Another First time grower with a couple of questions

[Devientz]

First off, please don't flame me here if my questions sound repetetive..i have been reading through these forums for the last couple days researching and without you guys i would have been completely clueless. Theres just a couple things i need to know. Btw..thank god for everyone on this site

Anyways... I'm planning on starting my first grow in a couple days and i have spent the entire day preparing. This morning i tore out some shelves that were built into my wall to create a small grow box..about 3' 1/2 high 3' 1/2 wide and deep. I painted the entire inside pure white, and i plan to use tinfoil inside too in certain areas. Amazingly I also found a shiny white peice of wood in my garage that fit perfectly over the front for a pretty nice, built in cubourd sortof looking grow box. It doesnt keep 100% of the light in but im working on fixing that. i'm pretty stoked, it has turned out looking pretty nice considering i only thought it up this morning I was originally just gonna toss a pot in my atic and suround it with tinfoil lol....Wish i could give some pictures but i dont have a camera atm..

I have white widow seeds germinating in a tuperware box since last night..I spent the whole day shopping, got hinges and attached the door..bought a mini fan and 2 2x light sockets, some soil and a 5 gallon bucket (which i plan to saw part of the top off as its too big for my small grow area)...I attached a couple hooks to the top of the grow area so that i can adjust my lights which will just be supported by the extention cord on the hooks. Tomorow i plan to go out and get some perlite and the nutes that i havent goten yet. .....sorry for the stoned rant....ill get to the point.My problem came when i was looking for lights. I went to the only 3 stores in my area that i would think carry any decent bulbs. The problem is that the only ones i was able to find at any of the stores were 100watt "warm white light" floros. There was also one floro that said "natural light" but i wasnt sure about that one.. Now i have tried to research to see if these are acceptable to grow all the way through but I have had a hard time finding anything in depth and a lot of the information i found just seems pretty contradictory. So i bought 2 of the warm white light bulbs and i wanted to wait to find out what you guys have to say. btw:
( warm white light - 100 watt , light output [lumens]- 1600, energy used [watts]-23 ) is the info straight from the box. I'm not really strained for time and i plan on growing only 1 or 2 at a time as i dont want to waste the few seeds i have. Anyways...Heres my questions:
-Would I have problems growing with these lights only?
-If these lights are acceptable, how many would i need?
-If these bulbs are not good enough, where would i be able to find hps or other more acceptable bulbs?
-Anything that im missing or anything i have done wrong?

Sorry again for the short essay..i got a little carried away lol. Any help is greatly appreciated I dont wanna mess up my first grow!

[crapskater]

You can get very cheap hps and mh light systems online. VERY CHEAP. yeah not sure about your bulbs right now...im guessing its good for starting out but you will want to move it up a bit in my opinion. PM me about the website.

[Dorklover664]

You should be able to find grow lights at an good plant shop. Or online- http://www.insidesun.com/. Your box is small so you will have to keep your plants small (3 1/2'- 1' light- 1' between lights and plants- 1/2' pot). I don't know how worth it, it will be to gro in that small of a space. You'll have to get more info on that from those that grow small (I have a room). Good luck. Also of growing just trying it and seeing what you get.

[Devientz]

thanks for the replies

Crapskater: I have looked at some of the system online but most of them seem to be a little bit out of my price range for my first grow. The ones ive seen have been 100-200$ Im kinda looking at this as a test run, Also with my limited space, im not sure if i have room for one yet what kindof price range you talking about?

Dork: I forgot to metion i plan to be abusing the LST method at least untill i find a bigger grow space.. I know its risky to try this especially on first grow, but its the only way ive seen to be able to get decent yeild in the amount of space i have. I think i should have plenty of space if i can manage to shape it into more of a bush shape. what do you think? With my bucket and lights inside i should have about 2 1/2feet of height to work with.

