Newbie with questions on his setup

Got a question. Growing in a 1.45 square foot box. Currently have 2x23w CFL's, until I get paid. I plan on growing 2-3 plants in here. And the plant is to have 4x32w CFLs on a power strip that can move up and down on a pully system. Going to use 2 2700k and 2 6700k. Will this be sufficient lighting to grow decent buds? They don't have to be perfect, this is my first grow. Also, does anyone know how to use the fan out of a CPU to use as a ventilation system? I read about using it somewhere, but forgot where now that I need the info, lol. Any input would be appreciated, even if it doesn't pertain to the actual question. Like anything that I'm going to run into later...

if you read right under where you hit to post a thread and go to any one of them stickies you will get the answers for everything your asking

https://www.rollitup.org/cfl-growing/259568-my-first-pc-grow-cfl.html
https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/204894-pc-case-lowryder-grow.html
check these out. theyre not my posts but they may be helpful

not really the help i was looking for. I've read thru the FAQ's and know about basic growing. I got the fan out of a CD player, and like an idiot, didn't remember the detail about the AC ADAPTER until after I plugged it in. Burnt the motor up in the fan by plugging it directly into the wall, lol. Figured out a fan with even a small breeze will take care of my heat problem. So now I'm rummaging thru my friends garages looking for stereos, computers, etc, for another fan. Got a cell phone charger to keep from burning the motor. What a rookie mistake, i know, cuz that fan was perfect. But everyone says the best way to learn is thru experience. My biggest issue right now is the leaves. I've got 5 sprouts currently, each of them about an inch tall. The second set of leaves, the first ones with the points on them, look great on all the sprouts. But on EVERY plant, one of the first set of leaves, the round ones, are growing the wrong way... i guess you could say instead of growing east-west, they are both growing east, with the one that isn't supposed to be folding itself in half over the top of the sprout... I'd think that it's the light, but they are all doing it in different directions. Am i just worrying too much, or is there something wrong? I added a third light, this one only 13w, but i figured every little bit helps at this stage until I get paid and can get my system actually working. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


Also, when should I start fertilizing. I'm an avid outdoor tomato gardener, and in the beginning, I mix a little bit of aspirin with one of the early waterings, as i have learned this is a "ghetto" root stimulator. But it works, 5 years in a row, I've had root systems in my gardens that start to bulge the plant out of the ground. Is this a bad idea with bud? I'm thinking just a one time feeding of 15 mg to a gallon of water, extremely weak (outside with tomatoes i use 81mg/gallon and feed the entire gallon) and only adding enough to the peat moss tray until the peat moss does not soak it up. I don't want to ruin them this early, just to get the root system a healthy start so that after transplant, they prosper. So is this a bad idea, and when should I fertilize? Other than aspirin, I'm growing completely organic, with fish emulsion in veg, and a mix of organic triple phosphorus 0-0-43, and some other fertilizer by the same organic company, i forget the name but its 0-35-0, and then adding in a light amount of the fish emulsion to make it about 2.5-35.5-43.5. Obviously lightly at first, and then progressively more.

I'd really appreciate some kind of response here, for someone to scribe to this and help walk me thru my first grow. Thank you. oh, and to the ones who posted the links, thank you.

for the size box you have, i'd say 2 plants might be better
much depends on how big you think they'll get
other than that, the setup you described sounds good - the hanging cord cfl setup is a classic here, though i've not used it

well i've got 5 sprouts, I'm assuming half make it thru to transplant, and half of those are females. So i'm predicting, lowball end, one plant, and if i'm lucky, two. Recently, i started taking the door off the box and using a fan and blowing it on them. Its garbage night around here, i'm leaving after i post this to find a computer to take a fan from. But yes, two plants is ideal, three at the very most. The cabinet I have is only 26 inches high, with the lighting, extended all the way up, taking up 6 inches. So with a fan, I'm hoping to be able to grow to about 18 inches when i flower. How high should i let them get before i start to flower. I'm ASSUMING about 6 inches... but this is a very wild guess, i've never done this before with a limit on how tall a plant can grow. So It'd be nice to have some kind of feedback on that.

Also, i guess the problem with the leaves was just paying too much attention to it in the early stages, they all grew out perfectly. I've got 3 sets of leaves now, but the plants are still only about 1.25 inches tall, with the sets of leaves bunched up into less than a quarter of an inch. It looks really weird. I pulled my lights up a few inches cuz I figured they were not stretching enough to get to the light.... Any feedback?

AND ANOTHER THING!!!! HOW DO I NOT BE A STRANGER ON HERE!!! I feel like people don't wanna help me because of it. I don't smoke a whole lot, maybe one hit a month, so this garden is gonna last me a freakin year, haha. But i'm all about legalization and i'd like to be more active on this sight, i just don't get how I'm still a stranger. I'm an avid gardener, like i said before, and although i don't really have much experience in growing buds, the basic laws of plant life have to apply to bud, right?

the stranger thing is mostly about the number of posts, some threshold number
don't be put off by low posts, it takes time for threads to get noticed

okay. they've gotten to just begining to show the fourth set of leaves. I'm about to transplant them, I don't want them to grow too tall, simply because I have 24 inches vertical in the box, and this has to include the lights and the planter. Should I sex the plants before or after the transplant. I'm assuming transplant AND 12/12 is too much stress at once to such young plants, correct?

Also, the third set of leaves appear to be curling downward. I think it's due to overwatering, and I've cut back on the water. The plants are completely green tho, no yellowing, so i think i'm okay.

if you want to grow 2-3 plants in that space i would recommend LST'ing them so that when you switch flower the buds will get the most light and create some diesel/tight harvests.

