CFL grow...Just wondering how I am doing

Hello there blades! So it's like day 32 of veg and I was wondering how you thought I was doing. I currently have four plants, all bagseed. Soil grow where I accidentally started out with MG potting soil but have since changed to Foxfarm Ocean Forest. 1 plant in a 10 inch flowering pot. 2 plants in 3 gallon fabric pots and 1 little guy that isn't doing so hot in a 6 inch pot. I currently have about 170 watts of power, 70/30 6500/2700. Seems my humidity is low and I haven't found a humidifier that would work in a grow tent (self-made). Lights are about a foot above plants as I have plenty of room to grow upward and with CFL a little stretch might do them well when the finally flower. Anyway, here are my pics and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Oh and the tent is a work in progress so if anyone wants to see how it set up give me a few days to work out one or two things.

 

more pics...

 

pics of light setup. Need to balance out the other side, but want to make the reflective material on that side set up in a more permanent way first. Also, seems like a bulb went dead on me. Must have been bad out of the box as it was new.

 

ok I can get those light closer. Honestly I was just trying to get a little stretch so the inner buds can get a little light when I switch to flower. The nodes are really tight and I am to nervous to do LST yet since this is my first real grow (real meaning I actually had an understanding of the advice posted here). I will give it a try my next grow but I want to really understand it before I do. I have been watching grow journals, reading, studying like I was in school lol. That's what I love about GC forums, as much as any of us can be a smart ass and bust balls, we are still a dysfunctional family that help one another out. So other than my lights being closer, any other obvious things I am doing wrong? I honestly read a LOT on here, but sometimes it feels like I am reading about how to drive a manual transmission. No matter how much you read you still got to actually do it to truely understand.

 

I am actually considering adding a 150w HPS when I go to flower. Cash is the main problem since I am laid off and this grow is just for me and my girl. Things get expensive when you get into this. A lot of the expense in non-recurring (lights, bulbs, homemade tent, etc.), but it still all adds up. I kinda want to finish in CFL to save that money for something else but since we are light smokers maybe the money would keep us from having to buy for a long while. Hell maybe ever if I get good at this! Thank you to all of those that give their two cents. Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Poo

 

oh shit sorry...I am running 24/7 light for veg cycle. Listening to Clutch and smoking a little so I am a little stupid unfortunately. Seriously, I love you guys! I would have never even attempted to do this if it wasn't for the knowledge and support of this community!

 

Hey there! Yeah I noticed the green mold/moss and cut back on watering so it would die. At one point I over estimated how much water would be absorbed and had too much as you can see. That little guy has been like that since seed. Maybe just a black sheep? Not saying I doing everything right at all. But as for that plant I think it more God than me lol. As for the barrier...that is radiant barrier I had purchased to do insulation. Better than foil I hope...but probably not the best material I could use. It has a good fire rating, supposedly 95% reflective, and on hand. The nutes I have on hand are both miricle gro...one tomato and the other is the stuff you spray on a lawn. They were purchased before I knew much about this and was just lurking here. You should have seen my last setup...omg...you would have either laughed or cried. It was bad. I think I have made a lot of improvements since then. I got a slick rubbermaid box that was working pretty good until things got too cluttered with four plants. I may make use of it for clones or a mother if I am so lucky to be able to do that. I humbly walk among the blades as I still have much to learn. But I hope to do better with each grow and help others as much as my newbie ass can. Thank you again for reading this and offering advice!

 

Hello all! I have some updated pics for you! And before I forget, Commy...that light rig you are referring to on the bottom where it is three light that can move around. I bought that on clearance at Lowes for like five bucks lol. It was missing the glass I believe. It's great because I can move the lights around and I think it will be great when I get to flowering so I can adjust lights to benefit my buds as much as possible! Hell, maybe I will just PM you since it has been a few days...apologizes on the delay.

So I have been vegging for about 5-6 weeks now (sprouted 1/8/11)...how much longer do you think I should wait? I still do not have an HPS light and I am still thinking about it. It's just a matter of cost. If I could get a 150w around $80 I think I would do it and supplement with CFL lights. I even thought up an idea (which may have been done before, but I have not seen). I want to make little cones around my buds to bounce back as much light as I can that would otherwise pass it. Imagine a light bulb with a glass dome around it. The bulb would be the bud...the dome the reflective material (preferably mylar...but I don't have any at the moment). I think it could help maximize light were it needs to be maximized. Let me know what you think of the plants and my little idea.

 

LOL @ yahoo. Sounds like a plan. I am going to have to read up on the LST training and check out some of the grows using it for this rare form of cilantro I am growing. My salsa will taste great once this finishes!

 

So here are my plants after some nutes. Only a couple of days and a noticeable difference! So now I got to figure out when should I switch to flower? I can't find my tape measure so I used a pack of cds for size reference lol. I got a couple of feet I can go up so should I wait a week or so? Still not showing any sign of sex which under 24/7 light I think only shows in certain strains (preflowers). 1 is in a 2 gal pot (plastic) and two in 3 gal pots (with one where the soil settled more than I thought it would ). So what do you think of the grow and on the flower question? Honestly I would be happy with a successful grow after my first try. But oh the decisions! Still reading up on LST. Hopefully at least one of these are a girl or I may just hang myself lol. I got an extra 3 gal bag pot that I could move the one in the 2 gal plastic is in if needed. Trying to not move them as it stresses the plant from what I have read and really want to just do this right, keep learning and maybe use some good seeds for the next grow!

Thanks for any advice or comments!