I've worked on a few hydro grows with friends before, but have never grown all by myself. So while at the Cannabis Cup in San Francisco this year I picked up a GDP clone from the man himself, Ken Estes. I also bought a dozen heirloom Shiva Skunk seeds from a vendor and germinated 4 of them right away. I planted the seeds and clone in some FFOF Soil and for the first 2 1/2 weeks, I had them under a 125w MH bulb on a nearly 24 hr lighting schedule with ph7 water and they did alright. I tried putting the clone in the sun on a few sunny days, but the wind and wilting made me decide I needed to go indoor. The MH bulb burned out so I decided I would Invest $100 into this project and see how far I could Stretch it. Luckily I have a vacant 8'x4'x4' closet with a divider and coat racks at 4.5' and 7' which allow for easy clamp lights with versatile angles. This and the fact that CFL lights are cost effective have made me decide to go with CFL's and LED's. Also, I was given a HUGE bag of Nutrients from a good friend who grows commercially and gets samples from trade shows. So far I have acquired: 1l. Cutting Edge Solutions - Grow 1l. Cutting Edge Solutions - Bloom 1l. Cutting Edge Solutions - Micro 1l. General Hydroponics - Flora Blend .5l. General Hydroponics - CHI .5l. General Hydroponics - Diamond Nectar .5l. Dyna Grow - Pro TeKt .5l. Humboldt County's Own - Purple Maxx Snow Storm 1 Soil pH test kit 1 Liquid pH test kit 1 x 12" Clip Fan 1 x 24 hour repeating Timer 4 x 20w Full Spectrum Blues Buster CFL(1400 lumens ea.) 1 x 43w Soft White CFL(2700 lumens) 5'x50' Reflective mylar. 3 Cu. Ft Fox Farms Ocean Forest Soil Plenty of 1 Gallon Pots/ Cups. and I've only spent $84. I've used an xacto to prune 3 of the larger fan leaves off of the GDP clone because they just got too big and shriveled at the tips, that was in the first 2 weeks. In the 2 1/2 weeks that I've had these guys under the new lights with nutrients, they've shown lots of improvement. From what I understand I've been wayyy neglecting them as far as lights are concerned, and hopefully I can make up for it with a solid regimen of good lighting and aggressive nutrients to get some awesome buds here in a few months. Sidenote: I have considered turning the bottom half of my closet, or another vacant room into a mother chamber and cloning the GDP and the best Shiva Skunk fem for my next few runs. I'm kind of playing it by ear, but would like as much advice possible on the Pros/Cons. I've read many grow books cover to cover(Ed Rosenthal and Jorge Cervantes' guides, primarily) and learned much first hand from friends who have grown, as well as the internet, but I would still consider myself a newb when it comes to experience growing. My ultimate goal for growing is to provide myself and my household with a continuous fresh crop of buds/hash, preferably 1/2lb. dried flowers+trim within a month of each other. But I am going to start small and work my way up learning as much as possible while spending as little as possible also. The set up currently looks like THIS. I'll have the walls coated in Mylar tomorrow and if all goes well I'll transplant the seedlings into 1 gal. soil next week, THE GDP CLONE(Cut June 22/planted Jul 1st), THE HEIRLOOM SHIVA SKUNK SEEDLINGS (fem?)Germinated Jul.1 Planted Jul. 3. I am using the following quantities for a Nutrient food/foliar spray twice daily with a flush every 4th day. Per Gallon: 10ml Grow/Bloom/Micro/Florablend with 5ml CHI and ~2-5ml Pro Tekt and Diamond Nectar to help balance pH to ~6 after I dilute it with filtered water(NO Purple MAXX Storm... yet). I pretty much use enough to soak the top 1" of the soil, twice a day, avoiding getting too much on the leaves because there seems to be a build up when I do. Am I doing this right? I've only seen a little bit of nutrient burn(slight discoloration of tips and twisting fan leaves, which eases on the flush day, so I've been watering down my mixture just a little. This is only for the clone, I dilute this mixture by half for the seedlings, which seems to be perfect. Overall the nut's and lights seem to be causing a rapid growth that wasn't present the first 2 weeks when there was hardly any growth, just a struggle to thrive. They're are all currently on a 19/5 on/off light cycle utilizing all of the lights, placed within 2". The average temp in the closet is ~68F with a humidity never exceeding 65%. Questions I'd like answered are: Can I turn a 8'x4'x4' closet into a viable separate veg and flowering chamber? What additional lights will I need to do so? Remeber that I am looking for the most cost effective combo of either CFL's or LED's, however, I am not opposed to HPS or MH setups as long as it's energy and cost-efficient. Am I using my Nut's correctly? What should be my regimen going forwards? I haven't been going exactly by the books but basically on what I've understood thus far. Are there any other holes you see in my grow? I open the closet for fresh air at least 5 times a day, and the fan is constantly running to keep the temp and fresh air flowing from a nearby open window. I'm not concerned with smell. I also have access to a 6 x 24R/12B LED's(~9000lumens) that plug into standard bulb sockets. Should I use these, in combination with the lights I am currently using, for 5 flowering plants on a 12/12 schedule further down the line? Can all of these lights support 2 mothers? This seems to me to be an affordable solution for me, provided it's enough light optimally placed. Should I try to clone my own plants(would that require 4 separate chambers?) or just focus on a veg and flower chamber? Pros and Cons to each? I am limited to a 8'x4'x4' closed that can be divided in two and a 6'x3'x5' space, but would prefer no to use the letter if I don't have to. My number 1 priority is cost effectiveness. I've seen great deals in stores and on craigslist, so if I have to be patient to snag a good deal on something I will. I have lot's more questions that I am sure will get answered. But that's all I can crank out for now.[4] tl;dr: I have 1 GDP clone and 4 Shiva Skunk seedlings from very reputable sources. I'm a newb to growing who thinks he knows a lot and has some very specific questions regarding his first grow babies. Can you help me? Take It EZ ~E