A Noobs Guide To CFL Micro Growing

Discussion in 'First Time Marijuana Growers' started by noobtoke, Apr 21, 2012.

  1. #1 noobtoke, Apr 21, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 23, 2012
    This is my guide to all you other beginners out there who dont have time to do the over year of research ive done on the indoor growing of marijuana using cfl lighting. Please post if you feel anything needs to be added. Alot of stuff will be on amazon simply for the convience of being to make one big order and save on shipping

    CFL lighting is often used by beginner growers because they are easy accesible as well as the fact that they do not require a ballast or other expensive equipment to utilize them. Although this guide is directed towards the use of CFL lighting it will cover all parts of cultivating marijuana.

    There are 6 things that you need to cultivate marijuana with optimal results.
    Lighting
    A Growing Medium
    Nutrients
    Ventilation
    Odor control
    Seeds


    Lets start with Lighting
    Lighting: CFL lighting is very easy to obtain,cheap, and does not expensive equipment to utilize. Now This guide will be directed to people looking to grow 1-2 plants. As a general rule you need 100 watts for your first plant and 50 for every after that... so for a micro grow 150 watts is perfect! These run you about 50$-70$ a piece, if you want optimal results it is best to buy two one with 5000k-6500k for veg and one 2700k for flowering, this is not nessecary.

    For veg use one of these: 150 Watt - 5U CFL - 500 W Equal - Mogul Base - 5000K Full Spectrum - 80 CRI - 53 Lumens per Watt - 15 Month Warranty - Energy Miser FE-IIIB-150W-50K | 1000Bulbs.com -at 54$ its a great deal!

    For flowering i use: MaxLite 35862 - 150 Watt - 8U CFL - 650 W Equal - Mogul Base - 2700K Warm White - 61 Lumens per Watt - 12 Month Warranty | 1000Bulbs.com
    - at 76$ they are pricey but its you will notice the difference, its worth the investment

    Lastly adapters so you can ust plug these into a powerstrip: Amazon.com: Leviton Ivory Plug-in Light Socket Outlet Adapter Plug: Home Improvement at 1.70 a piece these are awsome!


    Next a growing medium,this is important, dont go cheap for this as it will waste alot of potential that you plant could have. I highly recommed foxfarms for soil and nutes.

    http://www.amazon.com/Ocean-Forest-...3SIAZMJUX04I4&s=generic&qid=1335047430&sr=1-1
    This is what i have seen work the best, at 20$ with shipping
    It is a bit pricey but again well worth the investment

    Nutrients, although most soils especially the one listed above have nutrients in them, supplementing nutrients really helps yield more and grow healthier plants. Typically using two types of nutrients is best one for flowering and one for veg (this is because plants need different nutrients to grow different elements of their organism). For vegging you want an all around nutrient with a npk of fairly equal values for example npk ratio :1,1,1 works fine! but for flowering you want a more varying npk ratio like 1,3,2

    for veg i use foxfarm grow big Amazon.com: FoxFarm Grow Big 1QT: Patio, Lawn & Garden 20$, isnt that much for this great product

    and for flowering i use foxfarm tiger bloom: http://www.amazon.com/Fox-Farm-Tiger-Bloom-Qt/dp/B000BS712Q/ref=pd_sim_lg_3 at 15 $ its the perfect price. fox farm big bloom works just as well but is a little more expensive.

    Onto ventilation! Ventilation is important for your plants to maintain temperature as well as to prevent stale air, but if your going stealth ventilation is even more important. Idealy you want atleast 2 fans one bringing air in and 1 pushing air out. I like to use computer fans for micro-grows 2 bringing air in and 2 pushing out. Any fan works you just want to make sure it is strong enough to cycle all the air in your grow room in less than a minute. I recommend these.

