're either not saturating the soil very well when you do water or she's already rootbound. How much water is she getting each time? How much runoff comes out? You don't want the soil to be too dry either...something I'm guilty of doing at times.

Type and strength of ferts used? I am going for budget so I bought some MG houseplant food (lol) for the veg cycle (8-7-6); and some MG bloom booster (lol again :/) for flowering (15-30-15).

Just out of curiosity (ok, I lie...I may be going somewhere with it depending on the answer ) how much did those nutes cost you and what size (volume) did you get?

That MG Bloom sounds pretty potent from the numbers...considering the size pot you're using and the amount of water the soil should be able to hold be careful on the dosage unless you plan to use it all within a few days of mixing. Also after the initial stretch phase of flowering (first two weeks or so) you're going to want to cut back on the nitrogen and eventually eliminate it altogether. Also be aware with chemical fertilizers you're probably going to want to leach (more commonly referred to as "flushing") the soil a couple weeks before harvest so you get a better end product. It's also important to give just water every other watering (sometimes every three...depends on the plant and dosage of course) to help flush out any salt buildup in the soil from the chemicals. Organic nutes can also build up salt levels in the soil but it tends to take much more to come even close iirc...double-check me on that, but it is fact that organic nutes are less problematic in that aspect than chemical.

I had some discolorations on some of the first fan leaves, could have been a little nute burn along with some burns from water drops on the leaves. new growth looks great though.

Sounds normal to me...I always get some weird spots early on too. Keep an eye on the new growth and be very careful watering, if you splash on the leaves make a mental note where it happened. If the spotting continues and begins to spread you'll want to catch it early, could be just a simple nute deficiency caused by a lack of said nute in the soil...or it could be a pH imbalance caused by a variety of things which results in a nutrient lockout, to which would appear to be a simple nute deficiency unless you have a pH meter to check your nute solution going in to the soil as well as the run-off.

I was trying to upload some of the older photos and I couldn't get the uploader to work, kept saying could not generate image or some nonsense...

Try the troubleshooting forum or PM a member of 420's "Grow Support"...I have seen a few members have this issue but I don't know the cause of it.

Here is a picture of her, I decided to name her Pandora and hence the box is Pandora's Box. (it sure looks like a jumbled mess, this will hopefully be straightened up as I remount the lights)

Nice name Main thing to be careful is your electrical wiring...you don't want any chance of it getting wet should you spill or something. And don't lean anything flammable too close to the bulbs, CFL's aren't as hot as HID's and I doubt they'd start a fire but I'm of the camp that asks, "Why invite trouble?" in that regards. You look fine from what I can see though, good job!

And btw...are those Venus Fly Traps in that baggie tacked to the right wall? At first I thought fungi but then I saw they were green and I don't know of any mushies that are green.

I transplanted her into a 6'' pot today as well as starting some LST. This is approx 1 week into flowering but I haven't seen much flowering type stuff happening, maybe too soon but I thought maybe the cause was the power strip on/off light and maybe it had thrown off the light cycle but I have been told it shouldn't make a difference. So here is Pandora all bent over.

She may get a bit rootbound in that pot...and you don't want to have to transplant very far in to flowering, less stress = good. If anything should it become a problem you'll have to water and feed more but then you have to be sure not to drown the roots.

Thanks for reading through, peace.

Looking forward to see what happens...sorry for the late reply, up past my bedtime again but I said I'd post tonight! No biggie, not like I have a job to go to in the morning...but let's not go there lol

 

[Lil Neutrino]

Thanks Neutrino! Glad you are taking a look later, and just for you I will put up a few pictures of the internode growth for preflowers, but I don't see anything yet still.

Always happy to help, this forum was a huge help during my first grow and still is a year later. Great bunch of people here...99% are considerate and positive, the other 1% don't last too long You should be seeing some preflowers any day now!

I did get a few to work though, here are some preflower pictures. No hairs or balls that I can see thus far.

See those long, green "spikes" coming out of the main stalk pointing at 11 o'clock (I forget their name, couldn't remember earlier either)? You're going to want to look behind those if you weren't sure exactly where to watch...they start off extremely small, closer pics required to catch them early. Once they "mature" a bit they'll become visible to the naked eye pretty easily, especially the males. Sometimes it's easy to confuse new vegetative growth with preflowers, did that during my first grow if you recall lol. And those long green things... rofl

And here is a picture I just took, she has already perked back up and moved leaves after the LST.

