CFL PC grow White Dwarf

Hello all! Long time reader first time poster! Have been contemplating this for a while, finally got around to building my box and getting things going. I've got two feminised White Dwarfs under a 125w CFL (red). I know I should have used several smaller ones to maximize the lumen/watt ratio but could only get the 125w.

Everything is DIY!
 
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Pic 1 is the set up, made some raisers to get the plants closer to the light.
Pic 2 & 3 are the dwarfs at day 1

This is my first grow so I'm being extremely careful not to over water them. I've been using a spray bottle and only water them when the top inch of soil is dry and going around the outside to try get the roots to grow outwards. I've put them in the pots that they will flower in, as these are autoflower I was warned not to bother transplanting from smaller pots as this would cause stress - increasing time and decreasing yield. Was planning on SCROG but just gonna go for lst I think.

I do have a couple questions though;
1. When should I swap the bulb from red to blue? I was thinking after 3 weeks?
2. Anything I should be careful of for a first timer?

Thanks for listening, peace!
 

valuablevariable

Well-Known Member
Thinking you might be getting some problems using an auto flower in a pc. You want them to be as small as possible and flower rather soon. Anyway, just be sure to train and/or top them to keep them small. I like your light better than small cfls btw, just swap to the red light once you see some pistils.
Where did you get the bulbs btw?
 

lince

Well-Known Member
Hey woodstock, yes, let us know where you got the bulb and I also wanted to ask you if you could measure it ? height and width ? I went to buy an 105W bulb for my pc box but it turned to be 38cm with the lamp-holder, way too big for my pc, so how big is that 125W ?

You should start using the red light (2700k) when you see the first pistils, it really depends on the strain but it will take around 20-30 days from sprout.

I'm subscribed, good luck dude ;)
 
Thinking you might be getting some problems using an auto flower in a pc. You want them to be as small as possible and flower rather soon. Anyway, just be sure to train and/or top them to keep them small. I like your light better than small cfls btw, just swap to the red light once you see some pistils.
Where did you get the bulbs btw?
Thanks for the input first of all! I got the bulbs from my local headshop, they seem to be all over ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/125-WATT-CFL-GROW-LIGHT-6400K-8-CORD-SET-/170543026235?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b528103b

I will be doing LST too but I thought white dwarfs were quite short? First grow anyway so I'm expecting a fair few mistakes! I'm hoping that with enough training they will still fit.

Hey woodstock, yes, let us know where you got the bulb and I also wanted to ask you if you could measure it ? height and width ? I went to buy an 105W bulb for my pc box but it turned to be 38cm with the lamp-holder, way too big for my pc, so how big is that 125W ?

You should start using the red light (2700k) when you see the first pistils, it really depends on the strain but it will take around 20-30 days from sprout.

I'm subscribed, good luck dude :wink:
Hello and welcome to the thread! I'm heading back to the store within the next week to place an order for the 2nd bulb and get some nutrients (going to start those around start of week 2/3).

My bulb is 36cm long inc lamp holder and is 11 cm in diameter so it is a big bastard but luckily my case is big enough for it to fit in. I don't have a reflector in the box, just some reflective material on the top to reflect the light down. It's not as effective as a proper lamp holder but seems to be doing just fine so far :razz:.

Thanks for checking out my thread guys, will post new pics tomorrow! Peace :grin:
 
I had the same or similar bulb off ebay about 2 years ago and used it in a pc grow. 2 for about 20$, then they were gone and couldnt order more
I got mine for $30, try a hydroponics store they might be able to do you a better price?

Here's an update on day 12, first plant is looking good (first two pics) but the 2nd is having a little bit of trouble. The lowest set of leaves have started turning yellow, not sure why but after a quick google I'm thinking it could be either over watering (the plant leaves seem to have curved tips on the two biggest leaves) or perhaps a calcium deficiency? I'm not really sure but I'd really appreciate everyone's thoughts :)

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Sorry about the crappy pics, but really would like to know what's going on with the 2nd plant and what I should do about it :) Peace!
 
Not sure what's going on, I'm thinking maybe the soil (biobizz) might be causing the problems. Not really sure what to do (if anything!). Here's some pics of the leaves dying off:
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I started lst yesterday, they are nearly 3 weeks old. Was it too soon?
 

lince

Well-Known Member
I don't know what is causin that but I also use biobizz and never had a problem with it. Do you check the ph of the water you use ?
 
I don't know what is causin that but I also use biobizz and never had a problem with it. Do you check the ph of the water you use ?
It seems to be affecting one plant worse than the other. I'm using tap water that has been left to stand for 3 days but I don't have a ph meter. I did some reading up on watering and I've only been watering from the bottom, I heard it's better to give water all the way through and then leave til it's fairly dry?

Sorry, total noob here :(
 

lince

Well-Known Member
Bottom watering is good but you should probably combine it with watering from the top now and then.
But yes, the normal way is watering it so you can see a little coming out the draining holes and after wait usually no less than 2 days until is dry to water again.
If you are going to keep growing get a ph tester, it's a must, as important as light and water.

If I have to guess I'd say calcium or maybe even a fungus?? but I don't know so lets see if somebody else can help you out or make a thread with pics in Marijuana Plant Problems and somebody will help ;)
 
Hey guys, here's the plants at 23 days, still have a little bit of yellowing but I think I was overwatering them, things seem to have stopped getting worse.

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Is it time to start nutrients? Or will that just make my problem worse?

Thanks again for everyone's help :)
 
Good news everyone!

Everything going nicely, should be putting the red bulb as soon as it arrives! I've started nutes (1/2 dose every other watering) and LST seems to be working great!
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Peace!
 

lince

Well-Known Member
Glad to see you solved the problem, plants are looking good, what about that red light, did you change it ?
 
Glad to see you solved the problem, plants are looking good, what about that red light, did you change it ?
Made my first rookie error! I got the bulbs mixed up and realized before I was going to swap them over that my blue bulb was still in the packaging and the red bulb has been in there since the beginning! First grow = noobie mistakes haha!

Plants are still looking great, only a week til they are supposed to be ready for the chop. Got a 100x pocket microscope on order to check the trichomes. Think they might need a little longer than a week, read online that white dwarf may take more like 9-11 weeks? Any thoughts on this?
 

lince

Well-Known Member
I think it depends how far you want to let her go, just look at the trichomes and decide if you want more of a couch-lock or more energetic high ;)

Many people also suggest to cut some branches at different stages and label them to see the difference and decide which high you prefer.

You can also check the two pictures about harvest on my ref. guide: here.
 
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