My All CFL Grow Journal

Hello,

After continuous reading and going over all the information I could I have finally started off my first ever grow. This is where I will keep track of it all and ask all the questions.

Well to start off I am growing in a closet and the area I'm using in the closet Is about 4 feet by 2.5 feet height really isn't a concern to me right now but the other side of my closet will have enough height for flowering.

Equipment:Right now for the breaking surface stage this is what I have set up. I have 5 16 oz styrofoam cups. For my soil the best I can get around my area is Scotts premium potting soil. For lighting right now I have a 4 foot shoplight with 2 40 watt residential bulbs. I have a new CFL lighting system I'm working on if anyone would like to share some ideas I'll be more than happy to hear them and if you could provide pictures that would be great. But yes I'm using CFL's I've seen very good growing done and I'm convinced for my first grow I'd much rather use CFL then buy expensive lighting. I am also using a humidifier and have a oscillating fan. The lights are on 24/7 right now.

My CFL Setup. As of right now I have 10 23 watt 100 watt equivalent bulubs that give about 1700 lumens per bulb. I plan on getting more bulb but was wondering how many should I need? They are also bright white. I plan on getting all soft white when I start flowering.

Specs: My area stays at a steady 74 degrees and the humidity level stays about 58.

Friday April 18th in the evening I planted 5 of my seeds. I did not germinate I just planted about 1/2 an inch under and watered on occasion.

Today April 22nd one of the five has broke surface and i'm dying for the others to break surface.

Now here start my questions:

(1) As this one and the others soon to break the surface about how long should I wait to transplant my babies to their final home. ALso I have seen different pots used as of size would a 3 gallon bucket work or should I use a 5 gallon bucket. Also when should I change my lighting to my CFL's?

(2) Nutrients the biggest pain in my ass lol. When should I start using them and what should I get right now while i'm in the vegg state. I've read trust me I've read all over but I just want to get some growers opinions on what I should get.

(3) Then I just want some basic tips right now on what I should do right now to keep my plants alive and make this grow a success.

Peace

Forgot to attach my pictures here is what I have so far

cool ill subscribe i love cfl grows

1. Just wait a few days as seedlings. 3 gallon bucket should work just fine. You can change your lighting to CLFs as soon as you transplant I would say.
2. Don't even worry about nutes until your plants are at least 2 weeks old. For Veg. try to get about 20-10-10 or 30-15-15. For flowering, you could use 10-20-20 or 15-30-30.
3. Basic Tips... hmm, please don't over water. Easy to do, remember this is a WEED.

I really enjoy CFL grows so I'm going to suscribe and help out whenever I can.
Goodluck with this grow man.

Duece.

yeah over watering seems to run around here a lot, id say thats half the problems in the help forum lol

Thank you for all the fast responses and all of you that are interested in my grow. I'm very new at this and may ask alot of questions so I hope it doesn't get annoying. One thing I did want to ask is how many cfl lights should I have I really liked humboldt's cfl grow and he had about 14 bulbs I will be planning on about 3 or 4 plants at one time. Also I plan on hooking up my CFL lights this weekend would that be a good time to transplant atleast the one that broke surface?

transplant when the roots fill the pot, it makes it easier and it wont need more room till then

it really depends on lighting, a lot of people on here are going to try and tell ya to push an hps or that you need 12, 40 watt cfls to get something decent... the truth is you should base it on how tall and big you want the plants... the taller and bigger the more cfl you need

ive seen people get good results with 3 cfl for each plant... and others who do it in rubbermaids who get 6 cfls to grow 3 smaller plants

id say just buy them as you need them

also you should think about putting mylar on the walls and closer to the plants, it makes it so you wont need a lot of light, white paint works well but im a sucker for the mylar cause its a lot brighter in my opinion lol

The more CFLs, the merrier. The great thing about them is they really don't get too hot.
I do however highly recommend you get a fan oscillating over your plants 24/7. Helps strengthen stems, moves air around, and can reduce temperature.

Duece.

he's got that uber,

but yeah since you have an open room really the skys the limit with how many you want, but id just add them as you need them

Hello everyone,

Stopping in for an update on my lunch break. My one that broke surface yesterday seems to be doing great and I had one new one break the surface today

Just freshly watered them today. Right now I've been using a spray bottle and give about 25 to 30 sprays in the soil does that seem like it may be to much. Also I water every other day my soil seems very dry every time I do this.

