Please Help A Bit With my First CFL Grow

Hi everyone!
I have been growing outdoors for most of my growing experiences, and have just done out with 2 bagseed beauties in my closet, but short story i moved to a northern state and cannot grow outside, so im switching to my closet grow. I have been doing alot of reading and studying and have decided that i want to do the barrel shaped V-Scrog for my confined space of 2' wide, 3' long, and 5' high, i want to build a cabinet that i can have 2 alternating harvests coming in every month in a half if my calculationg are correct, 1 month of veg to fill my screen, and 2 months for my babies to flower up but i just have some question that i was hoping some of you that are experienced in this type of growing could help me with.

1. The screen is going to be 2 feet high, and 5 feet long, so 10 sqr feet all the way, so im thinking i need about 5 plants to do this in a relative good time correct?

2. Im using CFL or florescent tubes im pretty sure, and im not sure if i need them just in the middle of my barrel, or outside of it two(propably a newb question but im new to the indoors)

3. I am trying to decide between the high yielding Cheese strain, or Northern Light X Big Bud, but not sure, maybe someone can help me with some better strain suggestions.

Thats basicly about it for the moment, i just want to get all my facts together before i start to build this and it ending up not working right you know?

Thanks everyone! And all comments are very appreciated!!!!


Ok i posted this in GrassCity, and not one person even took the time to comment or give me any help, so please please please, if someone has any experience with V-Scroging give me a little help, and if you know where i could get the fittings for 4 94 watt T5 tubes i would really appreciate it

1.that should be a good amount of plants maybe four would be better.
2.Since it would be cfls it would be best to surround your plants with as many bulbs as you can..You need to penetrate which is hard using cfls..I would say use a hps or mh at least
3.those strains sound good if you are looking for yeild.

thank you , well the only thing is that ive seen from diagrams is, im trying to get my babies to pass through and up the screen, not grow out you know? like exactly like the scrog method, but it will be going around like a barrel you kno? so idk if i would really need some extra lighting on the outside? idk and i would love to use an hps and mh, but im on a budget for right now, and the ballasts just arent worth it for me right now , ty very much!! im waiting for my card to come before i put this all together, and i figured out a very good way to be able to get to all my plants, if i were to put the whole thin on a turn table inside my grow box, i can just rotate to do all my pruing

I would go with 1 plant per wall of your cab and train each plant to make the vscreen covered, keep the trained under the screen until 2 weeks into flowering and then let them grow out towards the light. Make sure you get a 125w cfl to go vertically down the middle I wouldnt go with a bunch of small ones, take advantage of the V and get a nice long 125WCLF. If you buy the longest 125w CFL you can find you may have a full 12" of vertical light that you will utilizing 360 degrees around.

Make sure you come up with a way to expel hot air and intake cold air, as well as moving air through the leaves of the plant.

Look at my 125W they go into a 'mogul' base that you have to buy as well. Dont pay attention to the configuration (I have changed it), just the light.

good luck on your grow then..any questions im sure people will answer them here

So 4 plants you say? that would make sense i guess, i want to veg them for a month and hopefully get most of the screen filled by the 2nd week of flowering, that would be the ideal way to go i hope, so how many of the 125w cfls do you think i would need? im sorry im not used to all this indoor stuff haha, i miss my big 6' girls outside :'( ohh well i hope this will sufface well thank you both, i will be posting my setup soon, and with the ventalation thing, i was planning on putting some ducting on each top and bottom of the lights and just getting them sucked out through the top, and beetween two of the plants on the bottom, and then adding 2 intake fans, i just hope all this i have visioned in my head works out the way i want it to lol! Thanks allot both of you

thatoneguy1991 said:

So 4 plants you say? that would make sense i guess, i want to veg them for a month and hopefully get most of the screen filled by the 2nd week of flowering, that would be the ideal way to go i hope, so how many of the 125w cfls do you think i would need? im sorry im not used to all this indoor stuff haha, i miss my big 6' girls outside :'( ohh well i hope this will sufface well thank you both, i will be posting my setup soon, and with the ventalation thing, i was planning on putting some ducting on each top and bottom of the lights and just getting them sucked out through the top, and beetween two of the plants on the bottom, and then adding 2 intake fans, i just hope all this i have visioned in my head works out the way i want it to lol! Thanks allot both of you

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It should work out fine..
Honestly i wouldnt use the cfls unless the space is small and heat would be a issue..
Because you can get a 150 hps which is the same price as a 125 watt cfl.

well like i said, i want to use hps, but i dont want to use a ballast you know? but the space im going to be using is prolly going to be about 2'x2' so about 4 square feet, and about 3 feet high, im hoping i will be able to get a perpetual harvest, as im only allowed to be growing 12 plants at a time, untill i can convince my wife to get her card asweel so we can have more, but i hope that i can fill all 10 sq feet of my barrel screen in three months with 4 plants, thus having 12 go at all times, bringing in a constant harves all year

thatoneguy1991 said:

So 4 plants you say? that would make sense i guess, i want to veg them for a month and hopefully get most of the screen filled by the 2nd week of flowering, that would be the ideal way to go i hope, so how many of the 125w cfls do you think i would need? im sorry im not used to all this indoor stuff haha, i miss my big 6' girls outside :'( ohh well i hope this will sufface well thank you both, i will be posting my setup soon, and with the ventalation thing, i was planning on putting some ducting on each top and bottom of the lights and just getting them sucked out through the top, and beetween two of the plants on the bottom, and then adding 2 intake fans, i just hope all this i have visioned in my head works out the way i want it to lol! Thanks allot both of you

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I grow aero-hydro from seed to harvest in a closet w/CFLs. I'd bring in fresh/room air, w/1 exhaust. If you get four 43watt, 6500k, 4500 lumen for vegetation, Walmart has both 44watt and 55 watt, 2700k, 3860 lumens for flowering under 12 bucks each...
You can grow Grade A bud w/CFLs. Blue Widow is an easy strain to start w/great buzz, yields are nice, great taste, plus she is a bushey plant for your scrog....good luck
My Blue Widow

very beautiful little girl you have their, yea im hoping to be able to get my hands on some cheese strain, their out of stock atm :/, but i found this aurora indica on nirvana, looks promising, i think i might start with that im doing soil grow also, i just hope that this all works how its going in my head >.<

thatoneguy1991 said:

very beautiful little girl you have their, yea im hoping to be able to get my hands on some cheese strain, their out of stock atm :/, but i found this aurora indica on nirvana, looks promising, i think i might start with that im doing soil grow also, i just hope that this all works how its going in my head >.<

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1st time is the learning grow. I have had many outdoor veg gardens, growing indoors is a challange, but I love the grow. Aero-hydro growing is alittle work, but even growing soil is tough enough, wish ya luck.

well if i were to use the big cfls, i was looking at them and do you think that having 2x200watt cfls would be to much in a 3'x2'x3' high box? and, it looks like they need a special fitting to use? im not sure help please?

thatoneguy1991 said:

well if i were to use the big cfls, i was looking at them and do you think that having 2x200watt cfls would be to much in a 3'x2'x3' high box? and, it looks like they need a special fitting to use? im not sure help please?

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No that should be fine in that box 400 watts...But why do that you can go hid with side lighting from cfls and be better off..Thye put off heat but not that much + yeild will not be the same using cfls..

thatoneguy1991 said:

well if i were to use the big cfls, i was looking at them and do you think that having 2x200watt cfls would be to much in a 3'x2'x3' high box? and, it looks like they need a special fitting to use? im not sure help please?

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I use the $5.00 clamp-on fixtures for my CFLs. If you take two 55watt, 6500k, 3800 lumen w/Y socket, that would give you a combined 110 watts. Any larger than 150watt spiral you have to have a mogul adaptor for the clamp-on. I have never used a hps or mh, I like growing w/CFLs. You can achieve growing Grade A bud w/heavey nuggets w/CFLs imo, cuz I have now done it twice...good luck

Photo of Landrace Columbian Gold, day 47 of flowering, trics at 40% cloudy, alittle amber

well i was looking at the cfls i want, their the big ones, 200 watts, so i just need a mogul adapter? or what i dont get how that works lol, im sorry about all the questions >.<

thatoneguy1991 said:

well i was looking at the cfls i want, their the big ones, 200 watts, so i just need a mogul adapter? or what i dont get how that works lol, im sorry about all the questions >.<

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Express Light Bulbs shows a good example, the mogel socket fits into the regular socket...

Hello thatoneguy1991...
I myself am new to this site but have been growing for years now..I too am building a grow room..you can read my 400 watt grow as it is coming along if you would like. I am a fisherman between seasons right now so I know what it is like to not have alot of cash flow but on ebay for 119.00 you can buy a ballast and a 400 watt hps bulb. That is what I did to start my room plus the tri-pack 32oz fox farm fertilizing kit. The better products you go with the better the turn out of the marijuana..

This it the light I was talking and my nutrients...

well im just wondering if the heat issue is going to be a problem, im not growing in that big of a space :/ unless i get some good ventalation going i should be alright tho? right?

thatoneguy1991 said:

well im just wondering if the heat issue is going to be a problem, im not growing in that big of a space :/ unless i get some good ventalation going i should be alright tho? right?

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as i been trying to tell you yes..Besides the cfls will put off heat as well as long as you have some sort of ventilation you will be good..And the 400 will do great for your plants better than the 200 watt cfls guarenteed.