Alright guys, I've been lurking for a while now. Finally got up the courage and equipment to start my first grow. Seeds germinating as we speak! Im so excited! Ive encountered my first problem however..

Does anyone have any good advice on how to cool down a room (5x5 ft closet) that I cant drill any holes into? Im in a rental and have already caused more damage to the room than i would like. Theres no way I can start knocking holes into the walls.. The only light is a 400 watter hps. The temperature hovers between 75-85 depending on the time of day. Im sure this will go down as winter is fast approaching, and im not sure that that range is necessarily undesirable for the cannabis. Im also attempting to grow a few poppies however, and they prefer it COLD. I know this is probably way too much for a first timer to be jumping into, but any advice whatsoever, for the current problem or in general, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all!

I have mine at 87f at the moment, the temp will increase as the space your using becomes more crowded.
My last grow went over 100f and they all turned out fine. You could use a small air conditioning unit if you wanted.
Belive me when I say these little girls can take a lot of abuse..


Hope this helps, I am pretty sure you will be back for more help.
GP is a great site, just ask away. Welcome to GP
Give the Sticky posts a read they have 80% of common questions covered.

__________________
Benefits of a long VEG

Sinspy Garden Grow

http://www.phoenixtears.ca/

Rick Simpson Hemp Oil

hey there. its going to be hard, but make sure you have adequate ventilation for that closet area. get a fan or connect ducting to a fan (or two) that can exhaust (and intake if possible) the air. you are aiming for about 75-80 degrees. above 85 can start to stunt growth for some strains. one thing that could help you either way - add CO2. i dunno if you have the cash for a tank and regulator (expensive...its like $200+).....which i dont.....but if you check out our "DIY" do it yourself - section you can learn to make your own CO2 generator out of a plastic bottle, water, yeast, sugar, and air tubing. the reason this will help you is that with more CO2 to use to turn light into energy, the more heat the plant can also handle. since it is getting a good amount of energy it can better handle the stress of higher temps.

your strain may also be a heat resistant one (like strains from equator area), but who knows really. vent that hot air out of the room (and get fresh air in there too!!!), build yourself a DIY CO2 bottle, and watch to make sure your plants dont dry out too fast.....and you should be fine.

good luck!

__________________

"Remember, you can never overdose - you can only under-dose. We are just making sure we aren't under-dosing."

I am a medical marijuana patient - my plants and use are covered under State Law. I do not endorse illegal activities in or out of the state/country. So don't tread on me.

Spring '09 Grow Chocolate Thai: http://www.greenpassion.org/f24/back-action-spring-09-grow-7928/

Current Fall '09 'Red Diesel' LED Grow http://www.greenpassion.org/f24/fall-09-pure-led-grow-show-red-diesel-14415/

Thanks you guys. I dont think watering should be a problem, but i am worried about ventilation. Like I said Im not worried about heat with the maryj as much as with the poppies ive got going.. but I havent seen anything anywhere to lead my to believe that these two plants can actually be grown successfully together in the same environ, so I guess this is just going to have to be an experiment. So from what I have gathered, the main purpose of my major issue, ventilation, is to control the temp and bring CO2 into the room, which the plants obviously need. Thanks Dieabetic for your suggestion about the yeast CO2 generator, I think Ill have to give that a try!

So.. a few more questions. Is ventilation absolutely necessary in this situation or do you think I can get by with temps in the eighties and a little juryrigged CO2 generator?

Thinking out loud here....

If this isn't a stealth grow.....read on. If it is...this idea probably won't work.

Is there a way to gently remove the existing closet doors and replace them with plywood that can be drilled all to f......'er...a...you get the picture.
Possible?

Haha yes i do get the picture thanks for your input windowpane, but unfortunately it does need to be stealth.

Id like to reiterate my question:
DO I NEED VENTILATION? BECAUSE I CANT CONCEIVE OF ANY WAY TO PULL IT OFF SO IF ITS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY I MAY HAVE TO SCRAP THE WHOLE PLAN.. And I dont want to do that at all. Im only planning on having three cannabis plants six poppies and a tray of garlic (I read it covers other smells beautifully and I LOVE IT lol).

So basically i need to know whether this is too much to grow in a 5x5 closet with no ventilation.

I feel like this is a really stupid question, but it needs asked anyway..

