first time closet grow

[The Mgt.]

I'm starting a closet grow and would like some advice. Here are the specs on my operation: First, I'll be growing in a 48"x 27" closet, using six 12-quart draining flower pots. I'm using six 75-watt output energy saving flourescent lights, 22" bulb. Four of these lights are affixed to a 42" plank by short coils of 15 guage bailing wire, and suspended from the cieling at both ends by some more wire, while the other two lights sit at either end of the closet for side lighting. I've covered the closet door with aluminum foil to reflect light.

For soil, I'm using a mixture of 50% miracle grow organic mix potting soil (quite rich) and 50% all-american potting soil (has sand and vermiculite in it; it's very loose and drains well). Also, I've got some good plant food for Veg (24-8-16) and Flowering (10-52-10).

I have already done a test run; I vegged some bag seeds for about six weeks and it actually went pretty well. Trouble was, I just could not get bag seeds to sprout... when I terminated the test run, every plant I had was several days apart in age, to the point that the lights were too high for the younger plants. I've decided that I'm going to use mail-order seeds in the hope that they will germinate and grow more readily.

Some things I have questions about... First ventilation and odor. Now I won't blow sunshine up yer butt about this folks, there's no practical way this little room can be ventilated at all. Period. As to the odor problem, I've thought about chopping up an onion and putting it on a plate in the corner, but I'm not so sure that's going to work very well. Any thoughts?

Secondly, I am concerned that I may not be watering the plants correctly. I have heard that pot generally doesn't like very much water. On my test run, I was giving the plants about a cup of water every nine days. The plants themselves seemed to be doing just fine, but boy did that dirt look awful. Given the central importance that water has to the life of the plants, I just want to be sure that I'm still in the "green zone" at one cup of water every nine days.

Thirdly, there is a bewildering array of seedbanks, breeders, and strains to choose from, and that's a really wonderful and beautiful thing to me. I just want to grow some good smoke real easy-like, since it's my first time and all that. I've had Northern Lights before, and I like it a lot, and I have even found some real cheap somewhere. Is NL easy to grow, as far as that goes? How long should I flower it? Are there any other strains that are easy to grow for beginners and would do well under the parameters with which I am working? And again I ask, how long should I flower? Any other pointers would be mo-neatest.

-The Mgt.

[gop]

There is no reason why you couldnt ventilate your cabinet. I don't know if your bulbs produce enough heat to need ventilation. You can get a decent quality not too expensive CENTRIFUGAL bathroom extractor fan, make a 10cm hole in the cabine attach some ducting, attach the fan attach some more ducting and than put a carbon filter in the end. Ive done that to my waldrobe and everything sits hidden behind it nicely.

I water my plants about 150-200ml every day, they are in galon pots. Im surprised that your leafs are not drooping, since you water them so rarely.

As for strains, Ive seen northern lighst grown 12/12 from seeds, the plants got to about 30-40cm tall and packed full of bud. Here are arguably the two best web sites for seeds Dr Chronic.com Seed Boutique
nirvana seeds bank offers cheap quality seeds and they do the northern lights strain, you might consider them since it is your first grow. I can also recomedn dutch passion seed bank. As a rule of thumb i look at seedbanks that have won awards such as the cannabis cup.

hope that helps

[The Mgt.]

Well, gop, actually, it's not possible to ventilate my grow space; it is a closet, not a cabinet. That is to say, my landlord would be quite upset if I altered it as you are suggesting. However, you are probably correct about the heat in the closet being a problem; I'm pretty sure it didn't get over 85 degrees in there... flourescent tubes don't really get very hot.

As to the water, I did flush the pots with four cups of water apiece three days before I put my first seeds down. It could be that the soil retained all that water a lot better than I suppose that it did. But after the initial watering at planting, all they got was one cup every nine days... nice, green plants with no droopage.

Seed Boutique is the seedbank I was considering going through; they have a great selection and they are comparatively inexpensive. It's a bit of a relief to hear someone else recommend them. Cheers, mate!

- The Mgt.

[Manolo]

As the plant grows its wate needs are more than before.
For example a 10cm plant and a 1 meter plant havent got the same needs in watering.
Just try and keep the soil moist and not too wet.
At veg(in the start) I water about 100ml everyday.As the plant gros I water a little more(all aquring to its needs) 150 ml,200,ml.....
There is no recipe to tell you until flowering you give them so much water.
It all dependson the plants height,heat and soil.NO magic number of ml....
After 1-2 crops you will know how much and how often.The plant it selfe tells you.
In your closet 2 medium height plants or 1 good one could fit.
You want easay growing Indicas?
Try White Widow,NL,Euforia and of course Aurora Indica(one-if not the one- most ptent buds I have ever token)
Good luck and post some pics

[The Mgt.]

Originally Posted by Manolo

As the plant grows its wate needs are more than before.
For example a 10cm plant and a 1 meter plant havent got the same needs in watering.
Just try and keep the soil moist and not too wet.
At veg(in the start) I water about 100ml everyday.As the plant gros I water a little more(all aquring to its needs) 150 ml,200,ml.....
There is no recipe to tell you until flowering you give them so much water.
It all dependson the plants height,heat and soil.NO magic number of ml....
After 1-2 crops you will know how much and how often.The plant it selfe tells you.
In your closet 2 medium height plants or 1 good one could fit.
You want easay growing Indicas?
Try White Widow,NL,Euforia and of course Aurora Indica(one-if not the one- most ptent buds I have ever token)
Good luck and post some pics

You know, that actually makes sense... a large plant requires more water than a small plant. Strangely enough, the idea has never occurred to me.

