Help needed for first time grower!!!

Hi all. I'm new here so be gentle. Unfortunately, I'm one of those ask a million question's sort of people (noob).
Okay, so..
About a month ago I decided I was going to start growing. I opted for the "trial and error" technique. This hasn't been working.
This is the set up I will have assembled by the weekend....
200 watt dual spectrum CFL suspended from a hanger frame 110cm from the floor (this is all the height I have)
Grow room at a constant 23 degrees c
Desk fan circulating air round the room (room is aproximately 10ft by 8 foot)
Bathroom extractor fan
I'll start by telling you what I've done so far
I sprouted 5 super critical auto seeds, planted them into 3 inch pots in the windowsill in miracle grow enriched compost
after 2 weeks, transplanted into bucket sized pots and placed them each under a single halogen light in my bathroom (rookie error I know, bare with me)
After 2 weeks, 3 of the plants withered and died, two remained
I reallise now the plants were "reaching" as they are now just over a foot and a half tall, very spindley, and have only 4 sets of leaves on the stems.
When watering the plants, I have waited until I can't feel moisture less than 2 inches in the soil, I always give them a generous water when I do
I have been feeding the plants Miracle grow liquid food as diected on the bottle every 7 days
As of YESTERDAY, I obtained a 200 watt cfl and reflector, set it up hanging from a pole about 3 inches above the top canopies in the grow room, and introduced a fan to keep the air moving
I do not want to be an ultra-anal grower, I just want to be able to keep my suply topped up, however, I do want to be able to produce good quality buds, and I would like to aim for 20g (dry bud) per plant

So, this has been the experimental, beggining stage if you will, of my growing
I am planning to start fresh next week, as I'm pretty sure these plants will not be worth the effort due to their poor start
So, here's the questions part...
LIGHTS - will my 200 watt cfl be plenty for 5 auto's? What sort of distance should I be placing it at during the different stages of growing? What time cycles should I be using? (got a light timer on it's way in the post)
SEEDS - one thing I do know is that I only have enough height for auto's....can anyone recomend good quality seeds for a begginer? High yielding would be nice, but tell me about one's you've grown
AIR - Will my desk fan be sufficient to keep the air moving? My plants currently seem to be lightly fluttering in the breeze
MEDIUM - I was planning on doing a peat - miracle grow mix for my next grow at a rate of 60/40, any suggestions?
NUTES - I have no idea what sort of nutes I should be using, or how you feed them for that matter, hence why I'm using miracle grow...any pointers?
STEM BENDING AND TRAINING - ive been told by somebody that this isn't really needed for auto's, but any advice?
FLUSHING - I have no idea what this is, how I do it, or wether I even need to do it?
Any other advice would be HUGELY appretiated, I aknowledge this Is quite an essay of a thread, but we all have to start somewhere :)
 
-3-4 plants max
- As close as you can get it to the leaf without burning or overheating
- 18/6 for veg, 12/12 for flowering
- There are excellent budget seed companies out there. Google is your friend. Read the reviews.
- Only you can determine if it's enough for the room as the plants develop
- MG is already a peat based medium. Use it as is.
- Pre fertilized potting soil has food in it. Depending on the planter size, you may not need to feed them till after the stretch. Observe you plants to determine when they have used up the food in the soil. Use food for flowering with a higher middle number, like 2-5-2 or 5-30-5
- Listen to the advice you've been given about autos
- Flushing is something you do when something is wrong with the plants environment and you haven't been able to fix it. Flushing weeks early for harvest is a growers myth that does nothing but take food away from the plants in flowering when they need it most. I give my plants plain water a couple days before harvest. No flush necessary.

Good luck
 
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