My First Grow - Advice More Than Welcome!!!

So I have been wanting to start growing for a while, I moved back up to the great north(Oregon) about a year ago from the armpit of hell(Texas). A few weeks ago a friend of mine called and said his electricity got shut off and asked if I wanted his plants...of course I said yes all the time hoping I could save them. He really didn't care for them that well, his whole set-up and regimen was questionable.

Here are the plants as they arrived at my place....reaching much? Interesting choice of pots as well, clearly whatever was laying around...



I didn't have a grow cabinet set up yet, so I had to improvise. I came on this wonderful forums and did some quick research and headed out. I picked up 8 23w 6500K CFL Bulbs(I have since picked up 4 more), all the fittings and some power strips, flat white paint, 2 inline duct fans and a 90 degree elbow. A quick trip to the pantry got me a coffee can, got a couple small fans out of my closet, grabbed a pencil holder from my office, leggings from my girl and activated carbon from across the street.

The best solution was clear to me. I have a snake cage that I built back when I was breeding snakes and only the top level was occupied. So I began prepping the lower section. The lower section measures 5ft wide x 23" Deep and 30" tall. I sealed it up, painted it flat white, mounted my lights(mounted in a way which I can raise and lower them as needed) and cut a 4inch hole low on one side and another high up on the opposite side. I mounted my fans, elbow and made my carbon filter.

This is going to be my veg cabinet, I am in the process of building a flowing cabinet as well but more on that later. This cabinet/cage fits in my closet that has a concrete floor and the doors can even close. But since I am legal and the doors were a pain I took them off and replaced them with thick mexican blankets I can just move out of the way.

I have about $150 into the whole setup thus far, that number will rise a little as I make modifications but I really like trying to do stuff myself. My next project for the veg cabinet is to make a reflection piece that will house the lights. I have the blueprints drawn up and just need raw materials for that.

So after a couple of weeks of TLC and lots of time spent manipulating them to be shorter and fatter here are what they looked like a few days ago...









I would really appreciate any advice the vets can lend in making changes!!! Before I got these plants I did not even know the difference between veg and flowering...I have learned so much from this forum in a very short amount of time its not even funny!

I am using no nutrients currently, but I check the temp and humidity, ph, and rotate them 4 times a day. Each time I record the results. When they are ready I tie them down and trim a little bit. I am looking forward to getting some new little guys and really trying to do everything perfectly!

Tomorrow morning I am picking up a storage box off of Craigslist for free. It is 6ft/3ft/3ft and will be my flowering area. I plan to flower with an HID light and maybe some CFLs to fill it in.

Thanks for any comments and/or help!

-comowhat