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Hmm. Well it does sound like you're trying whatever you can, running the intake over the ballast is a neat idea. Like everyone has said, insulation is great but actual heat is better. You vent out your room so quickly that you want to make sure the air inside the garden/coming in is as warm as possible. So what is the air lay out exactly? Are you just venting out of the tent with the 8 inch fan and a passive intake? What lights, are they air cooled as well? Is there an air filter attached anywhere?

If you can use the heat from your lights to warm your garden that would be great. You can have your lights on during the coldest night time hours and off during the day time. Don't use a sealed hood if the heat from light can warm your plants.

As /u/bonemode said, making sure your pots aren't resting on the cold floor is smart. If you insulate anything, maybe wrap the pots up to keep the soil warm as that would take the least effort and probably have the biggest impact. And not watering with cold water is key for sure, I need to be careful of that.


Honestly though, a mini heater is what I just bought. I know it is expensive, you could probably get a cheaper smaller one. I just liked that this one had decent settings and oscillates. I am just experimenting with mine right now. With the lights off I can get really slow growth from the cold temps especially in flowering. So I figure the heater will be worth it and affordable if you consider the money saved by the end harvest.

When to harvest. So first off, get yourself something to take a really close look at the trichomes. I just ordered this usb microscope https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06WD843ZM?ref=ppx_pt2_dt_b_prod_image and its only $20, well worth it for all the other stuff you can zoom in on too, but now let's look at those trichomes. As they grow and start appearing they will be clear, they will then turn white over the weeks of flower and then turn amber and brown by the end of flower. Each of these colors has massive effects on the trichomes and how the high will feel. Clear/milky white will give a more alert, energetic, uppity high. While amber/brown give a more sedated, narcotic type of feel. If you want a more energetic high, harvest while they're milk white. For a more sedated high, harvest at amber. If you want a mix of both, keep an eye on them as they transition from milk white to amber and harvest when you're comfortable with them. It's not recommended to harvest with clear trichomes, or many of them at least, and by the time they get dark brown they will actually start to fall off and you DO NOT want that. Lastly, make sure you flush your plants for a week or 2 at the end of flower to get the nutrients out of those buds. And be sure to let them dry slow, this will yield the best results. I'd recommend to dry trim in order to keep the buds drying slower

> My grow space is 3x2x3 just fyi

Ya, it def looked bigger than my cabinet, so I figured you'd benefit from a bit more veg to increase final yields (especially with plants that seem indica dominant, so won't stretch much).

>lots of little shoots all over the sides

Ya, that's from not LSTing vigorously enough. If the main top never is pushed completely below the vertical level of the side branches, the side branches will never become dominant. Also, those plants just look genetically short and stocky with short side branches, so they'd need extra vigorous LST, and next time around you should probably top them. They look perfect for topping. Like this one.. He's going for something like LBH's4-way LST, which is great for stocky plants that are hard with LST alone. Your plants look ideal for this method (but it's too late, so just good info for the next run!)

> How much did you end up with after your first grow?

Lol, I never put it on a scale. Once the dry/cure is done, it's all in various jars and I'm too lazy to pull it all out, put the jar on the scale, tare, then put it all back in!! But anyway, my first grow was in a closet, HSO Blue Dream, LST a bunch, 96w T5, ~100w of CFL side lighting maybe? I think I got maybe 2-3 oz, and it was maybe 3 feet tall. For my cabinet, here's a plant starting flower, here's that plant near harvest, and here's the harvest. As you can see, I could have easily vegged a bit longer and increased yield a bunch, but needed some new bud for my stash asap! :) So I appreciate the need for speed sometimes haha.

> I'd love to get a 2x4 sunblaze

Ah, I think that's what I've been using! Well, same deal, but different brand. Works well, but I'm def happy to be upgrading to a 400w HID tent in January :) The crazy pics of really fat colas we see posted just don't seem possible under CLFs/T5s unfortunately ;_; sadness

https://www.amazon.com/Cannabis-Grow-Bible-Definitive-Recreational/dp/193786636X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3N9MIBRHWTFAY&keywords=cannabis+grow+bible&qid=1569722339&sprefix=cannabis+grow%2Caps%2C205&sr=8-1

That should be your go-to. It covers everything basic and gives you a good starting point. With that book you'll be able to google problems you can't solve and have some idea of where to look and how to phrase your questions.

In-line fans are your savior. You don't need to vent out (for clarity, this is for smell. You'll need to do something about the heat). The goal is to cycle the air in the room through the fan. But also keep in mind that lights create heat and your plants like to exist in a specific temperature range and humidity. You will need some kind of way to cycle "fresh" air through your tent but generally a decent CFM fan will pull air from the main room.

Get a good tent that has decent sealing zippers and vents.

