Noob questions on 1st grow please HELP!!!

mikey2tres

mikey2tres

Member
What it do folk?

First of all, let me describe my setup. I have an old PC thats about 14 1/2" tall x 16" long x 7" deep outside dimensions. Inside I have lined the floor and all of the walls with metal repair tape (ceiling is uncovered due to me running out of tape). I have two 6 outlet power strips attached to the ceiling with Velcro. Two 23 watt 6500K CFL's and one 13 watt 2700K CFL.

Question #1 How soon should I start LST'ing my plant?

Question #2 How soon should I switch to 12/12 for flower?

Question #3 I plan on buying 4 more CFL's for a total of 7. If all of my CFL's are 23 watts and put out about 1500 lumens each will that be enough for one plant? Or should I roll with some higher wattage bulbs?

Question #4 Is it possible to get a decent yield out of such a small space if I use SCRoG? I think I'll be happy with at least 1/4 oz dried and think I have about 6 or 7" of vertical space then it'll be touching the lights.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated :)

p.s. Here are a few pics to go along with my description.
 
cannabisguru

cannabisguru

Well-Known Member
Answering questions #2 and #3 for ya..

You can switch over to 12/12 or any other flowering light cycle.. at any given time. In other words, you can switch from veg over to flowering.. at any time you want. You can do 12/12 from seed if you feel like doing so.

7 CFL bulbs.. should be enough.. especially for just one plant. However, the more wattage/lumens you put out, the better off you and your plant or plants will be.

simple enough.

good luck.

peace.
 
mikey2tres

mikey2tres

Member
cannabisguru said:
Answering questions #2 and #3 for ya..

You can switch over to 12/12 or any other flowering light cycle.. at any given time. In other words, you can switch from veg over to flowering.. at any time you want. You can do 12/12 from seed if you feel like doing so.

7 CFL bulbs.. should be enough.. especially for just one plant. However, the more wattage/lumens you put out, the better off you and your plant or plants will be.

simple enough.

good luck.

peace.
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Thanks for the info mane!!! Maybe next time I'll try 12/12 from seed.
 
HankDank

HankDank

Well-Known Member
Q1 = You should start to LST when you have 4-5 nodes, some people begin it earlier, really if your going to scrog, you may not need to LST.
LST i think is really an advantage when you have a taller plant that you need to bring down to allow all the bud sites to get a more even canopy and share light better. But thats what your scrog is for in your case
 
mikey2tres

mikey2tres

Member
HankDank said:
Q1 = You should start to LST when you have 4-5 nodes, some people begin it earlier, really if your going to scrog, you may not need to LST.
LST i think is really an advantage when you have a taller plant that you need to bring down to allow all the bud sites to get a more even canopy and share light better. But thats what your scrog is for in your case
Click to expand...
Cool thanks for the info. I think i might use SCRoG but i dont know. I'm only 5 days from seed so I guess i'll figure that part out a lil later.
 
woodydude

woodydude

Active Member
Oh dear! Some bad info there.
Yes, you can switch lighting to 12/12 whenever you like but until the plant has alternating nodes, it will not flower!
Wait until you see alternating nodes, then switch to 12/12 otherwise you are wasting potential growing time and inducing stretch. This is precisely what 12/12 from seed does. In my experience, doing this wastes half your potential light time. More light = more photosynthesis. More photosynthesis = more growth & bud sites. More bud sites = more bud.

You can flower with 7 cfl's but you will have to change the light spectrum. You are running daylight bulbs (c6,500k) which are perfect for tight growth during veg. When flowering however, you need warm white bulbs (c2,500k) or a mixture of the two. I would suggest 5x daylight & 2 x warm white for veg and reverse it for flowering. This will give you a short bushy plant.

LST is ideally suited to keep the height down on plants. SCROG (this is actually a type of lst) uses plant hormones to get the best yield from small spaces. Perfect for your space. A plant sends a hormone to the highest bud on a plant to make it grow bigger. By using a SCROG correctly and keeping all bud sites at identical heights, they all get the hormone, making them all bigger than they would otherwise be. Go for a SCROG, you wont regret it.

