Hello growers and smokers alike! Long time smoker, first time grower, and total forum noob.
Since I've now got an abundance of free time, despite still working (thankfully!), I thought it might be one of the best ideas I've ever had - grow my own green!
I had a few issues in the beginning though, mainly "how?", which then became "where?".
The "how" portion has been greatly helped by the posts in this forum, among other resources collected from the web.
This is what I've bought/got so far:
- DIY Grow box (pics to follow, more info below)
- 2x 300W Olafus full spectrum LED (found the pair of these at a bargain, but I think I only need one)
- Seeds - 2x Auto Fresh Candy, 2x Auto Kryptonite, 1x Auto NL
- Soil + perlite
- NUTES! Advanced Nutrients Micro, Grow, and Bloom 1L ea
- Rhizotonic 250ml + Rooting powder (incase i ever try photosensitive and fancy cloning....or i'll just clone regular plants!)
- Strong twine, for LST
- in progress, a logger project for temperature, humidity, air quality, and light level. It's even got a dashboard so I can see it on my phone!
- in progress, I have an ESP32-CAM on its way, so I hope to be able to share a timelapse or two with you all soon
Now the grow box was a little invention brought on from a night of heavy smoking (I needed the help) - I recently moved house, and with that I bought a Casper mattress. I ended up keeping the box for chucking my dry recycling in (because I am waaay too lazy to step out the front door to the recycling bins). I had already cut the height down a bit, unfortunately, but I still reckon it'll make a mean growbox.
In my super-high state I coated the inside in tin foil, and then a few days later when my lights arrived restructured the bottom to hold one 300w light.
I'm hoping the photos will make it clearer - the idea is to put it on top of the plant.
This gives me a total grow space of 40cm x 40cm x 78cm (~ 15.7" x 15.7" x 30.7"), with an additional height of 15cm (6") for light clearance.
I plan to, at most, have one plant on the go at any time. Maybe have a seedling in tandem with a very mature plant.
I'm imagining some very careful LST and a healthy dose of luck but if I can get the plant wide enough it might be okay.
I have SO many questions before I pop the first of many beans, but I'll do in sections! I have got a copy of Muddy's Autoflowering Guide, which I'm going to give another read now I've got a moment to breathe.
Some grow box related questions:
1.
Do I, realistically, have enough space to grow? I just went ahead and made the box, didn't fancy forking out for a tent!
I've been taking measurements and the like over the past day with the light in place, and at a distance from the panel of ~80cm the plant can potentially receive 14k lux, up to the limit of the sensor (65k lux) at ~30cm.
One of my unknowns is the pot size. I've seen a lotta soil grows on here with 2l pots. I bought a 35cm diameter pot and it is HUGE! (compared to the box) Obviously, I need to take this into account when getting the plant's light requirements correct. Also need to make sure there's enough vertical height for them, I've heard the auto nl (dr rays seeds) can get a little taller than the dwarf other two.
2.
Odor control is still an outstanding requirement before I begin. I'm not sure how smelly my strains will be, but better safe than sorry. I have scavenged the two "best" computer fans in my junk bin, and plan to acquire some carbon sheets (like for aquariums) and setup the exhaust fan with a square of filter.
Will this be enough, or am I better off investing in a higher cfm fan and a proper carbon filter or something?
3.
On the topic of intake/exhaust, does it really matter where I cut these holes? What I'm really asking, is if there is a benefit to having intake at the top, exhaust at the bottom, or any combination of the options.
4.
Have I shot myself in the foot by only building the box to accommodate 1x 300w light?
I'm sure I'll think of more grow box questions, but if you managed to stick around in this post for that novel, you've earned a hit of whatever you got lying next to ya.
Please ask for any other info you need. I can use all the help I can get - if I could share the end result with you all I would.
Happy growing!
P.S. I bought a wildflower seed pack and two stony seeds (that were way too big to be cannabis) have germinated, and look EXACTLY like it right now! That's the seedling you see in pics.
P.P.S. This is my first forum post, so I am not sure where the images will be placed. Please excuse the crudeness of the box - it's very much a work in progress and evolving by the day. I would greatly appreciate it if anyone has any advice for improving it, most notably in solving these issues:
- Reduce light bleed at bottom (see photo) I have an idea for the top light bleed
- Maybe a viewing window?
- Or, potentially, creating a more permanent bottom frame and adding a door? This would solve the bottom light bleed
P.P.P.S Like I said, no idea how to forum correctly. If you think this is better elsewhere, feel free to move!