    Amazon.com: 110V / 115V / 120V AC Cooling Fan. 120mm x 38mm HS + Power Plug Cord: Patio, Lawn & Garden

    Odor control, can be the most important part of a grow, because depending on your scenario, being caught may mean the death of your plants! For microgrows i simply use ONA blocks... to be honest they work like magic, and are only around 10 bucks a piece. Now there are two other main options, ionizers and carbon filters, but i am not going to go into those as they are the least convient for a micro grow.. and pretty overkill.

    Amazon.com: Ona Fresh Linen Block, 6 oz: Patio, Lawn & Garden two of these should do the trick for upto 4 plants, even at their dankiest moments. They need to be replaced monthly so i reccomend using one at a time

    Seeds, Nothing can happen without seeds, I like to use autoflowering seeds for microgrows, i can recomend 3 strains.

    Auto northern lights- nice smoke, 60 days to completion, low odor.
    Genehtik Seeds Northern Lights Autoflowering + Free Cannabis Seeds
    with this strain id put the first ONA block in at 10 days.

    Auto mazar- nice smoke, huge yield for an auto flower, 90 days to completion
    Dutch Passion Automazar - Autoflowering - Price Guarantee - The Original Sensible Seed Co + Free Cannabis Seeds
    id start the ONA BLOCK at 20 days on these.

    Red dwarf- low yield, super tiny, advertised at 60 days to completion but ive seen them harvested at 45 days.
    Buddha Seeds Red Dwarf Auto Flowering - Price Guarantee - The Original Sensible Seed Co + Free Cannabis Seeds
    with this strain id put the first ONA block in at 10 days.

    Im not going to go into depth, but if you need a place for your grow, i recommed card board boxes (ONLY IF YOU ARE IN AN ARID CLIMATE) lined in mylar or rubber maids lined in mylar.
     
  2. 40 for ffof soil is a bit too much. I get big bags at my local shop for 10 bucks. You can get some off eBay for less than 40 shipped also if transportation is an issue.
     
  3. sorry bout that i put in the 1.5 cu ft bag instead of the 12 quarts.. which is 20 shipping included!
     
  4. Bump... .This isnt useful to anyone?
     
    • Like Like x 1
  5. I'ma go ahead and bump this I really like this and I'm sure others will too :smoke:
     
    • Like Like x 1
  6. @ sensei welcome to the city?
     
  7. Noob the part about cardboard boxes made me laugh, do you like cardboard?

    I've had things molding and come crashing down when humidity sets in, and really advise against using cardboard for anything in a grow room.
     
  8. haha, ive never had a problem... the mylar seems to keep them in nice shape hahah... then again im in a pretty arid climate... ill edit :)
     
  9. Good Job !
     
  10. :) thanks for the input! if u see anything else, just tell me
     
  11. This is awesome! Thanks! How much does one plant yield? :D
     
  12. um depends on the strain.... i usually see 60 day autoflowers yield 1 oz a plant
    with the longer ones it really varies... theres a journal out there of some1 doing an automazar cfl grow and getting 160 grams.... WOW... and larger regular plants can yield insane amounts but there is alot of variance... i your looking to a grow i reccomend "automazar" by dutch passion... high yield... only 80 days from seed to hrvest
     

  13. thanks ive been browsing for a while just trying to get down basic information before i start my own grow so this helps
     
  14. Hey if I were to use a regular plant and let it veg a little longer, my space is gonna be about 3x2x5, could I expect a couple more oz's??
     
  15. i dont know exactly how much more you could expect but yeh ud yield a bit more... but a couple ounces on a 500 gram plant aint much but on a 100 gram plant it is
     
  16. Hey man just a question, where in the micro grow would you put the ONA Block? anywhere theres available space? or would it work better to try to form an exhaust vent and put it in there?
     
  17. hmm, well personally id put it ABOVE the plant if possiblegiven that the smell is in hot air which rises, so i think its pretty important that its not belowplant level, but besides that it dont really matter
     
  18. Yeah I will rig something up to put it at the top near the exhaust fan, thanks for the help :)
     
  19. I bought the items you suggested and the bulbs are REALLY HUGE and their socket doesn't fit into the outlet adapters... Wasted A LOT of money.
     

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