First Grow! Low budget closet CFL

So i am just getting started on my first grow. Thank you to all at RIU as in the past weeks i have been able to absorb such a mass and variety of information on all growing types i was able to start my first grow feeling very comfortable.

I am very early in the process, and this is more for fun than any actual profit. The seed was sprouted in paper towel method. Yes the seed. One. It is also bagseed, some excellent silver haze from santa cruz. In other words, i may be dealing with one male plant here. But like i said, this is for fun. Also i am sprouting a few more seeds at the moment which i may decide to plant later, following success of this first tester plant. This way i can see if i have success on the first plant, and either mimic or change that with the younger plants.

The setup is very simple. Its in my closet, conveniently already painted white. I used a piece of cardboard with white paper to block off some of the rest of the closet just to get the most out of the lights. Right now its in the top of the closet, where there is about 3 feet of room to grow up, when the plant gets bigger i will move it to the bottom where there is close to 6 feet. Its just in a cup of soil for now, eventually will be a bucket.

Lighting is simple, 2 clip on desk lamps with white interior reflector shields running 27 watt 6500K CFLs for veg. The sprout is only about 1.5 to 2 inches so this lighting should be good, and it has been flourishing under it. When i get into serious veg time i will likely buy at least one more lamp to host an additional 27 watter. Depending on success, more light may be added. Heat has not been much of a problem. Lights are on 24/7 and i leave the whole closet open during the day, with some natural sunlight coming in. At night closet is cracked (for the sake of sleep) with window open in the room and ceiling fan on. On occasion, during hot days i run a small table fan in the closet for periods of time, but overall i want a quiet setup.

So far results have been great, but obviously, its incredibly early. I know there are a lot of great growers out there, and i am posting this for the purpose of improvement and learning. Therefore, please do comment in whatever manner you chose. Shoot me down, build me up, or preferably offer some good advice. Frankly, ill take it all. I will keep posting pictures to prove or disprove your predictions.

Until then, let the comments flow, and happy tokin!

First fan leaves are starting to get bigger, second set is now visible. Plant is now tall enough to pass the rim of the glass. I'm not sure when the plant will be ready to move into a bigger bucket, anyone have any way to tell when the plant is ready to move?

I would say right now...

and when you transplant into a bigger pot make sure you bury dirt up to the first set of round leaves.

,,,

I'd honestly say it looks like the plant already stretched =/

thanks for the info, i will transplant today, building the soil up a little sounds like a good idea.

I was a little worried about stretching, but i researched the strain and apparently its a pure sativa that has been breed to grow shorter than the average sativa. I dont know if sativa strains look longer and therefore appear streched. Anyone have any information to verify or disprove that?

well i would love to post some new pics for you guys, but everything ive tried to take with my laptop is pretty crappy. Ill post a couple of em, just to give an idea, but i need to get my digital camera back from my roommate and then ill have some nice clear pics from some better angles

Anyway, its been a little over a week since the seed cracked the soil, and its looking good. The plant was moved into a 3 gallon pot, where it will stay until harvest. Soil im using is just simple miracle grow potting soil, so i am adjusting the ph of the water a little higher. Around 7.5 to be specific. After about a week of watering i will go back down to a 6.8-7 range. This is following seemorebuds guide. After reading his posts on this website in various threads, it was pretty clear he had a good idea of what he was doing, and so far my plant is right on track with his day by day guide. In fact, i may even be a day ahead

As you may or may not be able to tell from the pictures, the third set of leaves is starting to emerge, as the first two sets grow bigger. I have noticed a purple tinge to the leaves when they are young, which slowly disappears as they fan out, completely disappearing before the leaves are even a quarter inch. Hadnt heard of this before, hope its not a problem. The nodes are green and leaves look healthy so its hard for me to imagine its anything too serious, if anything at all.

Ive also changed my light setup a bit, on the main plant i have 2 26 watt daylight spectrums hanging with a metal shield. Lights are split and give a good arc of light around the entire plant, between 2 and 3 inches from every part of the plant. Eventually, of course this light output will have to be increased, but since i am flowering early (approx 2 weeks into veg) i am hopeful i will really only need one more daylighter. As i transition into flowering i will have much more light. Mainly this is just because 2700 CFLs are cheaper and easier to find, and well of course, a bigger plant NEEDS more light. duh.

On a side note, i have two new seedlings that are just a few days old. They are looking good and i will likely follow the same steps i used for the first plant. This way i have a much better chance at gettin a female, or dare i hope for 2...maybe 3?

Anyway, now that i am officially out of seedling stage and into veg, i will post updates much more frequently.Til then, happy smoking!

nice choice, i'd get AT LEAST two lights above the plant. and next time when you start a seed out you dont want to plant the seedling into a container with clear sides/walls cause when the light hits the roots es no bueno.

Thanks, i kinda gathered that as i watched my first plant grow, so i started the other two in simple red cups. Right now i do have 2 bulbs above this plant for a rated 3400 lumens. Im keeping the lights as close as possible. as close as an inch where possible. Temp is good so i havent had to worry about that yet. If im planning on flowerin in less than 2 weeks will i need anything more than one more bulb for a total of 5100 lumens? Once i start flowering that would increase again, but i feel like the 3 bulbs should provide enough light for such a short veg period. This is what i will try unless i hear otherwise. Right now the plant seems to be doing very well under the 2 lights

So plants did AWESOME for about another 2 weeks. Just as i was getting ready to flower the first one, some sort of nute deficiency kicked in BIG TIME. I have hopefully figured it out, and am starting again with new seeds. New pics will be up as that develops