1st Grow Cfl

homer371

Well-Known Member
hey man, just to chime in on lights, i'm sure you'll get different opinions on here, but i personally think 231 actual watts of cfls is *plenty* for one plant. my 2-plant grow i just harvested yielded a total of 45 grams (20 and 25) and that was with about 180w of cfls total (two of the lights were t5s, but same sort of thing). so anyway, i think you can have healthy harvest with your current cfl setup, and it'll make it easier to control heat.
 

xebeche

Well-Known Member
Lots of good advice being offered here, BG. I do think sticking with the cfls this time around sounds like a good idea, since you've already got 'em set up and all. No need to fix what ain't broken. Similarly, with lst and scrog...great techniques to learn about and put into practice for your next grow, or the one after that, but with this first one you had to go into 12/12 a little early with an accidental 72 hour lights-off situation, so your plant may be a little smaller than you might have wanted...but you've got a female plant out of it after all so why not just keep things rolling along and let her do her thing this time around? They'll always be a chance to try new techniques in the future, and in the meantime you'll get plenty of practice simply growing mj with this one...finding a satisfactory nute schedule, getting your lighting optimized (while maintaining proper temps), and generally just watching how she grows and fixing problems as they come up...all these things will be valuable experience for future grows (not to mention the things you'll soon be learning when it comes time to decide when to harvest, how to cure, etc). Like most worthwhile activities, growing mj takes practice to achieve proficiency, and I've no doubt that you'll learn a lot this time around, and as a result your next grow will likely be easier and better...and even more so for the one after that. I like the way this one is turning out, though, all things considered...she seems healthy and looks like she wants to produce a nice, fat juicy cola for ya. You may be surprised how much bud these small-looking plants can produce when the conditions are right.
 

Bird Gymnastics

New Member
hey man, just to chime in on lights, i'm sure you'll get different opinions on here, but i personally think 231 actual watts of cfls is *plenty* for one plant. my 2-plant grow i just harvested yielded a total of 45 grams (20 and 25) and that was with about 180w of cfls total (two of the lights were t5s, but same sort of thing). so anyway, i think you can have healthy harvest with your current cfl setup, and it'll make it easier to control heat.
Thats good to know. I thought you used more. I actually took out a 14watter so its 217 actual watts. What temps did you usually roll around?? I'm between 78-84 with lights on and 73 with lights off.

Lots of good advice being offered here, BG. I do think sticking with the cfls this time around sounds like a good idea, since you've already got 'em set up and all. No need to fix what ain't broken. Similarly, with lst and scrog...great techniques to learn about and put into practice for your next grow, or the one after that, but with this first one you had to go into 12/12 a little early with an accidental 72 hour lights-off situation, so your plant may be a little smaller than you might have wanted...but you've got a female plant out of it after all so why not just keep things rolling along and let her do her thing this time around? They'll always be a chance to try new techniques in the future, and in the meantime you'll get plenty of practice simply growing mj with this one...finding a satisfactory nute schedule, getting your lighting optimized (while maintaining proper temps), and generally just watching how she grows and fixing problems as they come up...all these things will be valuable experience for future grows (not to mention the things you'll soon be learning when it comes time to decide when to harvest, how to cure, etc). Like most worthwhile activities, growing mj takes practice to achieve proficiency, and I've no doubt that you'll learn a lot this time around, and as a result your next grow will likely be easier and better...and even more so for the one after that. I like the way this one is turning out, though, all things considered...she seems healthy and looks like she wants to produce a nice, fat juicy cola for ya. You may be surprised how much bud these small-looking plants can produce when the conditions are right.
Yeah the advice on this site is impeccable. I'm very pleased with how friendly everyone has seemed to be and also helpful. I figure I was just gonna let her be free and do what she wants from the advice everyone has shared. I'm currently looking for something taller to put her in. I am only working with approximately 2 ft x 2ft x 2.5ft tall. So I think i'm gonna be running out of headroom pretty soon. She is looking pretty healthy and I'm not expecting anything stupendous just want some pretty high quality smoke ha ha. Thanks again for all the advice. I'll be giving an update on monday.
 

jhod58vw

Well-Known Member
looking good bro keep it up need any help everyones always willing to help on here thanks for stopping by my page
 

Budluvin

Member
hey, been reading your grow, nice work. I agree with what other people have said with leaving it alone at this stage, i have just put in a scrog screen myself but i am in my last week of flower. Check out my journal by clicking on my sig if you like. It is alway best to start scrog during flower and i would heighly recomend it for people with height limitations but also for a greater yeild... However some strains take to bending and weaving through the screens better than others.

