New Grower First ever grow - auto critical feminised (will probably need lots of advice please)

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Hi there,

Thank you for the warm welcome on the Intro sub forum :D

This is my first time growing and I don't have a lot of cash so this has been on a budget. This is my set up so far:

Auto Critical Feminised Seeds
Built-in bedroom closet (concrete walls on three sides and wooden door)
Canna Terra Professional Soil Mix
11 litre square tub and tray
CFL lights 1 x 105w daylight 6400k and 1 x 105w warm light 2700k on order, due to arrive at weekend
Fan on low setting with closet door cracked open an inch for exhaust
Bio Biz Bio Bloom (not yet used)
Thermometer/hygrometer - 21C/69.8F and 62 (arrived this morning)
Soil ph tester on order, due to arrive in next day or two

Having spent a couple of months reading and lurking on forums, I kept my fingers well and truly crossed and planted one seed in an 11 litre square tub filled with soil and put under the 6400k light 24/0, three days later she popped through.

Unfortunately I didn't take photos til day 13 (see below, pic taken before moved the cfl up a bit) but she had been fairly trouble-free despite a budget set up and a first time grower lol.

tremane-albums-auto-critical-picture174035-day-13-pic-taken-just-before-moved-cfl-up-bit.jpg


One thing I hadn't done was paint the closet inside flat white, as ran out of cash, so I lined with foil as a stop gap for this grow - not ideal but couldn't afford mylar. The reflector I made out of a large energy drink can, another stop gap til I have more month at the end of my money.

Closet mini makeover at 16 days

tremane-albums-auto-critical-picture174030-day-16-after-closet-mini-makeover.jpg


Close up of my girl at 16 days

tremane-albums-auto-critical-picture174034-day-16-close-up-after-closet-mini-makeover.jpg


Also I was getting worried that the soil wasn't drying out and still damp over two weeks after planting. Think there were two issues - I'd over watered the soil before planting my seed and that ventilation wasn't good enough with me just opening the closet door to check a few times a day.

You can see from the pic that she's showing signs of looking overwatered, so I added an old fan that has a "sleep" setting which is like a gentle breeze:

tremane-albums-auto-critical-picture174032-day-19-set-up-showing-fan.jpg


I had managed to damage three of the leaves at the bottom of her stem (you can see one bottom left and two top right with a small hole in each), moving her around as the home made reflector fell off. Luckily none of the new growth was damaged and looks healthy, or at least I think so, but smaller than I would've hoped at day 19.

Day 19 close up

tremane-albums-auto-critical-picture174033-day-19-close-up.jpg


and with tape measure to get idea of size

tremane-albums-auto-critical-picture174031-day-19-tape-measure-give-idea-size.jpg


Today is day 20, will take pics later. Thanks in advance for any help and advice :help:
 
Hey man how are you? :howdy:

I love little bare minimum setups like this...Couple things I want to suggest(and you're already getting onto it) is proper ventilation. I would get a proper inline fan with a carbon filter for when it gets smelly to exhaust with and then you can have passive intake for fresh air. Air exchange is important. The fan you have in there now is great for general circulation in the space, but you still need air getting pushed/pulled in and out at all times.
Also, aluminum foil can create hot spots and isn't great for walls of a grow. The white paint is better IMO.

What are your temps and humidity?
I don't know much about that mix or what's in it...I'll be back around later. Take care and good luck. Let me know if you need anything. :D :bong:
 
Wecome to the AFN forums Looks as. thought you have the starting part under control :thumbs:
Maybe stop by the Introducktion thread and meet some peps amd let em know your in the new growes thread
But even if not soomeone will be around to give ya pointers ( Muddy is a new grow mod and I sure he help ya out anyway he can
he the best very very knowlegble

Glad to have ya onboard bro...you'll love the vibe here

:peace:
 
Hey, I'm good thanks ... will be even better if manage to grow my own lol

Temp/humidity is 21C/69.8F and 62, I'm trying to get my head around a proper exhaust but not sure the female brain's wired to do DIY altho I know it's going to be easier to put it through the 1 1/4" wood door than the 5" concrete, I don't think it's gonna be pretty :o - I'll have a search on the forums and see what I can find but any ideas/pointers in that regard would be great please. Oh I forgot to add that the fan in the pic also has an air purifier function, which I was hoping would help with smell - which isn't that big an issue as it's just me living here, is onagel any good for occasional visitors? Hopefully I'll have it sorted before she smells too strong.

One wooden door awaiting DIY attack - not sure why the image went sideways? P'raps it fainted at the thought of me going at it with a jigsaw lol

tremane-albums-auto-critical-picture174047-green-day20-door.jpg


I took your advice and ripped out the foil :)

tremane-albums-auto-critical-picture174049-green-day20b.jpg


Close up of her at day 20

tremane-albums-auto-critical-picture174048-green-day20a.jpg


Great idea MITJ, I posted an intro yesterday. Will head on over there and let them know I've got a grow journal on the go. Lovin' the vibe here already, thanks again both of you for the great feedback and advice :)
 
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Hi Tremane,

Like your setup. I have a DIY setup as well. Love the energy can as a reflector. I'm about about day 30 with my grow.
Welcome to AFN.

Gregblex
 
Thx Gregblex :)

Quick update - I put the heating on earlier this afternoon and the temp's gone up in the closet to 23C/73.4 F and humidity down to 58 tonight ... hopefully it'll keep going lower and I swear she's grown since I took pics this afternoon :dance:
 
glad to see that things seem to be sorting themselves out OK. The first time is the worst time but you are in good hands on this forum with lots of people ready to help. The most important thing is not to panic!
 
welcome to AFN and looking good on your first grow. It might be a little difficult to regulate water in a large container at first. Just dampening the soil could last that small plant a long time to drink it all. But your on the right track, before you know it that will be begging for water and bone dry.

In a small area you could probably look at some of the people on here using computer style fans and just drill a hole somewhere(door or wall) and screw it to the back and plug it in. You'll do better venting high and incoming air low. you'll get a natural flow cold in hot out as well this way.

keep up the good work!!
 
Hi Tremane,

Nice start for sure, nice fat leaves.

How is the drainage in the bucket? you are hoping for dryness by day three on the finger test. Two is ideal, but three is a good average. If the roots can dry a bit, they will try to reach for water, and your plant will grow as a result.

Other than just checking on it twenty times a day, (we all know they grow better when we do that), I think yer doing okay.:crying:

bye for now

Eek
 
Welcome to AFN, tremane! :smokebuds:

Looks like you're off to a great start! :smokeit:
 
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