It's amazing how fast these plants can reposition themselves and grow...LST job looks good!

 

[DJMattz0r]

Awesome looking so far. I have a similar grow. I use M/G nutes but very carefully cuz I use wally world soil with time release nutes. I'm suscribed.

Thanks, obliviconsent! I am just getting ready to head off to bed, been smoking and watching some tv. I was able to get a few of the early pictures uploaded so here they are. I will be interested to see your grow as well, will take a look.

Sorry for the quality of these images, I used my camera phone since I had lost my memory card for awhile on the digital camera.

This is the earliest picture I have of Pandora, I vegged her in a shoebox I ghetto rigged with some CFLs. [4/28]

[5/3]

(same day)

[5/4]

[5/7]

Here she is on [5/8] and I had started building my box.

Alright, time for bed and I can't wait to see how she looks in the morning.

 

[Troublesome]

Hey man nice baby Hey a lil suggestion for the man on a tight budget if u go to lowes or some other hardware store or maybe wally world look for silverware drawer liner. its real cheap and its like tape, it will line the inside of your box quit nice i used it and will probably never use anything else, plus its real cheap Im taggin along for the ride man keep up the good work

 

[Lil Neutrino]

Any idea how reflective that stuff is (%)?

 

[DJMattz0r]

Troublesome. Thanks for looking in, I did put up mylar emergency blankets inside of my current cab. I had her growing in a shoebox temporarily with just the white inside as a reflector previously. I will look into those cabinet liners though.

Wow, thanks Neutrino. Sorry I didn't respond last night I was way tired and stoned when I saw your post after I posted those last pictures lol

My space is small, 18'' tall is about the same as a PC case and I think that is why I ended up going LST even though it is a bit late in the game. This was a first grow and I plan to hopefully have an improved one start up after the summer. I am trying to get this harvested before July 12th or so. We will see as it is an Indica.

The height of the pot measures about 5 1/2'' tall. I should also be able to gain a few inches of head room once I mount my lights horizontally rather than at an angle hanging.

I will keep a look out for the 6500k bulbs, I couldn't find them at the HD when I looked so I used the 5000k just to get by. Thing should hopefully be alot better the next time I decide to grow.

PC fans don't have the best head pressure that's for sure, I am looking to fix that problem somehow, there is a 'vent' cut in the top back of the box that measures roughly 3 1/2'' tall and 17'' long that I slapped a piece of cardboard over and mounted some ventilation ducts using PVC 90 degree elbows and that PC fan connected to my carbon scrubber. I was trying to figure out how to use one of the small fans that I use to circulate the air in my box as an exhaust fan but doesn't seem practical.

I know I need a thermometer/PH tester. Soon as I am able to afford them they will be top priority. I didn't plan on using PH strips I am just used to saying that and will look into that Milwaukee pH600 as it sounds inexpensive.

When I water I usually water with fertilizers every other time and then use purified water since I am not sure of my tap water pH. I usually water until a bit of runoff is seen then stop and water once the first 2-3'' of soil feel dry. On a full watering I use maybe half a quart?
Here is a picture of the 2 I have bought, I don't use them at full strength since they are MG and have heard 1/4 to 1/2 will work. I have been slowly building up but hope to get some organic or at least better stuff soon.

She definitely isn't rootbound as I transplanted her yesterday, but forgot to take a picture of the roots

She has been doing a lot better since I stopped neglecting her, haven't had any sort of discolorations again except for when a fan leaf grew into the light at one point, I removed the burnt edge of 1 leaf.

My electrical is pretty shotty atm but I did place the power strip on a box off the floor incase of some sort of spill, I will be getting zip ties and hopefully suspending it from an upper edge and at the same time can organize some wiring.

And sorry no I wish those were some venus fly traps. I had bought some seeds (basil, tomatoes, bell peppers, chives) and was attempting to germ them, that is what is in a few of the tiny pots laying around. I also have a succulent cactus laying around

Let me include a few more pictures of her early life while I am at it.

[5/8] after I put Pandora in her box

[5/9]

[5/9] after I built carbon scrubber and put her in box

[5/11]

[5/13]

[5/13] sitting in her box, added more lights at this point.

