Thank you, Tokahontas, for your thoughtful post.
I am keeping a journal and I have switched to an A/B pot specific hydroponic fertilizer. No more houseplant stuff

Your advice on cloning is the best I've seen so far and I will follow it to the letter.

Economics in the short term is keeping me from upping my lighting but, since I have managed to acquire some decent bud locally, I can now relax a bit and pay more attention to the learning curve without the pressure of needing to produce.

Realistically, my setup will grow pretty good foliage and I know that now. I am adding another CFL and that will help a little bit. My crop to be is growing in a 2 foot by 2 foot mylar-lined area and is about 4 inches from the light. I will say this. It's bright enough in there so that I have to wear sunglasses when I check on the plants

Smokey, my cat

Lighting is pretty much the most important part. Im sure I can grow better bud with no nutes than weak lights. Im not going to try it though. lol. Cfls will get you by on the veg stage but you will need 10-15+ lights to do what one light can do on the bud stage. If your serious then an mh or hps is a must.

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Hi Netchess,

Let me direct you to a very helpful website that specializes in helping medpot patients like yourself grow their own. Advanced Nutrients Medical has helped me tremendously over the years.

I’m glad you switched to a pot specific A&B fert. I personally use Sensi Grow A&B and Sensi Bloom A&B, and my six ladies have just gone from veg to flower. I use a 600W High Pressure Sodium light with a regular HPS bulb at the moment. Prior to this I had a Conversion Bulb in the same light fixture.

I bought my lighting setup used, so I’m having a bit of trouble with my old magnetic ballast. It’s heating up much too much and making a hell of a racket. I’m looking around for a new electronic one that makes a lot less noise and is more efficient.

Were fluorescents strong enough to grow African violets? I think all the lighting advice you got in this forum should be taken to heart. To grow potent medicine, you need a lot of light in the red end of the spectrum during flowering.

You might consider using some supplements, in addition to your basic fert. B-52 is a B-complex vitamin supplement that I find very helpful in reducing plant stress and Carbo Load Liquid during the middle of the flowering stage replenishes all the plant sugars that your ladies use up to produce their buds.

Good luck with growing your own medicine!

hey there, i put my ww plants to 12 / 12 at about 12 " and theyre looking healthy and producing more and more buds, so... (hps) not sure if its the same with cfl?