Simple Grow?!

Hey guys, So im starting a little grow for myself and i wanted to outline it and get some opinions. I'll try and make it simple to read...Space: I have an empty space above my dads garage, thats plenty big, although for safty reasons, the fact that i really dont need a ton of yeild, and cost, im gona limit it to a small area of it.Basic set up: I was thinking about haveing one of those large plastic bins (like the giant tuperware things haha) about 3.5' by 2.5' as the main area with anywhere from 3-6 pots in it (medium size pots, about 10 inch diameter, 10 inch deep) and a small frame thing for the lights to go ontop. Also some fans cut into the tuperware where the base of the pots are... (like small computer fans) and a larger fan blowing on the lights to keep them cool!Lights: after reading a thread about lighting options, (Amazing thread, showing the expeiriment) i think im going to go with CFL's. They are cheap for a small grow, and agian, i live with a average yeild, i dont need a pound of weed here. So i already have 2 120w cfl's, and i was thinking about getting 4 more. Six total, for probably what will turn out to be 4 small plants? Sounds right? I dont know the exact luminens, i think its around 2500 per light. Soil: Like i said, average pots, with a mix of miracle grow soil, mixed with a little peat moss and vermelite or whatever (not perelit, the other one thats basically the same). Ill probably try and get ahold of some nutrients, or atleast some miracle grow plant food etc.even tho its the garage, we live in a town house area, so some O.N.A. just incase... I think that covers it, for the most part....so here are some questionso you think this would be enough light?is there any way these lights would catch things on fire? They do sometimes feel hot to the touch without a fan blowing, and slightly warm to the touch with a fan... im sure this is normal, but just making sure, cuz i would feel like a dick burning down my complex for a little bud...Does the soil set up sound ok? 2 parts soil, 1 part pete, 1 part verm?and lastly, i dont really wana get busted, that would suck.... do you think 6 cfl's and 2 fans would create a spike in an energy bill? What if the complex pays for the energy, would they see it? We pay electric, but im not sure if the garage is hooked up to our electric or the complex figures that since lights arnt normally on, theyll pay for garage electric?Thanks alot guys,PeacePS. For a minor (17) to get caught with lets say 3 small plants growing crudly (as in not a major grow) in the usa (not a decriminalized state like cali) what do you think the punishment would be? WOuld they nail me with intent to sell? or could i pass personal use.I should do my research but i fins ltos of different answers so i figured ide ask. Any horor stories? (hopefully this info wont apply to me)~asante sana~

Are you sure those are 120w CFL's and what spectre? As for the punishment here.

State By State Laws - NORML

It will give you all kinds of information. Also if its a concern you will need ventalation and filters to filter the smell out. Pot size if your growing from seed usually a 5gal bucket is good. I grew a 4ft tall plant in 5 or 6 months using a 5gal bucket and CFL's.

If you got any other questions lemme know.

anyone else?

iwir3d said:

Are you sure those are 120w CFL's and what spectre? As for the punishment here.

State By State Laws - NORML

It will give you all kinds of information. Also if its a concern you will need ventalation and filters to filter the smell out. Pot size if your growing from seed usually a 5gal bucket is good. I grew a 4ft tall plant in 5 or 6 months using a 5gal bucket and CFL's.

If you got any other questions lemme know.

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How accurate is that link?...

I'm sorry, all I heard was

mdsurf said:

For a minor (17) to get caught with lets say 3 small plants growing crudly (as in not a major grow) in the usa (not a decriminalized state like cali) what do you think the punishment would be?

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im finishing my 3rd complete grow in a couple days. That being said here's what little advice i can give.
I like working through problems backwards. Im not sure how tall your container (box) is, but, with 10" tall pots + approx 3-5" of space needed for the bulb placed horizontaly in the top of the container = 13-15"..... you'll need around a minimum 3.5-4foot tall box to flower the plants in. The plants will nearly triple in size between the time you start flowering and finally harvest them. With a 4' tall box - 15" of space for light,pot etc = 2'-9" for total plant size. If you divide that by 3 you'll need to start flowering your plants once their 11-12" tall.
As far as lighting is concerned...... plants need around approx 7500-10,000 lumens each to produce magazine cover buds. Those same plants need approx 1 sq/ft of space each to grow in. Less room, less plants, OPTIMAL CONDITIONS change these numbers a bit. As long as you keep your expectations in check you can manage with much less. Just dont expect too much. For something you'll be MORE than proud of i'd shoot for around 5000 lumens per plant during flowering if you can. When dealing with CFL's there are a few things to keep in mind. (1) there are usually 2 different numbers on the box for wattages. One is the actual and the other is the equivilent to a incadescent. If your bulbs are 120w equivilent im guessing theyre somewhere near 13w actual. Maybe around 750 lumens each. (2) you want to buy cool white bulbs for vegging and warm white lights for flowering. The cool white bulbs produce light in the blue spectrum which promotes root growth and short internodal spacing. The warm white lights are in the red spectrum and will promote leaf growth and stretching.....ie trippling in size during flowering. Look for a Fluorex Floodlight from Lights of America. It produces 4550 actual lumens with very little heat and only costs around $25-30.
Cooling with fans isnt going to be a huge undertaking but it will be needed. Make sure to pull fresh air in near the bottom of the box, and push hot air out near the top. Heat rises etc etc...... a small oscilating fan is all you need to keep the plants swaying and moving fresh air around them.
Sorry this is so lengthy and i hope i helped. I have no idea about your legal questions. Good luck and keep it simple

