First time CFL grow from seed (3rd week flower)

PeeAych

Member
Hey peeps, this is my first ever time growing/first time ever posting. I started with two seeds, one is a definite Bubba the other is just random bag seed. Extremely lucky, both of them turned out to be female. I didn't bother cloning either of them because I wanted to see what my outcome would be like before going more in depth. The only things I've really been monitoring hardcore have been the pH (steady 6.3-6.5) and I've been giving them bloom booster since the 1st week of flowering. I don't think they look that bad, my only concern is that they need more light (currently 3 23w CFLs per). I think I also want to do something with the fan to make it a bit higher...Please let me know what you guys think!

Bubba is on the left, random is on the right.

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Bluntcuts

Active Member
Ya try and get some more light in their asap. Maybe on the sides for supplemental lighting. I am also on my 1st grow, Day 5 of Flower.
 

PeeAych

Member
Ya try and get some more light in their asap. Maybe on the sides for supplemental lighting. I am also on my 1st grow, Day 5 of Flower.
Yeah, I figured I'd need more light... I'm also curious about cutting some of the bigger fan leaves to get more light to the rest of the plant... Should I try that? I like the idea of keeping it the way it is and letting it do its own thing.
 

gingerbuddha

Active Member
Don't trim them, just get lights all around that bitch. CFL's are only really effective within about 6 inches of the plant. those lower bud sites aren't getting shit. You should look into lst, topping/fim'ing, and/or scrog next time. Makes a much more efficient use of the cfl's

if you can't add a whole bunch of lights id suggest dropping 2-3 in between the plants at different heights, rotating them every few days so they get full light coverage.
ex. x= plants !=lights
!!! !!!
x ! x
x ! x
x ! x

-gb
 

PeeAych

Member
Don't trim them, just get lights all around that bitch. CFL's are only really effective within about 6 inches of the plant. those lower bud sites aren't getting shit. You should look into lst, topping/fim'ing, and/or scrog next time. Makes a much more efficient use of the cfl's

if you can't add a whole bunch of lights id suggest dropping 2-3 in between the plants at different heights, rotating them every few days so they get full light coverage.
ex. x= plants !=lights
!!! !!!
x ! x
x ! x
x ! x

-gb
Yeah I was afraid I didn't have enough lighting but I'm on a tight budget...I do already rotate them every day for air circulation and I change the light height when I do it. The bubba is a bit taller than the other. I'ts gonna bother me so I'm going to have to get some more lights in there today.
 

PeeAych

Member
Ok so I took your advice ginger and I've been rotating the plants daily and adjusting light height daily as well. I haven't been able to go out and buy more CFL fixtures but hopefully I'll do that on Friday. Here's the same bud that I took a pic of before. Looks like a little improvement to me, I'm just wondering if they'll be able to fill out more?


photo (1).jpg

(pic came out sideways for some reason)
 

gingerbuddha

Active Member
Definitely looks good man. Lights all around it will only help it. I try and keep a light within 2 inches of every bud site.
 

PeeAych

Member
Definitely looks good man. Lights all around it will only help it. I try and keep a light within 2 inches of every bud site.
Word, yeah I have 3 per plant right now and 4 good looking bud sites like that one on each plant. Both main bud sites are under the lights all the time (about 2 inches away) and I rotate them so the sides get some light. This is definitely a learning experience, next time I need to stock up on LOTS of light. Thanks so much for your help man.:peace:
 

gingerbuddha

Active Member
That's a good start for sure. 26-30 w bulbs are the best for getting them all around, 40w can work but they are just a little bigger. Unless of course you step up to 100+ in which case placing them horizontally can cover a good area.
 

PeeAych

Member
That's a good start for sure. 26-30 w bulbs are the best for getting them all around, 40w can work but they are just a little bigger. Unless of course you step up to 100+ in which case placing them horizontally can cover a good area.
Right on, I think I'm going to be getting 3 more 40w, possibly a few 100w on Friday. I'm excited now :) Thanks again
 

gingerbuddha

Active Member
Make sure you're looking at the actual wattage, not incandescent equivalent. Just fyi... not sure if were on the same page on wattage, a "few" 100 watters is more than enough for a complete grow. I have around 200w's total in my cab for one plant.
 

Kybudz

Well-Known Member
Yeah I'm running approxmatlly 240 watts mixed 6500-2700 over plant. Two clamp lights I rotatate around pot everyday. If I miss a day rotating clamp lights I can tell.
 

PeeAych

Member
Make sure you're looking at the actual wattage, not incandescent equivalent. Just fyi... not sure if were on the same page on wattage, a "few" 100 watters is more than enough for a complete grow. I have around 200w's total in my cab for one plant.
I understood you, I'd rather buy them 2 or 3 at a time though. I ended up getting a couple more 23w CFL's putting out 1600 lumens each. They're filling in nicely now, (per your advice GB) and that tent smells like a bowl of fruity pebbles. I have no clue what the random one is but I think I like it more than the bubba...

EDIT: I think I was also mistaken about the time they've been flowering! I was counting weeks since I changed the light cycle but I sexed them on the 4th and changed to 12/12 on the 31st. Does that mean they're just starting their third week of flowering?
 

imlovnit24/7

Active Member
The gender of the plant will show durring veg, of course that's not always true cuz some ppl don't veg for more than a couple days/weeks. But my ladies started preflowers more than a month away from me switching to 12/12. Your plants look great, what kind or soil and nutes are you using?
 

PeeAych

Member
The gender of the plant will show durring veg, my ladies started preflowers more than a month away from me switching to 12/12. You plants look great, what kind or soil and nutes are you using?
Huh, I didn't know that... I thought it was dependent on the strain and maturity of the plant. Either way the plants I have didn't show sex until after I went to 12/12 so I'm counting the 4th as their first day I guess? I'm using just plain Miracle Gro potting soil and during flower I'm using bloom boost for them. They seem to be doing well, I guess they're 3 weeks and 2 days into flowering now? :-?

Porn :lol:
Bubba is on the left, and the other 2 are of the unknown.
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