Idontevensmoke said:

okay. they've gotten to just begining to show the fourth set of leaves. I'm about to transplant them, I don't want them to grow too tall, simply because I have 24 inches vertical in the box, and this has to include the lights and the planter. Should I sex the plants before or after the transplant. I'm assuming transplant AND 12/12 is too much stress at once to such young plants, correct?

Also, the third set of leaves appear to be curling downward. I think it's due to overwatering, and I've cut back on the water. The plants are completely green tho, no yellowing, so i think i'm okay.

Click to expand...

i'm afraid sexing them would likely take a while
and they would grow a lot by the time you knew what was what
so transplanting as is is probably what you want to do
and as the other posted, some for of height control is needed(unless these are really low maturing plants)
LST is one way, topping another, got some reading on plant training to do
only you will be able to judge what will work in your setup

Okay, so i guess transplant will be coming first. When is the soonegl i can begin to flower. And i'm also begini to have a problem. At first, it was just one set me leaves on one plant, but now its on all plants, multiple sets of leaves. The leaves are curling. Not just the tips, but the entire leaf is curling down. However, other than this, they appear healthy... They aren't yellowing at all. First thought was water, but the plants are also still in a seed starter kit, in one inch peat moss things. Could this restricted space be a problem? I'm confused on this one, i really doubt its over watering, and the only nutrients i've given is once, miracle grow 20-20-20, diluted to a quarter me the recommended amount, and then only a little of this extremely diluted solution

you can start flowering anytime, just turn the light cycle to 12/12
the leaf curl is a problem, does sound like watering issue, maybe heat
you'll really need to post some pics for better info, it's tough to guess from description

Ya, it may be a heat problem. Because me my current situation, i can't let anyone else in the house know i'm growing, so have to keep the box in the corner, covered with a blanket to keep any light leaks from being exposed, and haven't gotten the fan installed yet, but will have it on friday when i get paid. But there have been a few times when i've opened the box up and seen temps at 88 degrees. When the box is open with a regular fan blowing on it, the temp stays about 73. So what exactly is LSTing? I will try to get some pictures up here as soon as i can.

LST stands for Low Stress Training
you use string, twist ties, etc. to bend the main stalk where the main stalk is pliable
i was going to do a LST, but had a lot of trouble with small pots, back to regular size for me
you can train the plant to spiral around the pot, you will get bigger branches, smaller main top
you can actually train in all kind of ways, but the spiral seems to be the most common

here, i finally got some pics. i have definite yellowing. what does this look like to everyone? i'd hate to lose them now, but this CAN'T be healthy. 5 6 and 7 were taken about 3 days after the first 4. notice the curling of the leaves, and the yellowing. But other than all that, they are growing quickly... i don't get it. The small stunted out actually is started to have the biggest fan leaves. But PLEASE help someone!!! i know the usual answer is over watering, but when i transplanted, the roots were dry as hell, i didn't get it...

i wouldnt worry them look pretty damn nice in the pictures. cant notice any yellowing maybe a little in the middle just start giving them nutes soon theyll be fine. oh and droopy leaves can happen from underwatering to but them dont look bad at all mine are way worst then that droopy wise and their still growing fine

i'll 2nd the previous post, don't look bad at all
it's hard when you are just starting, the temptation is to start doing all kind of things
and that's when the real trouble starts, much more likey to kill them with kindness than neglect

Well i looked at the plants today, had to wait cuz i switched to 12-12. But they actually look a lil better, not as much curl. I went thru my log today and noticed i had a 3 day period where i couldn't get to them to water them, and maintaining a temp of 85 to 90 right before the curl started. So maybe thats it. I was skeptical after the first reply, but after reading 2, i'm much more confident. Maybe i'm just paying too close attention to them. Everywhere I've read, the biggest mistake beginners make is tryin to fix what isn't broken, which like grow one said, leads to fatal problems. But thats why i'm on here, right? Thanks guys... I'll keep this thread going and keep taking photos if you wanna follow, plus i doubt this won't be my last issue with this crop.

Well i looked at the plants today, had to wait cuz i switched to 12-12. But they actually look a lil better, not as much curl. I went thru my log today and noticed i had a 3 day period where i couldn't get to them to water them, and maintaining a temp of 85 to 90 right before the curl started. So maybe thats it. I was skeptical after the first reply, but after reading 2, i'm much more confident. Maybe i'm just paying too close attention to them. Everywhere I've read, the biggest mistake beginners make is tryin to fix what isn't broken, which like grow one said, leads to fatal problems. But thats why i'm on here, right? Thanks guys... I'll keep this thread going and keep taking photos if you wanna follow, plus i doubt this won't be my last issue with this crop. I've added extra supplemental lights a few hours a day. I calculated everything out, i'm in 1.531 square feet, which is .14223 square meters. I've got 65w of 2700K, 23w of 5000K, and 49w of 6500K, for a total of 137w, or 89.484w per square foot. The total lumens are 8000, which might be off by a few hundred, i couldn't remember the lumens for 2 of the 23w bulbs, but the 2 i have the numbers for are over 1000, so i low balled the unknowns at 1000. But 8000 lumens at .14223 square meters put me at a lux of 56,246.924. Then i've got 3 supplemental 23w, 2x5000k and 1x2700k. According to what i've read, the light is well above what i need. But i do have a question... When i bought the 5000k's, they said daylight and it wasn't until a few days later that i realized they weren't 6500k. Are the 5000k any good? I figured they are close, they gotta put off at least SOME of the red spectrum. But am i right? Are they worth using or should i take them out and put the 2700k i have left over in its spot. Eventually i'm gonna end up with 6500k's there, but until then, do the 5's work?