hey i have an og kush thats about two weeks old and an auto nl from nivana and one seedling of blueberry from dutch passion. i am using 4 lights all together they are cfl and pretty big i think. all using miracle grow soil mixed with perlite and peat moss. ( like i said first time) anyone with any experienced ideas could help me out.
Ouch, hope you didn't start the auto-NL with the others, it requires a different light cycle, generally 20 hours on / 4 off, from start to harvest. The other two are photo-dependent strains, which means you switch from 18/6 or 24/0 to 12/12 lighting cycles to force bloom. You're gonna need bigger pots as soon as those get a good root development. Get rid of the MiracleGrow soil when you re-pot in favor of a good quality soil mix. Best of luck & keep fine tuning as you learn.
ya i knew something like that was gonna bite me in the ass but ive been having them all on 20/4 is that bad for them? ive heard alot and just decided to experiment on my own i will propaly only be keeping the one NL just the kush took off nicely enought to keep i had five of them at first. im not sure if i should feed them because of the soil that feeds it im guessing and scared of burning it . - another question is my lighting. i have 4 bulbs putting out 1600 lumens each for my 4x4 space. i would have a few hps bulbs in there but wasnt aware of the special sockets and ddidnt feel like burning my house down. the nutrients i have is bloom booster just a miracle brand product and not sure when to use it if at all. keping it cheap for now to learn some things till next go round stealth stuff. so nutrients and lights what do yal think?
20/4 is perfect for the auto, and won't hurt you at all for the other strains while in vegetative mode. But you'll have to separate them when it's time for the regular stains to be switched to 12/12 to start flowering. You're WAAAYYY under-lighted for a 4'X4' grow area, you could easily use a 600W HPS lamp in that area. You want to shoot for 5-6,000 lumens per square foot of plant canopy, but that's very hard to obtain with CFL's. I think your best bet would be to reduce the grow area and add more lights. Most CFL growers use many 23W or fewer 42W bulbs; the 42W can get to 4000+ lumens per sq. ft. with two bulbs. And, you'll want to switch the color spectrum of your CFL's when switching from veg to bloom. 6500 Kelvin is about right for veg, but you'll want to re-bulb to "warm" CFL's for bloom; warm color bulbs are around 2900 Kelvin. I use CFL's for cloning or mothers, but I'm not an authority on complete grows using them. There is a complete section on here for micro and CFL grows, I'll bet you can find some excellent info on there with an afternoon or browsing. I don't want to discourage you by any means; you'll never learn unless you start somewhere. So play, read, and do what you can with what you can afford. Chances are, you'll get the fever & add to your equipment as time, space and money permits. Best of luck to you.
i have these lights but im goin to wait until i can afford a ballast. for them. id rather use the 400w but the 150 seems to be just right with 16000 lumens im not sure if i can get to much light to them can i? im not sure if i could keep the temp beelow 85 if i use the bigger one but i suppose witht the right ballast i could keep it from getting hot.
[quote name='"bichen21"']should i get a ballast with a glassscreen or anything so it can keep the temp down?[/quote] I don't think the Ballast will do anything to change your temp doesn't it just stop your light from surging or blowing up. A glass screen comes with certain hoods, normally with the likes of a cool tube mate..
I think you are meaning a hood. Yes, an enclosed hood or a cool tube is a good way to go if you have heat issues. A ballast is the electronics that drive your bulb. The ballast will be either magnetic or digital. If possible get a digital one.
Yeah, what Marsdude said, a good aircooled hood and fan is greatly preferable to keeping heat down in your grow area. And, just to be sure I didn't misunderstand what you were thinking - "i would have a few hps bulbs in there but wasnt aware of the special sockets and ddidnt feel like burning my house down." , That's a good, move, DO NOT place HPS bulbs in ANY socket unless it is wired directly to the proper size of HID socket and ballast. 42W and smaller CFL's use a standard household lamp socket & are fine in same. 65W and larger CFL lamps use a larger "mogul" socket just like HID bulbs, but you DO NOT want to try to put any type of HID bulb in a CFL fixture / socket. Pain, death & impotence could follow. An HID ballast will generate some heat, but they have long power cords from the hood so it's easy to place them outside your grow area. You've got a 4X4 area, plan on a 600W HPS & you'll be in business. Use your CFL's to veg or get a metal halide conversion bulb to run in your 600W HPS ballast.
yeah i got a plan for a big ass pantry rigged with mylar and a 600w mh and hps with computer fans drilled in the back for exast so i can run them through a back room. whihch my cousin used to do the same exact way and had mad luck at it wasnt much interested in growing then tho lol. but what do yal think of these picks. it was turning yellow but then i changed the pot and it cleared up but i think i gave it some nute burn or something the leaves seem to be curling just a tad bit but that could just be me constantly over it . tell me what you think
Sorry, I can't help. I grow hydro and although I am picking up info on soil grows to do some mothers, you really need a soil grower. Wish you luck though!
how do yal think its goin? about 7 weeks into it autoflowering northern lights. no problems at all. weeded out the og kush and dutch passion for this thing to grow bigger.
[quote name='"bichen21"']how do yal think its goin? about 7 weeks into it autoflowering northern lights. no problems at all. weeded out the og kush and dutch passion for this thing to grow bigger.[/quote] Looks nice and healthy mate,, must be a late flowering auto tho or maybe not a true auto and may need forcing in to flower. I'm on day 40 tomorrow and mine are in full flower now!!
[quote name='"bichen21"']well its got white hairs. when do i know that it is fully flowering?[/quote] Good stuff. Them hairs you see will increase in numbers over the next week or so and you will start to see buds forming. After that comes resin production and buds swelling in size
so it is in flowering? or should i switch it to 12/12 for awhile? ive just now started giving it nutrients and ive had no problems at all witht the water . i just use straight tap and it loves it. although im pretty sure the og kush didnt. the auto nl was two weeks younger and out grew it very rapidly. i did pick one of the more resilient strains out there so im sure its helping me out. btw im using 5000k cfls and one 2700k k cfl and im sure that it loves it. i read somehwere that 5000k is good for chloriphyl production and gives it some deep green color. im a newbie but the darker the color i think the healthier the plant. tell me what yal think. i mostly need help on the whole flowering bit becasue ive never done this and dont really know what to look for. thx
[quote name='"bichen21"']so it is in flowering? or should i switch it to 12/12 for awhile? ive just now started giving it nutrients and ive had no problems at all witht the water . i just use straight tap and it loves it. although im pretty sure the og kush didnt. the auto nl was two weeks younger and out grew it very rapidly. i did pick one of the more resilient strains out there so im sure its helping me out. btw im using 5000k cfls and one 2700k k cfl and im sure that it loves it. i read somehwere that 5000k is good for chloriphyl production and gives it some deep green color. im a newbie but the darker the color i think the healthier the plant. tell me what yal think. i mostly need help on the whole flowering bit becasue ive never done this and dont really know what to look for. thx[/quote] I only know a small amount on autos, you only need to flip it to 12/12 if it's not wanting to show sex by its self. You dont have that problem as sex is showing an doing it now will only reduce its yield. Your auto will outgrow a standard strain in its early growth spurt that's normal. I've don't use cfl's so i cant help you with that one but you just want to keep it on an 18/6 or 20/4 light cycle all the way till you harvest....
[quote name='"bichen21"']cool i appreciate it man good luck on you endeavors as well[/quote] No worries man i hope you see nice buds real soon...