Growing small

[2RedEyes]

So I don't have much room and have the need to be stealthy to a certain extent. Though growing seems to be legal where I live, I want to be discreet. I also just don't have much room either inside or out. I have a couple of unheated sheds that I could use but they do get cold in winter and hot in summer.
My plan is to grow one or two small plants so I wonder how I can control the size of the plant. I have seen small plants producing buds so I'm think that the plant will grow to whatever size the grow medium allows, is this correct? In other words, small pot, small plant? This would also mean starting the flowering schedule early I would guess. The immediate goal is to try several different strains growing small plants and then increase production a little after I find what I like.
Also is there an inexpensive way to heat a growing cabinet in colder conditions like one of my out buildings. Temps in those places would typically dip into the 20's or 30's at night. I guess I could add a couple Incandescent bulbs for a bit of heat.
Thanks for any suggestions you may have...

 

[orangesunshine]

sounds like a fun little project---small pots does not dictate small plants---i would 1st insulate the the out building---dial in the electric to handle a couple 000 watts of power for fans, pumps, lighting, possible a/c etc---paint the interior flat white---get a vent in the roof---figure out how you can get water to the space---put a lock on the door---contemplate the grow medium soil or hydro

 

[johnnybuds]

sounds like a fun little project---small pots does not dictate small plants---i would 1st insulate the the out building---dial in the electric to handle a couple 000 watts of power for fans, pumps, lighting, possible a/c etc---paint the interior flat white---get a vent in the roof---figure out how you can get water to the space---put a lock on the door---contemplate the grow medium soil or hydro

:yeahthat: Dam! SPOT on! Dont Forget The Oder control?

 

[Hushpuppy]

I grow small (3 plants) in an out building. It is challenging sometimes with heating and cooling. I did just as Orange said with insulating and making the building tight enough that I could control the air flow into and out of the building. You will need to get a nice centrifugal fan (Vortex is real good) and a nice charcoal filter. the filter is for removing the odor, the fan is for continually circulating fresh air from outside to the inside, and pushing hot stale air from inside to the outside.
The plants need "fresh" CO2 filled air to breathe, and the lights will build considerable heat that must be removed to prevent problems.

Its challenging to grow plants indoors because most will tend to climb and stretch to the lights. But it can be managed with training techniques and there are several strains that don't grow very tall. Do some reading before you plant any seeds or you will find yourself doing everything backwards while trying to catch up to the growth of the plants.

 

[astrobud]

keep in mind also that a plant will grow 2,3 times in height when put in flower. so if you veg untill 1 foot tall it could get 2,3 feet at harvest, plus what hp said about different strains

 

[2RedEyes]

My first experiment will be in a space bucket Space Bucket using a combination of cfl and some led for side lighting. A strain that might be shorter, a hybrid mostly indica... I'm thinking of putting it to 12/12 lighting early and seeing what happens. I'd like to do an organic grow with as little as possible nutes. I've done some research around the net but really who knows what works until you try it. And it may work for you but not for me or vise versa. We'll see and I'll post the results... it'll be several weeks at least before I can start because I'm not at home. Wish me luck...

 

[Hushpuppy]

I extend to you the Green grow Mojo. Look forward to seeing pics of the progress

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

My first experiment will be in a space bucket Space Bucket using a combination of cfl and some led for side lighting. A strain that might be shorter, a hybrid mostly indica... I'm thinking of putting it to 12/12 lighting early and seeing what happens. I'd like to do an organic grow with as little as possible nutes. I've done some research around the net but really who knows what works until you try it. And it may work for you but not for me or vise versa. We'll see and I'll post the results... it'll be several weeks at least before I can start because I'm not at home. Wish me luck...

"...who knows what works until you try it."
Actually we do know what happens before we try it, because others have tried it. There is no one method or style that is going to make a huge difference. We know that plants need certain things and if they do not receive these things, they will not thrive. Remember that you cannot change the basic biology of the plant. IMO, a space bucket is far too small to use LEDs as they should be a foot or 2 away from the canopy. Plants that are put into 12/12 before they are sexually mature will stretch--you can only hurry flowering so much. You could get away with flowering early with clones, but with seeds, I only anticipate problems.