Best of luck
 

Bird Gymnastics

New Member
hey, been reading your grow, nice work. I agree with what other people have said with leaving it alone at this stage, i have just put in a scrog screen myself but i am in my last week of flower. Check out my journal by clicking on my sig if you like. It is alway best to start scrog during flower and i would heighly recomend it for people with height limitations but also for a greater yeild... However some strains take to bending and weaving through the screens better than others.

Best of luck
Thanks for the advice man and for staying a board. I think I'm just gonna let her grow. I really would like to try scrog but I don't want to stress the plant and potentially ruin my yield. I AM starting to run out of headroom. I'll be updating tomorrow with pics so stay tuned. I also had a question before she goes to sleep, Any ideas for whats causing all the stems to turn purple?? Its got me quite perplexed...
 

homer371

Well-Known Member
Thats good to know. I thought you used more. I actually took out a 14watter so its 217 actual watts. What temps did you usually roll around?? I'm between 78-84 with lights on and 73 with lights off.
sounds like you're in a very nice range of temps. i had a less than ideal exhaust system so my temps were getting up into the high 80s and sometimes 90s on hot days, which definitely stressed my plants and probably ended up stunting them a bit (that combined with very low humidity). so, if you can keep it at that level you should be a-ok!
 

zombie

Active Member
Any ideas for whats causing all the stems to turn purple?? Its got me quite perplexed...
If I understand the process correctly, it means you have everything dialed in correctly. I was talking to an "old timer" on here, and he indicated that it normally means that the buds are about to go on a growth spurt. As for growing with cfls? I am using 8 26 watters and 1 70 watt HPS in a 4 1/2 x 5 x 6 room and my temps are currently at 80 degrees. Stop buy and check my pics out to see the potential of cfls after 4 weeks vegging, and 1 week flowering. But all in all, man................GOOD JOB !!!!
 

Bird Gymnastics

New Member
sounds like you're in a very nice range of temps. i had a less than ideal exhaust system so my temps were getting up into the high 80s and sometimes 90s on hot days, which definitely stressed my plants and probably ended up stunting them a bit (that combined with very low humidity). so, if you can keep it at that level you should be a-ok!

That's what I was hoping. It got up to 86 yesterday but that was at 4pm with my air conditioning off. So I'm not too worried as my air usually is running all day. As far as humidty goes, what is good for flower?? Ive been staying at a constant 30% but sometimes gets up to 40% and drops to 25%. Anyways I will be posting here in a couple hours when I pull her out to water. So stay put! ha ha
 

Bird Gymnastics

New Member
If I understand the process correctly, it means you have everything dialed in correctly. I was talking to an "old timer" on here, and he indicated that it normally means that the buds are about to go on a growth spurt. As for growing with cfls? I am using 8 26 watters and 1 70 watt HPS in a 4 1/2 x 5 x 6 room and my temps are currently at 80 degrees. Stop buy and check my pics out to see the potential of cfls after 4 weeks vegging, and 1 week flowering. But all in all, man................GOOD JOB !!!!
Thanks man! Checked out your grow and nice stuff so far. I guess its good that she is finally loving her little space. Technically I did veg her for a month. It was just I didnt have my room built or my setup put together. Everything I have now has been built since I've been apart of this site. She sprouted on 3/2 and went into flower on 4/4. I really hope she doesn't have too big of a spurt as I am running out of headroom quickly! My pics here in a couple hours will show you what exactly I'm working with. Thanks for the input and happy chiefing :)
 

Bird Gymnastics

New Member
So I have been thinking alot lately and this is my basic plan as far as fertilizing goes. I'm now having to water every 3 days. I'm just gonna mix 3 tsp of Big Bloom + 2 tsp of Tiger Bloom per gallon of water. That is basically a 1/4 strength Big Bloom and 1/2 strength or a little stronger of Tiger Bloom. I am gonna be feeding her 4 feedings and after that I am gonna flush with rain water to reduce salt build ups. So basically every 12 days I will be flushing. I figured using a small low nutrient level every 4 waterings will work perfect. Ideas?? Advice??

