MY grow room - please advise!

So i have just chopped down my two males from my first grow, a big dissapointment but atleast it gave me some expirience.
any way im posting some piks of my grow room and id like some advice on what i can do different bearing in mind i have limited room and cash. i will explain my setup aswell one of the piks is from my last grow. it is a 60x60cm grow tent approx 1.8 m tall. i have 3 light fitting each with a 110 w 1350 lumen cfl - not sure what spectrum they are as they are just general energy saving cfls? i have a small 6" fan to help with air circulation but i have no means of air extraction other than opening the tent from time to time. i also have a humidity monitor and a thermomiter to chek the temp. i feed them a high nitrogen food from time to time when vegging and a low nitrogen from time to time when flowering, i water every 5 to 7 days when the soil starts to dry. i didnt check the water ph on my last grow though and im useing tap water but i always let the water stand for atleast a day? so any advice on what i should do different or how i can improve my grow room on a low budget and in a small space. i am growing big bud if that is of any help and one seed that i havent got a clue of what breed it is - 3 plants in total 2 germing as we speak and one just potted as shown. thanks

milllerboy said:

So i have just chopped down my two males from my first grow, a big dissapointment but atleast it gave me some expirience.
any way im posting some piks of my grow room and id like some advice on what i can do different bearing in mind i have limited room and cash. i will explain my setup aswell one of the piks is from my last grow. it is a 60x60cm grow tent approx 1.8 m tall. i have 3 light fitting each with a 110 w 1350 lumen cfl - not sure what spectrum they are as they are just general energy saving cfls? i have a small 6" fan to help with air circulation but i have no means of air extraction other than opening the tent from time to time. i also have a humidity monitor and a thermomiter to chek the temp. i feed them a high nitrogen food from time to time when vegging and a low nitrogen from time to time when flowering, i water every 5 to 7 days when the soil starts to dry. i didnt check the water ph on my last grow though and im useing tap water but i always let the water stand for atleast a day? so any advice on what i should do different or how i can improve my grow room on a low budget and in a small space. i am growing big bud if that is of any help and one seed that i havent got a clue of what breed it is - 3 plants in total 2 germing as we speak and one just potted as shown. thanks

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For one thing I would have the CFL placed horizontal instead of vertical because the majority of the heat comes from the sides and not the tip of it.. Other than that it looks good so far.

i would say get yourself a good ph meter. about seventy bucks or so, and some ph down... it can't be stresseed enough how important it is to water and feed with the correct ph .. a very simple step to take towards a more plentiful harvest..

The first thing I would suggest is to get a handle on the light spectrum of those bulbs. If you still have the packaging it may say on the packaging. If not you may want to take them to a Home Depot or something and see if anyone in the lighting dept can identify the spectrum for you. You want to use 5,000 to 6,500k (aka Daylight) for veg and 2,700 to 3,000k (aka Soft White) for flower. If you use the wrong spectrum then you don't get as much folliage during veg (and foliage is important for growth) and the wrong spectrum in flower will give you light & fluffy buds.

There are a few things you can do for better side growth. First thing would be to add more lights for the sides of the plants. Personally I'd keep the stronger CFLs for overhead and add either smaller CFLs for side lighting with adjustable fixtures that can be moved where ever you need them, or get a few shop lights and use fluoro tubes in an upright position.

Something else you can try which is free is FIMing, you can do a search & find plenty of how to threads here. It makes branches grow like crazy, you even get branches growing from branches. Or if you don't like FIMing you can also try Uncle Bens topping technique for getting 4 main colas which also gives you 4 main stems per plant with each one giving you more branches & bud sites.

If the temp is between 72 & 80 degrees, or somewhere close to it, then you don't have to worry about air circulation causing heat problems. It's still a good idea to try to get some fresh air circulating. The cheapest way I can think of is getting and inline fan & some flexible duct work from Home Depot (approx $50 total). Cut a hole in the top of the tent for the inline fan and have it pointed out. You may also want to attatch it to the frame somehow so the weight isn't all on the tent material. Cut a 1 or 2 ft piece of duct and tape it to the outside of the inline fan, this will keep light from seeping in or out. You'll also need to cut yourself an intake at the bottom of the tent, basically same thing but no fan, just use a small piece of duct to keep light from bleeding in or out.

The PH is also vital, the wrong level of PH not only can burn your plants, it can also keep them from taking in other nutrients, even water if the PH level is hi enough. You should at least pick up a cheap meter from Home Depot ($10 or $15)

And if you don't absolutely have to I wouldn't use tap water. Chlorine isn't the only thing you have to worry about. The PH isn't constant, there's mineral deposits, just a whole can of worms. Distilled water is the best and only costs about $0.69 per gallon for the store brands. The only thing I use tap for is flushing, but that's only because I need 15 gallons of water per 5 gallon pot, so for me that's 120 gallons of water. But the last 2 gallons of the flush is always distilled water.

And if your tap water is well water, the can of worms only gets bigger.

The only other thing I can think of is getting a roll of Mylar (about $25) whichis the best reflective surface to use. I would Mylar every surface, even the pots, floor, & fan. It will help you get the most out of your lights and should also help with side coverage.

Oh, and that fan oscilates, right? If not you should get a fan that does.

That's all I can think of, hope it helps.