- Thread starter
- #441
Invite away! WooHoo!! Finally! Missed your journaling.
Sweetsue's First Grow - Stealthy Trio of Autos Under CFLs
- Thread starter SweetSue
- Start date
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- auto cfls closet growing
Invite away! WooHoo!! Finally! Missed your journaling.
- Thread starter
- #442
Good stuff sue , looking nice there ...
finally got things sorted with my humidity and my autos are growing like mad now .
give them all names yesterday , you should pop over say hello
I know how to find you paddy, but others may not. You need to fix your signature. I'll check in later.
edensmj420
New Member
wow sweetsue beautiful plants you got going on 
best of luck on your grow
best of luck on your grow
Wow! Finally caught up. I'd heard so many good things about you and your grow, and was not disappointed. Suffering from a bit of InfoOverload, but I think I'll survive. It's been fun to watch you learn and integrate from so many diverse sources: truly a project of mind, body and soil. Sorry, that was low-hanging fruit.
My (just recently started) first indoor grow bears some similarities to yours, so I'll be avidly following along until the scythe swings. Many thx, you made it a pleasure.
My (just recently started) first indoor grow bears some similarities to yours, so I'll be avidly following along until the scythe swings. Many thx, you made it a pleasure.
+reps for the new adventure. I'm in !
- Thread starter
- #446
Welcome edensmj and Ranger. I'm glad you've enjoyed the journey. It gets more exciting every day from here on out. 
ClosedCircuit
New Member
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ClosedCircuit
New Member
This is the big reason I am looking towards LED. Heat output on both CFLs and HPS/MH can be troublesome and with the added downside of limited spectrum output. CFL's are maybe just a little silly to grow with....
If my space weren't so small Id consider a small HPS.
But for sue, the size of her space and "thrifty" nature she would definitely be well served by looking at HPS.
sillysally
New Member
Those roots are looking great! Sending positive healing vibes your way!
- Thread starter
- #450
My space, at 2 sq. ft, is pretty darned small ClosedCircut. I'll be honest, my problem with hid or hps is that they broadcast too much unusable spectrum. Although there's no denying the penetration factor, the heat they generate and that unusable light makes them less attractive to me. If you follow any of the current LED sponsored grows you notice that the growers are thrilled with the increased trichome production of their plants under the newest generation of LEDs. That alone makes them more attractive for me. We're talking about some serious, experienced growers.
I seem to have a knack for the CFLs. I get excellent penetration of those available lumens and the trichome production on these girls is a serious event, just two days in. I'm thinking that I will save my money until I can get a good LED and just stay with the CFLs until then. After pricing various different light approaches today I kept thinking that that money would be better used waiting for an LED. I sense that any other purchase would be delaying the inevitable.
- Thread starter
- #451
Thanks Sally. They just tickle me. LOL! The positive vibes worked.
They cut away the callous from the wound and we'll be doing some serious wound care for a month or so, expecting it to respond. This one has been a real frustration, looking like its healing and then regressing again. Sooner or later it should heal, but for now I know it's not critical. Whew!
ClosedCircuit
New Member
Ya my mistake. I thought I remembered your set up having more vertical space than mine, but we are both in the same boat.
I'm definitely doing alright with cfls, but I keep thinking I could be doing better with led.
Its easier to mix spectrums with cfl than hps for sure, but as I have found from my grow, you need alot of bulbs to effectively mix spectrums. At some point the price and heat expenditure are on par with hps. I have seen some amazing grows done with cfls, but in my eyes is limited by much of the same things as hps...which makes it ironic that so many hps growers bash cfls.
I'm definitely doing alright with cfls, but I keep thinking I could be doing better with led.
Its easier to mix spectrums with cfl than hps for sure, but as I have found from my grow, you need alot of bulbs to effectively mix spectrums. At some point the price and heat expenditure are on par with hps. I have seen some amazing grows done with cfls, but in my eyes is limited by much of the same things as hps...which makes it ironic that so many hps growers bash cfls.
- Thread starter
- #453
Daily Update: Day 48 (THC Bomb) & Day 47 (Buddha Magnum)
Let's start the morning with the profile shot. There was no vertical change overnight. We may have reached their optimal height under these conditions. I will continue to check every morning. Buddha is an earlier riser than The Bomb.
