Suggestions on my First Grow Setup... PLEASE!

This is my 2nd try at my first grow. I didnt read enough and didnt get all the things i needed and the first one died before it had 2 sets of leaves.

Anyway, Here is the new plan on trying it again. Let me know if the plan i have is good or any suggestions on how to make it better.

I only have a budget of $40-$50. I already have my lights and stuff.

I will only be growing 1 plant.

Growing in a closet on top of a 3 ft tall water heater.

The temp stays around 78 to 83 F with lights on.

Will have a oscillating fan on it after the seedling pops.

Lights are two 23 watt 6500K CFL for veg and two 20 watt 2700k CFL for flower (may get 23 watt later).

The soil will be a 1 to 1 mix of FF ocean forest and Earth Gro Potting soil. The earth gro doesn't really say whats in it or NPK values but it says this on the bag "This product is regionally formulated from organic materials (primarily derived from one or more of the following: hypnum peat, forest products or compost), sand, perlite and a wetting agent." It was only $4. There are leaves compost in it. I have seen other people adding lime to earth gro soil but im thinking the FF soil will take care of that. Although im not really sure about the 1 to 1 ratio on the mix so i need suggestions on that.

The nutes i will be using is Dyna-Gro 7-9-5 Liquid Grow Plant Food for veg and Dyna-Gro 3-12-6 Liquid Bloom Plant Food for flower. Ill start out at 1/4 strength at first then work up if needed. Some people say feed every other watering but should i feed with every watering or what?

I will germinate the seed by soaking 24 hrs in water then plant it in the above mentioned soil in a 32 oz Styrofoam cup then when i get 2 or 3 sets of leaves ill transplant to the big pot with like 3 gallons or so of soil.

Ive read much conflicting advice as to use 18/6 or 24 hrs after the seedling pops so tell me what you think is best.

I have read that when using FF straight that you dont start nutes until after 1 month of growth but since im mixing it should i still wait that long or should i start them at 2 or 3 weeks?

I think im may use distilled water. I could test my tap water with ph test strips but people say they are not accurate. It would be cheaper to use tap water so should i just test it with the strips and be ok if the PH is good?

Thanx in advance for any suggestions.

Ok, firstly do not mix a premium soil with a $4 bag of God knows what. You spent good money on the FFOF and it was well worth it. What you do want to mix it with is inert perlite. For seedlings mix it 50/50 in the styro cups. And then 70/30 when you go to the 3 gallon pot. CFL can produce a decent harvest however I would suggest using all avalable bulbs for all stages and add more when you can, fixtures and Y-splitters are inexpensive. Your plant will need no additional nutes at all until it is in the 3gal pot for 3-4 weeks. The FFOF will take her all the way through seedling and transplant. And of course she gets new nutes when transplanted. Your tap water is likely just fine. I have used nothing else for my grow's in forever. Testing it's ph is not a bad idea though.

first off 1 plant imho is a waste of time try to do atleast 3

screw the soil man go to a local grow shop nd get a brick of coco coir they're like 3$

i also use dyna good line i start feeding foxfarm as soon as they sprout its not as concentrated as dyna so theres room for error you might wanna wait a week or two before you start feeding dyna just in small amounts canna can survive a month without nutes but its starving you wanna make it fat

as for lighting its been discussed countless times and 24/0 is the way to go especially growing with cfls

I only have 2 seeds so i wanted to do 1 first to make sure i got the hang of it before i do another. I would love to have a 10x10 room full of it. Alas i am not in a medical state so i gotta keep it on the DL.

I found this perlite here. Would that be ok?

Should i make all 4 lights 6500k for veg and 2700K for flower? Ive read that blue spectrum is better for veg and red spectrum for flower.

The soil will be fine. Unless you have fem seeds you need more seedlings as you are guaranteed to get mostly males. Trust me having males is worse than a seedling dieing. My first grow I got 4 out of 5 males. Be sure and punch holes in the styrofoam cups so water doesnt stand in them and kill the plants. Dont waste you money on distilled water, use rain water or tap water and you will be fine. Personally I prefer the 18/6 as I believe the plants need the dark to rest. Dont worry about nutes for at least 2 weeksw and then very weak. Keep it simple starting out, you will have time for coco, dwc and all that other b.s. later if you want. Starting out it is just another thing to screw up. BWTFDIK

They are fem seeds

better shot, still chance they are male or they will Hermie on you... Just keep it simple man. You will read and get all kinds of "exotic" complicated advice. Be safe and go simple first time, you can experiment with hydro and water ever later. Get a grow or 2 in till you feel good about what you are doing first. Above all be patient and dont run to solutions without understanding a problem first, it will cause you more trouble. While you're at it read this:
https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/218468-if-you-have-ever-grown-3.html#post2789064

i second rollinbud. i am on my first grow currently. i got 7/8 males. its NOT fun. i mean, dont get me wrong i am enjoying the shit out of learning all that stuff, but it would have been nice to have things go smoothly. its tough with all the advice readily available, and likely youll take it all into consideration and do what you think is best. you WILL still make mistakes, just know that and then it wont suck so bad. lol.

