(total noob!) GSC hydro closet grow

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PEARS

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Hello, this is my first grow. any help would be appreciated.

this is also my second post, sorry if my formatting sucks. setting image width to 500px.

i started my grow with seeds in a paper towel, they are confirmed Girl Scout Cookies from another local grower.


beginning week 2. the first week i had two separate bulbs, 1000 lumens a each, humidity in the high 60s with temp ~76F. the light scheduled is 18/6. they were not in the dwc. today i received/installed a 250w CFL for grow, have another for bloom, and two of [ame="http://www.amazon.com/EcoPlus-728405-Round-Stone-Large/dp/B002JLA83C/ref=sr_1_2?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1421984037"]these airstones[/ame]. later to be used separately in their own 5 gal bb. i started with 6, and i'm down to 4.

current closet
y79YPVu.jpg

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Is this stretching okay?
5LFlu0f.jpg


FwgCO5W.jpg

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are the air stones doing enough/too much work for these little guys?
TpcKG7t.jpg


thanks:aok:
 
i am no expert but they look like they are stretching a lot and the stems look pretty fragile. not sure if the big white box is a fan but you should have a fan blowing on them to strengthen the stems. i think going with 24 hour a day lighting helps minimize seedling stretch too. getting the light closer should help too. supposedly the rule of thumb is if you can hold your hand at a certain distance and it is not too hot, that is how close you can place your light to the plant tops. start out gently with the fan too. you don't want to blow the plants over. then you would have more casualties.

good luck pears...
 
thanks for the input oldfogey8.

the white box is a swamp cooler (fan/humidifier), and its going all the time unless the lights are off. i should probably get another small fan for the other side of the closet.
switching over to 24/0 since my cfl is now in use. the temp is also closer to 78-79, another sign i should increase my airflow i assume.

should have mentioned before, i'm using General Hydroponics FloraNova.
 
Hi Pears, Welcome

I don't do hydro but I would add a fan on there like old fogey said. Then when you can, get a T5 fixture that would eliminate stretch. Green mojo for the grow.
 
Oldfogey has given you good advise that I am going to expound on. First of all, run your light all the time--24/7. There is no advantage to an 18/6 light schedule and lots of disadvantages. Stretch being one of them.

Oldfogey is correct about needing a fan of some kind that gently blows on the seedlings to help strengthen the stems and help remove the heat from the top of the canopy.

Unfortunately, you are going to find the CFLs inadequate to do what you want it to. Your lighting is directly tied to your yield. I so wish that new growers would come here before they buy lighting. I always hate to say this once people have already invested in lighting, simply put, CFLs are simply the worst of all the bulbs that we can use for growing--I really really wish that they were not even sold as grow bulbs, as they are so inefficient. They cost a whole lot more to operate, when you get as many as you need, they produce huge amounts of heat, and they produce substantially less bud and lighter airier buds at that.

Lighting needs are figured (generally speaking) by lumens per sq ft. You want a minimum of 3000 lumens per sq ft for vegging and 5000 for flowering. A 250W CFL puts out 12,000 lumens. Compare that to a 250W HPS that puts out 28,000 lumens. This means that you would need approx 600W of CFLs to equal the lighting power of a 250W HPS--you can see how this is going to add to your power bill....and then there is the heat. You are running at 76F now without the space enclosed.

If you get your space down to 2 x 2, the light you have now will do for a while, but it will not be long before you outgrow a 2 x 2 space.

I suggest that you read up on setting up a proper space. This will include lighting needs and ventilation. You absolutely are going to need a dedicated enclosed space where you will be able to control the environment. And you want it enclosed on all 4 sides with reflective material. You are losing a lot of your light now as it is disbursing throughout a large space and not being reflected back to your plants. You will need an exhaust fan in addition to a fan blowing in the area. This also needs to be a "special" type of fan, so it would be a good idea to run your plans by the people here.

Growing hydro absolutely requires a good quality pH meter. Get a decent one and the calibration fluids that go along with it. Proper pH is important with soil grows, but with hydro, it is absolutely critical. I also recdommend getting a PPM meter so you know the strength of your nutrients. You can kill a plant overnight with a nutrient mix that is too strong. Have you decided on a nutrient line? Plants in hydro need to be fed sooner than ones in soil.

I always run 2 air stones in each bucket. They have a tendency to clog up and don't produce enough bubbles (it is hard to have too much aeration). This can also kill a plant overnight.

Hydro is more complicated than soil growing, but I love it. You do though have to be pretty familiar with the needs and wants of cannabis (it is not like growing veggies or flowers). Cannabis is very finicky and has some very specific needs and wants...i.e. there IS a reason that cannabis is expensive. It can be difficult to grow, it takes about 4 months start to finish, a hundred things can trip you up in those 4 months, you need to know the life cycle of the plant and what it demands, and it is expensive to set up a proper space.
 
Unfortunately, you are going to find the CFLs inadequate to do what you want it to. Your lighting is directly tied to your yield. I so wish that new growers would come here before they buy lighting. I always hate to say this once people have already invested in lighting, simply put, CFLs are simply the worst of all the bulbs that we can use for growing--I really really wish that they were not even sold as grow bulbs, as they are so inefficient. They cost a whole lot more to operate, when you get as many as you need, they produce huge amounts of heat, and they produce substantially less bud and lighter airier buds at that.

