First grow

So played with some bagseed for a bit, very skunkish and good high even tho it was entirely seeded. Got 3 going outdoors and 1 staying in that I've begun LSTing to try it out. I have 4 nirvana citral germing right now to plant into cups soon as they pop. I've ghettomade a grow tent out of a portable closet and tarp cut into sections and semi sealed with duct tape. Works fairly well, jsut gonna throw another layer of cloth over it to completely block the light out. Inside is a 400w cooltube that I'm planning on venting into the wall and up into attic. Anyone ever tried this? Not planning on doing a complete pipe to the attic just into the wall space that in theory opens into the attic. Hoping this will work well for it. Tube is 6in but thinking will put a reducer to 4in for the fans and piping. Not sure on intake yet as I haven't done exhaust yet, going to see if a fan is needed or if it will pull enough air in on its own. Fan will be however many computer fans I have left over, I know I have 2 that will work for sure. Thinking one on each end of cooltube, one pulling in from tent other pulling from other end and into pipe. We'll see how it works but I'm pretty pumped to someday smoke ma own! Here's some pics of the LSTed bagseed and of the ghettocloset. Any recommendations, comments, critiques more than welcome!

In a cool tube, you should have it venting. It's too enclosed for it not to have some cooling IMO.
O'wise you plant isn't showing signs of heat stress so looks like you got it set up...just becareful of flammable materials. Some of those tarps are made of some combustible stuff.

looks like your off to a good start. good luck

Oh yeah definately venting it before any of my babies going in there. Ran a heat test and it gets about 110 inside tent with it sealed and unvented. I'm going to store tomorrow to get 4" tubing to vent it into the wall. I'm guessing it will relieve much of the heat issues. The ballast doesn't get too hot and it sits outside of tent so it shouldn't iimpact it too terribly much. I was worried the same about heat and tarp as well so I tested it with it open first, then sealed it, then closed up closet finally. No noticable wear on tarp, no soft spots, melty spots etc. There will be a oscillating fan inside also so tha should help with any hot spots that may happen also. I'm thinking I may need an intake to the closet but will see after the exhaust. I'm starting with the exhaust and will go from there. I think thats likely the best way to experiment with it.

Question about LST also, how close to the top should I be tying off? I've tied twice now, waited until I had a good set of branches to tie down, but it leaves about an inch above it. I'm thinking that means the apical meristem is still recieving the most of the auxins but I was afriad to tie it off an higher becuase it looked like it would damage those tender new leaves... Opinions?

Looks good,
Keep us updated

Ref the Venting into the attic

man you need to think real hard about this 1.

If your not gona be using any ducting, you are asking an awful lot.

You will be venting warm air into a space that will be cooler

This will lead to condensation

Condensation will lead to a whole lot of other issues.

Mold being 1 of them.

This can lead to "Sick House Syndrome"

Other issues during the winter are also a possibility with the condensation freezing on the underside of you roof.

You really don't want to go there.

As for the fans, they seem kinda small to me.

Were there no recommendations listed with this setup?

If not have a look see at the manufactures website.

Good luck with your grow

Good points I didn't think of bud.uncle. My thought is to get an 8 ft length of ducting to get into the attic. When I went up there the other day it appears both bathroom exhaust fans duct up into the attic and that's the end of it. I'm in the deep south so no worries about freezing but condensation and mold is a worry. With attic temps easily in the 110's already I don't BELIEVE it will be a problem now but maybe in the fall. I'll definately have to keep an eye on it. As for the setup it was entirely DIY and I forgot to write down recommendations for myself.. I think one fan is a 120mm 78 cfm, other is an 80mm so likely 30 cfm. With my cabinet being 3ft by 2 ft by 5.5ft that gives me about 33 cubic feet so it SHOULD be enough if my math and current knowledge is correct. I will update later today after I install it all to see how it works.

No worries Larnek

I am not that familiar with construction and or codes in the US.
As for the vents, with out researching myself those kinda figures never stick in my mind.
I do however always kinda go bigger.
My own calcs many years ago showed that a 400hps should have been ample for my growroom, so I got a 600hps.
I later wished that I had had 2 400hps as plants on the margins did show different growth patterns.
This was not so bad as it led me to visually inspect all plants and move the trays they sat in around every day.
Which in turn allowed me to spot any issues early.