Let me know if I need to do anything differently

Hey man, Nice nice!! Looking good, i'm scribed : I'll be checking for updates

as long as your checking deep into the soil that its dry then your fine

but if it sdry at the top you may end up over watering

later

Hello everyone!!

Well got an update for you all. After work tonight I went and got the rest of the material I would need to finish my cfl lighting set up. I got 2 3 fixture vanity lights and stripped them down and put y adapters in all the sockets.
Also I have a new baby trying to break the surface which so far that will be 3 out of 5. I also went today and got my final transplant pots take a look at them and see if they will work for me.

My lighting fixtures were attached to a wooden shelf and has hooks and eyes and will be using chains used for shop lights to hang in the grow area. (1)Also I was wondering if anyone suggest that I get one more light fixture and put it on the ground with lights facing upward. I have seen this a couple of times and wondered if it would help. All the lights I'm using are 23 watt 100 watt equivalent with bright white color.

(2)Was wanting some opinions on if you all think it would be a good idea to transplant my plants to their new homes say maybe sunday night or should I keep them in these cups until next week sometime.

(3)Also when I transplant how much water should I give once they have been successfully transplanted. Also I was wondering if there is a certain transplanting technique I should follow?

(4)Upon transplanting what should I expect after they are in their final homes?

2. keep them in the cups for at least a week or two
3. not much water, dont over do it man
4. Just a small delay in growth and then BAM

Duece.

water them when the soil is totally dry

and transplant them when the roots have no where else to go in your current cups... last thing you need is pulling them out and everything breaking apart on you

you use the same method you would if you were transplanting flowers... once the entire current cup is full its easy to remove it with all the dirt into another pot

Hello stopping into to give a quick update:

First I want to thank all of you so far who have been constant responders to my messages I really appreciate it all.

Now All plants seem to be doing good today. Growing very nicely.

I also picked up a moisture meter today and this is where my first question comes in:

(1)My meter goes from 0 to 10 what would be a good number to keep my plants at.

(2)I used the meter on all my plants which were just watered last night and it read about half way between 0 and 1 am I maybe not watering enough since I just watered them last night?

(3)Was wondering if I make my transplant date next Thursday would that have been a long enough time or should I wait till next weekend to transplant into their new homes?

(4)Once I transplant should I start giving nutrients or should I wait a few for them to settle into the new pots?

This is what I got so far thanks for all my supporters

This is for you!

1. Somewhere in the middle. When it gets below 3, I would say water. (Someone correct me if this is wrong) Also make sure you stick it a few inches in.
2. I think you're watering enough, how far did you stick it in? (Hehehe)
3. Thursday should be just fine
4. You can if you want, if it were me, wait 1-2 days.

Keep it up!

Duece.

Alright well I have it set that Thursday will be my transplant day looking forward to this alot =)

(1)Was wondering I've seen many different ways work out but about how long should I keep my plant in vegg before switching to flowering just wanted to get a ball park idea in my head.

(2)So for nutrients I'm having the hardest time finding the numbers everyone has gave me they just don't seem to have them anywhere in this town would it be eaiser for me to go out and get the numbers bring them back and show you them and then go out and buy some?

(3)Also was wondering if when i start to flower should I have all soft white bulbs or what should I have as my set up of bulbs for flowering? Still wondering about the other light fixture though to see if it would help me I was thinking about have it be put in the middle of my plants on the ground with light bulbs facing upward?

Well that should be it for right now. Look forward to the upcoming Thursday new homes for my plants and my new lighting system gets put up for use =)

peace not greed

1. Well this is really where you get some options. Think of it this way, the plant will almost double in size from when you switch light schedule. It's really up to you when you want to flower.
2. If you cant find them, go for a generic bloom boost for flowering, or something like 10-10-10 will work for the whole grow.
3. I would give a nice spectrum mix, but for Veg concentrate on a 6500K spectrum and for Flower, more of the warm/soft 2850K.

Duece.

Hello everyone,

stopping in for an update I'm going on day 8 from when they were planted and I have 2 doing good so far and 1 that I'm not too sure about and the other 2 haven't even broken the surface.

(1)If by Thursday the last two haven't broken the surface would it be safe to say they are not going to sprout?

(2)I have labeled my cups now with the order they sprouted in can you guys examine number 3 it seems to be doing good and it just have opened up in a weird way that my other plants didn't should it be ok?

(3)Is there anything else I could be doing for them right now or am I just waiting and letting them grow and getting ready for the transplant? Also I was wondering is there anything special I should do the day before the transplant or anything like that?

PEACE NOT GREED GROW YOUR OWN