Anyone experienced with floros can recomend how many of these lights i will need, at least for the first month or so of vegitation incase i can't find any better lighting?
And thanks again for the replies..appreciated

[Cronaholic]

If you are going to use those 23W bulbs, I would use as many as you can fit and still keep the temps below 85.

In your description of your grow box you made no mention of ventilation. How is fresh air getting in and the air thats been heated by the lights getting out?

Ventilation is just as important as light.

[Devientz]

Ventilation is the other thing that ihavent quite figured out yet. Would mounting 2, 4 inch fans on opposite sides of the roof, one blowing in the other out work? I dont really have much to work with here so ive been trying to figure out how i can do this as easy as possilble.. any ideas / recomendations?

[Devientz]

Well i figured it all out for now. Today, hopefully, i will be putting the finishing touches on my box. I hope my seeds start to pop out soon.. Ill probably be back with a camera and some more questions during my grow. Thanks everyone

[crapskater]

for the hps you can get a light set for about 85 dollars used. i believe its only a 250 watt light. ideal for small growspaces such as yours.

[ganjamen]

the thing bout fluoros is that they are dirt cheap to buy. If you will have like 250 watt on fluoros its a waste of money since you could get an interchangeable MH-HPS system that used 250 watt bulbs. Same wattage, major upgrade in spectrums and lumens.

If you want to continue having good weed you can try to breed it, how, growing 2 plants, and hopefully geting male and female. yes it will reduce the weed potency but youll get kick ass seeds.

Lst`ing like crazy sound gut, just be careful not to overbend and snap the stems.

The vents will do better if putting an intake in the bottom and an outake in the top. The physics of heated air say that the hot air will go up. Also that can create a currtent and strenghten the plant.

Another issue is temps, fluoros will keep it cool, the other lights are way to powerfull and give off more heat. There are 70 -75 watt hps bulbs that sound interesting to me since you can stack and go nuts with the lumens.

Consider how into you are going to get. Im smokeing weed is a life choice for you, go with the best lights you can after your first grow. Also consider your first grow as a learning experience rather than a contest for yield. Keep your own pace and increase it as needed

Hope helps

[Devientz]

thanks guys

Yea, as my first grow im more worried about supplying the basics to keep it alive more than i am getting a giant yield out of it. I have goten most of what i need down thanks to you guys and other grow journals. If i do get more into it, which i most likely will at a later point, i will consider getting a lighting system...For now, ive exhausted my funds.

Today, i drilled a 4" circle in the top right corner of the box and mounted a mini- 4" desktop fan for the exhaust. My problem is that i managed to burn out the motor on my drill getting the hole in which sucks because i bought it not that long ago. I was planning on drilling a few smaller holes for intake but as of now I cannot do that. The door does not fit perfectly on the front since it was just something i found in my garage and it has about a centimeter gap open on 3 sides.

Will enough air be able to get in through these gaps or do i need to find another method for intake? Im hoping that the negative pressure will be eough to suck in enough fresh air but i dont know. I am not worried about anyone seeing the light as its in an area that most people dont see, and even if they did anyone who comes over here would not mind it. It is also in a pretty dark area so im not worried about light getting in, if i were, i could set the 12 hour night cycle to when it gets dark out which i will probably do anyways...

Thanks in advance for any input

[smashio]

hey deviantz.
well i am using 5 cfls.
yeah them little circular peices of shit you can buy anywhere.
4 of them are the 23 watters 1600 lumens a piece and only 1- 40 watter which puts out 2100 lumes.. total lumens in my grow box is 8500lumens which is great for vegging..
i tell you what. you better plant atleast 5 or 6 in that box...cause only two will take long enuff to piss you off when you find out they are males!!!.

but the only bad thing about CFL's is you need more lights rather than using one or two 600 watt HPS or MH...

ive got enuff time before my flowering to save up for the HPS that i am getting off EBAY...man they got whole set ups w/ ballasts and all for $130 and cheaper.....

-my two cents
and good luck man!