CFL grow first timer

Hi all, I've been following this site about a month and decided to start a grow.

My lighting isn't that great but my plants been growing..

right now i got 3 seedlings

and one that im a little pushed for space on so i put it into flowering when it hit 13" tall..

it grew for about 3-3-1/2 weeks in vegging

its about 5 days into 12/12

seedlings are still on 24 hours
they're only about 5 days old..

i didn't use any nutes yet(on the big plant), going to pick em up after work today.. i seen you cant put em in seedlings till like 4 weeks?? correct me if im wrong.

right now big plant has 2 cfls on it, 1 long strip light not sure watts n 1 40w bulb..
going to get more lights next week

strapped for a little cash because rent is due this weekend ;[


let me know what you guys think, any suggestions would be very welcome & helpful!

they're all grown outta bag seeds for practice by the way. going to buy good seeds online when i get a better set up, right now its just practice until i get better lighting and all that good stuff




full view of pot & plant::




at least i'm keeping my light in there wit tin foil lol::



top view::



side view:: (yes i cut holes in the bottom of container to drain)




got a cut straw holding up my plant stem it was a little weak lol..::



one of the seedlings::




close up::



second 1::




zoom in::

I have a plant under 2 fluorescent tubes 5500k, 40w, and 2 2600k CFL's, and its doing great.

I also flowered at 13 inches and it sexed in around 4 days, its growing quite fast too.

Make sure if you are vegging get like 6000k temperature CFL ,bulbs or fluorescent tubes, and for budding you get 2600k CFL's.

Keep lights as close to plant as possible (1-2 inches, this will control stretching, more bushing.), with a fan in the room.

Not sure about nutes, I grew all the way through with Miracle Grow Potting Soil and tap water.

I was keeping my male alive under 1 2600k cfl and it was still growing 1 1/2 - 2 inches a day!

misterRester said:

I have a plant under 2 fluorescent tubes 5500k, 40w, and 2 2600k CFL's, and its doing great.

I also flowered at 13 inches and it sexed in around 4 days, its growing quite fast too.

Make sure if you are vegging get like 6000k temperature CFL ,bulbs or fluorescent tubes, and for budding you get 2600k CFL's.

Keep lights as close to plant as possible (1-2 inches, this will control stretching, more bushing.), with a fan in the room.

Not sure about nutes, I grew all the way through with Miracle Grow Potting Soil and tap water.

I was keeping my male alive under 1 2600k cfl and it was still growing 1 1/2 - 2 inches a day!

Click to expand...

thank you for feedback, i was looking into the whole lumens per light think n i gotta look into that more

and yes that was my problem at the beginning of this guy i had light too far away and it kept trying to get to it


im using scotts potting soil and had no problems yet..

i hope mine starts showing sex soon!

sry pics were sooooo big new to posting and all lol

If I were you; I would take the tall, streched one and re-plant it in a bigger pot - then start on a very light dose of notes.

Bury it all the way up to the bottom leaves - then get your lights much closer to the plants(2"-3")
this will keep them from getting so long and lanky.

angelsbandit said:

If I were you; I would take the tall, streched one and re-plant it in a bigger pot - then start on a very light dose of notes.

Bury it all the way up to the bottom leaves - then get your lights much closer to the plants(2"-3")
this will keep them from getting so long and lanky.

Click to expand...

thank you,
im going to buy a bigger pot tonight along wit nutes

what kinda nutes do you think i should get, i just started 12/12 5 days ago about..

im going to buy a few more lamps too, but for now i'll just put something under the plant to hold it up more its on a shelf in my closet right now

i just threw it in that pot because it deff outgrew my blue plastic cups

Dude you should put that plant an inch or so away from the light cause its tall and spindly the closer the better.. it will cause your plant to grow bushier and not taller

[QUOTE="SmokinForever";2722475]Dude you should put that plant an inch or so away from the light cause its tall and spindly the closer the better.. it will cause your plant to grow bushier and not taller[/QUOTE]


the small ones?
cause the big one is as close to the light as it can get without hitting it.
im going to add more lights around the big one this was just an expirement at first i didnt have any lighting really.
i noticed it was a little like lanky as the person above stated thats when i moved it closer wen it was small.. gonna see if i can get some more lights tonight, i wanna get nutes too

right now area small
but imma clean out full closet and i'll have tons of room.

anyone can tell me what kind of nutes to buy today???
i'm heading straight after work, idk what #'s i need for flowering?

