new member closet grow

[Thumbless Bastard]

Hello fellow growers! I am honored to be among such a great group of people that support something that is at the very least controversial and, in my case, very illegal. We must stand together and show that we are responsible citizens that have a right to handle our own health as we choose. Civil Disobedience.

Like many of you, I am in my mid fifties and have come back to cannabis from decades away for various reasons. In the mid eighties I grew for a couple of years. 10 X 12 bedroom with a 1000 w Metal Halide on a track and being pulled back and forth. CO2 system with the closet set for veg. and cloning. Got into some breeding and was starting to stumble on harvesting feminized seeds. The grows I had then are laughable to what I grow now, but it was a lot of land race strains that I wish I had back. Had to shut down when the company I ordered from had their records confiscated by the DEA. The DEA was using that info to bust down doors. The 80's man...I am still paranoid from that.

Currently, I am finishing my third year of growing in a very unique set up that I thought I would share. I am able to supply me with more cannabis than I need and keep a decent variety on hand all from a closet no bigger than 22" deep X 39" wide.
I have divided the closet in half with the bottom portion for vegging and the upper for flower. I do very short plants, with topping and LST they are no taller than 24" and usually around 18".
I have found that 4 plants are doable in the flower room and have been averaging over an ounce per plant.
The goal is to have a plant ready to replace a harvested one so I can get about one harvest every 3 weeks or so.
Right now I am running a Kind Soil test and so far so good. I know we have a Kind Soil expert here to keep an eye on me. I will post a separate grow general for it.

Please see my profile for more pics of grow room.

I hope to be able contribute to this community as this will be my only place to share what I have going on. I am NO expert and I have made almost every mistake you can, but I have had some success and I am very willing to share.

Thanks to all as this means a lot to me

[kingfish]

I welcome you with open arms, you Bastard

[Thumbless Bastard]

Thank you so much!

[rockman]

Super cool setup Thumbless (or do you want to be called bastard?)! Great to have you join us! Looks like you'll be able to contribute a lot! 😊

[Thumbless Bastard]

Thanks! It has been fun trying to make it work.
You may call me what you wish.

[dontknownuttin]

Didn't I once see this guy at the movies?

[NebulaHaze]

That's a really neat setup! Just curious, which LED grow lights are you using? Your buds look beautiful

[Thumbless Bastard]

Thank you very much! And thank you for such an awesome website/forum. In a way, you are a hero to me.
It is an Advanced Platinum 150 watt. Changing to LED dropped my temps by 10-15 degrees from the 250 watt metal halide I was running. Of course, my buds have improved vastly.

[Charlie]

Magnificent, every home should have a closet like that.

[Thumbless Bastard]

Thank you very much! I agree. The world would be a much better place.

[StickyFingers]

Great grow closet and even nicer plants Thumbless Bastard. Glad to have you aboard. I hope you really have thumbs but I have to say that every time I hear "Thumbless Bastard" I have a vision of a guy sitting a a kitchen table with a giant pile of colas in front of him, a pair of scissors, and no thumbs wondering how the fuck he's gonna get all that bud trimmed. If you are truly a thumbless bastard I apologize to you and any other thumbless bastards out there for my gross insensitivity and general lack of manners. I would also be even more impressed than I was originally with your closet and your plants if you did it without thumbs. I will now remove my foot from my mouth, remove your foot from my butt, and shut up. You have a lot to offer here, thumbs or not. Welcome...

[Thumbless Bastard]

Thanks so much!

I laughed so hard at your comment. No apology needed as the name is a joke that I will explain, (with pictures) in comments below. I do not take myself that serious and as soon as I think I have something figured out I realize how little I really know. Trying to enjoy this ride we are on.

[StickyFingers]

Hello again Thumbless Bastard. Thanks for sharing "the rest of the story". You seem to have adjusted well to your disability. I think your attitude is admirable. A good friend chopped all four fingers on his right hand off with a saw while he was building a house in 2001. Life's been pretty tough for him ever since, but he keeps on truckin'. I guess that makes him a Fingerless Bastard. And , yes, friends...please be careful around power tools, high or not.

[alltatup]

Welcome, TB (I'ma call you that to avoid all the controversy): you look like a mad genius to me!!! Welcome home.

[Thumbless Bastard]

As you wish, thanks for the warm welcome.

[Potted]

Nice closet TB welcome to the trenches. Good luck and keep it green! Peace out

[Thumbless Bastard]

Thanks Potted! Working every day at it.