Drying in your tent is fine but you have to dry in complete darkness as light degrades your cannabinoids. So you'll have to put your grow on hold to dry, not a bad thing necessarily but it means potentially 2 weeks of not being able to do anything which cuts into a consistent harvest schedule. Consider curing is a few weeks too if done properly but that's done in jars and can be stored elsewhere.

Best advice, buy the book, read it and everything else you can about growing. Don't ask questions without trying to research it first. Every single thing you are questioning has been asked and answered online 100's of times. You will learn immense amounts of useful information (and learn to pick out disinformation) by reading through these posts. At that point buy your gear. It will save you a lot of time and money by having a basis before spending cash.

There's more than one way to grow cannabis, everyone thinks "their way" is the best. The truth is each method has it's advantages and disadvantages, do what works for you.

since the shelves are adjustable (although it is kinda annoying so not something you do all the time) you could leave like 3ft on the bottom and grow like 2 plants there full time if you want. But you will want a different / stronger light for flowering. or you can just move them outside when they are big, sun is free.

The led shoplights are mostly just for starting, that would be your middle shelves. usually like a month or so for seed to sprouts or rooting clones.

but there is no point growing tons of starter plants if you don't have room for them when they are bigger =]

mature plants can get large 3ft x 5ft easy. but you can trim them to fit whatever space you want. (see small /r/spacebuckets setups, to huge /r/outdoorgrowing plants)

an inline fan with flexible tubing and air filter (if you are flowering and dont want it to smell outside your shed much) is easy to place if you have some vent or opening somewhere in the shed.

Use what the pro use to protect their plants Floating Row covers.



Light-weight FRCs (0.55 oz./sq. yard): Perfect for insect barrier, have 85% light transmission, recommend of freeze protection and season extension, and can be left on many crops (e.g., beets, snap beans, salad greens) from seeding to harvest

UV PROTECTION High quality spun polypropylene fabric is UV stabilized and reusable, and allows air and moisture to reach your plants,

EASY INSTALLATION Measured size as described, easy to cover it on the plant top personally

MULTI-APPLICATION Protect your vegetable such as tomato, pepper, pumpkin, strawberry rows, fruit trees, citrus and shrub, flowers as well as newly-sown grass

WEATHER PROTECTION Protect plants from snow, hail, frost in the winter and insects,birds during the growing season

Tent is a Milliard grow tent, 3ftx3ftx6ft. The DWC I built; it's not recirculating but I do have a submersible pump in the reservoir bucket to increase circulation. Lighting is currently a 400w MH/HPS set to 50% until they harden up a little. Nutes are Advanced Nutrients Sensi Grow A&B, Voodoo Juice and B-52 for right now at 1/4 strength. I also have a small humidifier in the tent for the time being, and the fan isn't currently on as my temps are stable and there's no smell issues to deal with yet. Soon I'll turn the fan on to up the air circulation and I'll have to figure out how to control the humidity from there. But it's fun so I don't mind. Feel free to PM me if you have more questions.

Thanks for your imput, Im gonna definitely check that out. I was looking at getting 6 of these https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078B4VJ35/ref=dp_cerb_3?th=1 , A few friends of mine use those CMH lights & swear by them... Im just a little stumped on my best plant of action. Thanks again!

I replied to your title but now see your post.

When you say “room temperature” what’s the actual temperatures? I know people in cold climates tend to have cooler homes than the average “room temperature” where I am in San Diego. Our homes tend to be about 22c. Which is ideal. If your home is around 16c the plant is not going to do well.

You’re growing in soil. So you’ll need good soil like this

If I were going to start growing with my current knowledge I’d start with no less than this light in 3000k. which is good for one medium size plant. Which is all I’d recommend you start with. Pick your best/biggest/strongest plant after 2.5 weeks. Kill the rest. Fortunately you don’t need to feed the plant until it’s about 4” tall.

You’ll need a simple light timer.

Good nutrients

An oscillating fan

and a pot

If you’re worried about smell(and it will make your whole home reek at the end) then you’ve got a whole new can of worms. Grow tent, filtration, ventilation etc..

And a lot of reading

You and me both man! Spent the past month fighting those things off. Lost 2 monster plants a month into flowering because of those little bastards. This is the first year I've had any bug issues.

After all my research, here's what I've done and it seems to have worked.

1. Nuke em - Careful with this stuff on flowering plants as it tends to burn the pistols and can set you back a week or so but it works great on eggs and live mites. Be sure to get under and over all your leaves, even the lowest hanging ones. I wouldn't use this on flowering plants if you're more than 2 weeks in to be honest.
   
   
2. Azamax - Do this every day for 8 days. Mites hatch every 3 days or so you want to be sure you kill evrything. Took a couple weeks but I'm mite free. This stuff is much more gentle on your plants than the Nuke-em, but I'd still avoid using on late flowering plants.
   
   I got mites from bringing clones in from someone elses garden! Growing from seed has its benefits!