Best of luck m8

Well vent system went in fine until I hit a unknown about crossbeam in wall, so now trying to decide what I want to do. I can do another hole and go over the crossbeam but I'm gonna be pissed if I hit another one somewhere. Got a 85 cfm 120mm computer fan running off a 12v pack that does a good amount of air movement, not sure if its enough yet however. Its fine with CFLs and fluoro tube on, gets a bit warm with that HPS tho. It was mid 90s after a few hours on a crappy thermometer that likes to stick so I'm hoping thats all it got up to. Closet itself is still pretty warm, likely 80-85 with ballast outside tent so the tent intake isn't going to do as much good as I'd like. Trying to decide how to get some more air in the closet without doing further demolition and without pissing off an already pissy ladyfriend.

Germed 4 Nirvana Citrals in papertowel in a ziplock on computer 4 days ago, next day had nice 1/8th inch tap roots so popped em in my fox farms and now have 3 babies seedlings popping up with little leaves today. Very nice! Unfortunately my tent is still staying pretty darn hot with all the lights on 85-95 at leaf level, so may have to rethink what I want to do. Currently there is a 4ft T-12 dual tube fluoro set up at about a 40 degree angle to be close to seedlings on one side and above 3 gal bag with bagseed on other. Bagseed also has a 4 CFL reflector above it. Temp readings are at bagseed level. Above it all is the HPS. I really want to keep the different light freqs in the tent but may have to sacrifice and go for just HPS for veg too. Not enough CFL's for when the Citrals are bigger and not enough money to get more to veg with just those. Pretty sure I want to keep it how it is and make a bigger intake with one of those 8in tornado fans. That will lose my neg pressure which sucks for smell purposes however. Actually should see if I can't rig that same tornado fan to the cool tube and then put the 85 cfm fan as intake which is actually much smarter. I'm glad I'm bouncing ideas off of you guys as I just realized that! :doh:
Picture time! 1st off is new babies. One on right hasn't shed seat coat yet so I'll give it a day and remove it if not done yet. Also have a little one poking out to the right of these I didn't take picture of.
2nd is bagseed I tried LSTing with, need to tie down again but I don't like my current way so going to get some wire.
3rd is the ones that will eventually be outside but I've been messing around with topping to see how I like it with them.
4th is the funky setup I have, the cooltube is above the level I can get good pic at as tent now opens from the bottom, venting goes to right and rear into the wall.
5th is the fierce guardian and 6th is princess who oversees.
If anyone didn't notice I fricken love this gardening, experimenting and DIY stuff. Its almost as good as the end result! :farm:

I have the same situation with the heat. My grow is under CFls and will reach the lower 90Fs at the most. I've done a previous grow, using Nirvana Citral (did u get it cause it was on sale? i did) where the temps weren't as stable and could reach 100F . Fortunately, but unfortunately the plant became a healthy male . Learning from my mistakes and with the advice of others (this forum is better than the others i use), If your temps are gonna remain in the 90Fs add some C02 (if temps become the 'desirable' range C02 is not needed), I use the DIY (add to your collection) Sugar, yeast (bakers is best), and H20. The only difference would be the watering. Because of the higher heat, the plant may require more watering days. I use to use the finger in the dirt to check the soil, but there are some things that worried me about it; i.e. damaging roots, spot checking because some parts may still be moist. So i now use the lift technique. The lift technique is so easy you think you're doing it wrong.
1. Fill your pots with your growing mediums.
2. Lift to feel how heavy the pot is unwatered.
3. Water the mediums thoroughly so there is run-off.
4. Lift to feel how heavy the pot is watered.
5. Remember the differences and water accordingly.

Hope this helps. I will be doing a Citral grow without pictures. My post is under "pictureless grow...where's your imagination".

Aloha, lunch break
kailiwela44

I've seen some people try that CO2 method on here and the arguement as to whether it works or not. I guess it certainly doesn't hurt to try! As for watering I have been doingit much more with the heat and so far so good. Bagseed is already much bigger, and I'm twisting it around edge of bag, need a new pic! Got 3 citral seedlings that survived fine, 4th one I can't find a seed in it so I think I missed a step! As for the seeds I did by em cause they were cheap, but also cause they're reported to have a cleaner growing smell, as well as being based on afghani weed I hope they handle the heat in my box better. I've been there and can guarantee it gets above 85 degrees!