You should see if your soil has nutes in it already, if its potting soil. Then see what your lacking.
Theres a nice guide on here somewhere.

misterRester said:

You should see if your soil has nutes in it already, if its potting soil. Then see what your lacking.
Theres a nice guide on here somewhere.

Click to expand...

my potting mix is .12 - .09 - .07
i jus bought water soluble miracle grow 'bloom booster' flower food


i only mixed half a tablespoon in the gallon of water

and i only watered my big plant with about 3-4 teaspoons of it

should i water more?

thank you for the responses

Don't overwater it, see how it takes to the nutes before adding more, i know my potting soil is low in phosphourus and ill have to supplement later.
This site also has nice nute guides

misterRester said:

Don't overwater it, see how it takes to the nutes before adding more, i know my potting soil is low in phosphourus and ill have to supplement later.
This site also has nice nute guides

Click to expand...

arite ill take a look
and thanks for the help
+ rep


ill update in a few days

bumping this

thank you guys soo much for the feedback as i said this is just a practice next ones gonna be white widow or northern lights


i put nutes in it and overnight it grew about 1/2" - 1" after the end of the day today
dont have my cam wit me will post new pics by wendesday

any more suggestions are very grateful will give rep points for good help

thanks again for helping a newb

In those blue cups, is that two seedlings in the same cup? If so you should separate them asap, so they don't tangle their roots together,
Also the plant in that country crock container (or whatever it was) is too small, you'll need a 2-gallon pot for a full grow, I suggest you just cut the plastic off and put the entire dirt clod in a bigger pot.
Hope it turns out female
If not better luck next time.

-P.S
Don't throw it out if it is male! Males still make decent hash!
And if you are really lucky the leaves are enough to smoke.

Just follow my sig and take a look at my lights. I have all of that for just one plant. You definitely need more. And as to practicing with bagseeds. I say don't. It's a terrible thing when they come out male and you have to rip them up. I did the same thing. I suggest going to the "marijuana seeds" part of this forum and take a look at Nirvana seeds. They are one of the few that will still ship to america and they're smart about it. Ummm... With watering, remember that it's a weed. It is very easy to overwater. And the NPK value of nutes for any sort of flowering will have at least 30 percent Phos. (so xx-30-xx). Otherwise the starting of the plants look nice since your going to re-pot. And i'd wait a little on adding more nutes. miracleg likes to burn up mj!

Yeah my plants tips were burnt when they were smaller from the miracle grow, but now its perfect.

And bag seed is fine if you are just learning the basics!

BigChillin said:

Just follow my sig and take a look at my lights. I have all of that for just one plant. You definitely need more. And as to practicing with bagseeds. I say don't. It's a terrible thing when they come out male and you have to rip them up. I did the same thing. I suggest going to the "marijuana seeds" part of this forum and take a look at Nirvana seeds. They are one of the few that will still ship to america and they're smart about it. Ummm... With watering, remember that it's a weed. It is very easy to overwater. And the NPK value of nutes for any sort of flowering will have at least 30 percent Phos. (so xx-30-xx). Otherwise the starting of the plants look nice since your going to re-pot. And i'd wait a little on adding more nutes. miracleg likes to burn up mj!

Click to expand...

i looked at your grow
its great

hopefully when i get better lights i can grow something like that

You Dudes seem to use CFL. So I thought I would post because I use fluorescent tubes T8 (25mmDia).
I've been growing for about a year now, but just using standard fluorescent tubes, the results are pretty good, but no where near the quality of HPS grown, but it keeps me in weed.
However several weeks ago I bought some 2800K & 18000K tubes and im impressed with the results already,
The bushy plant is a AK special at 6 weeks most of the growing was done under 2x 2ft 20W 18000K fluorescent tubes at 24hrs light, but now that my other mature plant has been harvestered i can move Mr Bushy into my flower room.
So now it is under 2x 18000K and 2x 2800K fluorescent tubes still at 24hr light.
my flowering room is H 3.5ft x W2.5ft x D1.5ft, so not that big an area is needed, my growing room is slightly smaller.
My plants sit on a movable shelf and my lights are fixed also there is lots of mylar reflecting surfaces.
The whole thing has set me back about $160 (£120), cheap to run and as you can see temp is about 80degs f, most it goes up to when it is closed up is 90degs f.
Just another option for you to consider.