[Closet CFL] First Time Grower

So, this is my first grow, I'm only growing for myself for personal use, but mainly am doing it for the fun (wanna see if it'll grow!)

Germination:
(1) Cool white 40w fluoro tube, (1) Warm white 40w fluoro tube - both 1" off of soil.
Seeds sprouted but I left tubes in because I didn't know about CFLs.
Used this setup for 10 days.

Vegetation closet (3' wide, 2.5' deep, 6' tall)(only using ~3' tall right now):
( 26w CFL 6500k daylights
(2) 26w CFL 2700k soft whites
8" Fan keeping average temperature 80 day, 72 night.
Flat white walls, mylar floor, mylar door.
Room remains closed except for minor gapping for venting (see pics)
Fan and lights are 18 hours on, 6 off
Have had this setup for 24 hours and plants seem less droopy, see pictures.

Plants:
11 days old
Complete soil germination, no napkin
Watered when I can put my finger into the soil completely without it getting wet.
I was stupid and 3 days ago I used Liquid Fert #1 (below) on all plants b/c the soil I made didn't have any prefert.

Nutes:
SuperThrive (vits/mones) - diluted to daily watering recommendation on bottle
Liquid fert #1 - NPK 12-4-8 w/ Iron 0.1%, Manganese 0.05%, Zinc 0.05%
Liquid fert #2 - NPK 10-15-10 w/ Iron 0.15, Manganese 0.055, Zinc 0.05%
Liquid fert #2 BLOOM - NPK 12-55-6 w/ Iron 0.1% (for flowering, obviously)
Schultz TakeRoot (for cuttings later)

Soil:
Germination - Scotts Top Soil
Vegetation - Homemade, 4 parts Scotss Top Soil, 1 part Sphagnum Peat Moss, 1 part Perlite

Water:
Distilled w/ SuperThrive (diluted to daily watering use recommended on bottle).
I use this every time I water.

Questions:
What would you change?
Is my lighting ok?
Is my venting ok?
When can I expect better growth?
For 10 days from unaltered seed is this good growth?

Seedling pics on second post 6.

PS: I've got 4 plants potted and each have 1 26w 6500k CFL 2 inches above.
I also have around 10 "cup" plants in the corner (my "backup" plants) under 1 26w 6500k CFL 2 inches above.

Should I ditch all the cup plants and just keep the potted ones?

instead of 1 bulb each socket.. put a y splitter in each and you can have up to 10 bulbs... because a plant really needs 2 26w bulbs in the first few weeks of veg... but as it get older and larger it needs more light... so basically, you don't have enough light right now...thats why they are stretched...

with cfl's you can have the bulbs 2 inches away to prevent the stretching you have... especially if you have a fan blowing on the plants...even 1 inch is good, but 2 inches is good enough for you...

it doesn't hurt to mix in a couple 2700's during veg.. but its up to you.. you can use only 6500s or mix it up with 6500's and 2700's..

with all that room you have... i would put 3 y-splitters in each socket so i could fit 4 bulbs in each socket... and have a total of 20 bulbs working .... or just put 2 42watters per socket....

purple stems mean they are seedlings... when they first come out of the ground they are green, then slowly turns purple, especially when the top opens up to recieve light... but it will eventually go away...

i agree with the Y adapters. they are like $1 each and add more light. how many plants are you planning on having? do you know if your growing more sativa or indica? or even better what strain? your prob gonna wanna top it some to keep it low. but you dont want to top at any point in flowering. so make sure you get it all done before you send it into flower. it will grow at most twice its size through flowering. you got the 6500k cfls, but you should get some regular cfls too to give it all spectrums of light. kinda like they tell u if you can to have 1 mh and 1 hps. i think you know what your doing for the most part. youll learn more as you go along. get a grow book to help you learn some more. good luck

Well, the problem is, I don't know anything about electricity. I would have no problem buying a MH or HPS for veg and just use that, but, I can't figure that out cause I need lights with cords, thats why i went with the CFLs cause i can buy those dome/clip/cord combos in the pictures. I'm wanting a veg room/box (with 2 mothers) and a flower room. maybe I can split this closet in half (vertically) with plywood and use black plastic to keep 18/6 light from hitting the 12/12?

Are those seedlings in the pots (Pictures below) good enough to keep? Should I trash the 10 cups I have and focus all lights on these?

Are the ferts I have ok? i can't find any 20-5-5 or 5-15-15

I know nothing about the seed, I just know the bud it came from smelled nice, smoked fairly smooth, and was very efficient.



In order of appearance

Plant 1,2,3:
Planted 2/12/09 (cup)
Potted 2/21/09
Homemade soil (see above)

Plant 4:
Planted 2/12/09 (cup)
Potted 2/23/09
MiracleGro Potting Soil


THANKS!!!

NEW SETUP with Y adapters. Couldn't find any other spectrum, so, I've got (10) 6500k 26w CFLs.

[EDIT]
Took me a few tries, but the 3rd picture is the properly aligned/spaced bulbs.

amsterhamster said:

NEW SETUP with Y adapters. Couldn't find any other spectrum, so, I've got (10) 6500k 26w CFLs.

[EDIT]
Took me a few tries, but the 3rd picture is the properly aligned/spaced bulbs.

