Share your wisdom with me. Excited beginner...

OK so i got over my paranoia (thanks to my friends here at GC) and finally worked up the courage to get my first seed order delivered. 5 jock horrors and a pure gold. They threw in a sharksbreath and 1 other i forgot, Femlock? All seeds femmed. Anyways, i make my own soil for everyday garden variety edible plants and sterilzed a batch of that to kill any potential outdoor seeds, soaked it in some peat pots and topped it off with some peat moss. All eight of my beans popped a tap root within 2 days of soaking them in paper towels.
So I'll consider this the beginning. I got my 42 actual watt CFL about 4 inches from the surface of the pots with a sheet of plastic to keep the fan (for the bulb) from drying out the soil too quickly. I have another, bigger CFL, 64 actual watt for later vegging or flowering. Honestly im not sure, i plan to research that when the time comes.
Enjoy the pics, and please, PLEASE share your advice, inspiring remarks or communal enthusiasm.

-OG

 

Thanks mate, I actually read, and was inspired to use CFLs because of that guide. This is gonna be fun.

 

OK success! we have 8 tiny plants reaching for the sky! Oh how exciting. i keep the soil very lightly misted so it doesnt get totally dry and have switched to the bigger 64 actual cfl bulb. i have the fan on across from it to blow air across the bulb but not across the soil. check out the pics and again, feel free to add imput and wisdom, or communal enthusiasm. im open to constructive criticism.

 

Ok on day 8 we have seven of our eight plants remaining. The first one to sprout was the sharksbreath, but it didnt make it. For what ever reason it shriveled up and died. Im pretty disappointed too, because im told it is a very good smoke. The rest are about 5-6 inches tall and looking very healthy. Im wondering when i should drop the peat pots into the larger permanent pots. Also, im watering everyday because the soil is drying out so fast. i keep the two bulbs on them 24/7. They are CFLs 32 actual watt. Have a very low power fan keeping a gentle breeze on the situation. Never gets above the low to mid 80s. Is this good? should i be watering every day? should i change the soil? (add new soil, obviously the plants are too young to uproot and translpant) I am pretty sure they are too young for nutes. I am not a nute-happy grower. I totally believe in the power of mother nature and try to help her as little as is necessary. Ideas? Suggestions?

Open to critcism and also to encouragement.

 

i started 8 plants and lost two from unknown reasons, and 1 because the light fell on top of it and burned it. whoops.
anyway, the remaining 5 are growing like mad. heres some pics.

as always open to advice.

OG

 

All 5 plants are vegging EXTREMELY well. all are 5-8 allternating nodes high, bright vibrant green leaves and its soooo nice and stinky. It's week 5 almost week 6 now so im expecting some preflowering/flowering to start.
I doubled the lights today by using lamp splitters (i dont know the actual name) and hung the big light down to hit the bottoms of all the plants, i anticipate this helping a lot during flowering. This is an Auto Flower strain so should be any time now. still on 24/7 light cycle. should i be adding any nutes yet?

 

Thank you very much mr Bud. the photo is very deceptive as the camera was automatically stopping down several aperatures to prevent over exposure. it is CRAZY bright in there. whenever i water my plants i need about 5-10 minutes for my eyes to readjust and to stop seeing white splotches everywhere. It is seriously blindingly bright. since ive double the light output today it shot up from 85 to 92 degrees. im going to have to rig up a stealth intake near the bottom and output near the top into the attic, just for fresh airflow, and to handle the overpowering (but lovely) stench of flowering. ill prolly do a DYI scubber and lay it in the attic.

any advice on preventitive nutes macro or micro? havent used anything but soil and water as of yet.

 

Here's a shot of the big light im using to light the underside of the four big plants.
this one is NOT corrected, i set the camera to manual just so you can get an idea of how bright it is in there.

 

So here we are in the very begining of week 8. these plants have been on a steady diet of CFLs and the home grown nutrients including the occasional rain water soak and of course compost tea from time to time. They look terrific. They are all vibrant green and two and a half feet tall. some of the lower leaves are splotchy yellow, i presume thats because theyre not getting enough light between plant rotations. but over all, very healthy. stalks are nice and thick and every plant has grown slow and steady since day 1.
in wondering though, are these the beginings of buds im seeing or just more leaves about to unfold. these are jock horror and are 8wk autoflower fem strain. I guess im just a bit anxious to see them start to bud. check out the pics tell me what you think...

 

i put these girls on 12/12 bout the time i set this post up. HOORAY i gots some great lookin preflowers everywhere now

they dont appear to be stressed to me. it could be the light or the camera or both. but they are very rich and green.