The link to my knowledge is farily accurate. Tho your states asholes they employ as cops might have there own method of makign the punishment worse. Plain and simple marijuana in the us ill get you in some kind of trouble.

I say grow on. Grow on.

It makes me think its flase because for florida it says its illeagle to give anything lower then the mandatory minimum sentence... but i know people who have been caught with ounces and a scale who have gotten off with probation... but the minimum sentence says jail time.

I skimmed over it i might have misread though...

well first think make sure your cfls are "120 watts" not "120 watt equivelants" (120 watt bulbs are as big as ur lower wrist and 11 inch long ) second i would watch ur mG shit ive herd bad things about mg burning plants.... third if ur gonna use big tubaware containers stack 1 on top of another ( 2 total) and cuz a whole in the bottom ones lid.. so u have 5 ft height not 2.5( 2.5 would be very small)(there is a thread on this somewhere) fans should be fine... just make sure on the side it says how many sq ft a min it can move.. make sure it can move 2-3x ur box''s capasity and yes seeds are expensive but good quality bud costs alot more if u grow shit seeds u will get shit bud and vise versa..

cfls wont burn down anything unless u wrap the plants around them with a tub of gasoline next to them... as for the bill idk what happens with ur appartment but think about it 6 "100 watt cfls" 2 "20 watt fans?ish?" 6-700 watts... thats 7 light bulbs in ur house... i kno some fitures in my house hold 4 bulbs and have fans... 400+ watts right there so it should be less then 10$ per month. if your rele worried just turn off lights,tv.comp when ur not useing them ( be an enviormentalist) and it prolly would balance itself out almost

thats it Note: i think u have low watt cfls not 100 watt.. if there small there not 100 watts

Well those varie. Hell OJ gets away with murder for cryin out loud. They don't usually enforce the proper penalties. Ive gotten 4 speading ticket and an accident and I still have my license. (one ticket for 26 over). So yeah laws arnt always properly enforced.

thanks for all the tips,
when i was talking about the box, i didnt mean i would put a lid on it
it was just sumthin for the plants to kinda be contained in and drain water into, they be growing open. maybe the cfl's are 120 w equivelent, they are about the size of my wrist and maybe 6 inches long, all twisted, ill have to check. good to know theat i need 5000+ per plant, will make sure to do that. Everything else is looking good
i got 8 seeds sprouted and growing true leaves, so were looking good,
im sure some will die off as we go, and ill take the 3 or 4 best, then kill the men leaving hopefully 2 good females.

so i saw this thing in a book the other day, where a guy took a bunch of clones, and then made them flower, so he had like 50 little clones, less than 1 ft tall, all flowering, like little colas. it was crazy. would this be more beneficial, to clone parts of your plant and make them flower, then as more branches grow on the mother plant, take them, and clone them, etc. etc. and keep the mother vegging?
just and idea, haha dono if it would work


thanks alot
peace and love

mdsurf said:

i dont need a pound of weed here.

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are you shure??? lol

Hey its "sure" not "shure" i had that same spelling problem. And hell yes you need pounds.. actually make that "tons" of DANK.. haha uhhm 5000+? I think that refers to the burning colour. I used 12 bulbs at 1,600 lumens each. 19,200 lumens for a plant. If i had positioned them right it would have been a great grow. You can get away with atleast 3-4 26w (100w equiv) for each plant during the vegging process then you need maybe 5-6 for the flowering to produce good results tho i did it (flowering) with 2 42w's and 8 26w's so hopefully this helps.

so basically i had a plant in the garage, my dad asked me to move it, so it maybe had about 4 or 5 sets of leaves probably 10 inches tall, reall spindly, all the leaves were on top, nothing on the botom for 8 inches exept stem. i didnt really care about it cuz it had already gotton so streached at the bottom. so either way, about two or three day later, it had been in the dark, i came in and got it, and i looked closel and there are litle white hairs, as in a female. So im wondering, if i re put it under lights, will it grow a bit more and give me more than a half a gram of bud lol?

Half a gram of bud? 10 inches uhhm. You should flower it. Because it will most likly TRIPPLE in size. That sounds about like my plant that ended up hitting 4ft tall. THo I flowered at about 16-19 and received 3/4 an ounce. I have seen other people do more tho. If possible can you clone the plant? If your not sure let me know and I can help you determin if you can.