Click to expand...

im doing the same here and is working pretty good so far im already about 5 weeks in plants lookin nice and healthy almost same setup u got if u keep the same and keep on going with frequent maintenance you wil do fine i post up some pics in a few

Updated grow room:
( 8 ) 6500k 26w CFLs - 2 per plant
( 2 ) 2700k 26w CFLs - in the middle of all plants

See pics below:
Disregard all plants in corner, they are just there as backup plans

if you want.. you can make your own reflectors with soda cans.... and to get the plants closer to the lights, just place a dvd case or magazines under the pots instead of changing the height of the lightbulbs...

what you have to understand about cfls is that the light intensity doesn't travel as far as we think...thats why we put them so close to the plants....so we have to try to direct as much of the light as we can towards the plant so it can really benefit off of it.. so the 2700 you have in the middle will not reach certain plants as much as you think depending on its distance... this is the reason some people use 1 6500K and 1 2700k in each y splitter so the plant gets both spectrums from 1 socket

you move pretty fast..ha...good shit

amsterhamster said:

Well, the problem is, I don't know anything about electricity. I would have no problem buying a MH or HPS for veg and just use that, but, I can't figure that out cause I need lights with cords, thats why i went with the CFLs cause i can buy those dome/clip/cord combos in the pictures. I'm wanting a veg room/box (with 2 mothers) and a flower room. maybe I can split this closet in half (vertically) with plywood and use black plastic to keep 18/6 light from hitting the 12/12?

Are those seedlings in the pots (Pictures below) good enough to keep? Should I trash the 10 cups I have and focus all lights on these?

Are the ferts I have ok? i can't find any 20-5-5 or 5-15-15

I know nothing about the seed, I just know the bud it came from smelled nice, smoked fairly smooth, and was very efficient.



In order of appearance

Plant 1,2,3:
Planted 2/12/09 (cup)
Potted 2/21/09
Homemade soil (see above)

Plant 4:
Planted 2/12/09 (cup)
Potted 2/23/09
MiracleGro Potting Soil


THANKS!!!

Click to expand...

if you have no prob buying a hps then use flouros to veg then hps to flower. much better then cfls. remember you get out what you put in

dgk4life said:

if you have no prob buying a hps then use flouros to veg then hps to flower. much better then cfls. remember you get out what you put in

Click to expand...

HPS - can't find any that plug into the wall. I'm not an electrician and I don't know much about safely splicing cables. I need an HPS socket that will plug into the wall, or an in depth explanation on how to create one haha. That's my main problem.

Thanks for the tips, and, about the light distance... Should I just move all 4 pots together to make a square? Then string all 8 6500k above them and place the 2 2700k smack in the middle? 2" above the pots?

Do I need a reflector? if so, how do I go about the soda can method?

Ventilation:
Since my closet is closed but has the cracks and the opening at the top (see previous pictures) AND I only have the one 8" fan on the floor, should i rather leave the closet door open?

I rearranged the lights to be closer and have the 2 2700k's in the center for even distribution.

Please give me tips on this new setup.

amsterhamster said:

HPS - can't find any that plug into the wall. I'm not an electrician and I don't know much about safely splicing cables. I need an HPS socket that will plug into the wall, or an in depth explanation on how to create one haha. That's my main problem.

Thanks for the tips, and, about the light distance... Should I just move all 4 pots together to make a square? Then string all 8 6500k above them and place the 2 2700k smack in the middle? 2" above the pots?

Do I need a reflector? if so, how do I go about the soda can method?

Ventilation:
Since my closet is closed but has the cracks and the opening at the top (see previous pictures) AND I only have the one 8" fan on the floor, should i rather leave the closet door open?

Click to expand...

the HPS plugs into a ballast, the ballast is what plugs into the wall. if you were able to directly connect the HPS to the wall you would have a fire. it always has to go through a ballast first. some do have the ballast built in already. but youll be better off gettin a lamp and ballast separatly. most places have package options to get them together

beautiful...

the way you have it setup now... each plant has about 4-5 bulbs...that is freaking great....damn....i didn't know you were gonna make such a change....i must admit...i like this more than your last setup...you can still add 4 pots, judging by your pic....you know...place the pots where the bulbs meet, so instead of the square shape, it'll be in a diamond shape...because the way you have the bulbs setup now, extra plants would definately benefit...the extra ones would recieve 3 bulbs each... great job... seriously...good shit man

to make soda can reflectors you can look it up on youtube if you want....it is on this site also, might have to look it up in the search

420Blunt's said:

the HPS plugs into a ballast, the ballast is what plugs into the wall. if you were able to directly connect the HPS to the wall you would have a fire. it always has to go through a ballast first. some do have the ballast built in already. but youll be better off gettin a lamp and ballast separatly. most places have package options to get them together

Click to expand...

Well, I have a place I can get 100w and 200w with the mogul ballast built in.. but, these don't fit normal sockets. What I'm in need of is a place where the mogul can fit into. For Example, The clamp lights in my setup.

I guess what I'm saying is, I need a "mogul socket" that has a cord and can plug into the wall. Like a clamp lamp or a hood that has a mogul socket instead of regular socket. Can't seem to find those, and the people I ask say "HPS have to be wired in" and I have no clue how to wire-in anything safely.

needhelp said:

beautiful...

the way you have it setup now... each plant has about 4-5 bulbs...that is freaking great....damn....i didn't know you were gonna make such a change....i must admit...i like this more than your last setup...you can still add 4 pots, judging by your pic....you know...place the pots where the bulbs meet, so instead of the square shape, it'll be in a diamond shape...because the way you have the bulbs setup now, extra plants would definately benefit...the extra ones would recieve 3 bulbs each... great job... seriously...good shit man

Click to expand...

Thanks Glad it was a good change haha! I'm going to stick with 4 for now so I can figure things out. I do have a few questions for you..

For 12 or 13 days (from planting ungerminated seeds) is that ok growth? Will it speed up now that I have more light?

And a general question for anyone:
3 of my plants are a lime green, lush color. 1 is a darker green, and where the new leaves have come out from the stem, it is the lime green, lush color.

Does this mean anything?

its cool, don't worry.. now that you have more lighting, it will have faster growth than what it was before

as far as coloring of the leaves, i can't tell you what it is, but if its growing properly, i wouldn't sweat it