francis

sup guys, starting a little experiment in a box with a cfl and just seeing what happens. I have a buddy who's interested in selling me his hps ballast and light, and If these seeds germinate ok, i probably will take it off his hands and move everything to a closet ive been meaning to clean out. hows 40 bucks for a 150w hps sound? im pretty sure thats a reasonable deal and might get some extras thrown in like timers and thermometer.

my budget for all of this would probably be only around 50 bucks as this is just an experiment at its current stage. I still need some decent soil, all im using now is some miracle grow potting mix and that aint gonna cut it. Ill take some pics later and who knows, this might turn into a nice little grow blog.

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fenderbender

sounds good man cant wait


i love CFL grows or even low watt hid like that cause you gotta make the light work for you and you have to get the most amount of the light available for great success

more fun to be more involved imo

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francis

a pic of the set-up. the enclosure is about to be upgraded to a old computer monitor box with much more space. only two have sprouted, but im patient . quick question, how should i water these. the little peat pots seem to be drying up pretty quick, but i dont want to over water.

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Mydriasis

eeek light + cardboard box tends to be a no no(fire hazardd). Any chance you can get some ply-wood and some 2 x 4's or something? At least line it with cooking foil.

I've seen people use cut up water bottles(for seedlings) or empty milk bottles(gallon) for ghetto planting. Make sure you put wholes in the bottom though so the water can leave if it needs too. but those peat pots should hold up until you need to transfer them.

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francis

you are definitely right on that, probably not a good idea indeed. I did line the top of the box with some foil when i first put it together and threw a cd between the cord and switch for some reflection but better safe than sorry. i guess i was under the impression that they are run relatively cool and are safe. updates soon with a new safer enclosure!

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farmergiles

Tinfoil does not reflect light very well for this purpose, matt white paint is a better reflector and doesn't focus the light.

At this stage you don't need a light tight box, you can use a cardboard box for stealth if you want but cardboard isn't known for it's fire and water resistance. Some way or air to circulate in and out of the box will be beneficial.

You will want to sort something better out by the time you want to flower the plants. So you can keep them in absolute darkness for the night part of the light cycle.

For watering- you need to know how heavy your pots are when wet and when dry- keep them somewhere in between- moist but not sodden. Weight is the best indicator, just looking at the top of the soil can be deceptive. Those peat pots might dry out fairly quickly.

A fan might be useful, plants like air movement, just don`t point a big fan directly at seedlings or you may trash them.

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francis

this was put together with things around the house in less than five minutes so i did the best i could

the box is for seedlings only, i plan on moving them to a closet with hps soon.


thats how i usually check them, by feeling how heavy they are. but since they are so small they dont seem to change much.

found a little fan at the grocery store i think im gonna buy thats freakin perfect for a little small op

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farmergiles

You can keep a couple of pots with soil but no plants, one dry and one sodden wet as a reference.


Micromark make a perfect clip on 6" fan, not sure if you can get them in your neck of the woods.

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Pharm Girl

keep the soil built up around the stalks.......

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stoneric

And move the lite closer.

fenderbender

and water them more.

they look really dry in that pic, and those peat cups dry out really fast so keep em moist-ish

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francis

update after a little drink





this girl (hopefully), looks pretty sick atm. edges of leaves are slightly yellowish, leading me to believe a deficiency somewhere. i plan to have this transplanted asap to a larger container in a better, safer box. this baby is the only one with leaves atm, two others havent sprouted, and the other hasnt dropped the shell of the seed yet.

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fenderbender

more water and more light imo

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José

do you know the ph of your water?

francis

no i dont, but if i would have to guess, its probably more on the alkaline side. I would water them more if the soil had better drainage, but usually the water sits on top until a squeeze and adjust the peat pots so it runs through. i really need to start this over.

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farmergiles

Looks like you are doing fine with watering- they're not wilting anyway.

Some yellowing of the first leaves (cotyledons) is showing probably caused by a combination of the soil being a bit rich and possible water pH issue (chances are you are right about it being alkaline). Don`t panic.

The first set of leaves will wither away in any case, they're only there to get the plant started. If the seedling survives long enough to establish a decent root system it will be better able to cope with it's environment

You can get a pH test kit from a hydro store, garden centre or an aquarium store. You can lower pH with nitric or phosphoric acid or even lemon juice at a pinch.

One thing that will help- leave your water to stand for 24 hrs before watering- this allows any chlorine in the water to evaporate, improving the water quality.

The seedling shown is stretching a bit, more light is always a bonus (or moving the light closer). Like PG says you can build the soil up around the stem to give support. A bit of a breeze helps encourage sturdy growth.

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Peace seeker

what FG said

get the HPS and built a new box asap. You re risking a fire hazard with that paper box.

Get the 150W about 12" away from the seedlings for starters or 7" as long as u got good ventilation in there. They r stretching already.

If u r serious about growing some good bud, built the box.

Micromark clip-on fans are great. Get one if u can.

Also get aluminium ducting and a 4" extraction fan.

dont worry about the yellowing on the leafs for the time been.

Water by weight of the pot.

paint the walls white

i ll stop here, cause i m repeating FG's post

Pharm Girl

repeat

__________________

.....The Time has Come to 'Walk the Talk'.....~

......A message for ALL from the Deer Tribe...~

It is a great journey —
but you must do the walking
and have the willingness to change
and make the leap into
the next level of human evolution.

Become an inquisitive free thinking
individual that takes
responsibility for your life
and the spiritual accountability to live life to the fullest.

Fuck the Monkeys