New Grower First Grow! Dinafem Original Amnesia Auto

[Zeebadeeb]

This is my first grow; a cooperative effort with my roommate. Just one lonely lady for now, hopefully tossing in a La Diva bean here soon also.

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Kinda ghetto setup, but it's working quite well so far...and CHEAP. Right now we have a total of just over $100 into this.

We planted our seed a few weeks ago directly in a 2 gal pot. 10 days above ground right now:

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A little close look will give a better view of the smaller, newer growth.

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Using a 20/4 light cycle now, went 24/0 the first few days. Using pH control substances to neutralize our tap water, but planning on grabbing some distilled water and using that instead. Not using any nutrients, though. Opted for time release the first time around just to simplify the process a little more and focus more on other aspects. Here's a picture of the lighting rig:

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10x23w 2700k CFL lamps plugged directly into power strips mounted in the walls of the box and 2x125w 2700k lamps. If everything puts out what the box says, it's 34,000 initial lumens. We didn't start with this much light but when we modified the box to hang in the shower it seemed way easier to just mount everything and save ourselves the work later on. I've heard that there is a possibility of using too much light during the delicate beginning growth stages, but no signs of this have been noticed yet.

Any observations/advice of any kind is appreciated. Also, if you've grown or are growing Original Amnesia Auto, feel free to share pictures of your experience with this strain also.

EDIT: Just realized I posted this in the wrong forum. Could have sworn I was in New Growers. Feel free to move this.

 

[Mr Piggy]

I'm really worried about how much lighting you have sitting in a cardboard box. That's a fire hazard right there. Grow wise you're using a lot of power to just get a seedling going. You would be just fine with one or two of those 125w lamps over it until it gets a lil larger. I also see you have a box fan circulating air, but you're going to need an extraction fan pulling air out of the room. That plant is going to stink. It is going to stink up your whole house and let everyone walking past know you're growing. How do you plan to deal with the stink?

 

[Zeebadeeb]

I was originally really worried about the heat, too, but everything inside is literally cool to the touch, even the ballasts of the 125w lamps. All the lamps are also not currently running, either. There is another fan at the entrance of the room which is bringing in cold air from a joining room which has the window open for fresh air currently. As far as controlling smell, I haven't decided what I want to do yet. I'm also interested in getting out of cardboard, but I'm not quite sure how else to mount my lights without spending money. I guess a PVC setup wouldn't be too expensive.

 

[low_and_slow]

Cheap, safe, easy . You can only pick two...lol. cheap and safe necessitates some complex solutions...I.e. routing ducting through a carbon filter outside the grow space where it won't show a huge FLIR signature for LEO. I would consider a small cabinet with 4" fans moving air through a small carbon filter. It's discrete and covers the smell but requires a little extra $$ up front.

 

[Zeebadeeb]

Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can convert this shower into a suitable place for this plant to live out its lifecycle? I can line it with emergency blankets as long as I don't leave any permanent residue (rental apartment). I'm mostly concerned about how I would forge a reflector/lighting mount. I've read this thread: https://www.autoflower.org/authors/andybotwin-2192/, and could do something like that, but I'm not sure how I would mount the larger 125w lights with that method, as the sockets are much larger.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Sticky Trichome]

michigan huh? More like the Murder Mitten. i love it here, but its getn COLD as fuck. since u rent, then ur definitely gonna want to keep the stench down! u dont want the landlord stopping by un-announced 1 of these days.... i have my med-card as well as a couple cards that i care-give for and i was a completely Legal Eagle and the dumb bastard slum lord smelled mine then seen it. Next couple of hours later; boom boom boom on my door. Wasnt the cops "i wish it was @ the time" nope it was a fuckn eviction notice. c if it was the fuzz i would of said Fuck off and i would have gone about my business, but instead i said fuck off and found a new place to live.... just sayin.... Sticky Out

 

[KindredSpirit]

Hey Zeeb, welcome to AFN :smokebuds:

If you're growing in a rented place and haven't discussed it with the landlord, I would recommend setting up some type of cabinet or possibly coughing up the dough and buying a tent. Trust me, I'm all for the MacGyver fixes and Rube Goldberg setups - it's a lot of fun to see what you can do with a limited budget. However - it's only fun when your safety and freedom won't be compromised by cutting corners. If you had to choose between spending an extra $250 (maybe less), or going to jail and having a permanent record, I'm sure you would choose shelling out the extra dough. Are there any closets that you can hide a small tent or cabinet in?

Also, a carbon filter and decent fan are a must if you need to stay under the radar. As others have said, those are going to stink to high heaven (pun intended ) any day now. Here's a reasonably cheap combo that Muddy recommended and I recently purchased. Sweet deal for the $ - around $135 shipped.

Phat Filter

4" Fan

I'll also echo the concern about using cardboard as your lighting reflector. Even though it feels cool to the touch, things can easily go sour if something shorts or you get a kink in a cord..... why risk it? If you have access to a construction surplus store, you should be able to find some thin pieces of sheet metal that you can fashion into a hood of some sort.

If there are two things I know: 1) You can't grow from jail and 2) you can't grow while you and / or your possessions are on fire. Not to mention, burning down your neighbors' apartments, their possessions, or your neighbors themselves would probably not be the best way to make friends.

:smokebuds:

 

[Sticky Trichome]

Also Kindred; D-e-cent about that fukn card board; try explaining a BURNT-DOWN apartment to the Landlord, better yet how about the FIRE-Marshall!

 

[Zeebadeeb]

Welp, finally got rid of that pesky cardboard. Much safer setup going in the shower now:



I'm planning on getting reflectors for the 125w lamps this week. Standard CFL chandeliers are on standby for a bit til I get the reflectors and more mounting gear.

A lot of growth since last update. The topmost set of mostly developed leaves is 9 fingered, with a new set coming through today as well.





Also, I'm pretty sure she's showing sex as of this morning, too...lady parts.



Finally got my hands on the La Diva seed I mentioned before, too. Put that one in the ground about a half hour ago.

I'm hoping to see a good deal of growth out of the Amnesia in the near future as it approaches flowering, as well as anticipating the La Diva bean popping without issue. Nothing like doubling the size of your garden, right? :clap:

Tips/comments/advice/criticism welcome and appreciated. Thanks for reading!



EDIT: What is the appropriate distance to keep my plants from my 125w CFL lamps? Obviously you can tell in the picture I have the Amnesia up on a stand to get it closer, which I have to deal with until I get my reflectors. Right now I'm going with about 12"?