Do you actually know anyone that has used space buckets? I.e. don't believe everything you "see" on the internet--people can make anything look like they want it to. I can tell you that 100W of CFL is going to give you a mighty small yield. And keeping the bucket light tight looks like it will be an issue. I really really am going to encourage you to check into a small tent and setting up a proper grow if you are serious about this growing thing. CFLs are absolutely the worst thing to use for growing--they take about twice as much in electricity to produce the same amount to light as other sources. It takes about 4 months to go from seed to bud and it is heartbreaking to get to the end of that 4 months and only have a few grams of bud.

 

[grass hopper]

Hey what's up over there 2RedEyes?

Thought I would share an old grow of mine with you.

I will try to keep it short and simple!

I once grew a single plant inside a hollowed out fridge/freezer, in a 3 gallon container.

Soil grow under a 600 watt mh/hps.

It yielded over 6oz in about 100 days from seed to harvest.


The fridge grow was one of my favorite grows EVER!

After I picked up the free fridge off craigslist, I disassembled it 100 % by removing everything inside, underneath and behind. It was a fridge bottom, freezer top. The only thing left was the outer shell, door gaskets which are magnetic, opaque (if black) and the bottom wheels.

I also removed the 'divide' that seperated the fridge from the freezer which left it as one big open empty box.

Disassembly was easy cheesy and fun.

For ventillation I had 2 six inch holes on the floor which were covered with nylons for air filtration and to keep dust/critters out. The top had 1 six inch hole for exhaust and the system ran on a passive intake.

Everything fit inside but it was crammed in there.

24 inch carbon filter, 450 cfm inline fan, 6 inch glass sealed cool tube and a little ducting.


From the outside it looked like a normal fridge! On the top, where the exhaust made it's exit, I simply placed a rubbermade container with a hole on the bottom to mate up with the hole on the top of the fridge.

Aside from the noise of the inline fan, it wasn't too noisy at all.

I left a noisy fan on the floor next to it just to distract from the noise the fridge made.

Placed a lock on the front of the fridge and just told everyone it was to keep the kiddos out of my beer supply! lol




Just wanted to share this with you because it was ultra cheap and worked out for me waaaay better than I expected!


ps, I topped the plant 2x before flowering and it stayed nice and squat and filled the entire 24x36 perfectly with many nice flower tops.




peace :vap-Bong_smoker:

pretty cool bud..

 

[Surfer Joe]

So I don't have much room and have the need to be stealthy to a certain extent. Though growing seems to be legal where I live, I want to be discreet. I also just don't have much room either inside or out. I have a couple of unheated sheds that I could use but they do get cold in winter and hot in summer.
My plan is to grow one or two small plants so I wonder how I can control the size of the plant. I have seen small plants producing buds so I'm think that the plant will grow to whatever size the grow medium allows, is this correct? In other words, small pot, small plant? This would also mean starting the flowering schedule early I would guess. The immediate goal is to try several different strains growing small plants and then increase production a little after I find what I like.
Also is there an inexpensive way to heat a growing cabinet in colder conditions like one of my out buildings. Temps in those places would typically dip into the 20's or 30's at night. I guess I could add a couple Incandescent bulbs for a bit of heat.
Thanks for any suggestions you may have...

I tried growing small and was very disappointed with how little I had after all that time and work and cost.
In my opinion, try to grow large enough to have a useful amount after harvest.
I have a 1m x1m x2m tent and I can grow 4 plants in there with 11L soil pots and average about 100g per plant plus shake for about the same amount of toil and the same electricity as when I grew 5 plants in very small pots and wound up with 15g each at harvest.
Whether you flower early or use little pots, try to avoid ending up with a paltry amount after 3-4 months of work.