OK i Want to get better

OK I just finished my first grow and i grew some smaller plants because of bad timing and space issues i got about 2oz. off of 18" plants.now ive got a huge building to grow in and i have set it up with 500w worth of CFL's plus a 48" dual flourescent ballast with 2 40w "grow" flourescents and im vegging. these lights are about 9 inches away from the plants and my new sprouts are doing good. at a week they are about 2 inches tall and have nice colors and leaves. 8 plants total.im not in a position to buy MH or HPS light systems so CFL is it for now.I think im going to be ok i got 8 sprouts and i figure about 3 or 4 will be male so when i get to flowering i wont have as many so the lighting should be sufficient i think.now here is my question i need to understand nutrients these are soil grow so when do i start fert and what should be my schedule.thanks for any help

BTW i am doing the 24 hour light cycle

start adding nutes after the first round leaves start to die, usually about 2-3 weeks. start with about half or less even of what most nute directions say. Then gradually build up to recommended dose. As far as schedule I do every other time I water. So reg water then water with nutes, then reg water, then with nutes, etc.

Good luck.

what nutes do you recommend

foxfarms nutes are the best

yeah i understand the brands but...i want to know like which foxfarm types are best for what like there are 40 types of miracle gro im sure there are 100 different FF products

fletcherj said:

yeah i understand the brands but...i want to know like which foxfarm types are best for what like there are 40 types of miracle gro im sure there are 100 different FF products

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bump for the morning crowd

I recently purchased Fox Farm's liquid 3 pack which consists of Grow Big, Tiger Bloom, and Big Bloom. Seems to be working well for me. I couldn't say if it's the best by any means since I have no other products to make a comparison to. Everything else I have used is straight organic such as guano, worm castings, blood and bone meal.

i would sugest useing HID lamps rather then cfl's ull see the difference!

resinraider said:

i would sugest useing HID lamps rather then cfl's ull see the difference!

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I agree

Sooner or later you'll switch to HPS

Is "500w worth of CFL's" even less money than a HPS ballast and a bulb and reflector (optional)?

Depending on how good the medium is you are using you might not need to add anything for the first few weeks. I just use Fish emulsion during vegging, it's cheap, organic and works great. For seedlings / clones I use about half strength and after a few weeks of getting used to that I'll work my way up to full strength. I also fertilize every other, sometimes every third watering.

How many watts per square foot do you average with those CFL?

HPS and MH are both more efficient (watts used / usable light) than CFL, just that the cost is prohibitive. I started out using 150W HPS security lights, not as efficient as their bigger counterparts, but sure beats CFL for flowering. Don't get me wrong, CFL are great for vegging, I actually prefer them for that, but you might wanna think about it before flowering time. You'll get much better and denser buds with better lights.

Strangely enough I just bought 2 300watt dual cfls last night with e40 reflectors, can't wait for them to arrive!