1st Mini CFL Closet Grow

I have been reading around the forum a lot and ther is so much information to weed through, but luckly a lot of it is repeditive. I got pretty much no money, but as this process continues money should come in from work for upgrades. Since im looking for cheap and dont want to use a lot of energy, im going for the CFL route. I just bought four 6500k 900 lumens at 15 watts. I figure this should be just fine for the one plant i want to grow, well maybe two plants, we will see. My space is 2.5' x 2' deep and about 3.5' tall. I am planning on using aluminum foil to cover the walls, but before I do that I am going to wipe the walls down with a bleech solution to kill any microbes.
First question: will the aluminum foil work okay? I have heard of others using white printer paper which i got plenty of. SOme say it is a fire risk, but im using CFL's which put out little heat.
Im going to have the lights on for 24 hours.
I dont got a camera, but im going to try and find one at some point.
Oh ya and I got a fan also, should this be on all the time. I hate the noise of fans at night so im going to turn it off while i sleep will this be okay?
How does this sound so far? its just the start, but gotta start somewhere thye say.
What about other things like water pH, is it really that important? And when do I start nute treatment? Last question; since i got a max height I can have (about 3feet) at what height should i switch over to flowering lights?
Thanks, Namaste

Okay, the light set up is a bit different, I could not fit all of the lights on with the splitters like I had planned. I got two 65000K CFL's and one of the lower end CFL I think it was 2700K. Right now one of the lights (6500K) is about four inches from the soil (no sprout yet) and the other two areon the side of the pot spread around faily well. I hope this works, all I really want is something and to be part of the movement. Oh, ALL OF THIS IS A LIE, THERE IS NO TRUTH IN ANY STATEMENT I MAKE, IT IS ALL A FAIRY-TAIL.

Keep the fan going 24 -7 IMO but it really depends on the temps in your grow area. Use mylar not alum. foil or printer paper, its a better reflector of light. However, im doing just fine with my walls painted white, but i do have a much better lighting setup. And as far as only growing one or two plants, what if they both turn out to be males? That would suck after all the effort. id suggest growing as many as you can to better your chances of female plants, just make sure they all get plenty of light. i got 7 growing now and hope to end up with 3 or 4 females.

I just had the lights on for the entire day and the temp got to 78 with out the fan working at all. Tomorrow i will try it out with the fan on.

Where is your temp sensor located?

I for a digital thermometer woth the probe about 1cm abovew the soil in the center of the pot. And i did the test run with the fan on and the temperature hovered around 74 F. It also has a humidity gauge on it and it reads around 50%. I figure that it will raise once i get the plant going and with the daily waterings.

You say that you got 7 plants going? how many lights and what strength? I figure since i only got the three lights going if i were to add more plants non of them would get enought light. I have four seeds germinating wrapped in a moist papertowel sealed in a plastice bag. It looks like they are about to burst through with their codoledeans(sorry i cant remember how to spell it). I might be able to make room for two plants, three is the max. I would have to buy a whole new light setup to do it right though (in a month or so I might be a ble to afford it, but not yet!)

What is anyones take on pH? How important is it? And do all pot plants thrive at the same pH or is each strain particular? Anyone....

so I got my seeds sproutin' and i think i will plant them in the soil tomorrow, wish me luck

PH is important! You should measure it often and correct it if its off. And as far as I know its the same for all pot plants(but dont hold me to that) If you water with tap water, get a container (no lid) and let it sit for a few days to let the chlorine evaporate, this helps in keeping ph under better control. As far as my light setup, I have 2 50w hps supplemented with 4 cfls. I just ordered my 600w cooltube last night so my current setup will just become extra light soon.

One more thing, Id really hate to see you go through all the trouble and end up with no females, grow as many as your area and lights permit, get more light if you have to. Try to accomodate at least 5 plants to start. Once you toss the males, your fems will love the extra attention from the light. What kinda seeds you sprouting? Bagseed?

Sounds like I will have to get some pH sticks to measure with. Obvously like most others here I need to go cheap for the mean while, will the disposable strips work? or do I need something a little better?

As far as the seeds go....I have been collecting for about 2 and a half years, I have tried to save only the best of seeds (when I get some BC shwag with a bunch of seeds i just plant them around town, but rarely keep them) SO i dont know if the plants will be in indoor or outdoor type, but they should be anything from blueberry to deisel.

Ive never used the PH strips but they do work. I'm using a cheap tester now, very simillar to a pool chemical tester but Id like to get one of the nicer, easier to use electronic pen type ones.

The seeds are in!
So I got three seeds in the dirt right now, two in one pot and in in another pot. Both of the pots are about 8" tall and 7" in diameter. I know they are not the best size, but they will work for now.

Lights: On 24/7...3-6500K 900 lumens @15Watts...1-6500k 1600 lumens @ 26Watts... and 1-2700K @14Watts. 3 of the lights are about two inches above this soil and can be moved up as needed. The other 2 are on the side.

Fan: On low blowing 24/7.

Soil: Black Gold all purpose potting soil. (Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss; Compost; Forest Humus; Earthwarm castings; and Pumice) NO Nutrients Added Yet!

Water: Sitting by the windowsill in large jug letting the chlorine evaporate.

Enclosure: Two walls are painted white, the other two walls are made of cardboard. No Foil At All...

What do ya all think? Enough lights? area sound good, What am I forgetting. Three seeds is all that I can fit, well two pots is really all that I can fit now, I will probably find another pot here pretty soon, but two will have to work for now, I just hope that atleast 1/3 seeds is female.

I dont know the pH, I still need to save up to get a meter or something simular, maybe come next paycheck.

AS ALWAYS THIS IS ALL A MADE UP STORY, BUT ANY ADVICE ON HOW TO MAKE THIS FICTIONAL STORY ANY BETTER IS GREATLY APPRECIATED!

Oh ya and I am at about 72F with mid 40's humidity

Sounds like your growing pot, keep up the good work. With any first grow your setup(if any thing like mine)will be changing all the time as more money is available. Once you get a few plants a month or two old, your confidence will cause you to start spending more on better lights, ventillation, test equip., etc.
How long was the taproot on those seeds when you planted them?

Nice start, but keeping tabs on your ph is really important. You can get a ph kit in the pet section of Wallyworld for under ten bucks.

dont water till your top soil is bone dry to the touch, those little sprouts dont need much and can be over watered easily.

Thanks for the tip slammin, I just watered them five minutes ago, the top was "bone dry" And i turned off the fan because I think it was drying out the soil really fast, and no need to waste energy ya know...

Not long at all. One was about 1mm, the other two were just peaking out of the shell. I wanted to get them into their more "natural" environment. I figure it make them happier. And happier bud is tastey bud. Thanks for the positive vibes coupe.

blackcoupe01 said:

Sounds like your growing pot, keep up the good work. With any first grow your setup(if any thing like mine)will be changing all the time as more money is available. Once you get a few plants a month or two old, your confidence will cause you to start spending more on better lights, ventillation, test equip., etc.
How long was the taproot on those seeds when you planted them?

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Man i wish u had a camera. Ive got one but it doesnt do me any good, Im still having trouble posting pics. Its wierd, I put up pics, I can see them in the post, but no one else can [/IMG]
Can u see the pic?