This is exciting news indeed, for it means that the energy now goes into beefing up the buds - the main goal we all chase in our grows. I was hoping to get them a bit taller, but I'm ok with this. It gives me something to improve on with the next grow, hopefully under a better light for the canopy. I took some shots of colas to show you how trichome production is coming along. The first two are of the Bomb. Her main cola is progressing nicely.
This is a random cola from a distant side branch, lest anyone think this excitement is confined to her tippy top.
Not to be left out, Buddha showing frostiness on her main cola.....
..... and a random cola from one of her sturdy side branches.
Let the frosting continue! This is one of those moments growers wait for. I'll try to keep a daily account of these side colas as we move forward. It will be interesting to document the trichome development. Maybe as I go along I'll get better at stabilizing the image for a clearer look. As it is, these at least give you a general idea of what's going on and a decent look at the vigor of these leaves and blossoms.
The little white flecks on the leaves are dandruff. The stress of keeping Dale alive has, unfortunately, gifted me with a raging case of scalp psoriasis that has stubbornly defied control. I try to keep it out of the pictures but, oh well. It is what it is. Thankfully it hasn't affected my thick and luscious tresses, which he has me keeping long these days. Calls me his trophy wife.
What a sweet man.
As always, they got their quarter turn to maximize light penetration. Both plants took on about five cups of water apiece this morning - another indication that they are ready to flower in ernest. I listened to what they were saying and switched out the front light to the warmer spectrum and placed a cool bulb between them. I like to keep that full spectrum going. So now we have a total of nine 23W bulbs scattered around the sides, four of which are a warm 2700K and five cooler 5000K, along with four 40W 2700K overhead, lighting the canopies. That brings us up to 367 watts and 24,800 lumens, if my math is correct (I make no promises LOL!).
I'm not completely happy with the power strip arrangement of the front lights, but it will work until I can get a better strip at the beginning of the month. At that point I may add one more bulb and have four across the front, two for each plant. I'm also going to try to get one more in the center. That will be my last addition of bulbs, although I still have some shifting of the spectrum to get in to make it warmer and distribute the full spectrum in a more balanced way.
I also began placing another project board behind the lights in the front to reflect some of those lumens back into the grow space. I'll be improving on that in a couple weeks. I want to make a quick screen for each plant to act as reflectors, but I need more project boards and a few other supplies. What I have works for now.
I cut the timer back another 1/2 hour in the evening. We're now down to 16 1/2 hours of lights on. I've been watching them in the evening and they have been responding positively to cutting back on the time. Where they used to begin drooping around 7:30-8 PM they were barely beginning to droop at all when the lights kicked off last evening.
I only burned the tip of one unfortunate leaf yesterday. Poor things. They've been very forgiving.
Before I go I need to remember to thank daTenshi, nhteatime and SoilGirl for the rep points. I hope I never get so used to those points that I lose the element of joyful surprise at finding them. I'm touched.
Have a wonderful day everyone.
Let's start the morning with the profile shot. There was no vertical change overnight. We may have reached their optimal height under these conditions. I will continue to check every morning. Buddha is an earlier riser than The Bomb.
This is exciting news indeed, for it means that the energy now goes into beefing up the buds - the main goal we all chase in our grows. I was hoping to get them a bit taller, but I'm ok with this. It gives me something to improve on with the next grow, hopefully under a better light for the canopy. I took some shots of colas to show you how trichome production is coming along. The first two are of the Bomb. Her main cola is progressing nicely.
This is a random cola from a distant side branch, lest anyone think this excitement is confined to her tippy top.
Not to be left out, Buddha showing frostiness on her main cola.....
..... and a random cola from one of her sturdy side branches.
Let the frosting continue! This is one of those moments growers wait for. I'll try to keep a daily account of these side colas as we move forward. It will be interesting to document the trichome development. Maybe as I go along I'll get better at stabilizing the image for a clearer look. As it is, these at least give you a general idea of what's going on and a decent look at the vigor of these leaves and blossoms.