Since I've now got an abundance of free time, despite still working (thankfully!), I thought it might be one of the best ideas I've ever had - grow my own green!
I had a few issues in the beginning though, mainly "how?", which then became "where?".
The "how" portion has been greatly helped by the posts in this forum, among other resources collected from the web.
This is what I've bought/got so far:
- DIY Grow box (pics to follow, more info below)
- 2x 300W Olafus full spectrum LED (found the pair of these at a bargain, but I think I only need one)
- Seeds - 2x Auto Fresh Candy, 2x Auto Kryptonite, 1x Auto NL
- Soil + perlite
- NUTES! Advanced Nutrients Micro, Grow, and Bloom 1L ea
- Rhizotonic 250ml + Rooting powder (incase i ever try photosensitive and fancy cloning....or i'll just clone regular plants!)
- Strong twine, for LST
- in progress, a logger project for temperature, humidity, air quality, and light level. It's even got a dashboard so I can see it on my phone!
- in progress, I have an ESP32-CAM on its way, so I hope to be able to share a timelapse or two with you all soon
Now the grow box was a little invention brought on from a night of heavy smoking (I needed the help) - I recently moved house, and with that I bought a Casper mattress. I ended up keeping the box for chucking my dry recycling in (because I am waaay too lazy to step out the front door to the recycling bins). I had already cut the height down a bit, unfortunately, but I still reckon it'll make a mean growbox.
In my super-high state I coated the inside in tin foil, and then a few days later when my lights arrived restructured the bottom to hold one 300w light.
I'm hoping the photos will make it clearer - the idea is to put it on top of the plant.
This gives me a total grow space of 40cm x 40cm x 78cm (~ 15.7" x 15.7" x 30.7"), with an additional height of 15cm (6") for light clearance.
I plan to, at most, have one plant on the go at any time. Maybe have a seedling in tandem with a very mature plant.
I'm imagining some very careful LST and a healthy dose of luck but if I can get the plant wide enough it might be okay.
I have SO many questions before I pop the first of many beans, but I'll do in sections! I have got a copy of Muddy's Autoflowering Guide, which I'm going to give another read now I've got a moment to breathe.
Some grow box related questions:
1.
Do I, realistically, have enough space to grow? I just went ahead and made the box, didn't fancy forking out for a tent!
I've been taking measurements and the like over the past day with the light in place, and at a distance from the panel of ~80cm the plant can potentially receive 14k lux, up to the limit of the sensor (65k lux) at ~30cm.
One of my unknowns is the pot size. I've seen a lotta soil grows on here with 2l pots. I bought a 35cm diameter pot and it is HUGE! (compared to the box) Obviously, I need to take this into account when getting the plant's light requirements correct. Also need to make sure there's enough vertical height for them, I've heard the auto nl (dr rays seeds) can get a little taller than the dwarf other two.
2.
Odor control is still an outstanding requirement before I begin. I'm not sure how smelly my strains will be, but better safe than sorry. I have scavenged the two "best" computer fans in my junk bin, and plan to acquire some carbon sheets (like for aquariums) and setup the exhaust fan with a square of filter.
Will this be enough, or am I better off investing in a higher cfm fan and a proper carbon filter or something?
3.
On the topic of intake/exhaust, does it really matter where I cut these holes? What I'm really asking, is if there is a benefit to having intake at the top, exhaust at the bottom, or any combination of the options.
4.
Have I shot myself in the foot by only building the box to accommodate 1x 300w light?
I'm sure I'll think of more grow box questions, but if you managed to stick around in this post for that novel, you've earned a hit of whatever you got lying next to ya.
Please ask for any other info you need. I can use all the help I can get - if I could share the end result with you all I would.
Happy growing!
P.S. I bought a wildflower seed pack and two stony seeds (that were way too big to be cannabis) have germinated, and look EXACTLY like it right now! That's the seedling you see in pics.
P.P.S. This is my first forum post, so I am not sure where the images will be placed. Please excuse the crudeness of the box - it's very much a work in progress and evolving by the day. I would greatly appreciate it if anyone has any advice for improving it, most notably in solving these issues:
- Reduce light bleed at bottom (see photo) I have an idea for the top light bleed
- Maybe a viewing window?
- Or, potentially, creating a more permanent bottom frame and adding a door? This would solve the bottom light bleed
P.P.P.S Like I said, no idea how to forum correctly. If you think this is better elsewhere, feel free to move!
ppp
Good thing I've got a tray of pepper seedlings that would suit em perfectly. And they can go outside lol
glad I bought using my credit cards, so I'll have to get the money back somehow.