Lighting needs are figured (generally speaking) by lumens per sq ft. You want a minimum of 3000 lumens per sq ft for vegging and 5000 for flowering. A 250W CFL puts out 12,000 lumens. Compare that to a 250W HPS that puts out 28,000 lumens. This means that you would need approx 600W of CFLs to equal the lighting power of a 250W HPS--you can see how this is going to add to your power bill....and then there is the heat. You are running at 76F now without the space enclosed.

You will need an exhaust fan in addition to a fan blowing in the area. This also needs to be a "special" type of fan, so it would be a good idea to run your plans by the people here.

thanks for the heads up.
unfortunately my closet isn't much larger than 2'x3'x7.5' in the tallest area, there's a crawl space to the right with a mylar board that covers it in the mean while, which is probably where this CFL will be moved for my GF's lettuce.

it is enclosed and doorway sealed with weatherban. the walls are covered in mylar/reflective bubble insulation in the cold spots. there's a small airflow coming through a patch in the floor, i've figured a spot in the wall for exhaust, but i have yet to make it.

Growing hydro absolutely requires a good quality pH meter. Get a decent one and the calibration fluids that go along with it. Proper pH is important with soil grows, but with hydro, it is absolutely critical. I also recdommend getting a PPM meter so you know the strength of your nutrients. You can kill a plant overnight with a nutrient mix that is too strong. Have you decided on a nutrient line? Plants in hydro need to be fed sooner than ones in soil.

ive been using disposable ph meters that were donated, i don't have a PPM meter yet. i'm using general hydroponics floranova.

I always run 2 air stones in each bucket. They have a tendency to clog up and don't produce enough bubbles (it is hard to have too much aeration). This can also kill a plant overnight.

good to know before i switch to a larger bb.

thanks for the info!
 
I love Flora Nova Grow for veg, but have some problems with the bloom formula, so I use the GH 3 part for flowering. I am not familiar at all with disposable pH meters, but you do need something that is accurate to a tenth. I like to let my pH drift a bit to insure uptake of all nutrients. You want to keep your pH between about 5.4 and 6.0. When starting to feed, start with a very weak nutrient strength (1/8 to 1/4 strength) and work up.

Six square feet is going to require a minimum of 18,000 lumens for vegging and 30,000 for flowering. I am currently growing in a space 36 x 20". I am using a 30,000 lumens T5 for vegging and I am going to run a 400W HPS for flowering.

I have not grown GSC, but I have a GSC x OG Kush cross that I am quite fond of.

I grew lettuce all last winter with some shop lights. Lettuce is a low energy plant and the CFLs should do a great job on lettuce.
 
not to hijack the thread but rule of thumb is 3000 lumens per sq ft for veg and 5000 lumens per sq ft for flower? thx,thg
 
today i'll be installing a 6" duct fan in the wall, leading to another closet, where i'll have an Ona block.

8YE9m6I.jpg


for my room size ive calculated that i need about 175-200 cfm for exhaust, this fan is rated for 250 cfm.
i'll be installing the fan somewhere about eye level. i'm using the electrical outlet from the original light fixture.

JHovbKH.jpg


edit: the lamp has been arranged to be more useful; there's a mylar sheet over the hood draping to the tub. i also have a clip desk-lamp holding a second hand 12w LED lamp


two of the plants are a little droopy. pH is fine, still haven't checked PPM, the water looked low so i added a quart.

dnDDNZK.jpg


that HPS you linked me is inticing, The Hemp Goddess. maybe next paycheck.
 
somehow that does not look like it is up the standard electrical code, pear. be careful. don't want to get shocked or have a fire...
 
somehow that does not look like it is up the standard electrical code, pear. be careful. don't want to get shocked or have a fire...

i appreciate you looking out for me. :laugh:

that picture was taken was before i put the insulator on the threaded wire, or jigsawed the 6" hole. its all good now. tough to take a decent picture with all the mylar. the exhaust fan is nice and quiet with both doors closed, barely noticeable.

from other side
tUx2jWj.jpg
 
I do some funky stuff in my house too. Ran my first three grows powered through an extension cord. Kinda dumb in hind sight...
 
lol, mr camel...

i have run my house on an extension cord rigged up with 2 male plugs hooked up to a generator. probably about as dangerous as you can get and really, really dumb.

i was not trying to be a jerk to you, pears. i was just trying to make sure you knew that growing should be done safely. sounds like you have that covered. i read somewhere that house fires have been started by overzealous growers over taxing their electrical system. not trying to be a wet blanket. just want you to be safe.
 
That is a duct BOOSTER fan. It is not meant to be a stand alone fan--it is meant to assist larger fans on long ducting runs. It is not that it doesn't have the proper cfms, it is that you cannot have any resistance at all on a fan like that. Even bends in ducting will severely restrict the CFMs. I get so irritated at the money grubbers who sell the wrong product for the job. No one anywhere should be marketing these for use as grow room ventilation.
 
as a room to room (through the wall no duct) it's in about the best possible situation.
As long as you don't try to use that to push/pull air through a filter/light cooled hood, it should do fine.

LOL I wasn't picking on you !
I was more thinking about how much I have pulling off 1 extension cord (albeit a thick one)
 
A 12W LED is useless. You might as well remove it from the space.

I am not picking on you either, but setting up a space that is actually going to gain you some bud at the end of your 4 months is going to take the right lighting and ventilation. Keep in mind that we are trying to help you here get the best that you can.
 

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