First time and need help!!!!!

hey i'm a first time grower and need help my plants are 3 months old and not that tall idk if it's just taking forever or if it normally takes this long i'm using wal-mart grow light and in the other light it is a wal-mart daylight bulb both fluorescent i've tried looking up everything i could think of and i don't know if i've even covered a little bit of the studies i need to i've looked up from germination to everything but i'm not to good with lingo so i need someone to just help me and do it in plain english please lol

They are small and spindly because of the crappy lights you are using. You didn't mention the wattage of those bulbs but it's not enough. A handful of cfls (compact flourescents) would do them better than those old tubes, aren't expensive and mostly fit into a standard light socket without the need for an external ballast (they have them built in as they only need a small one). Next up the list is the MH light, more expensive, and you will need a ballast and the appropriate fitting, but they put out lots of the blue light that plants need for growth, and are generally used for vegging the plants. A 250w would do you nicely, and would allow for a few more plants as your grow geta bigger. Even if you plan to keep it small, it's worth getting as much light in as you can. HPS are pretty much the top of the tree, slightly more expensive than MH, and need ballast etc but they are much more efficient than other types of lighting, and can be used with different bulbs for different stages of growth, blue for veg, red for flowering, and a mixed spectrum as a comprimise if you don't want to buy two bulbs. I believe both varieties come in 250, 400, 600 and 1000w variations, each requiring a different ballast (you can't run a 600w on a 400w ballast, you can but it will only run at 2/3rds power since the ballast will only put out 400w). It depends on the size of your operation and the amount of heat you can expel from the room, MH and HPS both put out large quantities of heat, increasing with the wattage. Is your room well ventilated? Is it a room or a growbox? (hard to tell from pics) Have you switched the light cycle yet? What strain are they? What nutes are you giving them? What is the reflective stuff on the floor? Have you read the https://www.rollitup.org/view.php?pg=faq ? If you give us more info we'll be more than happy to help.

Is your room well ventilated? i have a pc fan in the tank

Is it a room or a growbox? (hard to tell from pics) it's in my closet which i keep open while i sleep then so my peeps don't see i lock my shit up

Have you switched the light cycle yet? i got confused cause i've read in so many places to do 12/12 18/6 and like one or two more but didn't tell me when to do that like i said first time growing
What strain are they? no too sure i collected a bunch of seed and my peep didn't know the name of it but there were a few seeds and there were 2 more (males pulled them out right when i saw them) but the far back one is the most potent the other bigger one has virtually no smell at all (i rub the stem and there is no smelL
What nutes are you giving them? miracle grow mix of moisture control and potting soil (both miracle grow)
What is the reflective stuff on the floor? aluminum glued onto a piece of cardboard


and yeah i went to the faq and i couldn't find what i needed besides maybe one or two things the things i read i already know but the questions i have i can't find ya know? i mean but obviously i'm just asking the wrong questions

and i don't have the money to buy all that fancy stuff so i thought that hey this shit says daylight (plants need daylight) lol this one says growlight (hey i need my plants to grow) lol it only cost me 30$

and thanks for the help

I'd say if you want to grow just for your personal use and aren't that into it just get compact flourescents, but if you want a larger operation (5+ plants with some nice bud) save up and invest in a HPS light. I'm sure it would be worth it.

CFL , compact flourescent bulbs are those new spiral bulbs. Get those, the ones that say daylight. You can get Y splitters that screw in and allow 2 bulbs per socket instead of just 1.

Use mylar instead of aluminum.

All these things can be bought at Wal-mart for less than the $30 you spent.

i used a CFL at germination and until i got these lights which seem to be doing better for the plants but i still am using a CFL with those lights the CFL is

and just wondering why shouldn't i use aluminum? is it bad for the plants and also i read that i can make my own Co2 and put it in there with my plants does Co2 help and yeah this is just personal stuff for now until i get more grow experience. and is there anything else i should use for my plants that is good yet cheap i get can spend about 50$ every 2 weeks i have rent and shit to pay.

but really just any advice would be great

aluminum can create hotspots that can burn your leaves. Mylar is better, you can buy a mylar emergency blanket in the sporting goods section of walmart for $2.00. Cut that baby up and make a bunch of reflectors out of it.

if you like your lights then rock on with them. I use the CFL's and my plants seem pretty happy.