I had a friend that grew in the closet of their appartment (gutsy!!lol) it was the long narrow style with the folding doors on a slide track. since he couldn't remove the doors, he set up a small AC unit (meant for 1 room) at one end of the closet, and a small desk style fan clipped to the curtain rod with his lights! keep in mind, the exaust those things put off, as well as the unit itself can get quite warm if they're overworked, but if you're only using it to slightly cool that closet, then I wouldn't thing you'd have it working too hard. the only thing past that you have to explain away to nosey friends is the AC fan noise. hope this helped

I think they will need fresh air at least some air exchange and Co2 would help.

__________________

so the seeds have germinated and i put them in peat cups along with the poppies..

they are drying out quickly but luckily I have been around to water them often enough.

any advice on when to transfer from the cups to pots would be helpful!

also, some of them (both species) are going into DWC setups which are unfortunately incomplete because of my lack of access to a power drill (need it to make the net pots), so any info on either making those or transplanting when the time arrives would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for all the advice and have a wonderful day! Peace!

edit: temps still in high eighties hovering around 90.. will this be problematic? id like a link to any info you guys know of on DYI CO2 generation, im having a hard time finding it. hopefully a little more CO2 will keep my babies happy! thanks again!

The advice I have for when to transplant is to watch your plants! I think many people get too caught up in the high-tech-cool-equipment-buzz, remember, the plants have their own natural cycle, and really can do quite well all on their own with no help what-so-ever! your goal is just to improve upon their work. So if you notice the babies growth slowing, minor wilting, or any roots showing at the outside of whatever container your using, be it plastic cups, altered soda bottles, moss pots, or just plain plastic garden pots. If you see roots, it's a sure sign its time. Also remember, the better your root system, the better your plant. This stands at transplanting too, the better developed your roots, the less chance of shock/damage from the move. Make sure to loosen the rootball when placing into the new pot, to encourage the roots to spread outward instead of just downward. Also try to make the transplanting the only stress on the plant for a short time, maybe several days to each side of moving day, just to make sure it has plenty of strength and resources to take that next step I like to use containers that are flexable so that it's easy to remove the plant from the pot with little to no pulling at the stem. The last thing is to give them a good watering once they're into their new bigger homes, and make sure the new grow medium is firmly, but not solidly, packed around the plants base.

Hope this helps and wasn't just a bunch of general, already-known info *laugh* I'm just now completing my first weed grow, but I've been a pretty avid gardener for a long time, and I always have good luck with all my plants when I move them, so *shrug*

Good luck and happy growing

PS! If I were you, I would do something to lower those temps a little bit- I think the plants are happiest at 75F-ish

Thanks Acquarius!

That sounds like about all i need to know when it comes to transplanting.. Maybe a little more info on how to take them out of soil and put them into hydro (rockwool cubes), if anyone can help me out there.

Also, anyone! Info on DIY CO2 generation please!

I've had to move my poppy sprouts out of the room as i believe it is just way too hot for them, they need cooler temps than the ganj.. I plan on keeping them in the windows with a couple hours in the light room when im around to drag them back and forth. hopefully i can find a way to cool that room down cause i just dont think thats going to be enough lumens. the mj seedlings seem to be doing very well! shooting up towards the sky! they dont mind the heat! (or so it seems)

Thanks for all the help yall!

I'm not sure about moving from soil to cubes, I've never used those cubes, so maybe someone else could help you there? To remove the soil from the roots I would use room temperature water and very gently rinse the dirt from them, be VERY careful!! roots can be sooooo delicate, and it's very important that the plant have a good root base. too much stress on the roots will just off your plant in no time *eek!* but I think that some gentle "swishing"("dunking"?) in say, a tub of water you've let sit to get to room temp should take most of the soil out

as for the CO2, I read a post on here a couple weeks ago, but now I can't find it!!! someone had put together a cloning box out of a large rubbermaid bin, and in the passive air vent they had put in a smaller tube leading from a culligan (spelling?) bottle, in the 5gal bottle they had water, yeast, and sugar, I believe. those things together create CO2, which would then expand itself out of the bottle, through the small tube, and mix with the cool air entering the box. I'm not sure of the amounts of yeast or sugar to use, but you should be able to find it on here somewhere

Transferring from soil to rockwool is a no-no and will probably not work/may kill your plants. The only exception is the small 1/2" cubes that fil a container. the "cubes" must be used from the start.

About the only thing you could do to get them into a "hydro" situation is lightly wash the roots off and place them into hydroton. Even so...you may kill them in the process and if they do live through it you will have to water them frequently or they will dry out.