Yes, easy-to-grow Indicas are what I am currently interested in growing. I want a plant that isn't too large, and has a short flowering time, so Indica is probably the way to go. As a stoner, I think I prefer the Sativa high, but I have tried White Widow and Northern Lights both before (when I visited Amsterdam), and neither one falls short of the mighty Sativa's head-change. My choice of Northern Lights really came down to $$$ and little else... White Widow is pretty expensive stuff. I have also heard that Northern Lights is indoor-friendly and beginner-friendly, and that definitely helps its case.

Unfortunately, it is unlikely that I will be posting any pics of my grow... all I have is a webcam, and the cord just isn't long enough to reach the closet. Too bad.

Say, does anybody know anything that will minimize or conceal the odor of the flowers? I have thought about just quartering an onion and sticking it in the closet on the shelf... that's a good way to stink up any small, enclosed area with little air circulation, but I am not so sure that onion-stank will disguise or overpower Indica-stank or not. It seems like it would probably work, but I'm not certain.

[Peace seeker]

the NL's are easy to grow, great high and Dr Chronic's strain is kick ass. It won "best outdoor" on yahooka a while ago.

but i think u gonna need some kind of ventilation. Maybe keep the closet door open when the lights are on and have a fan blow at the plants to keep temps down and the plants with fresh co2.

But the open door will get smell out and that could be an issue. I dont think the chopped onion is gonna work for long. Plus with an onion smell in your apt, you can kiss your dating life goodbye (jk)

maybe its smarter to build a small grow box, so u can put proper ventilation (for healthier plants) and a carbon (for stealth reasons).

it might be more pricy, but it will save you alot of stress in the process

[stoneric]

I'd get rid of the aluminum foil and paint the entire inside flat white.

[Manolo]

Man even 10 onions chopped in half will not hide the smell only make you cry for a while..
When flowering and depending on the variety they start to smell.
Growing in a closet isnt so hard with ventilation issues.
Be very carefull though.
When you open the closet suddenly all the glorious lumens from the hps while come out
and if someone is watching at your window will suppose an UFO landed in there!
Especially nighttime.
Open the closet just as little as you can so that on top and bottom of it there is just an inch or two fow excess of the heat and smell.
If the strains you have are too smelly buy yourselfe an ionizer or better a carbon filter.
Ionizer is easyer and more flexible.
With a carbon filter you have to cut a hole in closet......
In bottom line if you have healthy plant/plants its impossible they will not smell.
Be prepared!

[The Mgt.]

A good air ionizer would probably help out immensely; I would simply buy one if I weren't on a budget... I don't have very many guests, so it's probably not a huge problem. Neverthless, I would certainly prefer that my guests not notice the lingering Indica-stank; frankly, I would rather hear my mother hate on my onion-stank than on my Indica-stank, see? I think all 232 of my beautiful wives would agree on that point.

Someone brought up CO2. I have read in many places that some growers will go so far as to set up CO2 tanks in their greenhouse simply to ensure healthier plants. That, to me, sounds likea pretty expensive way of providing CO2. Could this compound not be manufactured with a little bicarbonate of soda, and the proper additive (vinegar maybe... google is my best friend on this one; I'm no graduate chemist)? I wasn't really worried about it for my own operation (yet), but I thought I'd just sort of throw that out there to see if anyone bit, you know what I mean?

[farmergiles]

The onions won`t help- your place will just stink of onions and weed.

A carbon filter would be the best option- you don`t have to vent it outside the closet although it would be a shame not to as this ensures good air movement and will help with any heat problems.

I`ve never used an ioniser, might work well though.

I`d be a bit wary of using aluminium foil as this can create hot spots where the reflected light concentrates, scorching your plants. As Stoneric said if you use matt white paint this won`t happen. Or you could buy some mylar foil- ultimately this is the most cost effective as you make the most use of the wattage from your lamps.

I wouldn`t worry about CO2 at this stage.

every plant I had was several days apart in age, to the point that the lights were too high for the younger plants

Why not just stand the smaller ones on top of something to raise them to the height you want?

[The Mgt.]

Originally Posted by farmergiles

Why not just stand the smaller ones on top of something to raise them to the height you want?

Because I'm an idiot, primarily; but also because I'm the kind of person who generally does not pay attention to detail. Often, it's the simple things that really make a difference in life.

Hey, fellas, thanks for all the great feedback!

[farmergiles]

Originally Posted by The Mgt.

Because I'm an idiot, primarily; but also because I'm the kind of person who generally does not pay attention to detail. Often, it's the simple things that really make a difference in life.

Hey, fellas, thanks for all the great feedback!

`s cool that`s what you come on a weed forum for

[huntedsky]

if i red that correct you want to put 6 plants in a pretty small area. if you have a 2m x 2m square you will get more weed off one bushy plant in the area than 4 untrained tall plants. to train it to grow bushy you just cut the top of the main stem and give the branch leaves as much light as possible. you might have to cut some of the higher shade leaves off.

[SmokeToBeHappy]

Bro not that you have been but you should never water everyday. Anyone who tells you that is wrong in my opinion. If you water it more sparingly in encourages roots to grow out more in search for moisture. If you keep just drowning the plant with water its not going to have a "need" to expand its roots. This is what I do with my outdoor plants at least and it works very well. I feed and water only once a week and sometimes twice a week during those really hot summer weeks because I'm very nervous about leaving the plant alone for that long during extremely hot weather. Also just because the leafs aren't drooping doesn't mean they're again the perfect amount of water.