First Grow, learning the ropes.

Ok, so this is my first grow. I know the lights looks A bit cheaply put together. I am putting more up as soon as I get paid at the end of the week. What do you guys think? I already had A attic space opening in the ceiling of my closet. So I just opened it up turned the fan in the attic on along with adding that box fan you see right above my plants. The lights are sad I know. How many CFL's are recommended for just A three plant small grow closet like this? Also that is not Aluminum foil. It is an emergency blanket and A dashboard reflector.

its 18/6 not 18/4 there are 24 hours in a day.

lights can be about 2 inch away from them little seedlings to help prevent stretch.

how much money you plan on dumping into sub par CFL lighting? by the time you add and add and add you could have bought a reasonable HPS light and with too many CFL you will run into heat issues.

http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Horticulture-GLK400CT24E-Digital-Dimmable/dp/B00547I5I8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1409075953&sr=8-2&keywords=apollo+400

http://www.amazon.com/VenTech-DF6-Duct-Fan-240/dp/B005KMTYFK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1409076029&sr=8-2&keywords=inline+fan

im telling ya, invest in a light and you will be happy you did, otherwise you will be adding CFL's to that closet every week and will run into heat issues, a cooltube is great, grab the light i linked (of if you want to get another brand) I have had good luck with this brand. and grab that fan, i have bought both and they work well together, less than 200 bills and lighting wont be an issue anymore.

Your right about the 24 hours thing now I feel like A dumbass for typing that up quick.

I was only going to double the amount of lights have 6 CFL's going but you're advice is probably better. I was going to grow with A metal Halide light I have. But was worried about the amount of heat it puts off. More worried about A fire, than killing the plants.

CFL's dont cost alot, but the money is spent in buying shit to screw them into, even if you go the route of plugging somethng like this

http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-61-Polarized-Outlet---Lampholder/dp/B001OM1L06/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409076275&sr=8-1&keywords=plug+in+light+bulb+outlet

into a bunch of surge strips....still going to get costly after a bit. And its also really not that safe. if you think, a surge strip os about 6 bucks and then 3x the outlets is 2 bucks each...your looking at 12 bucks (not including bulbs) per rig. if youu get the 23w CFL and not them shitty 13w ones your looking at around 2 bucks a bulb...so for the sake of convorsation we will say 18 bucks per rig bulbs and all.

now prob 2 rigs per plant that is 6 total 18x6= 108 bucks!!

now your running 3 bulbs in each rig and 6 rigs @ 23w per rig so 3x6 = 18 x 23w = 414w....so now your running more electricity than a 400w HPS so your light bill charges will be more....

and lets not forget heat, CFL's dont have a cooled hood, so your stuch extracting the upper most part of the closet (heat rises) to try and remove the heat...usually dosent work out that well...

and on top of that even with 414w of CFL your lighting is still going to be weak...

do yourself a favor, if your going to grow, skimp on everything else but your medium and lights.

3 year warranty on the apolloi ballasts, also dimmable so you can run it at 50% (200w) untill the plants get a little bigger to save yourself some money on electric..

dont have the money this week? put that money you were going to dump into CFL's aside and save up, they wil be fine for a week or 2 under your current lights as long as you keep them close so they dont stretch, when they stretch too much they just fall over and die...

sk8ntoke said:

Your right about the 24 hours thing now I feel like A dumbass for typing that up quick.

I was only going to double the amount of lights have 6 CFL's going but you're advice is probably better. I was going to grow with A metal Halide light I have. But was worried about the amount of heat it puts off. More worried about A fire, than killing the plants.

Click to expand...

i was just giving you a hard time to break the ice, didnt mean to make you feel like a dumbass. we all would assume it was a legit mistake and that you didnt actually think there was only 22 hours in a day

as far as catching you house on fire..yeah, be safe man....what do you have for a metal halide light right now?

The one light that is hanging actually came with the Metal Halide light I bought I just switched the bulbs.

I only have one bulb. But this is the one I own.

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/5009/MH-01756844702.html

yeah ditch that thing lol never even seen a metal halide bulb that dosent run off a balast.

if you dont mind me asking, what do you have in regards to budget.

have you considered LED? they are far superior to CFL and produce less heat and consume less electricity. but the decent ones are not cheap.

if LED is something your interested in i would suggest seeking advice on which ones are worth the money.

i have no interest in LED's as i have no money to spend on my project and have all the equip i will need for a long time but if it is something that sparks your interest this may be worth checking out.

http://rollitup.org/t/if-you-are-new-to-led-and-want-help-choosing-what-to-buy-post-here.633304/

I am willing to put as much into it as needed. I just need A good light set up that isn't going to cost 500$ or more at once. Also what is the recommended wattage output for three plants?

well if you have the money go with the 600w dimmable light setup. i think its about 10 bucks more.

http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Horticulture-GLK600CT24E-Digital-Dimmable/dp/B00521B894/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409080059&sr=8-1&keywords=600w+apollo

i dont know what the lumens and shit is i dont get that technical, i know they are light loving whores so the more the better (though there is a point where its overkill)

drop a good 200 bucks on a light, some ducting and a reasonable fan like the one i linked and you wont be dissapointed man...how big is your closet?

also what are you using for soil?
also what are your current temps?
also what are you using for nutrients? (i would hope none right this min bu have you bought anything yet?)

you will want something like this too, to help monitor temps and humidity. you can pick one up at wal mart for 10 bucks.

http://www.amazon.com/AcuRite-00613A1-Indoor-Humidity-Monitor/dp/B0013BKDO8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1409080261&sr=8-2&keywords=temp+and+humidity

set yourself up right the first time, use the keep it simple and less is more motto and you will be sucessfull!! also might want to think about ordering some seeds. I have had good results using attitude seed bank and after my first couple of bagseed grows the difference in having good genetics is night and day!! but thats another 100-150 bucks so maybe wait till this first grow is over or almost over till you decide to to do that.

