stuck what to do for cfl growth

[stonedpixie]

snotboogie, thanks, think il try that idea about cardboard inside the wardrobe, that means im not tearing up the wardrobe, (yes i mean fabric lol)
any idea on how to hang lights from top of rail? im thinking like a hook thing coming from the rail, dropping to the light, to adjust as needed. I want to try a 6500k one in as well, however, for cost reasons, may just try a 2700k grow from start to finish, as i have plenty of lights for that already, most 20w, but still that will be fine for germination, vegging, and then maybe invest in more as time goes on. im germinating 2 seeds as i speak, only want to grow 2 plants anyway

 

[stonedpixie]

thanks whymedesigns, as long as i get some decent quality bud, im not too bothered about node spacing, however, if i can find some cheap enough 6500ks, il be happy, and will use these

 

[whymedeisgns]

I'm not really sure why the pricing is so out of whack where you live. I can go grab a 40w CFl at a hardware store here for like 12 bucks, and have my range of choices in color spectrums from about 2700 to 6500 at a normal consumer store, you can find stuff in the red / blue range for supplemental lighting at pet stores.

I would suggest 1 of each, 2700 and 5500 (5000k-6500k would work) when it's young, because that's where you're deciding what shape it's going to be. Flowering basically just gives it it's hormones so it bulks up and doubles in size, but it doesn't really bush up more in a sense of adding more flower sites, (more buds).

The 2700's will probably get you something to smoke man, just plan on having to give the plant some supports and expect it to get tall and long so plan. The reason tall/long plants usually don't survive is because the stress they go through when you try to accomodate on the fly. Plan, that's how you get this to work.

 

[SnotBoogie]

Buy a coil of thick metal gardeners wire. It is so fucking useful. I usedi t to make bendy fixtures for my lights though i dont recommend it. with a pair of pliers it can be bent into hooks, coils, whatever to make fixtures. Be creative with it. Its also handy for when you will want to LST (hooks). Also pick up some paracord/nylon cord or something similar. very strong. If you have standard fixtures for your CFLs (i.e. a basically bare bulb with the bottom covered) its kinda a bitch to mount nicely imho. I would suggest using wire or maybe bamboo even to fashion a frame kinda thing with 4 strings at the corners to go up to the central rail which im guessing your closet has at the top. then you can adjust all angles of your cfl frame. I would also think about the importance of maintaining an even canopy (through LST for exampe) if you mount all of your CFL to a linear frame. On the subejct of cutting up your fabric, when you need to cut holes in the fabric for fan airflow (which you will need to do) only cut 2 sides and then fold back the corner diagonally rather than cutting out the full square. this way, if you need to change something, just fold it back how it was and tape - the light is blocked again. To the fella complaining about internodal spacing. I am no authority but i guess this is maybe more of a genetics thing as my own experience showed no problems.

 

[whymedeisgns]

You can actually see where the plant is sending foliage outward toward the blue 6500 light and the red is aiming down promoting stem growth and hormone production.
The plant is young, but it's an experiment in size control I'm doing.

That's a 30W LED spotlight 2700K hanging downward

 

[tre93543]

hey stoned. I have had several closet grows, and have always listened mostly to what the popular opinion is. this time around, UK CHEESE 7 inch clone, I went against all I knew about lighting and used only 2700k, and 3000k bulbs (10 in total) for vegging, and flowering. I vegged for 3 weeks (20 inches) then went into flowering 3 weeks ago. what I have now is a Christmas tree 27ish inches high, and 30 inches wide, with 27 budding branches (not including any part of the cola)that is under 1 inch per branch. I did not top her, I just used low stress training, tucked leaves, and trimmed leaves only as nessasary for light penetration. I have my lights staggered around to get as much of the plant covered with light (more effective than 1 or 2 high wattage lights, IMO). Anyway, this is the prettiest, healthiest, most bud abundant plant I have grown to date. I am growing in a normal sized closet divided in half. 36 inches x 46 inches x 7 foot high. So I guess look at my pics and decide for yourself? She seems very to have no stretching to me. what do you thinkView attachment 2426035



I have pics of the light setup on my profile in my album if interested.

 

[SnotBoogie]

Also, to emphasise again, due to the bad light pentetration of these small CFLs I would suggest flowering early. Only aggravated if they are mounted to a uniform frame and cannot be individually positioned close to budsites (canopy control will be super important). Like 2-3 weeks veg at most man.

edit: directed at the OP, missed tre's post which also explains well about light positioning and veg time.

