RRF Auto, 3 ltr bottles, CFLs, Dr. Earth w/a touch of frugality and lack of time

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midnight_toker

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Since I came up pretty empty handed while searching on Dr. Earth and since I'm pretty fresh off the boat as a "farmer," I'll be starting this journal to entertain at least myself and perhaps a few others and hopefully some good information will come of it. My Russian Rocket Fuel (non feminized) auto-flowering beans (cost: 50.00) arrive in about a week. I'm super excited.

My grow so far:

My most important ingredient: Sensible Simplicity and Frugality. I want to spend as little as possible and make it as easy on myself as possible. I'm the queen of cheap, so I'm enjoying the challenge I've given myself.

I'll be using a small room in my basement. Right now, I have not done anything to it yet, but my plans are to paint it white (already have from a home improvement project), seal it off from another room by installing a door (scavenged), and rig up my lights. Later I will seal it better and use a air purifier (freebie from friend) and step up the air cleaning if needed.

My space is 3x3 ft and about 5 ft of height. Since these are lowryders, that shouldn't be an issue.

I'm using CFL's purchased at Lowe's for the vegetation stage: Bright Effects Daylight, 100watt equivalent (26w) They are 6500k in color and each is 1600 lumens. I may not use CFLs for flowering.
Cost: 9.00 for a 4 pack (will purchase as many as needed, but need to determine that first :) )

To position them over the plants, I have cup hooks (scavenged) in the ceiling and from these I hang a lamp kit from Walmart (with attention paid to wattage load) with a dual socket adapter screwed into the socket of each. To raise and lower them, I make a loose knot in the cord at the height I want to hang them and then twist tie this knot so it doesn't slip out, then I hang the knot on the cup hook. I can adjust these easily by untying and making a new loose knot. These lights will be plugged into a surge supressor and that will be plugged into a timer purchased from Walmart to turn the lights on and off at specific times.
Cost: lamp kit- 6.00 each, socket adaptor- 2.00, timer- ? 6.00? (I have all these from my first grow)

I will be using 3liter soda bottles purchased at the Dollar Store, painted so no light will get through to the roots.
Cost: 1.00 each

I found some great looking premixed organic soil by Dr. Earth. It is completely and truly organic and has lots of great stuff in it: bat guano, sea kelp, etc., etc. I'm not going to add anything else to it, except maybe some perlite for drainage, just to see how it does right out of the bag. I can adjust for future grows.
Cost: 12.00 for 1.5 cubic ft

I will be installing a temperature and humidity meter from Lowe's.
Cost: 10.00

For air circulation, I will be using a window box fan.

I'll plant 3 first and then 3 more 1 month later for a rotational harvest. I'll separate the males collect the pollen, then selectively pollinate so I won't have to buy more RRF beans :).

My task list before seeds arrive:
Figure out how I want to start the seeds- direct, peat pellets, peat pots...etc..
Test the water ph level of my new/ancient house
clean and paint the grow space
install lights, timer, temperature and humidity gauge.

I'll be growing at least one or two of the freebie beans I got with my order, but those will be more just to see what happens because I don't have the height for them- they aren't lowryders. So, they'll have some friends to talk to. I'll have to move them somewhere else to flower them, of course since I'll be running the autos at 18/6 or 20/4.

growspace.jpg
 
I'm considering using the white "Project Boards," they use at Science fairs as reflectors to make a cubicle around the plants of concentrated light. White ones. I'm considering this instead of painting the walls white. Moving into this new old house of ours, I have painted every surface of it in the last month and I'm done painting for the next 5 years, maybe 20.

I could make the lighted space as tight as I wanted and the light would be bouncing off all that white back onto the plants so less light loss. Since it would be moveable, I'd just move the boards out away from them a little more as they grow.

Also, I wish I could find more info on direct planting vs. jiffy pellets- I'm thinking of filling the soda bottles mostly full of the Dr. Earth mixed with Perlite and putting a 2 inch layer of seed starter on top of that and planting directly into the soda bottles. I bought Jiffy Pellets too, just in case I change my mind.

Jiffy Pellets (for my garden seedlings mainly) 5.00
Jiffy Organic Seed Starter 4.00
Project Boards should run about 5.00 each, I think.

Tapping my foot waiting for my beans. They should be here next week sometime.:yay:
 
You should try Home depot they have the 27/watt daylight cfl's spirals....N:vision is the brand.
 