The little white flecks on the leaves are dandruff. The stress of keeping Dale alive has, unfortunately, gifted me with a raging case of scalp psoriasis that has stubbornly defied control. I try to keep it out of the pictures but, oh well. It is what it is. Thankfully it hasn't affected my thick and luscious tresses, which he has me keeping long these days. Calls me his trophy wife.
What a sweet man. As always, they got their quarter turn to maximize light penetration. Both plants took on about five cups of water apiece this morning - another indication that they are ready to flower in ernest. I listened to what they were saying and switched out the front light to the warmer spectrum and placed a cool bulb between them. I like to keep that full spectrum going. So now we have a total of nine 23W bulbs scattered around the sides, four of which are a warm 2700K and five cooler 5000K, along with four 40W 2700K overhead, lighting the canopies. That brings us up to 367 watts and 24,800 lumens, if my math is correct (I make no promises LOL!).
I'm not completely happy with the power strip arrangement of the front lights, but it will work until I can get a better strip at the beginning of the month. At that point I may add one more bulb and have four across the front, two for each plant. I'm also going to try to get one more in the center. That will be my last addition of bulbs, although I still have some shifting of the spectrum to get in to make it warmer and distribute the full spectrum in a more balanced way.
I also began placing another project board behind the lights in the front to reflect some of those lumens back into the grow space. I'll be improving on that in a couple weeks. I want to make a quick screen for each plant to act as reflectors, but I need more project boards and a few other supplies. What I have works for now.
I cut the timer back another 1/2 hour in the evening. We're now down to 16 1/2 hours of lights on. I've been watching them in the evening and they have been responding positively to cutting back on the time. Where they used to begin drooping around 7:30-8 PM they were barely beginning to droop at all when the lights kicked off last evening.
I only burned the tip of one unfortunate leaf yesterday. Poor things. They've been very forgiving.
Before I go I need to remember to thank daTenshi, nhteatime and SoilGirl for the rep points. I hope I never get so used to those points that I lose the element of joyful surprise at finding them. I'm touched.
Have a wonderful day everyone.
- Thread starter
- #454
I agree that CFLs get a bad rap that I believe is unwarranted. I'm doing my best to raise their stature. I actually like the flexibility of placement with the CFLs. I think it gives you finer control of light penetration, given the right approach. Safety first though. Heat has to be vented no matter what. In such a small space an LED would have to be limited in size as well, so additional supplementation with CFLs would be called for anyway. Their inclusion with the LED will add another layer of the spectrum and will only enhance the end results.
Diversity is always a good thing.
I do have more vertical space. I'm just limited to that 2 sq. ft of floor space.
nhteatime
Well-Known Member
They look fantastic Sue - I have to go reread this from the beginning again. I really want to try the living soil next time. Your girls are proof that is the way to go!
- Thread starter
- #456
Worm Bin Maintenance
Every now and then (once or twice a week) I try to remember that I have worms that need fed.
This morning I had to do something with the left over sprouting popcorn, so I determined it was time to purée up a nice batch of garbage for the worms. This morning's mix included:
- the sprouted corn (which had been there long enough to be pretty ripe and have some green stalks)
- a bag of fruit and veggie bits from the freezer (helps rupture the cells and speed decomp)
- two spoonfuls of coffee grounds, dug out of the trash can
- some decomposing parsley from the depths of the fridge (Finally! A use for the fridge "science experiments".)
- 1/4 banana peel from breakfast, finely chopped
- a teaspoon of kelp/neem /crustacean meal
All that was dumped into the ninja and puréed into a nice even mash. I gently dug out a small depression in the bin and dropped it all in. See the glistening skin of healthy, happy worms, left alone to work their alchemy? That's them on the left hand side of the photo.
Covered over again with the displaced matter and topped off with the tea bags from the last five days. I have a cup of Mint Medley tea every morning. I wait until I take the bag out before sweetening (the bin doesn't need the Splenda, and likely neither do I) and set them aside until the next bin feeding. Minus the staples, of course.
Putting all back into place, I took the time to wet the back side of the top cover cardboard with the diluted molasses. I discovered an important point.
