First grow - bag seed x8 - CFL - 4x4x4 cab or 3x3x3

So. I will start from the beginning.

I germinated some bag seed I got from a friend i put them in a mug, and put the mug in a drawer. i had initially rinsed the mug with warm water to get the temperature up, then filled it with water that had been filtered with a brita filter the previous day. this drawer wasn't terribly warm, so after the first day i moved them into the bathroom (which happens to be very warm, weird heating) up high, and covered. after another day, 7/8 seeds had cracked, no sprout tip emerging, but growth had started. thought this was a little strange, but figured it was because of the rough start these lil guys are getting. anyway decided the next day when the cracks had increased a little bit to plant.

i got 8 solo cups and cut 4 lil holes in the bottom of each. took some gravel from outside, boiled it for a while (15-20mins), filled each solo about 1in on bottom. filled each with pro-max soil. it is peat, perlite, and limestone. NO FOOD! so i will have to nute soon. anyway watered each thoroughly to settle the soil. put the seeds in small holes about a quarter inch down.

the 8 cups are in a 10gal aquarium, with 2 18watt flourescent lights on them (for now). i figured this was enough for sprouting? i have a somewhat ambitious plan to build a cabinet...

so. i am trying to decide whether a 4ft cube or a 3ft cube will be best. although i just read on another page about getting a half wardrobe box from uhaul which doesn't sound like a terrible idea...think i like wood though. anyway for 7 dollars or so you can get a sheet of 1/2in plywood, 3 of those and I've got a cube. couple 2x4s for support in each corner, vertical. split one side down the middle for two doors, use screws tightly spaced, silicon the inside seams, drill holes for power, intakes and outputs, etc.

lights will probably be power strips with plug adapters to y adapters. daylight 6500k cfls for veg, at i think 42 actual watts each. how many for that size does anyone think? i know that i am going to be lucky if even half of my lil ones are female, and this is definitely a learning experience. i want the cab to be able to evolve with my experience, and I'm not expecting bagseed to have spectacular results, but its a good starting point. so those cfls can end up being pretty expensive...and i know all about lighting as i am an avid aquarist as well. don't want to necessarily invest in an expensive lighting system until i have had a lil more experience. i think i can get decent first time results with a few cfls. I'm thinking...12. coming to around 100 bucks. which in a T5HO would be like...~50 watts. so for 100 i can get 42x12watts. have to spend another 100 on veg cfls, soft white ~2700-3000k i believe. theres a lil chart at home depot lol.

so i think I've covered the basics of where i am at. i hope someone takes the time to read all this lol and give some pointers! at the moment i have action on 3 cups, the temp in the aquarium is a perfect 78F and there are some lil plastic shot glasses filled with water for moisture, not sure how much this is helping. will post a pic soon, although not too much to see. the lights pretty much cover the whole top, making a hood like. is a lil open though. it is in a closet so i think that helps. lights are on 24/7 for the moment. ummmm...havent watered yet, soil is still moist and springy.

i believe that is all. i will finish this bowl, finish my coffee. and go to work now. lol. i look forward to seeing responses(please!)!

i have decided to go with a 3ft cube. it will fit in a big old tv box or something if i have to move, and the spot I'm putting it in fits a 3ft better than a 4ft. i am wondering about lights. can i get away with using 6 42watt cfls? thats a lot of light; i know a lot is wasted unless i build some reflector (which is a possibility) but i will definitely be painting the inside flat white to help as much as possible.

gotta figure out nutes. what/when specifically. high in nitrogen during veg and phosphates during flower. long way from there yet. but nutes have to start soon, or immediately right? i mean my soil has no nutrients...i think...peat moss. is that enough? lol. idk. i have action on 6 out of 8 now. it is pretty cool watching these little ladies pop through. i feel like this aquarium is working really well for sprouting, like a dome. its like 78 in there and the soil hasn't dried out after 3 days...

i refer to them in ladies in hopes that they feel it and develop that way. as they are from bagseed, and this is my first grow, they will probably all turn out male. but hey, have to start somewhere...

here are the pictures. not much to see. you get the idea though.

anyone? please? i will post more pics later...

it seems my lil ladies (hopefully) are stretching a bit. i assume the low power T8s are a little too far away, but they sit so nicely on the aquarium...bought the wood and materials for the cab today, just have to put it together, and then get the lights, so hopefully i can do that asap so the plants don't stretch too much...i want to start LST or individual scrogs soon...any info on that would be awesome...

also, the lights i will be using are 23watt CFLs in the 6500k spectrum, i will get 12, and 12 in the 2700k spectrum too... enough???

THANKS!

yeah theyll stretch if the light is too far away. 12 cfls should be fine. i used 10 per plant when i grew with cfls. you might want more if you end up growing more than 1 plant.

