first time, want to make sure everything is in order

[mainlylost]

So this is a repost of my grow journal, sorry to anyone who looks at both

So not sure where to start, this is my first time trying anything like this I went into my local hydroponics shop, and the guy set me up with roots organic original soil and the aurora masterpack for nutes (I definitely dont think I needed the masterpack for my first time but he was really convincing. I think I will just use the buddha grow and buddha bloom for my first time) For a seed I was supposed to get 10 lowryder/sour diesel hybrid clones, but that's kind of in limbo right now. I am hesitant to send cash overseas for seeds so for now I am using a seed found in some really delicious lemon weed (don't know the specific strand). I germinated it using the wet paper towel method and am now about 9 days in. I'm hoping it is a female so I can just clone it a bunch of times. I used a dresser converted to a stealth grow cabinet based loosely on this idea: Build a Stealth Grow Box for less than $150 | Hail Mary Jane
Anyway here are pics of the grow area and plant

veg chamber

Showing the fan that pulls air from veg to flowering chambers

Shows dual partition between veg/flower chambers (so that light doesnt leak through the hole where the fan is)

5x23w cfl and 1x42 w cfl =10800 lumens also dual fans in the airtight top of the chamber pull all the heat out of there

showing the readings of the flower chamber, I have a humidifier sitting directly on top of the dresser and cant get the humidity up... :/

Heat shield and carbon filter in the veg chamber

1x42w and 2x23w Cfl in veg chamber=6000 lumens

zoomed in on seedling

Close up of my baby

from the front

I know height is going to be an issue, I have a total of about 2.5 feet from floor to ceiling of interior. Right now lights are on 18/6 turning off during the day, (its like 8F here right now, So more heat at night is better?) I think I am a bit early for "phase1" nutes, I am thinking that a few more days I will be ready for half strength nutes. any tips to get my humidity up? everything else look good?

 

[mainlylost]

Quick problem I just did a ph test for the first time using runoff water and drops, ph ~7 went in and ph~5 came out =0 I guess I assumed that the soil would be neutral from the time it came out of the bag. I have been watering with only bottled water so far. I read in one of the faq/sticky that dolomitic lime is used to ph+ Is that the best way to go? Im going to run out and grab whatever I need in a few minutes

 

[TanR]

Hi mainlylost.

Just saw this post after responding in your other post. Wondering if putting the humidifier in the cabinet is an option? If not then perhaps a bowel of tap water or two?

You can use lime to raise the PH of your soil, but it takes time to break down. Like several months time, although there is a fast acting lime available as Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3). Your PH reading could be influenced by a variety of factors including the fact that your container appears to be a peat pot. Peat is pretty acidic, especially so as it ages and begins to decay.

I wouldn't sweat the PH for the moment as the soil is obviously conducive to at least sprouting your plant. If you begin to detect PH related issues you can always increase the PH of the water to help offset.

 

[mainlylost]

I could put the humidifier in the cabinet, theres definitly room in the flower chamber, my only concern is would that be overkill? being a fairly closed system that would spike the humidity, going to high frightens me with mold in a wood cabinet. fwiw this is the humidifier ProCare Cool Mist Humidifier: Heating, Cooling, & Air Quality : Walmart.com

 

[TanR]

Agree that mold is certainly a risk. Any chance you could plug into a timer so it only runs for 15 minutes or so at a time, a couple times a day?

 

[mainlylost]

at least for now I could plug it into the timer for the lights in the veg chamber and set it for intervals. Over summer I expect the humidity in my apt to skyrocket so it won't be an issue then. Also thanks for all the help tanR! Super helpful to a noob like me

 

[PlanetJ]

I have a somewhat similar cabinet, and about as much experience as you, but have a few remarks just the same


If you want to go cheap 'n easy: Just get a white towel, fold it a few times, place it under your pot('s) and keep it damp. The airflow in your cabinet will cause it to slowly evaporate during lights out, and during lights on, temperature helps. My humidity has gone from 30 to 50, 60 max when I have watered the girls as well.

The other thing I want to comment on is the positioning of your lights. I have a 4-in-1 plant sensor, with on it a light meter that reports 9 levels.

Up till about 2cm under the lamps, it reports 'normal'.
Up till about 3cm it reports 'low +'.
At 5 cm's it's 'low'.
Any further is 'low -'.

Moral of the story: you want those bulbs as close on your plants as possible without touching. This means nearly daily adjustment after 2 weeks. You'd do good to build a sort of chandelier for those bulbs, which you can raise as she grows, to maximize the light she gets. Those lights on the side will be great when she gets taller, but right now there is a lot of wasted watts in that box because of the effective strenght of the light over distance.

If you look in my growjournal, you can see at a few photo's how close my lights are .. those are 45w bulbs at 2cm from the leafs. The girls love it.

Good luck with your grow man

 

[mainlylost]

Checked out your grow, looks great, I hope mine turns out as nice and healthy as the 3 of yours did. I moved mine up so that now its horizontal with the lights, that should be pretty direct, Ill look at building a "chandelier" system later. Thanks for the input!

 

[josh223]

Welcome to the forum!

One thing that I saw right away is that you mentioned only using the grow and bloom formulas. That's fine, but their should be a "base formula" to be used with either or. If that is the case, you definitely need to be using the base.

Much luck in your future endeavors.

 

[MaineSmoker]

Love the stealth factor. Hope its out of smell from visitors or you may be in for a suprise

 

[mainlylost]

@ marine- The whole box seals air/light tight with magnetic closures. The only way air gets in is through pvc pipe that makes a 180 degree turn (for light) below the veg and the only way it gets out is through the carbon filter. I doubt it will be 100% of it, but its in a sealed room too and I dont have visitors often. Most of my friends know I smoke weed, so a small bit of odor is acceptable Well see how it goes I guess.
@ josh I thought that the bloom + grow formulas were the "base" formula, just different ones for veg/flower. Somebody correct me if im wrong. the feed schedule for the pack I got is https://www.aurorainnovations.org/AuroraInnovations_MasterFeedingSchedule.pdf