 

[stonedpixie]

ive ordered a few lights off amazon, what do you guys think? ive ordered 2 30w 6500k cfls, and also 2 4200k 20w cfls, I have 2 30w 2700k cfls already, and about 6 20w 2700k cfls, and a few 23w, 12w etc etc. is it a good idea, to place the 2 6500s near the top, the 2 4200 towards the sides, like one each side, and the rest, evenly round the plant, covering it with light, and doing this same method for flowering, just altering periods of light, darkness etc? will this def be ok for 2 plants, or should i just go with the one plant? ive got 2 lavenderxkandy kush/skunk seeds germinating as we speak, but if this setup will only be good really for one plant, il just plant the quickest to germinate. think for space, maybe i will just go with the one plant, so i can put a desktop fan for air in as well as the plant, lights etc.

 

[stonedpixie]

do you think that with only about 3 weeks vegging, then going into flowering, i should have a grow by march time? last grow, i grew them outdoors, took from june til last week, def dont want that length of time again, maybe il do an outdoor grow next year again, but for now, want some quick and nice bud!

 

[SnotBoogie]

You need to be circulating air both in and then out of the cabinet, just blowing it around inside wont work. As far as light positioning: for veg an even spread, for flower focus on the budsites (IMHO, not very scientific)

edit: If you are in a hurry do 12/12 from seed i guess, you should have something smokable at least in 60-80 days depending on the strain. But yes 4 months is plenty.

You absolutely need to remember that the bigger your plant gets the harder it will be to light it with CFL as they are only good for the first few inches.

 

[stonedpixie]

whyme, i dont know why the prices are crap either, but tbh, the only lights available that ive seen in shops, even diy ones, are in the 2700k range, have searched high and low for 6500k ones, cant see any, apart from online. oh yeah, forgot to mention, fabric wardrobe is only about 4.5 feet high, so def cant veg for that long!

 

[stonedpixie]

tre, i hope to get at least half a successful grow as that! lol looks great man, what do you expect to yield dry?

 

[tre93543]

great array of colors. from my experience, be carefull with the cfls, don't get them too close to the buds. I had the lights 2 inches away from the plant during veg with no problems, but when I started budding her, that was way too close, I was frying the hairs as soon as they would appear. I found that when making a canopy with the lights, I had to keep the bulbs about 8 to 10 inches away. as soon as I moved them away, my girl got very happy.
this was my buds for the 1st week of flowering with the bulbs too close.

this is how they 4 days after moving them 10 inches away.

 

[tre93543]

I honestly don't know. in the past with HPS and cfls, I have ended with 1 to 2 oz dry. very normal for a small grow. I still have 7 full weeks left of flower, give or take a few days. I have 27 main budding branches, with maybe 1 gr each =27 gr plus the cola of maybe 3 gr. so if I were to harvest today, maybe 30 gr dried is my best guess. it is hard to tell because I have never grown any cheese, but from what I understand, UK CHEESE has very tight heavy buds.

 

[tre93543]

tre, i hope to get at least half a successful grow as that! lol looks great man, what do you expect to yield dry?

hey, thanks for the question, believe it or not, I have not given any thought to the yield since I got her. From what I can find out on the net, I may get 4 to 6 oz from her. she is growing and filling out nicely, and from what I understand this strain is supposed to fatten drastically, and foxtail at the end. I cant wait. 7 more weeks

 

[Ragoo]

Those look awesome my dude..! I got the same number of cfl's in a 2'x5' clinoset u know thun. I just stinarted 2 weeks ago I got 20050 lumens out of my config I got 4 plinants tho I hope I get yo tinype of yield. Out

 

[stonedpixie]

so do you reckon 2 4200k, 2 6500k, and 6 2700k lights should cut it to grow one or two plants?about 160w of 2700k, 60w of 6500k, 40w of 4200k, should be sufficient as far as im aware! and hopefully, get some decent bud, i mean ive recently bought some off a dealer, and you have to pull it apart, looks nice, but doesnt grind well, and pulling is a bit difficult for some reason! i was pleasantly surprised to get some smoke out of my plants the other day, considering for a few weeks, they only had natural light, in a bedroom, with no air circulating, no artificial lights, and only natural lighting for a few hours a day! so i guess any light on the plants, with air, should be a lot better

 

[SnotBoogie]

Thats plenty. Do two plants. Now you need to think about ventilation, because that cab is gonna get seriously fucking hot

 

[stonedpixie]

hmm, what to do for ventilation, a fan blowing over the lights, and then a computer fan extracting should be ok i would have thought? il do 2 plants

 

[stonedpixie]

well, starting the grow (sort of). 2 seeds have taproots out of them, so ive planted them in soil, now the waiting game. ive got a pc case, that i modified for a stealth case a while back, il use those to start the seedlings off, put the seedlings in a diff pot to veg and then to flower, should work a treat i hope