Anyways she is looking good. Starting to see alot more hairs popping out all over. She is growing so rapid its getting out of hand :) I am starting to run out of headroom in my cab so I am gonna need to build something or maybe just take the top of the cab off and hang the lights in my closet. I have pictures to see what I am talking about. I have an inside 2 inside cab pics. One is with the lights hanging on that rope and the other is my new light set up with raising them to the absolutely top part of the cab. I have 2 42w, 1 55w, and 2 26w all 2700k. 191 actual watts and about 12000 lumens.Sorry for rambling so here are the pics. I am about to go water her so let me know what you guys think. Any advice is welcomed. I don't mean to pick at everyone's brain I just love to hear what you guys have to say. Happy smoking...about to get at some
honeycomb! :eyesmoke:side418.jpgtop 418.jpg
 

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homer371

Well-Known Member
everything sounds and looks good! love that second picture, very green and healthy leaves! the feeding schedule sounds good to me, but just keep an eye out for burns or deficiency and adjust accordingly.
 

Bird Gymnastics

New Member
So right now I was super ripped examining some of this bomb ass bud my friend got from a local dispensary and what do I find???? A freaking seed! A huge black one. He says its some orange krush but is not 100% sure. I'm posting a pic of the bud and the seed here in a minute. Its some bomb for sure. Stinks up my whole house and has such a smooth, fruity taste. Anyways I am probably going to grow this ha ha :D
 

xebeche

Well-Known Member
Sweeeeet! It's like the prize in a box of Cracker Jacks (except much more useful). Def would be cool to grow this one next.

You could probly do a slight bend on your plant if you're worried about the height issue. Better to start her now with low stress training than waiting until it's necessary to pull her way down. She looks like she has a nice sturdy trunk on her, but if you do it after a watering she should be more "bendable." Use some string, or fishing line, or whatever you can find to hold the main stalk down at a slight bend...then maybe a little more each day or two until it looks like she's not stretching anymore. I like to use a short length of insulated copper wire with "hooks" bent into the ends...I drape one hook over the stem or branch, then some metal washers, nuts, or anything else that can be looped over the other hook and give it just enough weight to keep that branch bent down as far as I want it. Geeting it to bend further is easy, since I just gradually add more weights to the end of it. Kinda like weight-training for plants. A piece of string anchored to the pot rim (or with some sort of weight tied to the end) will work fine, too. Just be careful not to get too much bend at one time...don't wanna snap your girl in half. A little bit at a time is safer, and probly less stressful to the plant.
 

Bird Gymnastics

New Member
Sweeeeet! It's like the prize in a box of Cracker Jacks (except much more useful). Def would be cool to grow this one next.

You could probly do a slight bend on your plant if you're worried about the height issue. Better to start her now with low stress training than waiting until it's necessary to pull her way down. She looks like she has a nice sturdy trunk on her, but if you do it after a watering she should be more "bendable." Use some string, or fishing line, or whatever you can find to hold the main stalk down at a slight bend...then maybe a little more each day or two until it looks like she's not stretching anymore. I like to use a short length of insulated copper wire with "hooks" bent into the ends...I drape one hook over the stem or branch, then some metal washers, nuts, or anything else that can be looped over the other hook and give it just enough weight to keep that branch bent down as far as I want it. Geeting it to bend further is easy, since I just gradually add more weights to the end of it. Kinda like weight-training for plants. A piece of string anchored to the pot rim (or with some sort of weight tied to the end) will work fine, too. Just be careful not to get too much bend at one time...don't wanna snap your girl in half. A little bit at a time is safer, and probly less stressful to the plant.
I know we have been discussing this earlier in the thread, but would bending it the second week into flower affect the yield and/or potency from the stress?? I was originally gonna LST it but I had the unfortunate event of my lights turning off when I was gone. Let me know what you and others think?? Probably gonna start germing that one here in a week or so. :)
 
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