So got some new pictures of all the ladies. Been lowering my HPS down to see how close I can get, made it to about 10 inches before leaves on the bagseed got upturned edges and fried a little bit where there was water still on the leaves from watering this morning. Other than that looking pretty decent, got a little stretch on one of the seedlings because I didn't rebury her when I got back from a weekend trip like I did the other 2, thought she would be fine but will just have to put in deeper when transplanted. Still dealing with heat issues but I don't trust my crappy thermometer because it keeps sticking, but guessing 80-90s. Not so hot that I sweat instantly but warm enough. Currently leave door open to room so it can get enough AC in there. Need to figure out something better tho. Anyways on to the pictures. Top down on the LSTed bagseed. Gonna try to wrap her all the way around that 3 gallon grow bag. Then a close up on how much she's loving the bending. Getting leaves popping up all over the open areas. Last is the 3 Citral seedings, one in the back is a tad tall but I'm sure will be fine until transplant in about week or two. Hopefully the bagseed recovers quickly, I've already burnt her up once as a child so she should be used to it..

Everything has been going pretty good with the ladies. Temps have stayed high but showing minimal heat stress. Finally got a humidity gauge today showing about 20% inside! Plate of water went down on floor, will see how it looks by tomorrow may need more of it! Temps stay around 90 near ground, more like 95 in direct light at plant top. Some minor upturn to edges that I think should be eased with higher humidity. All in all looking very good, tied down again last night. Citrals are growing nicely, 2nd node of serrated leaves were looking good this morning. Started adding a small amount of Foxfarms big bloom in water of those. Bagseed is up to full dosage every other watering. I do believe I will start flowering at some point this week. Ready to get busy! No pics as I'm stuck at work for the next day but I hope to be pleasantly surprised by big new growth of seedlings tomorrow. Also I think I've finished Ghettobox Mark III, got it completely light proofed with 4mil black poly I found onsale today! Also put a new exhaust hole in wall that feels like it travels all the way to attic, will get up there tomorrow and make sure but 4in exhaust went in about 2-3 feet upwards at least without hitting anything. Hope it will help with ambient temps as I was heating the space of closet from 4ft down with exhaust. Not too hot at all just obvious warmth to walls. Now it should vent all the way up into attic. We'll see what temps look like tomorrow!

Oh and when I say small amount of Big Bloom I mean small amount. Something like 1/8th dosage. Just had a little bit of yellowing to seed leaves and wanted to get them a taste of goodness!

Still looking good.
I try to keep air from the intake blowing onto my plants to "cool off" the girls.
If you have a regular oscilating fan in front of your A/C, it cools the room by distributing the cool air faster--makes on A/C work just as well as two. Maybe you can have a fan positioned this way pointing to where you need. If not maybe a series of fans to help the air blown where you need it.

Yeah my intake is currently blowing across a plate of water onto my plants to try to keep em a little more moist. Older fan leaves are kinda brittle and subject to burn easily if water is left on em. You can see some in the top view of the pictures. Just wanted to put some PORN up for people to look at. My bush is getting quite a bit bushy. Its hard even for me to tell where the growth tip is at because i have new branches flying up everywhere. ( Its the left a little up of center of the plant in 1st pic ) I'm sure this is gonna make harvesting a PITA but I'm ok with that! :ignore: Also putting some close up on what I THINK is preflowers, still in 18/6 but this one is a good 6 weeks old now so it should be preflowers. I don't think you can tell sex from just these but if so it looks like little pistils hanging out and no balls so I'm keeping the fingers crossed! The 3 citrals continue to look good. Middle one is stretching a little, not sure why as under same 4 bulb CFL worklight inside tent with HPS. Hoping still to set into 12/12 by end of the week! I wanna know what cameras you guys use for your great bud pics and stuff, its a pain to try to get focus on the preflowers!

hey Larnek..looking good... cant tell by the pic wheather female or not..but did want to say that I found useing the small coper wire to tie them down with cuts into the stalk..I like to use pipe cleaners (green of cours )..or even green ground wire..it has a soft sheating over it..to rase the Humdity try takeing a bowl of water and put a ar stone in it...not sure how well a plate of water does..wth the heat that high..be sure to keep a good eye out for those mites....dont look like you got them but they do love HEAT..but all in all I have enjoyed your Grow...keep us posted but most of KEEP M GREEN