Beansfranklin
Active Member
Hey everybody and well come to my journal. During my time here I have found a unique approach to cfl growing. With this journal i hope to go into greater detail about my lighting rig and Miracle Grow Potting Soil use. To start cfl light penetration is way to week to support plants that have been vegged for more then a 2-4 weeks depending on how many cfls you have. Also cfls do not work if only over top of your plant they simply do not have enough power to penetrate more then 3-4 inches into the foliage. Instead if cfls are to been used they must surround the plant and be as close as possible. With cfls limited power in mind i decided to put as many cfls on one plant as i could and surround the plant as best i could with lights. To build my rig i cut 4 pieces of 2x4(could be down sized to 1x4 to reduce wieght) to 24'' long and attached them together with metal plates and screws to form a square, I then took 1x4 and cut 10 8" pieces (theses are or the light sockets) and drilled a hole through each one. Then with more metal plates i attached 2 to the top and two down each corner. I then bought extension cords from the dollar store i cut them up into pieces, keep some length on the ends they come in useful for being able to plug them into each other instead of hard wiring them all together(like i did). 
Its a prototype and the back ones can be hard to adjust espacially when the plant get bigger so if anyone has any thoughts or any improvements don't hold back. As for the actual cfls i use 30w bulbs with r40 aluminum reflectors all from 1000bulbs. com on last check they don't have anymore 30w reflectors only up to 26w but still worth it. Now on to my soil. I first started growing when a friend gave me two plants and some 24'' floros and two months later i had a few grams of popcorn. But that didn't matter the desire to grow my own was two strong and i began to search the internet (google). I came across seemorebuds book on cfl growing, and not having a lot of money or space to grow, cfls seemed perfect. Cheap low heat and all i needed was enough for personal use anyway. In his book seemorebuds used miracle grow enriched potting soil. and that is way I use to this day. Many people on this forum tend to believe that miracle grow is too strong but i have never had any issues with it. I believe this to be a combination of things first too many small waterings releases to many nutes i only water once every 6-7 days but when i do i water 2L before lights out then again the next morring when lights on and i leave the excess in the catch tray and its usually all soaked up before lights off. And 2nd if the plant doesn't have enough light it can't grow fast enough to use all the nutes. I get my cfls in close and add more as the plant grows and i get short dense seedlings. As for my current grow i'm waiting on a mandala #1 to germ. But until then heres may last grow i just finished and should get over 50g dry I'll be back with updates as they happen but until then, any thoughts, comments or questions?
Its a prototype and the back ones can be hard to adjust espacially when the plant get bigger so if anyone has any thoughts or any improvements don't hold back. As for the actual cfls i use 30w bulbs with r40 aluminum reflectors all from 1000bulbs. com on last check they don't have anymore 30w reflectors only up to 26w but still worth it. Now on to my soil. I first started growing when a friend gave me two plants and some 24'' floros and two months later i had a few grams of popcorn. But that didn't matter the desire to grow my own was two strong and i began to search the internet (google). I came across seemorebuds book on cfl growing, and not having a lot of money or space to grow, cfls seemed perfect. Cheap low heat and all i needed was enough for personal use anyway. In his book seemorebuds used miracle grow enriched potting soil. and that is way I use to this day. Many people on this forum tend to believe that miracle grow is too strong but i have never had any issues with it. I believe this to be a combination of things first too many small waterings releases to many nutes i only water once every 6-7 days but when i do i water 2L before lights out then again the next morring when lights on and i leave the excess in the catch tray and its usually all soaked up before lights off. And 2nd if the plant doesn't have enough light it can't grow fast enough to use all the nutes. I get my cfls in close and add more as the plant grows and i get short dense seedlings. As for my current grow i'm waiting on a mandala #1 to germ. But until then heres may last grow i just finished and should get over 50g dry I'll be back with updates as they happen but until then, any thoughts, comments or questions?