just take your time, think things through, and listen to those who have made the mistakes before you and you will succeed!

if you use tap water, boil it then let it sit over night

Just run it it of hot side....

keiferhelms said:

I only have 2 seeds so i wanted to do 1 first to make sure i got the hang of it before i do another. I would love to have a 10x10 room full of it. Alas i am not in a medical state so i gotta keep it on the DL.

found this perlite here. Would that be ok? This looks like it has time released nutes in it. NO you don't want that. A bag of inert perlite should be availble at your local nursery. And much cheaper.

Should i make all 4 lights 6500k for veg and 2700K for flower? Ive read that blue spectrum is better for veg and red spectrum for flower.

Click to expand...

What I am saying is that you should use ALL available bulbs, both spectrums, the more light the better

all 4 of your bulbs is under 100 real watts.. too low, BKBBUDZ is trying to tell you same thing.. put all 4 bulbs in one light, use 3 splitters. If you try to mature anything on 40watts you are wasting your time. 150w for cfl per 4ft plant is how i try to roll. i have sense started adding LED's lights with much success.

keiferhelms said:

I only have 2 seeds so i wanted to do 1 first to make sure i got the hang of it before i do another. I would love to have a 10x10 room full of it. Alas i am not in a medical state so i gotta keep it on the DL.

I found this perlite here. Would that be ok?

Should i make all 4 lights 6500k for veg and 2700K for flower? Ive read that blue spectrum is better for veg and red spectrum for flower.

Click to expand...

While that is true the plant uses both in all stages...I mean the days don't look more blue or redder some days outside do they...? use all lights at all times....more lights is better at every stage...you can veg with HPS, or flower with MH it all works..one is just more efficient when comparing light used and light wasted, but in the case of CFLs there is little going to waste.

Started with CFLs was not happy with result...got 400w MH/HPS I only used the MH for veg and flower....getting ready for some upgrades though. Going to go with a CMH light...I like the idea of having all the colors at once.

you will def need moire light. 2 23w cfls per plant is ok n will work great. thats what i was doing but I recently added 2 more so now 3 per plant. I flower under a 400w HPS tho cause ur going to get hardly any bud if u flower with a cfl. Maybe a half a zip per plant. Hps = 3 - 4 oz per plant. Your PH should be 6.2 - 6.7 just get distilled water, test it, and if its to low which it probably would be then get PH up and only add a few drops with a dropper or straw. Its EXTREMELY POTENT so u wanna be super careful. GOOD LUCK and HAPPY GROWING!

Everybody says i need more light so i was searching the web and found three 85 watt (425 w equivalent) 5500k CFLs on amazon for $35.

I looked at the ghetto growers group and had some inspiration. I have made a reflector with a roasting pan with 3 sockets like the one in this pic. This is not actually mine since i dont have a camera right now but it looks and works the same.
View attachment 2026153

I will put the 85 watt CFLs in that hanging above. I also have a old ceiling light fixture i found in a closet that has 2 sockets and ill put a Y adapter on both and put two 23 watt 6500k and two 23 watt 2700k in it. It is on the right side right above the pot because it will help get light to the lower limbs when its bigger. So that will bring me to 347 watts total.

I will use this setup during veg.

I would like to get three 2700k 85 watt CFLs for flower but the cheapest i can find is $23 per bulb which would be about $70 with shipping. But i found six 40 watt CFLs for $60 with shipping included. I know its only $10 savings but hey that will get me a sack on the street I will be getting them in about a month.

So when i have them I will put the six 2700k bulbs above and one of the 5500k 85 watters and three 23 watt 2700k on the side. And the total wattage of that will be 394.

Do you think this is a good plan and enough light? Do you think i could save the $60 for the 2700Ks and just use the first setup with mostly 5500K for the whole grow?

Now i just gotta wait for the seeds and FF soil i ordered to get here and i can get started.

I think you would be better off with 32 watt CFL's, should be available locally and not nearly as expensive.
I just got some of these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/380359890370?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
I couldnt find any 6500k locally only 2700k at Walmart.
You will definitely want the majority of your lights to be 2700k for flowering and 6500 for vegging. Its okay to have a few of the other spectrums mixed in. What you are looking for is 10,000 lumens or more. What you have now will work fine for germinating and a week or so, so you have time to shop around.

you need to cover the sides of the bucket so those roots don't burn