We don't have Home Depot here. These bulbs are spiral cfl (26 watt). Is there a big difference between the lights I bought and those? in color? luminosity?
 
midnight_toker said:
Also, I wish I could find more info on direct planting vs. jiffy pellets- I'm thinking of filling the soda bottles mostly full of the Dr. Earth mixed with Perlite and putting a 2 inch layer of seed starter on top of that and planting directly into the soda bottles. I bought Jiffy Pellets too, just in case I change my mind.

I know I read somewhere where a breeder said autos get a better yield and grow bigger with direct planting...I believe the idea was transplanting slowed down growth for a few days and autos are on a set time schedule so any slow downs will hurt yield in the end...
 
Yeah, I read that too somewhere. I decided I'm going to put them straight into the 3 liters and cover them with plastic to retain moisture. I'm going to stick them right in without germinating first. I'll do the first 3 that way and if it doesn't go well, I'll try the paper towel/jiffy pellet way for the next 3.
 
All the best with your grow man... I put my autos directly into the soil and right now they are doing good.
 
midnight_toker said:
We don't have Home Depot here. These bulbs are spiral cfl (26 watt). Is there a big difference between the lights I bought and those? in color? luminosity?
The n: vision daylights burn a bit brighter plus ya get 1more watt of power and a bump up in lumens.
 
Subscribed...i Agree With That Comment Ham Made, But I Am Actually Doin It The Opposite....soak In Water Till They Drop, Paper Towel/baggie,jiffy Pellets, Then Onto 18oz Cups...reason, Well I Will Be Germing 32 Auto Beans...and Since The Male To Female Ratio Is High On Autos I Dnt Wanna "waste" All That Expensive Soil On Males..(shooting For 16-20 Girls)...not To Mention I Dnt Have A Mh For The Quick Veg Period, I Have A 4' Four Tube Ho T5's, (20,000 Lumens) For That In A Clone Box Which Will Double As A Drying Chamber Come Harvest Time....oh, Did I Mention I Will Be Doin A Perptual/stagger Crop? Cant Do That With Big Azz 3gal Bags In A 16sf Tent
 
I'm goin' for the stagger crop too....just 3 at a time though, lol.

I'm going to need more lumens. Definitely. Right now I have about 16,000 for a 4ft sq area....once they get bigger, I'll be in for it, but then at that point I'm most likely going to use something way more efficient. I haven't done enough research on lights other than flouros. I had a small cabinet before so heat would have been a big issue, but now I'm in the basement and have lots more room. As fast as these things grow, I better get on the research and buy something asap.

still patiently waiting for my beans.
 
oh and also once I start the stagger and have more plants...definitely need more light, yup...

any suggestions for a low priced light?
 
Something like this?

hxxp://cgi.ebay.com/400-watt-HPS-GROW-LIGHT-Sodium-400w-w-ballast-bulb-hood_W0QQitemZ390170248919QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5ad7f586d7

or would the one with the cooltube be a smarter choice? OR, Can I just have lots of air circulation? hmmmmm.. Something I have on my side is the fact that this room is not small, just the space I'll be using to grow is small and it has good air circulation and I don't plant to grow more than 5-6 plants at any one time.
 
yep, BUT i wouldnt go with that kind of ballast....I would suggest you get a Lumintek ballast...that will last you forevver and they have a warranty....Plus, do you have something for odor control??? Like a carbon filter?? Trust me ya gonna need one, even with those many plants.......!
 
Unless I build a box, ain't no sealing this room up anyhow. There's a water heater and furnace in a space between the main basement area and this space. If I built a wall, I'd need to build it around the ductwork and with a door so we could get to the water heater. I'm sure it's going to stink to high hell, but I'm going to have tyo do some brainstorming on how to seal it off. In the meantime I do have an air cleaner and have read up on some other air cleaners that are more powerful that work well. Not going to buy one unless the air cleaner I have is too weak.
 
Update on lights- I'm doing research on the new LED's. I'm thinkin' if they aren't outrageously priced, I'll probably do that. From what I read so far, the new ones are great for resin production and are powerful enough for finishing up harvests in the same amount of time as HPS. Plus, they are better for the environment, and that is very important to me.
 
Stoneybud was running leds with good results I think. My experience with dr earth was awful, didn't seem to feed the plants. Does not compare with roots organic.
 
with that grow area a 400w is going to get hot. my grow area is similar 2x2x4 and my little 150w makes it toasty, even with a fan.

good ventilation/fans is a must if you get a 400w
 

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