First CFL grow, 368 actual watts.

Hi, im a new member on here and have been searching these forums for the past month for info on the do's and don'ts. So i am lookin for some constructive criticism on my set-up and my abiities , don't know if thats the right word.


so i have :
1- 85 watt - 5000k cfl
2- 65 watt - 6500k cfl
2- 35 watt - 2700k cfl
2- 30 watt - 2700k cfl
1- 23 watt - 2700k cfl



i am curently growing 2 bag seeds, some sort of kush i got from my buddy.
heres how they are curently looking.


both expirienced a little heat stress about 1 1/2 weeks ago so i droped the temp in the room curently running lights 18/6 been veging close to 4 weeks. i started the seeds on 6-14. i have two fans one oscilatingon the plants and one fixed on the lights.

i was wondering if this spectrum was good to run trough flower with addng a couple more smaller 2700ks when i go 12/12 or do i have enough already?

just started feeding with technafloras recipe for sucess kit. 1/2 strenght first feed the going full next feeding to see if they take to it. using filtered water not sure if the ph is acurate but soil reads at 6.8 on the meter i got from home depot.

any advice or criticism will be helpfull. feel free to be harsh im not sensitive.

definitely gunna have to get them in complete darkness when you go 12/12. also add a few more 2700k, couldnt hurt. Im not sure how usefull the 85w 5000k is, ive just read that more 2700k is recommended for flowering.

I was planning on adding 4-6 in the 23-35 watt range in like a week or two when i switch to 12/12. the main reason i put the 5000k in there is it has a very similar spectrum to actual sunlight. not sure if its helping. thanks for the advice. rep+

does anyone know if 5000k is usefull to the plants?
has anyone used the recipe for sucess on a grow, if so did it work for you and/or how did you modify it to work for you?

5000-6500k is the best usable spectrum for veg and 2400-3000k for flowering. I used mostly 5000k during veg and my plant loved it.

WanderingGrow said:

does anyone know if 5000k is usefull to the plants?
has anyone used the recipe for sucess on a grow, if so did it work for you and/or how did you modify it to work for you?

Click to expand...

I've been noticing that a lot of people will still include some blue spectrum lights (6500k) with their red spectrum lights so give it a more natural light source. I would just make sure you have a 2:1 ratio at least, if not 3:1 with the 2700k the majority of course. Those plants are looking really good though, man.

thanks for the info. i thought the 5000 was a good addition. so if i add 4 more 30 watters 2 to each plant ill have a 9:2:1 on the whole set-up 9 2700k 2 6500k and 1 5000k i think that will get me through finish, if not ill have to get some more 23 watters in there. i was thinking about switching to 12/12 next week, should i wait longer or is that good? i dont know te sex yet. seeds were started on 6-14 sprouted 6-18 went into 1gal pots on 6-29 then into the curent 14" ones from walmart 4 or 5 gal i think on th 15th been growing very fast and very bushy. so about 4 weeks in veg.

does anyone have info or experience with the b.c. line of nutes, realy looking for info on that?

not sure if im just being a woried parent or not but is this plant a male or not or should i just wait longer.

if you look closely it looks like a ball there. i though they were only leaves growing, but they stayed small this one poped up 2-3 days ago. wish i could get a better pic but im usng my cellphone as a camera right now

i take it that im just worying for nothing right now because no one has said that it is definatley a male yet, or the pic is just too crappy to tell, let me know if im wrong. i tried looking at it under a 30x scope but i still cant tell.

i would apreciate any help even if its just "shut up and see what happens."

It certainly isn't ready to pollinate anything yet! Let it go for now. It is hard (for me anyways) to tell based on preflowers. As for your grow, heat and ventilation is important so keep a close eye on that. As for bulbs, I'm sure there are differences between the spectrums but everyone has a differrent theroy on what is best. I veg with 6500K daylight and I flower with 2700K warm. Some use both together or do everything with 3500 or 4500K bulbs! I have seen people grow good looking mj with every combination so I'm not convinced there is a night and day difference whichever way you slice it. Floro bulbs, unless they are really high-end bulbs, don't produce just a single spectrum, but a broad spectrum and they are labeled by the one that is most prevalent. I think you will be fine with your mixed spectrum based on the fact that I have seen others doing the same thing. As for bulb selection, it is my personal theory that the larger wattage bulbs have deeper penetration abilities. 2 23 watt bulbs does not a 46 watt bulb make! The amount of light and the intensity of light from a single point are not necessarily the same. Like I say that is my theory and current belief based on my experience. Larger bulbs put off a lot more heat. Heat and light go hand in hand. the more intense the light the more heat from what I have seen. I flower with 6 42w 2700K cfl's in a box that is about 14" x 17" x 24" and it works wonderfully for me. Good enough to where I haven't really considered changing anything from the standpoint of bulbs. I run semi-perpetual and most months I pull about an ounce out of the cabinet, and I am pleased with that.

