Poppinsmokey's first grow - CFL's

well its a sativa plant and rainforest temps run around 77 and rarely over 90. so that should give you the best idea. I would say 85 should be your max temp, you have to realize that plants {C4 especially} lose the ability to fix carbon at high temps so they could actually stop growth while there may be more light the plant can't do anything at all.

The reason a guy like me needs a book is BECAUSE there is so much info online. Some info is outdated, some info is wrong, the jargon varies, etc. It was about $14 or so, and it is money well spent for a noob that is looking for what materials to buy, how to get started, and a "cookbook" approach. I'm positive the book saved me $$ in yield, dead plants, and time in learning. If a $14 book takes an hour to read saves me even an hour of time I'd spend looking for information it is worth many times more than $14 to me.

Thanks sicknasty! I'll definitely be pulling most, if not all of the 23 watters when the lights come on in the morning. That makes alot of sense to me. I've been doing a ton of research on heat and growing tonight. How are you cooling all those cfls you've got? You have any suggestions for cooling a closet? Take care, and thanks for stopping by.

I am not using that many anymore almost all my surfaces are white or mylar so most light gets reflected. I have 6 42w and 2 26w is all right now considering I have only 1 legitimate plant. I was just overkilling cause of the blah blah blah you'll get loose buds blah blah blah.

I tied my top over so the rest of the bud sites could grow up even. (it actually bent a little but I think that helped because it slowed it down enough for the others to come up probably redistributed some axins too) and they are all in a pretty close proximity and nodal spacing has really tightened up so they will be fine.

you have that nice looking main cola so its too late to do this to yours but I would put probably 2 lights on that and hang the rest down close to the other buds. you have a nice white room too, so that probably helps alot.

6500k Blue light also greatly controls stretch, for some biochemical reason blue day light compacts the plants. Some say it improves flavor and smell too do to that wavelength catalyzing production of aromatics for the plant.

Im guessing thats more sativa so the buds are going to be less dense just because thats how they grow. Not to say they don't look really yummy to me! I wouldn't be dissapointed if they are fluffier than expected anyway, the less dense the more trichomes and most of the THC is made in the trichomes anyway so to me its like getting more bang per bud.

Just because you hear all these wise elders say dense buds are the best doesn't mean you should believe it. I think I get higher off less fluff than I do dense, of course this has all been stuff I have bought so there are about a million different variables.

CS Lewis was a genious, but he loved to take a step back and look at things from a completely opposite viewpoint to gain new insight. I love this technique it has pretty much changed my entire world.

Love your insight sicknasty. It's very fresh and adds something to the discussion. My plants haven't stretched in 10 days, they've been 19 and 23" respectively since last Tuesday. Since then is has just been thickening of the buds and buds filling in the stems. I'm going to keep the 6500K light on them. I started pulling the 23 watters today. I only had 4 of them on the plants, but they seem to put out as much heat as a 42 watt bulb, so they are getting 86'd.

The "whiteness" of the room is black/white poly w/ the white side facing in. I really like how easy it was to work with. If you've got walls, it hangs easily w/ push pins and seals up nicely w/ velcro. I'm guessing by the time the temps get down, I'll have 12 42 watt cfls (9 2700K, and 3 6500K). I'm going to go buy a better thermometer/hygrometer today. I just really question the accuracy of the one I have.

Btw, your grow looks really good sick. I've been following it, and will continue to do so. Take care.

I got my heat down to about 80 degrees F. I had to pull 2 23 watters to do it. Those little buggers put out nearly as much heat as the 42's. The smaller buds have really been loving the extra light as I'm sure you can see from the pics. I should also mention that this strain seems to just burst with growth after every watering. However, the trichs become more numerous as the plant dries out.

I'm going to snip a few leaves (top, middle, bottom) with trichs on them to check them out. I've never looked at trichs under a microscope before, so I figured I'd better check 'em out before I go half assed into harvest in a few weeks. Nevermind just did it - freakin' sweet!!

