CFL Minimalist grow. Do more with less!

Hello all,

Great forums here, I've been reading over the past few weeks and have picked up a lot of good information.

(before reading on these forums I was a total newbie on growing so that may explain my sub par tech)

I few months ago I planted a few seeds that a friend had laying around. I put them in soil by the window sill and after a couple days they were seedlings!

I put my 26W 6500K Sunblaster CFL on them for 12 on and 12 off. They stretched quite a bit (oops) and after a few weeks I had a skinny female. (I used the males as house plants until they died, lasted a few weeks)

Fast forward to last week and I added a 13W 3000K CFL to help with the flowering (1 month too late). Still on a 12 on 12 off.

• I added maybe 2 tablespoons of some 3-1-4 liquid fertilizer while watering.
• I created a stealth cardboard box with thermo glow (totally not stealth and smells up my spare room a bit).
• The plant's top is bent because it outgrew it's first box.
• I pointed a fan at it maybe 10 times.

Not bad for doing everything wrong huh?

This is just a little hobby for me so yield isn't important and it only used about 10 dollars in electricity. So why not right? Let's call it a minimalist's grow.

Anyways that's my story.
Here are the pics!

PS Any advice on when to harvest my crop?

go to radio shack and pick up a lil telescope 60x and check the trichomes, you want them to be mostly amber

Have you run that 12/12 light cycle from seedling?

Yup, in hind sight I could have run it longer for vegging.

MurderAlley said:

Have you run that 12/12 light cycle from seedling?

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eggshen said:

Yup, in hind sight I could have run it longer for vegging.

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Cool man, its lookin good, im working on me first indoor grow right now with cfls, i was gonna veg for a month or so But then i started seein threads about 12/12 all the way. I think ill veg mine till you or someone else harvests off that light cycle and then decide, im really interested in how much you will yeild. Also is it any particular strain?

MurderAlley said:

Cool man, its lookin good, im working on me first indoor grow right now with cfls, i was gonna veg for a month or so But then i started seein threads about 12/12 all the way. I think ill veg mine till you or someone else harvests off that light cycle and then decide, im really interested in how much you will yeild. Also is it any particular strain?

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I'm pretty sure it's Juicy Fruit (Sativa).

eggshen said:

I'm pretty sure it's Juicy Fruit (Sativa).

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Yummy , well ill definitelyy stay tuned, keep us updated!

Good Work EggShen, +reps

Like i told my exwife, its all in the reflexes

Things i liked about your post

• good layout

Oh, and nice job on that stealth grow box.

I am really excited to see your plant finish and put some weight on.

Any thoughts of future grows?

SimpleSimon said:

Good Work EggShen, +reps

Like i told my exwife, its all in the reflexes

Things i liked about your post

• good layout

Oh, and nice job on that stealth grow box.

I am really excited to see your plant finish and put some weight on.

Any thoughts of future grows?

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Oh and you got a few weeks left too i thinks

eggshen not bad not bad at all.. give it a couple weeks.. looking good cant wait till mines starts getting all crystaly...good luck keep us posted. subscribed

39w total CFL grow..... Can you say popcorn buds..... jk
Seriously impressive man.
Makes me wonder what the end watt/gram ratio will be.
I'll be checkin up.

You shouldn't keep the males as houseplants because they will eventually produce pollen (that can travel for miles, much less to another room in the house) and the female won't be as potent because she will start to produce seeds which uses up THC.

Awesome grow though xD

MurderAlley said:

Cool man, its lookin good, im working on me first indoor grow right now with cfls, i was gonna veg for a month or so But then i started seein threads about 12/12 all the way. I think ill veg mine till you or someone else harvests off that light cycle and then decide, im really interested in how much you will yeild. Also is it any particular strain?

Click to expand...

With CFL's you don't want to waste too much time vegging. You can grow half a dozen budsicles in teh space of one monster. I gave the sativa I'm growing now too long in veg and I only gave her right at two weeks. I had to top her at about 3 ft and that only made things worse. Now instead of one giant cola trying to get into the lights, it's four trying to get at the lights. A smaller plant just means you get better light/leaf ratio and get tighter bigger nugz because of it! With CFL's you're not trying to grow a tree, you're growing buds! Even the lower branches will yield good if you prune the sucker leaves out during flowering for better light pen and air flow.

satch said:

With CFL's you don't want to waste too much time vegging. You can grow half a dozen budsicles in teh space of one monster. I gave the sativa I'm growing now too long in veg and I only gave her right at two weeks. I had to top her at about 3 ft and that only made things worse. Now instead of one giant cola trying to get into the lights, it's four trying to get at the lights. A smaller plant just means you get better light/leaf ratio and get tighter bigger nugz because of it! With CFL's you're not trying to grow a tree, you're growing buds! Even the lower branches will yield good if you prune the sucker leaves out during flowering for better light pen and air flow.

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Hmm... Looks like its time for me to grow some budsickles then. Ive already been vegin for a month with cfl, i hope its not to late

Kop 4 dis 4 a minime grow

Pic1 1 light 1 plant in veg
Pic2 silver paper plate 4 reflecta 1 18watt x 100 2700k
Pic3 wot i dub Da Crown O Budz
Pic4 17 dayz in flower

MACCLAD said:

Kop 4 dis 4 a minime grow

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Whats up MAC , how many watts/lumens is that light putting out and how old is she?

MurderAlley said:

Whats up MAC , how many watts/lumens is that light putting out and how old is she?

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oops nevermind

Hi all! It's been almost two weeks and this is the latest picture.

The plant had spider mites and I had them treated with some organic spray. Roughed this plant up real good getting it treated.

The smell has really died down with this guy in the last week.

All pistils have color in them.

Also it is having a number of branches fall off like the plant is drying out and dying.

I'm not watering it very much now and letting it go really dry between waterings.

What do you think?

With the set up you have, i think youve done amazing rep+.
I agree with ganja_god, dont keep your males, you would be devastated if you pollenated your plant