[5/15] at this point I got my digital camera working. I later discovered the auto white balance thanks to Lil Neutrino

I probably forgot something, but that is good for now I feel. Will add a couple of the LST/internal foliage pictures later.

 

[DJMattz0r]

So I have been pretty fuzzy all day, had a pretty good time. My buddy came over with some dank after his last final that had some definite purple and red coloration to it, very good, probably a sativa.

So after I put Pandora into LST yesterday, I woke up and she looked like this.

I ended up tying her down a bit more and changing the position of leaves for a bit and she looks like this.

The new growth coming up. Quite a few new bud sites, I am very impressed.

I have also been trying to find the sex for I don't even know how long. Here are some recent pics. I see hair looking things but couldn't find them on the actual plant. lol. I use a 16x doublet to magnify the preflowers.

If you see something I don't, let me know

She has also been producing a very nice aroma. It reminds me of a coffee smell, similar to some Northern Lights I had once and also has a very nice skunk smell as well. No odor outside the cab until I open the door.

 

[Troublesome]

So bushy Looks amazing man

 

[SK-Slappy]

wow, I get a cold chill when I look close at your little buddy....I'm afraid I don't see any female traits...I'm no expert by any means but that looks (dare I say it) male...


I hope I'm wrong for your sake though.....great looking plant though,

 

[DJMattz0r]

So bushy Looks amazing man

Thanks, Troublesome.! Definitely exploded as soon as I applied LST.

SK-Slappy, I hope you are wrong for my sake. Although I have never sexed a plant and have only seen images of what it should look like. I took a bunch of pictures of the inside of her foliage and couldn't distinguish anything preflower looking yet. Just a lot of sites where they should be soon.

I have been going picture crazy so here are a few from today.

A size comparison shot. Standard Bic lighter.

Her full bush lol. This is looking down the main stem from the top.

And a shot of the cab with the front door off.

Let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions please. Thanks

 

[Lil Neutrino]

No suggestions, just wanted to repeat that LST rulez your plant! Try and keep her tied down as evenly as possible on top so that you don't run in to the same issue I did in which some colas grew much taller than others thus getting more light and thus leaving you with some rather small colas in the middle.

I'm not gonna guess on the sex until I see preflowers...the nodal spacing looks more like a female (males tend to be lankier iirc) but then again during my first grow the nodes were tight on all of them but I still wound up with all males save for one. Hope she's a girl! And even if she's not you still have the experience which will help get the next one going even better...although it's ok to cuss at it a bit if it is a male lol

 

[Troublesome]

Lookin good to me and looks like a lady to my as well. Your plant is so healthy so if its turns to male your next grow will just be even better. FINGERS CROSSED FOR YA BRO

 

[RustyDude]

I love how bushy she is, Awesome grow so far, I will definitely be watching this one.

 

[DJMattz0r]

Thanks Neutrino, I have been trying to keep the canopy as level as possible so the smaller stuff in the middle keeps growing. I really hope it's a girl, I have been checking every few hours for the past few days it seems haha.

Troublesome. I appreciate the comments, I am pleased with how she looks too I am waiting on the sex to determine if I buy anything else at this point. So we shall see.

RustyDude, thanks for checking out my plant
I will put a picture of the beast in all her bushiness in this post for ya.

So she still has a sweet, coffee aroma with a bit of skunk thrown in.

Here is a picture of her this morning, I noticed she had grown into the lights but I caught it before anything too serious happened. Will drop the plant down further at night so it has room to grow by morning.

This next picture is a blown-up image that I cropped to show what there is for pre flowers.
I don't think I can accurately judge sex just yet. Let me know if I am just an idiot.

While I was checking for preflowers, I came across one of the internode branches that now has 2 colas/growths. Here they are.

And RustyDude, here is Pandora showing her giant bush.

I removed 2 fan leaves, they were old ones with 3 leaflets and one had some 'soft' light green looking stuff on it as well as old brown spots from either nute burn early on or a little bit of light burn from water droplets. Either way, I think this helps out some of the smaller branches towards the middle with more light anyways.

Pandora is in bed for the evening so more updates tomorrow. Hopefully with a confirmation that she truly is a lady!

 

[Lil Neutrino]

Definitely preflowers but I agree, still a bit too soon. Any day though...at least now you know one place that you can check it. More will begin to pop out soon.

 

[Troublesome]

famale female female FEMALE!!!!!!