I don't screw around with co2 myself, I'm in the room a lot breathing, that ought to create plenty. I've got less than 10 plants anyway.

and cali i do care very much about my plants it's just i'm on a very tight budget and is sucks cuz i can't spend all the money i want if i could i would and wouldn't be living here haha but i do take growing this shit very serious.
and i smoke with my plants and i've heard that if you smoke an adolescent cat out or a young cat or something that is stuns growth idk if it's true or not but i am starting to wonder if smoking my plants out (even though they are same thing) if that stuns growth a little bit. and also the Y splitter doesn't sound to bad i will give it a try and i will buy a good CFL and sorry one more thing is 24/0 ok for it and when do i turn the light off? cuz plants need sleep too don't they? and when do i switch from 24/0 to what ever to whatever else etc.

misshestermoffitt said:

aluminum can create hotspots that can burn your leaves. Mylar is better, you can buy a mylar emergency blanket in the sporting goods section of walmart for $2.00. Cut that baby up and make a bunch of reflectors out of it.

if you like your lights then rock on with them. I use the CFL's and my plants seem pretty happy.

I don't screw around with co2 myself, I'm in the room a lot breathing, that ought to create plenty. I've got less than 10 plants anyway.

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awesome thanks much for that i will take the aluminum down asap but as soon as i get the mylar. either today or tomorrow. and do you think i could use both the lights i have and the CFL? or would that cause some sort of stress to the plant? and i chill with my plants a lot too (everyday prob about 4 or 5 times a day with them) and i breathe on the leaves on occasion is that ok to do since they take in carbon dioxide. i wouldn't think it is bad but if so i'll stop lol

thank you all for everything you've been a big help
but of course i'm going to be greedy and ask for more advice

I don't breathe on my plants, but they're in here where my computer is and I spend a lot of time in this room. For my small scale grow I think co2 would be overkill.

oh yeah shit the CFL is also 23 watts biggest i could find in my house that wattage is probably why it started out slow and just wondering if it starts out slow does the whole process slow down? or can i speed it up and if so how can i do this without spending any (to little 75$ maybe) money

yeah i'm not going to use Co2 i was just wondering cuz i have a airsoft gun Co2 powered (i wasn't planning on shooting my plants so don't have a heart attack) why would i do that i'm trying to grow the thing not kill it hahaha i want a high from it not a bunch of holy plants lol but yeah lol i just read it somewhere but yeah


ok ok ok i've been having the light cycle at 12/12 when i'm guessing i need it at 24 /0 then 18/6 THEN 12/12 and at 12/12 it should flower right? i think it was the light cycle what is anyones opinion? is that the order i should do it at and when should i switch it from 24/0 to 18/6 to 12/ 12
is 24/0 for germination?
is 18?6 for veg?
and is 12?12 for flowering those are my questions and i

and can i use 24/0 on veg and how do i know if it's in veg stage? flowering stage is rather obvious is veg stage the pistils and nodes?

The veg stage is anything after germination up until you start flowering. You can have the lights on anywhere from 18/6 to 24/0. It won't really make a difference, just don't put them on 12/12 unless you want to start flowering! Your first post said that the plants are 3 months old? Did you mean 3 weeks? As for lights, look for some 42w CFL bulbs. They're like 5 bucks and you'll be fine with about 4 of them.

DKskater75 said:

The veg stage is anything after germination up until you start flowering. You can have the lights on anywhere from 18/6 to 24/0. It won't really make a difference, just don't put them on 12/12 unless you want to start flowering! Your first post said that the plants are 3 months old? Did you mean 3 weeks? As for lights, look for some 42w CFL bulbs. They're like 5 bucks and you'll be fine with about 4 of them.

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ok thank you about the veg stage thing and explaining it to me and i had it at 12/12 and it didn't flower at all it's been 12/12 (outta confusion) for about one or maybe 1 1/2 of those months and no i mean 3 months lol it's sad like no joke i am really sad that they are so small but today i see a little resin on my leaves i'm happy for that and the one in the far back (the bigger one) i'm hoping and thinking it's white rhino or white widow cuz it is dank on the stem (like one of those two would be) the pistils are beautiful and white if my camera was awesome (better then the 25$ one i have now)
and i will def keep a look out for 42W+ (CFL's)

thanks Skater for helping me out here



i also put some shit on here that wasn't just directed at skater

I don't understand how they can be three months old and so small lol. What do you have them in? Have they been on 12/12 the whole time?

Yes, like soil. My advice would to be stop messing with the lights lol. If they've been on 12/12 and you've switched it back to 18/6, they're just going to try and start to veg again. Set them to 12/12 and just hope they flower...

DKskater75 said:

I don't understand how they can be three months old and so small lol. What do you have them in? Have they been on 12/12 the whole time?

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probably just about yeah cuz i read somewhere that it was suppost to be 12/12 so i did just that and i'm guessing it kinda fucked them up but i have the lighting set to 18/6 so they can get some sleep yesterday i had them on 24/0 though and i have a timer so it makes it easier for me and what do you mean what do i have in them? like soil?

Why did my response go before your question lol