Keep expectations low and creativity high and you'll come out fine. :redbong: Watch that you don't get soil compaction with the Nature's Care. The bulbs will do for now. When you can spring some dough, a single 105w cfl is $20 from 1000Bulbs and would really make things pop, plus get rid of clutter in your garden. Next thing to think about is seed or clone sources. Since you've only got one space you need to save $$ to buy feminized seeds for subsequent grows or locate a source of clones.
A single 105W would be great, I'll probably try to get one before I flower. Once I go through the 4 seeds that I have, I'll probably buy fem seeds online from a reliable seed bank. Could you elaborate about the soil compaction? I'd Google it but it seems like your concern is specifically about that brand of soil and my setup so your advice is probably a lot better than search results.
Some of the best growers on the planet are on this site. No one is trying to talk you out of anything, but when these guys talk, you should listen.
That was somewhat of a response to your comment about this being a lot of work for 20 grams. I'm not accusing anybody of anything, I just wanted it to be clear that I know I'm not doing things "properly" and that I'm not expecting anything big. I definitely wasn't trying to offend anyone. And trust me, I'm soaking up all the info I can from everything these guys are saying.
With weed prices running $200-$400 p/oz retail, if you can produce 28 grams for less than $200, you're ahead of the game. If your micro cab functions well it'll become habit. Brush teeth, check cab, water plants, eat breakfast.... If it doesn't? Wasted time effort and $$. Got lots of wasted effort on the shelves around my place. Soil compaction tends to be common in less expensive potting soils and can destroy an otherwise decent garden. Lots of things can aggravate it like over watering or manual compaction when initially filling the pots. When you get to the point of actually planting a seed we can go over ways to make sure the dirt doesn't compact.
Good point Res. Hatter, If you stick with it and are super creative you WILL be successful and the skills you're about to learn will most definitely carry over to larger grows as well general gardening. Even if you fail I wouldn't call it a wasted effort, it's how we learn. So far so good, you're asking questions here before you spend / waste limited recourses, hell that puts you ahead of most folks who think they wanna grow some weed. :good job: Once you get that first micro cabinet going I bet you'll want a second one for clones and maybe a mom. Seeds are fun but clones will save a lot of time and more importantly you'll know the genetics and sex up front.
Well, I've hit a small complication with the PC case I want to grow in. Apparently the drive bays aren't easily removable, so I'll have to cut them out somehow. It's not a huge deal, I'll just have to find the right tool for the job. Maybe I'll find some bolt or wire cutters that can cut through sheet metal. Resin and duc, I think having so many restrictions will help me in the long run by forcing me to use my brain and work through some various problems. I agree that even if I unfortunately fail on my first grow attempt, I'll still have gained some experience and knowledge. That, of course, is the worst-case scenario, I'm obviously going to be doing my best to succeed. I think my plan is to try to grow the four seeds I have, and then after buying some fem seeds, I'll try figuring out where I can keep a mom to cut clones from. It would definitely save time and would also keep me from having to buy seeds. We'll see how the first two seeds turn out. If everything goes well with them, maybe I'll try keeping a mom from the second pair of seeds (assuming at least one is female).
You can definitely make this work. Keep asking questions and following the advice given. This site will guide to quality smoke provided you follow the sage advice. Resin rubber guided me on my first grow and it produced magnificently.
Keeping a mom is nice but not really needed and honestly I don't have moms for each strain I have on hand. I take cuts during veg, root & use them for the next round. For a micro grow you only need one maybe two clones for each round. At this level of growing the just the basic needed to sustain life are needed and for that all you need is cardboard box, a pc fan and a single 15w CFL. Once you get started you'll see what I'm mean about starting from seeds each time, never mind the cost of feminized seeds. Clones will be free & fully mature and ready to veg/flower once rooted! As for the PC cabinet, personally if you're not trying hide grow I'd skip it in favor of a sturdy cardboard box for the additional room. Again you're going to have to be creative.
Since you have dad's ok, perhaps you could co-opt a closet or corner in the basement to house a mother plant? All you need is one sg/ft of space and a few of those 23w cfls you got laying around. No timers or exhaust or anything. Would make future grows much much simpler. Micro cab growers generally flower straight from clone. Once it roots they go to 12/12 lighting. Makes cycle time 8-9 weeks instead of 11-12 weeks for seed plants. Those hard drive bays shouldn't be a problem. Aren't they riveted or spot welded in? Just drill out the rivets or welds and seal the holes with duct tape.
^^^^ What Duc said!! Mothers just keep getting bigger and take up space we sometimes don't have available. Just keep the plants in vegg until you can spot the first signs of sex and they have grown enough to have clone-able lower branches. Plants from seed can produce a bunch of clones. For years, I've taken all my clones a few days before I start to flower the plants. Those lower limbs usually get whacked off when pruning up before flowering anyway. Then if you decide to keep a mother just choose a healthy plant from the clones and keep her for a mother. You'll keep getting little girls just like their mother. And Res is spot on, of course!!! A plant from seed takes a lot longer to run it's course and mature to flowering stage. Hell, clones are ready to flower right out of the gate. You'll see. Good luck, it's a learning process!!! Be Cool, CG
Okay, so I'll drill out the drive bays this weekend. Although my father gave me permission, I still have a lot of visitors in my house that I want to hide my grow from, so I'll be sticking with the PC case. I'll be brainstorming for spots to keep clones or a mother. My house has no empty closet space so that isn't an option. The goal will probably be "hidden in plain sight" like the computer case. Unless I'd be able to hide it in the attic. My concern about the attic is all the insulation up there. That's gotta be bad for the plants, right? Let me know because that could make things a bit easier if it wouldn't hurt the plants.
The attic will get hot, unless your at the north pole, if you go attic and have enough room you can build a insulated box to grow in. Also remember if you are growing in your house, use a good odor control. Someone will smell it sooner or later most likely if you have people in and out.
^^^^ This works great, I started doing this and now can easily rotate 4 different strains without using up veg space with 4 moms. Using moms are great for bigger grows where you want to take alot of cuts at clone time.
