ahh multiple questions...going to began germinating the chronic seeds i've been collecting for the past 6 months in the next week or two, i've been waiting a long time for this opportunity...i've had my eyes on a 150 watt HPS lamp for a couple days i think i'm going to get. 150 watts should be enough for two plants right? i plan on using the light for both vegitation and budding cycles. i would also like to know what potting soil is best to use as a medium for the duration of the plants life. and should i use added nutes besides what are in the soil. i would also appreciate advice on when to give your babys the nutes and when to water...any help is greatly appreciated. 1love
I can't comment on soil growing as i grow hydro. I'm new too, the guys who taught me said not to use anything less than 400w for flower. Just thought i'd throw that your way. I'm sure you can get the job done with 150, just might take longer. light is the most limiting factor with MJ. You can save money on electricity by growing in veg with cfl's, I use them and they work great. Def want hps for flower.
i must say youre set up is nice for being new also. but can you tell me how many cfls i would need for a little 2 plant operation? and are you using your cfl's through budding or are you switching to a hid?
I'm only using cfl's for veg, when I put them into flower I have a 600w hps lamp. For two plants one large cfl will do. I'm currently using 2 125w 6500kelvin blue cfl's. I have one over 4 sprouts and one over 3 plants that are one week away from flower. I'm actually buying another one just to have more light cuz that can't hurt and the three grown plants are getting a little crowded under the one light. I also use T5 strips just as side lighting. thats optional. For your two plants I would highly recommend getting one 125w blue cfl. the blue part is important- blue spectrum is for veg and red spectrum is for flower. here is a link to the perfect light set up for your two plants. I haven't ordered from this sight before but I just did before this post. Bright Wing Fluorescent Grow Lamp Fixture with 125 Watt Feliz 6500K (BLUE) Bulb
i looked at your plants and read of your mite infestation, hope all goes well with that. definitely would like to see those 3 after they start getting into flowering! but i'm thinking now about just growing with cfls, because to be honest HPS lamps are just so expensive and i don't have the budget for a 300 dollar light, maybe if everything goes as planned! and i have a website that i will send at the end of this post that has the same light you sent me for half the price. but would growing with a blue spectrum during veg and a red spectrum during flowering (both CFL's) be a bad idea?
Hold off on that website. that's just the bulb they're selling you. the site I sent a link for is giving you the bulb and the reflector for the 59...and change plus free shipping. you can find that bulb for 30-40 anywhere. the reflector is important, without it your just losing light off the top side of the bulb. here is a pic of my tent with the two lights(before all of my problems) notice the reflectors on the lights. they help a ton. I don't know why my pics come up sideways?
by the way, yes, you can use cfl's all the way through flower if you switch from blue to red. I don't know anyone who's done it, but it can be done and it'll save you a ton of money. definitely use cfl for veg and ask around here about the flowering part. I'm pretty sure they'll all tell you can do it but it will take a little longer than using hps or hid. what's worth more? money or time? that's up to you.
thats a beautiful tent, what went wrong? i'm now leaning towards the cfl's, just because i'm experience-less, somewhat low on expenses, convenience...etc. but hopefully i can get some pictures up here in the next week or two of the babies. i wish i could come across a nice cheap hps lamp though
hps is never cheap. the bulb plus the ballast plus the reflector=$$$. the cheapest i found was that site i sent you the link for but they seem to be out of stock. also check out greners.com i trust their prices too. my problems were because i gave the plants way too much nutrient and then had a spider mite problem. thanks to grass city i found great help and eradicated the issues and my plants are looking great again. go with the cfl's for veg at least, then you have a month or so to decide for flower. shit, you can veg for as long as you want just have to make sure you have room for the plants when they go into flower. plants from seed will double or triple in size when they start to flower. from clone probably double or a little less. you can do it with cfl. like I said it'll take a little longer but not that much. but much cheaper
Oh yea, there are cheaper brands of hps. Hortilux being one of the best they are very expensive. You can go less but not by much. What I've learned is you can go budget in a lot of areas but lighting isn't one you want to skimp on.
Here is my flower tent, waiting to be used in a week thanks to the spider mites. I'm sending this because pics were very helpful when i set up my lab. I know some pros where I live who trained me and let me take pics of their op. Remember to keep electric high and anything liquid low just for safety.
i'm glad you're plants are better, but yes to be honest i'll probably just throw them under the cfl's save myself a couple hundred this time, see how it goes come harvest then maybe repeat process with the next batch and instead of using cfl's to flower i'll hopefully be able to afford a good hps fixture...but if i keep them under the cfl's and water them normally and nurture to them, will the product be decent chronic or what can i expect is what i'm trying to say.
as long as you treat them right with nutes, temp, humidity, etc... you will grow quality product. it depends on the strain as well, you can only grow a strain to the max of its genetics. I say start a journal on this site, then as you go you get great advice from experienced growers. you can see my journal by clicking the link under my sig. not much there yet, i'm only week in on the seedlings. I'll check in to see how you're doin. I hate to ask, but could you hit me with a reputation point? just click on the little scale icon next to the number of the post. I love helping here but i'd like to build my rep. Thanks bro and best of luck. PM me if you have any questions. if i can't answer i can direct some people your way that can help for sure.
thanks bro i reped you up too no homo, i'm about to start a new post with this attempt at grow and if you want gladly be my guest, follow it, throw some tips out there for me! help will definitely be needed and i know this. but i'm interested in seeing how youre plants finish so keep me posted bro i'll do the same.
thanks man, i repped you up. and i've got good news! my friend where i'm growing found a grow box, equipped with mylar, ventilation, and a nice 400 watt hps lamp so i'm pysched i didn't have to buy the HPS! and i'm going to use the blue cfl's for veg and the hps for flower.
That is fantastic. Also, I read the post where you said "no homo" while I was out to lunch with my wife and died laughing!!! It was fantastic. I don't know why but when "no homo" is used in certain situations it cracks me up. Nice work. I'll send a friend request your way, this makes it easier to follow each others progress. P.S.- after my last post my 600w tripped my breakers and I've spent all morning getting all my equipment powered back up. No biggie, I've got a contractor friend coming over this week to run dedicated power lines so it doesnt happen again. Something to think about when running a lot of electrics.
haha i'm glad you got a kick out of that...bad news bro, i can't get the CFL light that you showed me, trust me...i want it. but i have no credit card/way to get it. i'm limited to lowes/home depot/walmart...do you know of anything that these stores carry that i could use to light 2 plants for my vegatative stage? my friend has a regular flourescent light from a fish tank and i was wondering if this would work, i told him it wouldn't because i was planning on getting the cfl that you showed me.
If you use the long tube flouros make sure you get T5's. Yes other cfls will work. Make sure you don't get soft white light ones. The higher the lumens and kelvins the better. Also make sure they are actual wattage and not something like 23watts = 100. Not home right now, but I'll check online for some when I get off tomorrow to see if I can make some exact suggestions.