i got my seeds sprouting under a 75 watt fluorescent light. i am confident i can get them into a final pot to grow in but i am a total newb. am i correct in saying that i need to keep them under light for 24 hours a day untill i am ready to bud them. then switch it to a 12 on 12 off schedule? also, how do i know when they are redy to bud, and how do i know when they are done budding and ready to cut and harvest? its called flowering right?

you can veg them under 18/6, 24/0 is a waste of hydro money. you start them in a really small pot and slowly advance to bigger ones to avoit over-watering which causes root rot.
you can either bud by the time you want (not recommended by me) or when those plants matured. this will happen after about 8weeks+ of veg, good sign are alternating notes, even better preflowers before introducing 12/12.
the time of harvest is determined by the color of the tricomes, as soon the turn milky you can think about harvesting them

for the rest check with the FAQs and stickies of the newbie section please (its all in there, just do the reading and don't get noobed)

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keep the thumb green and the gun oiled, !

first off gl on your grow. i would put them on a 18/6 light so the roots have timre to develop. let them grow to about 12'' befor you change the light to 12/12 the grow faq at the top of the page has the answer to all of your questions read through the faq. this link will help with harvest depinding on what kind of high you want http://www.rollitup.org/view.php?pg=...article&id=149

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give me a + to rep if my infomation helps

so its 18 light 6 dark?

High read the faq... I did it helped me alot. Videoman has alot of info linked read up on it.. Yes 18hrs light 6 hrs dark

There are two things you want to look at before deciding when to flower, (a) is the plant sexually mature enough to flower?

There are 2 features that distinguish mature veggie plants from immature ones. They are alternating nodal arrangement and leaves with 5 or more blades. You can flower before those features are present, but the plants perform a whole lot better if you wait. Most strains except for equ. sats have these by 12" or so. Personally, mine have always had these features before they reach 30 days old. With CFL's, it will take longer to veg.

(B) is your lighting system, theres no need to veg until your plant is 18" tall, if all you got is a 75 watt fluorescent light. Is that a T-12, T-8 or what? If its a basic shop light, its probaly a T12, not good for flowering.

What will you flower with? What is the penetration of the lighting setup that you'll choose to flower with?

My point is, theres no point in growing a 36" plant with a light that only penetrates 6" .
I hope this helps you.
Peace

my next question would be what kind of lighting setup shuld i get to flower them? will my current light be enough to get them there bulb replacement says RB17T8, and F17T8 so im assuming its a T8.

will 2 (Incandescent Light Bulbs) put out enough blue and red ray's to grow a strong crop from seed stage?

You already have your own topic on this i cheif'a da reef'a, don't go around spamming the same text.

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Rep me if I help.
It's the scale at the top right of my post(for newbies)

Yes it is a t8 and you will not be able to flower very well with these, I suggest you get a 250 watt or larger if you are going to flower and want it to be cheap.

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Rep me if I help.
It's the scale at the top right of my post(for newbies)