Introduction/First Grow

I'm new to posting on these forums and it's both customary and polite to introduce yourself, so here I am. I've been reading these forums and have searched for the information I'd need, but for now I'm hoping to receive relevant feedback to my specific low-cost scenario.

I'm beginning my first private-use grow in the next few weeks and I was hoping to journal it as well as take some tips from the members on the forum. I'm on a budget and cannot afford a high-cost system. I'm not really planning on growing big either; this is mainly for myself.

I've bought a few 6 inch in diameter plastic pots, four bags of starter soil, four 4' 40 watt fluorescent bulbs, and 10 "White Lady" seeds. I already have a timer and a fan.

I know it's better to use MH or HID lights, but I simply cannot afford the initial cost of the bulb or the long term cost of the electricity. So I've opted to set up a closet type of system. Four 4' hanging fluorescent bulbs (possibly adding more as the crop begins to show potential), ten seedlings planted in starter soil underneath, and a fan blowing under the bulbs. After 3 weeks or so I'll transplant the crops into 5 gallon buckets.

Is it possible to grow through all stages under fluorescent lighting? I'm using 2 cool white and 2 daylight bulbs on a 24 hour light system to start the crop - covering the whole blue spectrum deal during seedling and vegetation. I planned on switching over to a bulb with more of a red spectrum after the plants reached about 2 feet tall for flowering, and then setting the timer to a 12-12 lighting system for the duration of the grow. And, like I said, maybe adding more fluorsecent bulbs if necessary.

Any advice? Or, prefferably, has anyone ran a setup like this with successful results?

Thanks for reading and following up, these forums have a lot of knowledge and have really helped me out.

:peace:
 

growone

Well-Known Member
you can go the full route using fluorescent tubes - you may find it difficult to form denser buds, but should still get good quality
i have seen some very impressive grows where the tubes are mounted vertical - this may be difficult to do with your setup, and could be difficult to do for a 1st grow
but i've seen some vertical t8 grows that literally took my breath away
 
Thanks, Dragonsmoke.

And yes, GrizzlyAdams, there's a wealth of knowledge out there but I'm not growing off of CFL's. For now I'm using the fluorescent lighting, but I am considering in investing in an HID setup. Would mh or hps be better suited for my [closet growing] needs? What is a ballast? I've been reading up on it all but it's a ton of information and I am so lost.

Growone, I'm using t12 bulbs right now. Will that make any difference? And, do you have pictures of the vertical grows?

Thanks ..
 

redivider

Well-Known Member
it's the same energy costs if you have 400 watt of CFL's and 400 watt's of HID....

the difference is HID will give you more light, A LOT MORE LIGHT, more potent light, a LOT MORE POTENt, and more heat...

what you need to think about is the heat, and getting the heat out of the room has to be on your mind...
 

growone

Well-Known Member
Thanks, Dragonsmoke.

And yes, GrizzlyAdams, there's a wealth of knowledge out there but I'm not growing off of CFL's. For now I'm using the fluorescent lighting, but I am considering in investing in an HID setup. Would mh or hps be better suited for my [closet growing] needs? What is a ballast? I've been reading up on it all but it's a ton of information and I am so lost.

Growone, I'm using t12 bulbs right now. Will that make any difference? And, do you have pictures of the vertical grows?

Thanks ..
t8's are better than t12's, they're more compact bulbs which lets you pack the bulbs in tighter with the plant
but t12's can still do a good job, you need to get them tight to the plant for best results

but like i said, i've seen a few vertical grows that make me a believer in fluoro's, i'd use them but i keep my grows micro so don't want larger plants
anyways, here's a grow that impressed me with what you can do with vertical fluoros

 

Dragonsmoke

Well-Known Member
Awesome grow room thingy you got there..

I start mine with cfl then I let mother-nature do the rest, with some help from Botanicare.

here look

 
Is there a particular CFL light spectrum I should be using? I know that for regular fluorescents it's optimal to use a combination of "Cool White" and "Daylight" for the vegetative stage ... however, I couldn't find any "Cool White" CFL's. Would a few "Daylight" CFL's mounted at the top of the closet or cabinet do the job just as well?
 

Dragonsmoke

Well-Known Member
OK 6500k is the "Daylight" bulb, it has a blueish light to it. These are good for veg, they come in 23w and 42w in almost any big store. you can find others on the interweb fersure.

Anyhoo.....2700k are the red spectrum "Warm light" bulb. These are good (as an assist to HPS or HID) for flower.
You can flower on soley these bulbs but your yield will suffer.

They both fit in any standard socket and because of the low wattage you can split them six ways from Wednesday.

don't forget, 18hrs on and 6 off for veg.

Hope that helps ya bro. I just smoked some of my harvest for the first time this grow while writing this.:mrgreen:







I start cfl and finish all-natural.

GL bro!
 

eboogie

Member
bro, honestly its your first grow not doubting your potential or nuthin like that but try the cfl's theyll save space,money and workin on ur ventilation, get to know the plants and nutes a little more. id start em at 18-6 and when they reach a foot tall put em in 12-12 cuz they will probably grow and stretch up to double that when its all said and done.......go light on the nutes and water and keep ur lights (cfls) close and if you got ten bet on half bein ladies so youll need some more lighting and try researching info on topping ur plants and tying down etc. with a few, and if your ready switch to hps for flowering or just get you some 2700k cfl's warm white.....stick to the blues for veg. though......see how it goes, good luck hope the advice helps along the line......peace
 
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