first grow, advise?

[kyle paston]

this is my first grow, i made a box out of a cabinet, im using a 15w 120v t8 18" fishtank light mounted to the side of the box, i have a fan pointing in from the top and a carbon filter on the side of the box, i lined it all with aluminum foil. i started with 2 plants. at day 40 one plant was about 9" and the other 5", unfornuatly the larger started showing signs of being a male so i cut it and changed my light cycle to 12 12. 2 days later my plant grew 4 white hairs from the top. i am now on day 54 and my plant is only 6".
why is my plant still so short? does it have anything to do with my light coming from the side instead of the top? and how much bud can i get from this? any advise would be helpful oh and it still has little to no smell, will this change farther into fowering

 

[leels]

this is my first grow, i made a box out of a cabinet, im using a 15w 120v t8 18" fishtank light mounted to the side of the box, i have a fan pointing in from the top and a carbon filter on the side of the box, i lined it all with aluminum foil. i started with 2 plants. at day 40 one plant was about 9" and the other 5", unfornuatly the larger started showing signs of being a male so i cut it and changed my light cycle to 12 12. 2 days later my plant grew 4 white hairs from the top. i am now on day 54 and my plant is only 6".
why is my plant still so short? does it have anything to do with my light coming from the side instead of the top? and how much bud can i get from this? any advise would be helpful oh and it still has little to no smell, will this change farther into fowering

Not sure you've got enough wattage on the light, and that you've got the right kelvin rating for a bulb. It looks rangy and stretched. I'm guessing that either or both of those things is why you're getting these results.

Also, tinfoil can create hotspots and isn't a very good reflective surface.

-leels

 

[Cereal box]

why is my plant still so short? does it have anything to do with my light coming from the side instead of the top? and how much bud can i get from this? any advise would be helpful oh and it still has little to no smell, will this change farther into fowering

Your plant being short has nothing to do with your light being on the side, but rather, unfortunately, your light is probably just insufficient. Check your bulb and see what its actual wattage and kelvin rating is; as it's also likely too cool for the plant. It's unlikely that you would get much bud from those plants with that set up. Maybe look into some new CFLs or LEDs, and definitely, definitely move your current light closer. It doesn't look like it could do much that far away, GL.

 

[AimAim]

Put about 1/4 to 1/2 of the recommended level of fertilizer in your water, if you don't see negative results feed at about 75% of recommendation.

 

[new2420grow]

I used aluminum foil at first, and it does create hotspots and after researching, it's no where nears as reflective as you'd think, only like 30% or so(don't quote me) Flat white paint would do way better for you and you could pick up a cheap quart for a couple bucks.

For your lights, I'm thinking that is not going to help you produce hardly anything at all. If you run to Lowe's/HomeDepot, you can pick up a 6 pack of 23W CFLs for about 10 bucks, a couple clamp lights for about 7 bucks a piece and get a couple of Y-splitters for a few bucks and you can get the lights within a couple inches and get plenty of light to get her moving. Good Luck!

 

[kyle paston]

Thanks to everybody, I'm going to switch the foil to white computer paper and get a hanging light, what type of fertilizer should I get? Or is it all the same?