[Thumbless Bastard]

I guess I need to explain the Thumbless Bastard to end any concern of hurting my feelings or crossing a line. Yes, I did cut off half of my left thumb on a table saw when I was 18. Kids, don't operate heavy machinery whilst high. It really isn't that bad and only makes handling very small things difficult.

So several years ago I got into craft beers and decided to brew my own. I am a very DIY person and I took it to another level. Built my own kegerator with five taps and always had several different brews on hand. It is customary to name your brew house as I often bottled my beer to give out and I would label it. A friend came up with the name and it felt perfect.
Unfortunately, alcohol is not your bodies friend and I got the heaviest I had been in my life. I had once been an amateur body builder in my 30's and when I looked in the mirror one day I knew how bad things had gotten. At that time, a new coworker started talking to me about some cannabis he had and he was kind enough to give me a sample. The rest is history. Never brewed another batch of beer and have probably had about 6 in the past 3 years. With some diet changes and getting back to working out I have lost the fat and am on my way back to being the buffed bad boy I once was. Thanks to cannabis and a desire to change.

I am using Thumbless Bastard now because I hope to continue breeding and eventually come up with some strains that will help with peoples meds. Thumbless Bastards Genetics sounds bad ass to me. What do you think?

[StickyFingers]

Thumbless Bastard, I'm just curious. Are you left or right handed? And I'm sorry to be the one to tell you, but if you're going to continue breeding you're going to need a bigger closet.

[Thumbless Bastard]

Fortunately, I am right handed.

Lol, yes I am aware of my restraints. I figure I would at least need a decent size bedroom and two years to stabilize anything I would call my own. Until then I can have fun creating genetics by carefully cultivating a male plant and harvesting the pollen. I have done this once and now have over 250 seeds crossed over 8 strains. Growing my first one now. Whats the worst that can happen?

[StickyFingers]

I can't see that anything bad could happen as a result of your crosses if you used good stock to start with. I hope you grow The Greatest Strain Of All Time. And, of course, I hope you'll be kind enough to send me a couple of seeds when that day comes. I've always been fascinated by plant genetics, although I've never bred my own plants. My wife wouldn't let me grow until 4 years ago, even though we are in CA. Long story. I managed a retail nursery for a couple of years long ago and later ran my own wholesale cactus business My pride were my fruit trees and my 250+ antique and bicolor rose garden. Now I live on top of a mountain of solid rock, can't grow anything that's not in some kind of container. Anyway, I'm very interested in your grow Thumbless Bastard, and I encourage you to get your spare bedroom set up for your breeding project soon. We aren't getting any younger y'know.

[Jibblerjoe]

Looks top notch. Making every square inch produce buds . How old and tall when put in flower ?

[Thumbless Bastard]

Thank you very much!

This often depends on how well I have timed my harvests. There have been times when I had basically miniature trees waiting for a spot in the flower space. I try to get 3 weeks to a month and around 10"-12" tall. From there it goes to flower and wait for stretch then I LST the hell out of it with some defoliation. Always looking for ways to improve and each grow is different.

[Jibblerjoe]

Very nice closet.

[insomniaczzz]

Welcome TB. How do you handle your light situation with veg and bloom in same closet. I know you have it separated but do you use 12/12 for bloom and something similar to 20/4 for vegging? How do you handle light leaks.

[Thumbless Bastard]

Thank you for the welcome. My past lurking shows you are a wise one and your input is appreciated.

Yes, I do 12/12 in the flower section and 16/8 in the vegetation.
I screwed 2X4s to the wall around the middle of the closet and then capped them with 1/2" plywood. I made a passage in it from the left, top side of the vegetation to the right, bottom side of the flower and attached a computer fan to allow air flow.
I use door insulation around the frame of the door to keep light from leaking in or out out. Lots of duct tape around everything possible that can leak light on the platform.
I added a picture to my profile under the closet grow that shows how I handled sealing off between the sections when the door is closed.
I have crawled into the flower section with the lights on in the vegetation and closed the door. Completely dark.

[Royal Nugs]

Wow! What a great setup. I need you to come up to MI to do some "handy" work! Very nice!

Welcome to the forum, I'm very eager to see your future work.

I hear ya, about the beer, I'd probably lose 30 lbs if I quit drinking beer and coke

I like the kindsoil, I'm glad you do too, so far.

Wishing you many great harvests!

[Thumbless Bastard]

Thank you for the greeting. I would love to visit MI...but not until spring. Late spring. Not a fan of the cold.

I stopped all other sugar drinks also and what a difference. It is hard at first, but well worth it.

The Kind Soil is looking awesome! I look forward to your input in my grow journal.

Thanks Nugs!