Hi guys, Just the usual story here, can't stop readin' and soaking up info on growing and gettin' me interested So I've got my first cfl grow started up... I didn't really "go all out" because it's my first grow attempt ever and I didn't wanna worry about screwing everything up, so it's gonna be a learning process I've got 4 26w Daylight CFLs for veg and 4 26w SoftWhite CFLs for flower Today is 3/13 and I have the little sprouts under only 2 Daylight CFLs at the time until they get a little bigger and then I'll put the Y Adapters on and put out the other 2 daylights. So anyway, onto the grow. 3/9 - I germinated 4 bagseeds 3/10 - The seeds had big taproots so it was time to put them in solo cups! 3/12 - The seeds first sprouted from the ground 3/13 - The little seedlings are doing ok, I got some pictures and a video here for you Here's the vid - [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukIv1YaUC94]Day 2 - YouTube[/ame] & Here's some pics
i like watching these "super cheap" set ups fun to see what comes out =) im following this. im always rooting for the under dog!
Thanks man! Yeah im excited to see how this turns out too I'll make sure to keep this thread very updated, & i think it'll be cool after to just have a journal of my first grow documented somewhere
Looks good but IMO you should drop the lights another 2 inches. CFLs dont have very much radiating power, i.e. most of the lumens are lost within 6 inches or so. You can pretty much have your CFLs touching the plants and just raise them an inch or so when they start to touch. I've read that plants can touch CFLs for about 12 hrs before they burn, so even if you are a little negligent for one night or whatever, it will be forgiving
Thought i wiukd sub along to offer any extra advice and tips. Had lots of Good advice given as you will notice just buy looking at the little beauties i got going Yes I'll second that above. I got told the same in my journal I think I could of even had mine closer but we live and learn. Good luck dude and defo keep us updated.
subbed you got a chamber for flowering? ventilated? light-proof? what kind of soil/nutes will you be using? IME, you can cheap out on the lights and still end up with healthy plants, but shitty soil will cause nothing but problems down the road.
I definitely plan on keeping it updated as much as possible, and I appreciate any advice and tips thanks for joining on the ride
It's got a hole in the top where i have a fan blowing air through, and it's not lightproof but the room its in will definitely be light proof because no ones ever in there. I guess I should say that the entire grow is "super cheap" except for the soil, because for that ill be using Fox Farms Ocean Forest, $22 a bag. I'm using tomato plant food, and right now the seeds are in a "seed starting jiffy mix"
Yo michigann I would look into one of the LST guides on this site, as well as a topping/fimming guide. Definitely something you'll want to do since those initial shoots stretched a little bit. Basically you tie down various branches to "supercrop" or cause vertical shoots to sprout off of existing branches. It's a good way to make up for the looseness between nodes caused by stretching. Also I recommend you look into a guide about stretching/internodal-space affecting yield. You're gonna want your nodes (future budsites) as close together as possible, for maximum dank density Swichone, thats sad to hear man. Keep those crazy women away from your girls too much emotion, not enough logic goin on up in their heads I kid I kid
Yeah mine look a little like they were stretching, and since someone suggested it i lowered the lights so I just did.
See, this is why I really wanted to make a journal, not only is it documented and I can look over it in the future, but I can also get aton of helpful tips and advice through the whole thing! & I'll definitely look into that.
You're going at it just the way you should. Nothing but a learning experience man, the first one always is Also check out these DIY reflectors. I highly recommend them for CFL grows http://forum.grasscity.com/micro-grows/976027-stealth-coffee-table-grow-blue-himalaya-auto.html
Hey brotha very cool journal I would say yes, definetly keep the cfls close to your plants they love it! At the beginning of vegging lumens are not as crucial but remember your gonna want 100 watts 4 the 1st then 50 watts more per plant on cfls...
Btw... I have read, so not from experience but cfls give you airy/fluffy nugs instead of the hard solids ones. A HID like hps will give you the tight nugs your after.
Enough CFL's can counter-act it, but if you are going with the minimum, then the lumens a plant will get is low.
Well, it was a just supposed to be a "bare minimum" project so I didn't wanna really buy an MH or HPS light setup. Figured CFLs would be the easiest cheapest way.