Well, I'm trying to get as much information as I possibly can about indoor micro grows and growing in general before I dip my toes into the soil Planning on a pc grow box or a large plastic bin, Either way. I'm only going to grow one plant to start off (whenever that will be) I plan on ordering a few specifically selected seeds. Typically, short bushy indica/ruderalis autoflowering female seeds. Dinafem Seeds Haze Automatic I have my eye on those.. ANYWAYS, From what I read, the typical rule of thumb for lighting is. ATLEAST 100w per plant/square foot of growing space. and 50-75w for additional plants in that space. I've picked two bulbs I find to be quite reasonable in price and size. the lumens seem to be a bit low, would that matter a whole lot? Philips - 42 Watt Twister Soft White - 406439 - Home Depot Canada Philips - 42 Watt Twister Daylight - 406447 - Home Depot Canada Which CFL would be better for my situation? And... they say 42W=150w, So would I need 3 of those or just one? kinda confused on that...please fill me in I plan on having a powerbar along the top of my pc/lid with socket plugs along it. Seems like the easiest way to hook them up. have a grand day
General minimum from what i know is 100 actual watts for 1 plant and 50w add'l. for each extra plant. Som 150w MINIMUM for 2 plants. 6500k for veg, 2700k or a mix for flower. *EDIT: Duh! Sorry, walked away between reading and posting while medicating. Forgot you said that! Good luck!
You would want 3 of the 42w bulbs. Actual watts is what you calculate with. Or a 4th bulb and 2 plants.
You could grow 2 plants with 2 42W bulbs. They won't be monsters, but you don't want monsters in a PC anyways. My 4 plants have 39 watts each and they're already too big for a PC at 28 days old.
Hmm, alright. I'm not sure why they have that calculation there 42=100, maybe it outputs 100w worth of light? I have no clue.. hah so, when you say 2700k, k meaning lumens? Not sure what k means. Sorry. Hopefully 3 of those bulbs provide enough lumens for the plant, I specifically want to grow an autoflower strain so I don't have to switch around bulbs and whatnot. Would 3 of those work?
Damn.. Well, I'm still not sure if I want to grow inside of a pc case... I think I'll stick with a large plastic storage container. With ventilation and fans of course. Gotta keep it cool. Besides, I'll be tying them down a bit and possibly topping, we'll see.
2700k is the color temperature. The lower temperatures promote blooms more than leafy growth, so you use 2700k in flowering and 6500k in vegetation. The large plastic bins work alright to get started. 3x 42w bulbs is more than enough for one plant and some good learning experience.
Thanks Olesmokey for being helpful and informative I kind of wish they listed the color temperature for these bulbs. I'm thinking the daylight bulb would be better for growing rather than a soft white bulb. I'm going to purchase 2 of those bulbs to start out with and will see how it goes from there. (trying to save a bit of money for other materials)
maybe you should read the beginners section, and report back your findings. makes it so you dont have to ask simple questions. not saying anything bad to you, but thats where you should start before making threads asking all these questions that have been answered 10 times over
....I have read the beginners section, This forum has multiple sections for a reason, so people can ask questions regarding their own specific situations and such. If people were to only read and not ask, These forums would be pretty bare
I've been growing in a 18x8x18 pc case for a year. 4 Plants, 2 plants and now 1 plant. This last run is going to be my best to date, 4 weeks vegging with only ff'sgrow big, I was out of ff's plant food until I started flowering. I pinched the tops 3-4 times to promote stem growth. LST'd the shit outta her, and also gave her a weekly hair cut of all large fan leaves. Leaving me to be here now @ 5 weeks with my bubblegum baby. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v495/chopsueychris/IMAG0346.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v495/chopsueychris/IMAG0345.jpg btw there's 6-23w 2700k cfl bulb's in there plugged into 2-6 outlet electrical strips.
Yeah just one girl. Bubblegum. The zip-ties are the best thing imo for lst'ing plants. I've used nylon gardening twine, hooks, string, but those plastic ties work wonders. I can put one on a branch that needs to be pulled down and over the course of a few days pull tighter and tighter. Plus I've daisychained a few in a chain and then put 2 different branches off that one tie down point, when I look down on my plant it seems like hardly any of the bottom budsites are blocked from direct light. Def grow one, and let her fill up your space. When I did 2 and grew them from opposite ends of that planter, when I was flowering all my lower bud sites suffered heavily, that and I didn't heavily croplike I did on this run. Grow one, let her grow to your lights then tip her own and start tying her down. Tie her branches to the rim. Once the top of your plant is the lenght of your pc and the top is long enough that it's growing vertical again, flip the switch to 12/12. That's what I did and my side branches all have 3-4 inches of horizontal growth then at their tie down point, have another 5-6 inches of vertical growth. With 3 weeks of flowering left, pistils are turning orange all over, at the top and throughout the popcorn sites, the 3 lights on the right side are lower than on the left due to spacing 2 electrical strips inside, but the plants are about 1.5-2 inches from the bulbs on the right, and 4-5" from the bulbs on the left. (I rotated the planter 180degrees and you can see the diff in growth from the other pic I took 2 days ago since I haven't rotated her in a month :x ) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v495/chopsueychris/IMAG0354.jpg The base of the stem is as wide as a quarter. Rotate the plant every other week or so too, I notice that with my lights plugged into the sockets, the lights are closer to the side of the pc where the door swings open, and the plant parts further away, even by those 3-4 inches than the parts directly under the bulbs, grow slower.