Jed

i noticed my other plant is starting to show some similar growths. i am just a little paranoid because this is my 1st indoor and 1st cfl grow.so im kind of clueless on a few things like humidity control as well as the temperature maintinence. i think i got it under control, i leave the door too the closet open from about 30 min to 1 hour ater lights on and close it about the same time before lights out. helps stop the excess build up till i can get a better extraction fan/filter combo. but every outdoor grow i tried usualy didnt make it this far, squirels killed one grow with a bird bath, knocked it off te tree stump on my babies, and someone chopped the other one.

do you think i should induce flowering or let them vegg for a few more days/weeks?? they are about 8-10 inches tall and very bushy.

well depends on how much height you have left

i have 90cm of grow space between the lights and the pots - im going try get them to 35-40cm before flowering

Looking good man, I would not be to worried about the sex yet...wait a couple weeks into flowering as this should determine what you really have. I am not sure on your overall space but keep inmind once they start flowering they is gonna get big..... I wish I would givent this more thought before, I vegg for close to 5 weeks now 3 weeks into flowering both girls are over 2ft tall...filling out, And Im having problems how bushy they are getting....with the room I have to work with..

so zorr, do you think "double or triple in size" is a standard rule for flowering? if you see my post above, im planning on just letting them get over 1/3 but under 1/2 the size of the grow space i have

total said:

well depends on how much height you have left

i have 90cm of grow space between the lights and the pots - im going try get them to 35-40cm before flowering

Click to expand...

im in a closet so i have some good room to go up, probably 2 or 3 feet. im just woried with how my lights are that if i wait too long my lower foliage will suffer. i was loking to get 2.5 to 3 foot high at finish so i was thinking about waiting till they were like 14 inches tall then switching. my lights are on shower rods so a quick twist and i can move them any were i want to.

i know someone who got a few seeds from the same batch as me. he vegged for 3 weeks and flowered for 9 and got an oz. Im at 3-4 weeks, i have some doubts over when to say my plant oficialy started to veg, the leaf growth sarted to go crazy on 6-24 so thats what i consider the start but im not sure.

zorr said:

Looking good man, I would not be to worried about the sex yet...wait a couple weeks into flowering as this should determine what you really have. I am not sure on your overall space but keep inmind once they start flowering they is gonna get big..... I wish I would givent this more thought before, I vegg for close to 5 weeks now 3 weeks into flowering both girls are over 2ft tall...filling out, And Im having problems how bushy they are getting....with the room I have to work with..

Click to expand...

thanks for the input, i can agree with you on the bushiness its getting harder to see the middle stem for me even when i try and move the branches here are a couple of new pics:


1st 2 pics are one plant next 3 pics are the other plant.

how am i doing?

WanderingGrow said:

thanks for the input, i can agree with you on the bushiness its getting harder to see the middle stem for me even when i try and move the branches here are a couple of new pics:
View attachment 1065597View attachment 1065600View attachment 1065599View attachment 1065598View attachment 1065609

1st 2 pics are one plant next 3 pics are the other plant.

how am i doing?

Click to expand...

I think it looks great so far, I am groing BigBud right now, so it was very bushy also. Yeah, few weeks from now it will get taller and spread more which makes it easyier for the light.. Usally, I have learned so far it is the very bottom of the plant that is harder for it to bud, may just trim this part off later into flowering. Just to give you a comparision, first pic around 25-27days veg, sec pic 45 days old, so yeah dude she is going to be growing rapidly...

I would say start flowering within the week..

Total,

Easily, double if not bigger.... This is my first grow also but have been learning alot as I go along. My opinion though if you let them get half the size of your grow room before you switch over to flowering...She may out grow the area? I could see this happening seeing how fast my girl's have grown..

im gonna go for 35-40cm and then switch to flower then

13cm at the moment

zorr said:

I think it looks great so far, I am groing BigBud right now, so it was very bushy also. Yeah, few weeks from now it will get taller and spread more which makes it easyier for the light.. Usally, I have learned so far it is the very bottom of the plant that is harder for it to bud, may just trim this part off later into flowering. Just to give you a comparision, first pic around 25-27days veg, sec pic 45 days old, so yeah dude she is going to be growing rapidly...

I would say start flowering within the week..

Click to expand...

ok, should i give it any lenghty period of darkness first, i hear some people say they give them 24 hour of darkness before going 12/12. I was wondering if this necesary for the plants or just give them a full 12 hours of darkness the night i want to start flowering schedule?

i think ill wait till the 28th because that'll be roughly four weeks maybe a little longer in vegg. should i swtch to flower nutes when i switch lights or wait till 1st signs of floral production?

thanks for the help, rep+ for all posts, and i apoligize if anything i ask is redundent or hard to understand my mind goes at 100 mph while my hands only go 1 mph.

total said:

im gonna go for 35-40cm and then switch to flower then

13cm at the moment

Click to expand...

dont worry pretty soon they'll be gowing faster then you can imagine. mine are puting out a leaf or 2 a day on top. good luck with both of your guys grows, zorr your plants also look amazing.