Drop the light alittle bit, they are stretching. You can remove the leftover seed husk if you want, or don't doesn't matter. Once they have three or four sets of leaves transfer the clones/seedlings to a larger medium, either soil or water.

thanks SO much for the responses guys...

yeah they are stretching WAY more now, those pics were from days ago...they are around 5 or 6 in tall now to the cotyledons...im going to raise the cups to the light rather than the other way around. i think this will be easier. think i will probably have to replant them now...grrr...hope this doesn't mess things up too badly...

so the 12 cfls i will be running will be running horizontally, 6 per "fixture" and the fixtures will be placed next to each other. this is a total of 276watts of light and supposedly `19000 lumens. the other 12 bulbs (or 9 and keep 3 6500k) are for the flowering stage, and so will be switched out when the time comes. this total of 12 cfls is for 8 plants. they will be kept in close proximity in a 3x3ft cube.

will this be enough light? i REALLY don't have the money to invest (yet) in a diy HID or retrofitted T5HO quad or hex or octo setup. i was thinking it would be. maybe not. maybe have to double it. which honestly will STILL be cheaper than T5HO which is the way i WANT to go...idk...

youre gonna want more light for 8 plants.

well, only 7 sprouted. and they will be within a cabinet that will trap/reflect as much light as possible. how much cfl (actual) wattage do i need? or how many 23 watt (100 watt equiv.) bulbs do i need?

also, how far should the cotyledons be from the surface of their medium? like i mentioned, mine are TALL right now. they look healthy, but I'm guessing they're not supposed to be 6 inches tall at approximately a week old...

ya i also think u 7 is too much, id take it down to 6, or even four and raise those babies quick! lol
GL

u wont need more light then
and are the sprouts a week old or the whole germintaion process included? because im around 2 1/2 inches at 2 1/2 days so ui think i would be close to 6 in a week also

i used 10 per plant..you could do with like 6 per plant..

Good stuff, bro! I like your terrarium set up for your germinating beans. If your going use CFLs; I hear that it's a good idea to make sure you mix your spectrum. Make sure you get plenty of those "warm" colored bulbs. they burn @ 2700k-300k. I am subbed up for this keep it up and keep posting your updates

pic update...






just took those. they are stretching, right? do i need to replant?

this whole process began i believe on the 1st. They took 3 days to germinate, then have been planted for 6 days and they are about 6 to 8 inches from the bulb now, and about 4 to 5 inches tall each. 7 total. i will raise the cups up to the light so theyre about 2-3 inches away...

i really appreciate the input guys, i definitely feel like a noob, but im stoked to be learning!

@Desr, probably would have a hard time fitting 48 bulbs into a 3ft cube...even vertically oriented. im going to have 2 power strips back to back, with 3 outlet to socket adapters (socket that plugs in) on each strip. this will be one fixture. there will be 6 bulbs oriented horizontally. they will be 23watt cfls at 6500k (for veg) that supposedly output 1600 lumens each. two of these fixtures will be in a white wood 3 foot cube...

thanks a bunch MurshDawg. i think that makes sense, to have a few 2700k's in with the 6500s...photosynthesis uses that spectrum during veg too, just not as much so...maybe 4/6500k and 2/2700k for veg, and reverse when its time to flower...

keep up with the pointers please! i really dig the support and knowledge base available to us first timers out there...

i transplant at 2 weeks..you want them to establish a good root system.

definitely! they seem to be doing pretty well, minus a lil stretching...

building the cab right now. saws are fun. lol. pretty excited to get that bitch together. will take pics of the process. pretty excited to get those babies outta the "dome" and into a more secure location. not that i dont just LOVE the pretty flower wallpaper...lol.

just a tip for those cfl lovers out there i use those underneath cabinet kitchen cfl.s that are circle in shape but the cfl bulb is wavy inside it and those give out 3000k lumens each...but they cost about 7 or 8 quid a bulb ...to replace when burnt out eventually

I have a cfl grow going right now and my babies are only a week and a half ahead of urs. The thing I wouold say is watch out for light burn in your cabinet. Mine got too hot becauseI had too many cfls. I had 8 23 watt on 7 plants aboout 4 inchs from the plants. i took out 2 and they look good. Well one withered and 2 are still recovering but they were also hit with a fan so that could have something to do with it. Putting the lights closer should help and a fan will do wonders.

hey man whats up looks good and im subd'
heres a good link for stretch: https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/429767-replant-those-long-stretchy-stems.html
and a good one for cfls:https://www.rollitup.org/cfl-fluorescent-lighting/107992-tutorial-growing-cfls.html and https://www.rollitup.org/cfl-fluorescent-lighting/41024-cfl-proximity-foliage.html
just read those threads up, good stuff. also do a SOG grow and just keep them in those party cups or like a 25 oz container because it will make it much easier on you and they will stay short, or top them later, cfls are hard to light vertical grows with theyr short light radius. cfls should be 1-2 inchs from leafs except seedlings like those, keep lights 2-3 inchs awy

looking good man yea transplant those at 2 weeks and bury the stem some so it wont be as long.make sure to keep a ph balance of 5.3-6.3 no higher than 6.4.i have more info for you just send a friends request and pm me i got you.make sure stop back by my profile i just topped my 5 12/12 from seed plants ima post pics in a few heres my link
https://www.rollitup.org/cfl-fluorescent-lighting/484653-220w-cfl-closet-grow-1-a.html