53 days ago they broke the surface of the soil. 35 days ago (5 weeks for the mathmatically challenged) they were put on 12/12. There is one smallish bud that seems to be maturing way faster than the rest on either of the plants. About 40% of the pistils are turning, and it has a few amber trichs, 45% cloudy, and 45% clear. I've got my eye on it for eating in the not too distant future .

Let me know what you guys and gals think.

Does anyone know if it is OK to cut the very bottom wispy little buds that are not going to produce any significant weight? Would this allow more growth to occur in the larger more promising buds? Thanks in advance!

just out of curiosity....from my rough count, it seems you have at least 10 bulbs, maybe up to 15 or something....

Does anyone know if at this point you are still saving money on CFL v. HPS?

you would have to run about 100 23w'ers to get the same e-bill as a 1000hps.remember cfl's use 10% of electricity as hps.

I currently have 13 42 watt CFLs (9 2700K and 4 6500K) and 1 23 watt 2700K on a tough to reach spot. It is a total of 569 watts. Yes I could run a 600 watt HPS for about the same amount of kWh. However, the distance I would have to keep the light from the plants would likely bring diminished returns. This goes without saying that heat would be a bigger issue.

This grow is in a closet in an upstairs apartment with little posibility of venting. I chose CFLs for the ability to place them close to the plants, low heat, and it's my first grow. Energy consumption was not a consideration. In the future when I get a house, an area for a proper grow room with HID lighting will likely be a selling point. Any realtors out there

Now, anyone got any idea on chopping those lowest wispy little buds to increase the size/potency of the larger buds (see above).

Anyone have any clue whether or not it is OK to snip these wispy buds (first pic) off my plants in order to provide more juice for the heavier ones? I'll probably post this question in another forum if no one has an answer. I guess that is one of the drawbacks to confining your posts to the CFL forum.

Anyhow, I got a new camera today and I couldn't think of a better way to show it off than to snap some pics and post them here. Let me know what you guys think.

Wow, poppin, those look so good! i've been watching this grow, and it gives me a lot of hope and encouragement for my own CFL grow. Sorry, though, i'm a total newb and don't know about the cutting of the leaves or anything. Just wanted to give you a shout!

Thanks for the props princess. I'm not bitchin about not getting a response on the question. The CFL forum is filled with with folks like you and me...noobs. At least with all these CFL grows you won't lack for information. Good luck on your grow, if you need any help, I'm more than willing to share my very limited knowledge.

How long have they been flowering? I would say that cutting the bottom branches off would help the tops. I knew that i would not have the light intensity to reach the bottom branches on my plants because they are so tall. Most people call it Lollipopping. I cut the bottom 3rd of my plants branches and the plants are doing really well. Mine have only been in flower for like 18 days and they are looking better than my last grow. Yours are looking extremely good. Good job!

I checked out this grow and i have to say, that is a real nice job man,I'm actually starting to kind of look at this as a guide line, i have a similar situation only a 50 in. tall box, that i am going to line with thick white plastic. I just got 1 6500k 42 watt but as soon as i can i am going to get 2 more lamps, 3 Y-adapters and 5 more lights. I know this is your post but which bulbs do you think i should get?23's or all 42's? ty very much. Also after reading A LOT i would think that cutting those little buds off would be a good idea, so the plant can concentrate its energy towards the main cola instead of tiny hopeless buds.

42s.. expecially if your only using 5 lights..... the higher the wattage the better... for one plant in veg. 3 or 4 42w 6500kz work well for one maybe two plants.... but for flowering you want as much 2700k spectrum light (with some 65kz thrown in there) possible so get as many 42watters and y splitters you can.... more light= more bulb

PS Nice plants

very nice, i was thinking of doing this same thing.

I grew mine under two flo tubes, and a CFL and I got great results, although I rushed my veg state to flower early... But dude it looks pretty good in veg state. Bust the flowering on and expect those puppies to get 2x, 3x bigger then what they are. so you might need to accommodate for that.

Nice job!
good luck