Ok thanks A lot. I already have A temperature and humidity gauge as well. If you check the pictures its sitting in between the pots. I am averaging at about 80-87 degrees Fahrenheit with about 50%-60% humidity good for vegetation from what I read. So pretty much the more light the better. But don't turn the closet into the sun gotcha. I have A very small space to grow I have about an extra 2 feet of room in the closet and that is it.

I really appreciate the Clear Concise help. My older brother recommended this site to me for my first grow since he has used it also. I can tell why.

EDIT: I added another 23w cfl to it as well. The soil is just fox farm 100% organic. I made sure it was organic then I took the soil and added leaves and grass and shit to make compost in it and let it rot for A while. Besides that its all organic.

carefull adding too much grass, it is nitrogen rich and too much "green" will create actual heat and could burn roots.

80 + is a bit high but low 80's in veg is not too bad, you want to shoot for mid 70's for optimal growth.

you will want to figure out a way to drop the temps, a cool tube will help and adding more CFL's without a way to cool them is only going to raise temps..

let me know what your thinking as far as what you want to buy and i can try and lend my thoughts to the situation.

RetiredMatthebrute said:

its 18/6 not 18/4 there are 24 hours in

lights can be about 2 inch away from them little seedlings to help prevent stretch.

how much money you plan on dumping into sub par CFL lighting? by the time you add and add and add you could have bought a reasonable HPS light and with too many CFL you will run into heat issues.

http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Horticulture-GLK400CT24E-Digital-Dimmable/dp/B00547I5I8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1409075953&sr=8-2&keywords=apollo 400

http://www.amazon.com/VenTech-DF6-Duct-Fan-240/dp/B005KMTYFK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1409076029&sr=8-2&keywords=inline fan

im telling ya, invest in a light and you will be happy you did, otherwise you will be adding CFL's to that closet every week and will run into heat issues, a cooltube is great, grab the light i linked (of if you want to get another brand) I have had good luck with this brand. and grab that fan, i have bought both and they work well together, less than 200 bills and lighting wont be an issue anymore.

Click to expand...

Im vibing with cfls for my first grow but you know as a newb on a budget we do what we can. You are absolutely right about the cfls being added every week...lol But you are also strategically correct....snatch a mh/hps and ballast set off the top. You cant go wrong im seeing that now. If you can get the Apllo mh/hps set they have different range pricing. Go with the cheapest set with cool tube with it. That also kills birds with one stone. This is what i did: i started with three cfls, a table and two sourcream bowls. I took care of them like they were the only thing i had in life. $900 monthly budgetting. Got some Espoma seed starter germinated the seed and let it grow for two weeks under the three cfls. Then t'planted in a 6" tapered pot in roots organic. Then the following month i got a 5 gallon bucket for final pot. And each month i get things i need. I started in June and this is what i have accomplished so far(pics). Taking into mind while waiting patiently to make my next move i watered my plants and studied as the plants grew and studied them too. Made a few mistakes and you are going to make mistakes becuse its tons of knowledge and science with the cannabis plant. But patience and humbly learning and working with what you have brings simplicity. The clay is a ugly lump when it starts out. But the potter shapes it beautifully. You will do good. Also when i get ready to flower i will be flowering with a 600w Apollow cooltube set up. Good growing bro.

That set up you got with your cfl's is exactly what I need. However I do have A 32" fluorescent Bulb light. I am going to get another bulb by friday it puts off A good extra 100w I think with that and the other 32w's ill be ok for flowering. Also I got A timer from A friend so now my plants are set on A consistent time frame of 18/6.

sk8ntoke said:

That set up you got with your cfl's is exactly what I need. However I do have A 32" fluorescent Bulb light. I am going to get another bulb by friday it puts off A good extra 100w I think with that and the other ill be ok for flowering. Also I got A timer from A friend so now my plants are set on A consistent time frame of 18/6.

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That sounds like a plan. How much wattage do you have total?

RetiredMatthebrute said:

carefull adding too much grass, it is nitrogen rich and too much "green" will create actual heat and could burn roots.

80 + is a bit high but low 80's in veg is not too bad, you want to shoot for mid 70's for optimal growth.

you will want to figure out a way to drop the temps, a cool tube will help and adding more CFL's without a way to cool them is only going to raise temps..

let me know what your thinking as far as what you want to buy and i can try and lend my thoughts to the situation.

Click to expand...

I didn't add much grass because of the Nitrogen. But my brother grew one time and his plants had A bad nitrogen deficiency so I was really trying to avoid that like wild fire.

238W total with the 6 23's and the big one.

sk8ntoke said:

238W total with the 6 23's and the big one.

Click to expand...

You're definately going to need more wattage. But since you have seedlings that enough for them for at least 2 to 3 weeks. I say that because i was growing for a month under 85 watts 2700k which i thought was 6500k. This i discovered will hold seedlings for a good 3 weeks of growth and vigor. But what i learned is to keep that same 85w 2700k and
add 340w mix of 6500k and 6400k. Maybe a 5500k and 5000k bulb. That should be good for three plants.

gardengardian7 said:

You're definately going to need more wattage. But since you have seedlings that enough for them for at least 2 to 3 weeks. I say that because i was growing for a month under 85 watts 2700k which i thought was 6500k. This i discovered will hold seedlings for a good 3 weeks of growth and vigor. But what i learned is to keep that same 85w 2700k and
add 340w mix of 6500k and 6400k. Maybe a 5500k and 5000k bulb. That should be good for three plants.

Click to expand...

Will do this then! Thanks for the guidance. It really helps A newbie like me out.