There is no real way of telling how much yield you will get from any given space since there are too many variable factors. Light, spectrum, temps, genetics, humidity, grower skill, water, ph, ventilation, avalable CO2 and of course, nutrients. If you get all the factors you can control within 5% of perfect, use a SCROG correctly, you will maximise the potential for the genetics & space.

Peace W
 
mikey2tres

mikey2tres

Member
woodydude said:
Oh dear! Some bad info there.
Yes, you can switch lighting to 12/12 whenever you like but until the plant has alternating nodes, it will not flower!
Wait until you see alternating nodes, then switch to 12/12 otherwise you are wasting potential growing time and inducing stretch. This is precisely what 12/12 from seed does. In my experience, doing this wastes half your potential light time. More light = more photosynthesis. More photosynthesis = more growth & bud sites. More bud sites = more bud.

You can flower with 7 cfl's but you will have to change the light spectrum. You are running daylight bulbs (c6,500k) which are perfect for tight growth during veg. When flowering however, you need warm white bulbs (c2,500k) or a mixture of the two. I would suggest 5x daylight & 2 x warm white for veg and reverse it for flowering. This will give you a short bushy plant.

LST is ideally suited to keep the height down on plants. SCROG (this is actually a type of lst) uses plant hormones to get the best yield from small spaces. Perfect for your space. A plant sends a hormone to the highest bud on a plant to make it grow bigger. By using a SCROG correctly and keeping all bud sites at identical heights, they all get the hormone, making them all bigger than they would otherwise be. Go for a SCROG, you wont regret it.

There is no real way of telling how much yield you will get from any given space since there are too many variable factors. Light, spectrum, temps, genetics, humidity, grower skill, water, ph, ventilation, avalable CO2 and of course, nutrients. If you get all the factors you can control within 5% of perfect, use a SCROG correctly, you will maximise the potential for the genetics & space.

Peace W
Click to expand...
ok ok so 5x 6500k & 2x 2700K will give me a short bushy plant. vice versa for flower. thats exactly what i want... a short bushy plant cuz thats all my space will allow. i know im over thinking some of the details since this is my 1st grow and im only 5 days from seed but im just so bloody excited :) and eager to learn. Any recommendations on nutes? i was thinking of getting Fox Farms Grow Big and Big Bloom.
 
mikey2tres

mikey2tres

Member
CyberSmoke said:
the metal repair tape is as useless as my aluminum foil from what i have been reading. either white walls or reflextive mylar are worth while for what we are doing it seems. {I have aluminum foiled walls myshelf...} good luck with yours! i will step up next time
check this..
https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/18861-mylar-vs-aluminum-foil-vs.html
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I read that foil tape wasn't too great for reflectivity but it was inexpensive, self adhesive, and much more reflective than my PC's bare walls. I don't wanna paint so i guess that leaves mylar. where can i find mylar for a decent price(for next grow box project)? Not worried about it too much right now because i have a slim budget and all's well so far. so far i've spent about $20-25 on materials. I will hitting up Lowes or Home Depot in a couple of days to spend another $30 on CFL's and stuff.
 
CyberSmoke

CyberSmoke

Well-Known Member
mikey2tres said:
I read that foil tape wasn't too great for reflectivity but it was inexpensive, self adhesive, and much more reflective than my PC's bare walls. I don't wanna paint so i guess that leaves mylar. where can i find mylar for a decent price(for next grow box project)? Not worried about it too much right now because i have a slim budget and all's well so far. so far i've spent about $20-25 on materials. I will hitting up Lowes or Home Depot in a couple of days to spend another $30 on CFL's and stuff.
Click to expand...
I'm sure it's the same with anything else you can spend as much as you want or will, they seem to have prices for every buget ahhahah at the local medical store they are asking i think around 50 bucks for 50ft. I'm sure a much better deal can be found elsewhere.
 
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