IMO, any thought or effort towards "CO2" is a waste of time @ this point when your temperatures are so high. Homemade CO2....or even Co2 from a regulator/cylinder will NOT cool your room and you need to focus on ventilation rather than co2 if you want to be successful in this endeavor.

Lighting
Temperature
Ventilation
Nutrient/watering
ph

ALL newbies should focus on these aspects of growing cannabis before even considering any of the more advanced applications.

If just ONE of the parameters above is out-of-whack the grow can fail.

good luck

ww

Awesome Awesome Awesome. I want to know how your Poppies turn out. I would love to grow Papaver Somniferum but I think that's more risky isn't it? I haven' read much about growing it because I never thought I would but maybe if I see how yours turns out I may have to give it a try. where did you get your seeds?

Sorry I can't help with anything but good luck on both your grows!!

__________________

How often are you in your apartment? Do you work all day and if so can you come home during your lunch hour? You can circulate the air and add fresh air by opening the closet door a few times. It will suck the bad air out and replenish the space with fresh air. While you are at home you can do this once or twice and hour and it will probably help some. Co2 intake increase with heat, so if your temps are in the eighties Co2 will help their growth.

Windowpane Watson's idea was what I was thinking also. Drywall is easy to fix. If you need to make a few holes and you have drywall then don't sweat it. Some mud, a blowout patch and a little paint will fix the place right back up!

Good luck,

-the Corsican.

__________________
My grow journal: http://www.greenpassion.org/f24/cors...st-grow-15533/

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke.

"If at first you don't succeed, it wont hurt to smoke a little weed!"

IMO, any thought or effort towards "CO2" is a waste of time @ this point when your temperatures are so high. Homemade CO2....or even Co2 from a regulator/cylinder will NOT cool your room and you need to focus on ventilation rather than co2 if you want to be successful in this endeavor.

Lighting
Temperature
Ventilation
Nutrient/watering
ph


I understand these are the main factors that determine wether your going to have a good grow or not, but I CANNOT VENT! I seriously cant think of a way i can make it happen, and my temperature problems are directly related to this. Everything else is taken care of (or hopefully, Ive made an attempt anyway). I have been told extra CO2 lets your plants withstand higher temps. Im not under the impression that it is actually going to lower my temps, but it will hopefully alleviate some of the problems they bring. It would also help with another problem my vent issue brings which is lack of fresh air (of which im pretty sure plants only need CO2, though i could be wrong). PLEASE CORRECT ME IF IM WRONG ABOUT ANY OF THIS!!!


Poppies looking better in the window sill...

MJ is still growing, more leaf growth on the first node, but two have fallen over..

Does this mean I need to put them in pots? Theyre still in peat pods.. Is this something the vent issue is causing? Heat? CO2? I havent fed them any nutes and they have been well watered so its not dehydration or overfeeding..

AHHHHH im getting frustrated, I must be the biggest failure to ever attempt this!!! grrrr :(:(:(

I would be even more screwed, however, without your help, so please, HELP MEEEEE!!!

no...you're not wrong. Plants need CO2.

And hey...don't beat yerself up. Everyone has to traverse the learning curve.

As you are seeing, if just one of the parameters i listed is out of whack it can be detrimental. Without a doubt, you need to get the temps down if you want this to work. There's poiint where the heat causes the plant to go into survival mode. when this happens the plant uses all te water and energy it has simply to try to stay cool.

I would definitely plant them in pots @ this point. When you do...bury the stem all the way up to the first leaves. This will make it sturdier throughout the grow and will keep it from falling over right now.

a small/portable A/C is about alll i can think of if you cannot vent. one way or the other you are going to have to do "something".

good luck.

puond or two of dry ice in a bucket of water pumps out mad co2

__________________


When the government fears the People, that is Liberty. When the People fear the Government, that is tyranny. ~Thomas Jefferson



The Cannabis Network
.


Get the GreenPassion Headline Animator


Get the GreenPassion ToolBar

Won't the H20 melt the dry ice in short order? Dry ice is expensive. He could always buy some yeast and sugar and do the Coke bottle thing, much cheaper.

-the Corsican.

__________________
My grow journal: http://www.greenpassion.org/f24/cors...st-grow-15533/

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke.

"If at first you don't succeed, it wont hurt to smoke a little weed!"

2 more have fallen!

I will be repotting tomorrow as you advised windowpane. My plants have only reached to the first set of leaves though so should i be putting the entire stem of the plant in the dirt? Im assuming so..

Hopefully a little extra co2 and the coming winter cold will be able to solve my venting issue. I continue to pray so anyway...