*** Molasses water will mold if you let it sit too long. ***
The worm bin is a composting mechanism, so mold isn't a problem at all since it becomes part of the decomposition process. I now know what was stinking up my kitchen though! LOL!
I don't know if I ever showed how I keep this bin from getting too wet. Instead of putting the plastic top back on in a normal fashion, I begin by placing the bag the worms came in over the top (nice and breathable ).
Then I place the plastic top on that, turned upside down for stability and leaving part of the bag exposed to allow better air exchange.
This sad little thing unwisely tried to go exploring. I tossed him back in to add his nutrients back into the bin.
I devoted maybe 15 minutes to the entire process. The bin smells wonderful - warm and earthy. Neglect is the name of the game with worms.
Last evening I sprinkled in a bit of sand. Worms don't have gizzards, so sand or crushed egg shells is an occasional must. Not a lot for such a small number of worms, but a little sprinkle now and again.
Every now and then (once or twice a week) I try to remember that I have worms that need fed.
This morning I had to do something with the left over sprouting popcorn, so I determined it was time to purée up a nice batch of garbage for the worms. This morning's mix included:
- the sprouted corn (which had been there long enough to be pretty ripe and have some green stalks)
- a bag of fruit and veggie bits from the freezer (helps rupture the cells and speed decomp)
- two spoonfuls of coffee grounds, dug out of the trash can
- some decomposing parsley from the depths of the fridge (Finally! A use for the fridge "science experiments".)
- 1/4 banana peel from breakfast, finely chopped
- a teaspoon of kelp/neem /crustacean meal
All that was dumped into the ninja and puréed into a nice even mash. I gently dug out a small depression in the bin and dropped it all in. See the glistening skin of healthy, happy worms, left alone to work their alchemy? That's them on the left hand side of the photo.
Covered over again with the displaced matter and topped off with the tea bags from the last five days. I have a cup of Mint Medley tea every morning. I wait until I take the bag out before sweetening (the bin doesn't need the Splenda, and likely neither do I) and set them aside until the next bin feeding. Minus the staples, of course.
Putting all back into place, I took the time to wet the back side of the top cover cardboard with the diluted molasses. I discovered an important point.
*** Molasses water will mold if you let it sit too long. ***
The worm bin is a composting mechanism, so mold isn't a problem at all since it becomes part of the decomposition process. I now know what was stinking up my kitchen though! LOL!
I don't know if I ever showed how I keep this bin from getting too wet. Instead of putting the plastic top back on in a normal fashion, I begin by placing the bag the worms came in over the top (nice and breathable ).
Then I place the plastic top on that, turned upside down for stability and leaving part of the bag exposed to allow better air exchange.
This sad little thing unwisely tried to go exploring. I tossed him back in to add his nutrients back into the bin.
I devoted maybe 15 minutes to the entire process. The bin smells wonderful - warm and earthy. Neglect is the name of the game with worms.
Last evening I sprinkled in a bit of sand. Worms don't have gizzards, so sand or crushed egg shells is an occasional must. Not a lot for such a small number of worms, but a little sprinkle now and again.
Hahah "a use for the fridge 'science experiments'". That's certainly a great bonus!!
Sorry to regress, where did you get your worms, Sue?
Sorry to regress, where did you get your worms, Sue?
- Thread starter
- #458
Good morning Pigeons. I ordered a small batch of just one pound from Build A Soil. I ordered from there because I had other items I was ordering and because he offered a mix of red wrigglers and European worms and I wanted the mix for my pots. I hear they don't mix well in a bin together, but I've seen no evidence to support this, although I don't go investigating. I try my best to leave them alone.
How long until you harvest your big girl?
ClosedCircuit
New Member
I'm just sort of thinking out loud for now. I'm playing with the idea of adding fluorescents some how...just a challenge in such a small space.
I don't mean to talk down your grow or anything, after all I'm a fellow CFL grower
- Thread starter
- #460
I'm just sort of thinking out loud for now. I'm playing with the idea of adding fluorescents some how...just a challenge in such a small space.
I don't mean to talk down your grow or anything, after all I'm a fellow CFL grower
No offense taken ClosedCircuit. It takes a lot to get me on the defensive. This was just a conversation between growers becoming friends.