New to growing, advice please and thank you

Hi guys. I'm starting my first grow today. I've researched for a few weeks before I began. I have a small closet which I will post a picture of later. I got two 75 watt portable grow lights for about 10 bucks a pop, which wasn't bad. Due to availability I got miracle-grow despite reading a few complaints about it on the forums here. I don't have the money to buy a PH tester just yet and there are a number of things left to purchase.

I'm using bagseed, because I don't like the risk associated with buying seeds. I know it's better to get a known strain and it's more efficient to grow with feminized seeds but I just can't get past that. I live in a place where it's not the most..erm..legally accepted practice.

So, I let these seeds germ for a day before I put them in the cups, they are clear plastic 6oz cups with slits in the bottom for air flow. I bought a small window fan and I secured it to the top of the door frame. So, I've got airflow covered, lights should be sufficient for such a small space.

I only let em germ for a day, didn't see any sprouts but I went ahead and planted them. Probably a mistake. I don't have any neuts yet for lack of funds but I've got everything set up and ready to go.


There is a shelf on either side of the closet about 5 feet up. I lined them with foil then put the lights on the walls less than a foot from the shelf, maybe four inches above the cups. I'm only growing for myself and no one should know anything about this.

Any advice? Tips? I've read over a lot of material but I was wanting specific pointers.

There is also a 100w cool florescent tube above the door but it's too far away to be of use. Looking at how much space I have, without adding more lights, how many plants do you think I can manage in here? There is another light on the other side of the room above the other shelf in a similar manner, the two will be put close together when it comes time to veg.

Oh and umm, for anyone reading this..I'm totally growing tomatoes....tomatoes.

I did some growing recently with miracle grow.. one thing I will recommend if you decide to use it after this stage is that you add perlite. Also.. I think you may need more lights if you are planning to have as many plants as there are cups.. As for nutes.. if you got MG it likly already has nutes so I wouldn't bother using any for a while.

Perlite? I'll look up what that is, haha.
I have one more light just like it on the opposite side of the room. I've got the two and they're 75w grow lights (Labeled as such, maybe not) It really depends on if I can nail down how much each will yield before I decide to get more lights. I'll probably need to fill up the entire closet to get a decent yield that I can rely on between harvests. Since it's my only room, I can't have a constant cycle, though I've thought about hanging a blanket in the middle of the room to make a vegging and flowering partition respectively.

I have 6 pots for final planting, so the first time around I may just do that. I'd like to clone though, but I don't want to spend a bunch of money on rooting solution. I don't really want to have to deal with seeds much more because of the risk of males.

i have a cloning thread that i made heres the llink mate take a read through it and post some questions

https://www.rollitup.org/advanced-marijuana-cultivation/454049-cloning-techniques-good-bad-weird.html

Will do. Can you comment on my grow room any?

That pretty much answered most of my questions.

room looks right you just gunna need more light maybe mh or cfl for veg and hps for flower..

What is a HPS?

Nevermind found it. How much would one of those run me, with fixture

type of bulbs for flower heres a link
http://www.grotec.co.uk/products.php?department_id=25

Ah. Those lights I have now, 2 of them, are 'Grow Lights' and they're 75w, so 150w together. I also have a cool florescent above the door thats installed already. Should I have all three on or just my two grow lights?

the more lights th better

Ok. What are the negative impacts if I just stick with these grow lights the whole time? I might buy another two, but they'll be the same. MH and HPS aren't an option for a while due to finance. If i just use what I got, how dramatic will the repercussions be?

Also, should I even bother keeping my lights on if they're still tucked under the soil?

yea keep them on and the repocussions is if you do get them the plants will be stronger healthier and yeild more..

I'll make it a priority but I don't think I'll be able to get it until next week. They'll have to make do until they.

I tried looking for MH and HPS lights at walmart, shoulda known better. Can it be found at lowes or homedepot? Will I only need one of each?

no idea mate im from uk yea 400-600 watt of each

Thanks. So is that my only issue at the moment? I planted my seeds after a day of germing on wet paper towels, can I expect sprouts tomorrow or the next day?

Ehhh...Man, yeah you can get like a 70w HPS at home depot, but you're gonna pay a lot of money for an inferior product. If you're stuck with Home Depot, Lowes, and Walmart...you should look into CFL's...The "Grow" light you have isn't 75 watts, it's like 17 actual watts....I'm guessing you got it at walmart...it's garbage. Try some "Daylight" CFL's, the 100w Equivalant ones, they are like 26 ACTUAL watts, and they sell some 42 Actual watt 2700k there as well...they're gonna work way better than those cheap grow light tubes...Lights of America brand?? Yeah, CFL's will work better.

I have no electrical background at all. How would I mount all of those CFLs?

personally you want to get them outta those see through cups asap and into some dark coloured pots cos the lights will damage the roots and also any tin foil you got in your grow room needs to be removed as it isnt great for reflecting light and again will cause more damage to the plant than good

Thanks mike. Will do. Until I can afford something more, I'll wrap the cups with some dark tape or something.