Let me first say thanks to the people that have helped me previously with my questions. And was hoping I could get a few more in. I think I have everything picked out ok and was wondering if you fellow tokers would mind just giving my plan a quick glance to see if I need anything. Now this might be long and if your high which Im going to imagine most are this might seem to last forever but please bear with me. First are my three growing stations. 1. My clone pc box, I gutted it out and plan on putting 1 cfl(daylight) bulb straight into an outlet and have the pc right in front of it. And of course having an intake/outake system with pc fans. Is 1 bulb enough for the clones to last till I can move it to my veg area? 2. My veg is my closet 4'x4'x8' and be powered by 4or5 daylight cfl bulbs. Should I go with 4or5? And two fans on both sides osculating. (however my shirts will remain in there, during veg is the plant going to be giving off tons of odor? dont want my shirts to smell.) 3. My flowering closet which is the same as my veg one excpet 4or5 softwhite cfl's. Again should I go 4or5? So hopefully this way i can have a pretty decent cycle and always have plants moving along. Hopefully Hang in there guys almost done... Now for my products. 4. Lighting Im using is 4or5 cfl bulbs in my veg and flower area. (daylight and softwhite.) as mentioned above. 5. Soil is Kelloggs organic from Home Depot ( I know I'll use FFOF when i get a few more grows in). O should i add anything to this compost, perlite, etc? 6. Ferts??? Actually dont know what to use here, any suggestions for something I can get at Home Depot or Ace? 7. Pots. I plan on growing with LST so i thought Id go with a bigger pot 5g or so. Sounds good? 8. Fans. 2 medium osculating fans in each room, and some pc ones for the cloner. And lastly a few more questions I know im sure a lot of people are goin to hate me, but cmon its for the better (1 more grower to join the club) 9. As mentioned a biillion times above I cant decide on 4 or 5 bulbs, they will be 26w and also should i have them closer together or spreading out more to get the plant all over? And any additional tips you guys could help me out with. Man Im sorry that was so long it felt like I was writing a term paper. But as long as I can get my answers and get started with this, the better. Thanks again guys for your very patient time in reading this.. P.S. I know I have this in two sections didnt know if some people only really stayed and helped in one section or what.
with cfl bulbs more is better so id do 5 and focus the bulbs towards the top of the plant so it will grow towards the light im not to sure on what nutrients you could get at Home Depot though good luck man
Well havn't bought anything yet wanted to get everyones views and see if I should change anything but I guess ill be going with 5 26watt cfl(5 for veg and 5 for flowering.)
can you name some nutes uve used in experience ? i need to head to my hydro shop with a prior knowledge
I was just going to grow one plant enough for me and my buddies. I actually don't know what to use for nuts. any suggestions?
Hey, as far as lighting is concerned, you may be able to use the daylight bulb for clones, but what your plants will really enjoy is using cool white and warm white for the different stages. Light is rated by the degrees kelvin that the light comes from. So basically, the concept is that if a star is 6500k (or 6500 degrees kelvin) it should emit cool white light. I believe our star puts out somewhere in the 5500k range. Warm white bulbs are rated in the lower temp area, most commonly between 2700k and 3500k. When it comes to marijuana, and plants in general, their vegetative growth excels when they are under cool white (6500k) light and their flowering stage does best at around 2700k (warm white) light. When using CFLs, only consider actual watts used when deciding how much light you need. For one plant, a minimum is usually 100 watts CFL. So, with 130 watts, you might be able to grow 2 plants comfortably. I think you're doing the right thing by asking questions, and am glad to see another potential grower in here. As far as soil is concerned, the soil you spoke of may be okay, but make sure to stick with something that has no added fertilizers. I use Fox Farm Ocean Forest myself (FFOF) and so far, so good. I love it. Also using the Fox Farm trio for soil according to the watering schedule they print, and so far, so good. A good mix, if you want to make your own, includes 1 part perlite, 1 part vermiculite and 1 part sphagnum peat moss. You can probably substitute ground coco coir fibre if you want for the peat moss. Coco coir seems to be more environmentally conscious since peat moss takes a long time to renew itself. Also, mix in some worm castings and seabird or bat guano if you want too. There are so many options. It's up to you. Five gallon pots sound like a good idea, of course that would be overkill for a dwarf, but any other strain will love the room. Remember though, that will great capactty comes great water usage. You may want to have a pot or two between seedling and 5 gallon, just to save water. Plus it keeps your plant from looking so insignificant As far as fertilizers go, some people use something as simple as a tomato plant food. Generally you want a fertilizer with a ratio of 2:1:2 when vegetating, and 1:2:1 when flowering. I highly recommend the Fox Farm nutrients, but they cost $45 when you buy all 3 bottles together (Big Bloom, Grow Big and Tiger Bloom). If you get something else, use nutrients every other watering, and start with a reduced strength (say 1/4 strength) when you start using the nutrients, and up it if it seems okay. Only need to fertilize every other or every 3rd watering. Some people do nutrients, water, water, nutrients, water, water. I use every other watering. The plants won't need nutrients until they're about 2 weeks old or so. I also use SuperThrive in every watering, but am told not to once you start flowering since it can extend flowering time. There's so much to learn honestly. Check out all of the stickies at the top of this forum, and read them all. They have great info. Good luck to you!
Ya I have been reading not a huge plant guy but I'm learning. But during the clone cycle I'm hopefully going to be keeping it in the cloner(the pc case) for hopefully 2weeks or so until my veg plants goes into my flower room. (I cut my veg plant 2weeks or so before I induce flowering, so hopefully time will be perfect as I will be able to move my clone to veg as I move my veg to flower.) But during that 2 week or so clone phase what light do you recomend and would 1 be ok? O and really appreciate your help with the ferts. And for everyone else helping. Im sure repeating yourself can get anoying after awhile, but I really do appreciate it.
Clones are fine at 18/6 I believe. No more light than that since you want root development (which happens mostly during darkness I believe). Clones really don't need more than 30 watts per sq foot. A 30 watt or two, cool white (6500k) CFL would be best for a PC case. Just to give you a little more info regarding light, plants prefer light more in the blue spectrum for vegetating, and more in the red/orange spectrum for flowering. You'll love the way your plants look under cool white, but warm white (2700k) kinda looks sickly Your schedule sounds somewhat like mine, except my clones will be in with the veg plants. Good luck!
O well if thats the case I may scratch my clone box and let the children chill with their mom till I move her out and they get replanted.
O and also should I make/buy a reflector with the cfl's for both grow rooms? Or should i stay away form a reflector and just build a light fixture?
Depends on your setup. A lot of people just cluster their lights around the plants. Reflectivity is always a good thing, and painting the area matte white helps. So does mylar if you want to spring for the extra. If you have a larger bulb, like myself, which is mounted horizontally, a reflector is a good idea. Depending on how your lights are mounted, do what you think is necessary to reflect light back toward the lamps. NO aluminum foil, but a thermal blanket will work as well. Remember, any light that goes away from the plants is potentially wasted unless it's reflected back.
When you say no tin foil do you mean anywhere? Because I was going to put tinfoil up around the wall, or did you mean no tinfoil above the lights? I was planning on using 2 42w and 3 26w cfl lights and was just going to make something to mount them on, but Ive read post in the past that said stay away from the reflector if your using cfl, ( I might have interpreted it wrong tho.)