Noobie Setup

Hey all,

just signed up and really wanting to get started, got everything i need (i think)

place to grow (3x3) kitted out with white cardboard and temperature guage.

indoor feminised seeds.

soil, peat cups for germinating and larger pots when germinated.

i'm just a little confused about lighting, i've had a good look on the forum and it mention CFL lights can be used although 4 or 5 is needed per plant.

i have enough lamps to do 2 plants which is what i'd like to do whilst i sort a 'proper' lamp out, this i also need to find out what i need, only going to grow 5 plants at a time in a 3x3 set up.

any other tips/advice/help would be really appreciated, thanks for reading!

EDIT - these are the CFLs i have, i say CFL.. I'm pretty sure they are

damn, couldn't find any bulb socket doublers at my local DIY store have lots of CFL light bulbs though, also need advice on feeding the plants, thanks again

anyone help me with lighting at all?

found out i dont need to feed the plants until around 3 weeks, i have 5 40w CFL lamps to use, all seperate lamps tho since i cant find any Y sockets, cheers

UKstoner said:

anyone help me with lighting at all?

found out i dont need to feed the plants until around 3 weeks, i have 5 40w CFL lamps to use, all seperate lamps tho since i cant find any Y sockets, cheers

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I would invest in a hps 250w or 400w HPS,
cfl's can be used for the vegative stage of the plants but when you want to flower them a hps will be well worth it.
If the soil you are using dosent contain any nutes then start ur nutes after a couple of weeks at 1/4 strength.
I take it you are in the uk so heres a 250w hps i bought, pretty cheap.
http://www.growell.co.uk/p/1084/Budget-Hobby-Light-Systems.html

The2TimEr said:

I would invest in a hps 250w or 400w HPS,
cfl's can be used for the vegative stage of the plants but when you want to flower them a hps will be well worth it.
If the soil you are using dosent contain any nutes then start ur nutes after a couple of weeks at 1/4 strength.
I take it you are in the uk so heres a 250w hps i bought, pretty cheap.
http://www.growell.co.uk/p/1084/Budget-Hobby-Light-Systems.html

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excellent, i know my uncle has a light for me of some sort he never said, that's why i've held off buying one, cheers for the link

what nutes you using mate? been looking on the forum but a lot of them are only available in the US, thanks again

forgot to say, im gunna germinate 2 of my seeds in peat pots under 5 CFLs in the enclosure for now until i get properly sorted, just need to kit it out with shiney stuffs

UKstoner said:

forgot to say, im gunna germinate 2 of my seeds in peat pots under 5 CFLs in the enclosure for now until i get properly sorted, just need to kit it out with shiney stuffs

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Never used the peat pots mate so cant help you there, what strain are you growing?
Same site if you want the nutes im using.
http://www.growell.co.uk/index.php?search=bio+bizz&t=search_list.htm&f=find.php
There's bio grow and bio bloom iv got a bottle of each, also some canna PK13/14
During the middle of flowering.

it seems like socket splitters are rarely available in the UK - they are like a dollar or two here.

sicne you have seeds now and not plants, you will be OK for a week or two with just one or two CFLs on the three seedlings...

however, you should consider buying some sort of grow light system in the next month; Christmas bonus?

peat plugs aren't bad peat moss is very good there is very successful growing using it.

thanks for the replies guys, i have 5 useable CFLs i'll leave on constant for a week until they germinate, then maybe 12/14 hours a day, i have the money for a proper light just didnt want to buy one if my uncle already had me one.

so is it a HPS 250/400w i need?

will also look into nutes now so i have it all ready for when i need it.

will post up a pic of my setup once i've finnished it later tonight, thanks!

UKstoner said:

thanks for the replies guys, i have 5 useable CFLs i'll leave on constant for a week until they germinate, then maybe 12/14 hours a day, i have the money for a proper light just didnt want to buy one if my uncle already had me one.

so is it a HPS 250/400w i need?

will also look into nutes now so i have it all ready for when i need it.

will post up a pic of my setup once i've finnished it later tonight, thanks!

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Keep ur cfl's on 24/7 until they have sprouted and then lower it to 18 on and 6 off all the way until you think they are ready for flowering, but remember the plants can double even triple in size when you switch to 12/12 (light flowering time) thats where the hps comes in.
Good luck shag!

The2TimEr said:

Keep ur cfl's on 24/7 until they have sprouted and then lower it to 18 on and 6 off all the way until you think they are ready for flowering, but remember the plants can double even triple in size when you switch to 12/12 (light flowering time) thats where the hps comes in.
Good luck shag!

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cheers for the advice mate, just finnished the setup now, gunna hook up the lights and get the seeds in the peat pots

not sure how to tell when they're ready to flower but i'm sure i'll find out before they're ready lol

hoping to have the hps sorted this weekend so it's ready

here's my setup, very rough looking at the min but i'm just using it to germinate the seeds, hopefully will have some Y adaptors to double the bulb sockets tommorow, after that the HPS light for flowering



got it reflective all the way around the setup (old wardrobe) and a small temp guage, from what i've read ventilation shouldn't be a problem but i have a few CPU fans i can setup if needed.

oh and as for CFLs i have not idea what they are apart from 9w > 40w. no K rating or anything, they do look slightly duller in the pic than in person.

whatcha all think? thanks!

right, i've got the seeds in to germinate now.

i know you can't see them all but there's 5 little peat pots and 5 9w/40w CFLs in there, all around 2 inches from the pots, it's an old wardrobe so i put reflective stuff on the doors too so the plants will be surrounded by reflected light, hope i've done it right lol

thanks for all the help so far, at the beginning of this thread i didn't even know what a CFL was

i've stuck the temperature guage right in the middle of the peat pots to find out the proper temperature they're getting, 77 degrees F. which from what i've read is ok?

also, the bulb in the middle has been changed from a 9w to a 20w

hopefully my first little setup looks alright to you guys

the fans are an absolute must, its not the cooling issue its to make ur stalk bend and thru that it becomes thicker and stronger. it also drags air into ur grow and avoids mold problems. not sure what light spectrum those bulbs are gaunna give u but i would suggest get an hps or mh bulb as soon as ur babies are 6 to 8 inches up mate or ur gaunna veg forever. if u can only get one bulb get an hps.how many plant u got btw. and as for nutes i use biogrow and biobloom. http://www.greenshorticulture.co.uk/Plant-Nutrition-90/

hi, thanks for that. 5 plants in there, my uncle's bringing me a proper CFL, not sure on power but he said it's a proper one he uses from start to finnish.

not sure if i can get that light off my uncle now so im looking at a few for sale, i need one that will grow the plants from seedlings to harvest, hopefuly this fits the bill http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/125w-Red-Spectrum-CFL-reflector-hydroponics-grow-light_W0QQitemZ280437404688QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_HomeGarden_Garden_PlantsSeedsBulbs_JN?hash=item414b5f3410#ht_848wt_1165

can't afford to buy 2 different CFLs, and as it's a small enclosure i think i'm right in saying a CFL should be ok start to finnish.. hopefully

update, so far i have one sprouted already, another seed has cracked in will be coming through!

looking to order my proper CFL now

i'm thinking this one http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/125w-Blue-Spectrum-CFL-hanger-hydroponics-grow-light_W0QQitemZ280441966933QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_HomeGarden_Garden_PlantsSeedsBulbs_JN?hash=item414ba4d155

£28 delivered seems decent to me, bit confused over colours though

10 days in, after i took the pic i moved the smaller plants nearer the lights to get them to grow around the same size as the bigger ones, hopefully be getting my 125w dual spec CFL in the next few days, what dya all think?