HELP - First grow. ADVICE!

So I started some seeds close to three weeks ago. All the seeds germinated in 3 - 3 1/2 days. I then put them into pots with some soil I purchased at a local store. At this time I was on a budget. I stumbled arcoss some shop light fixtures at a store that at 48" long. I bought two sets. Each holds two light tubes. I purchased the lights classified as "Day Light"
My babies have been growing pretty good. There is one kind of leaning, but I have seen one of my friends plants do the same before it straightened up. Anyways, some of my questions are...

1. Am I using lights that will work? and produce a hefty amount of buds?
2. What are some things I can do to make the plant produce more buds and more potent buds at that?
3. I have heard of and seen videos online of "pinching / clipping" your plants. This makes them produce more buds? I know I am going to want to do this of course. If anyone has any videos or advice, I would appreciate it.
4. Like I said, my plants are close to three weeks old. They are growing there third set, but I have noticed that on about 3-4 of my plants there first sets or turning yellow. I read on this site, posted by a few diff. people, that, that is normal? Advice please! I was scared untell I read a post reguarding that.


I'm sure I have more questions, but this is it right now. Any advice at all will be appreciated. I really could use it. Thanks.

juicemc22 said:

So I started some seeds close to three weeks ago. All the seeds germinated in 3 - 3 1/2 days. I then put them into pots with some soil I purchased at a local store. At this time I was on a budget. I stumbled arcoss some shop light fixtures at a store that at 48" long. I bought two sets. Each holds two light tubes. I purchased the lights classified as "Day Light"
My babies have been growing pretty good. There is one kind of leaning, but I have seen one of my friends plants do the same before it straightened up. Anyways, some of my questions are...

1. Am I using lights that will work? and produce a hefty amount of buds?
2. What are some things I can do to make the plant produce more buds and more potent buds at that?
3. I have heard of and seen videos online of "pinching / clipping" your plants. This makes them produce more buds? I know I am going to want to do this of course. If anyone has any videos or advice, I would appreciate it.
4. Like I said, my plants are close to three weeks old. They are growing there third set, but I have noticed that on about 3-4 of my plants there first sets or turning yellow. I read on this site, posted by a few diff. people, that, that is normal? Advice please! I was scared untell I read a post reguarding that.


I'm sure I have more questions, but this is it right now. Any advice at all will be appreciated. I really could use it. Thanks.

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if you want hefty buds you should look into getting hps lighting....the flouros you have now will get you through a grow..but your yeild will be light and fluffy...they just dont have the power to produce dense buds....also...wait until 4-6 weeks to do any kind of training....i usually top or fim my plants and then introduce lst for a bushier plant....

Thanks for the advice. Do you have a preference on and HPS light? Where is a common place to get them? I was reading some posts that say to use different lights for different stages such as veg/budding. Can I use all the lights all the time, or do I need to switch them through out the plants stages? What lights should I get. I want to do this right and produce a good amount of good bud per plant. More info would be appreciated. If you would even tell me the exact lights to get or the set up to use would help. I am in a closet right now, but have a whole room. This is my first time by the way. lol.

keep your shop lights running 18-20 hours a day and use to VEG plants get a hps if the budget allows and set it up somewhere LIGHT TIGHT running 12 hours a day then you can harvest every 8 weeks dependent on strain and also keep nice mother plants ect. have fun and welcome aboard
peace and pot!

So I should get an HPS light. Which I will. So am I understand right SuperskunkXNL? I can keep all the lights together? Just for different amounts of time? I plan on cloning my plants when I can so that I can harves't consistantly. I have no idea how to clone, but I will get to that. Right now I just want the right set up for my plants. Lighting wise especially. So do I only need an HPS to add, or what else?
THE MORE ADVICE THE BETTER! I will be checking back in very frequently.


Another QUESTION: Like I said my plants are three weeks old. I have been running the lights 24 hours. When should I change this. I know to make them bud I go 18/6 right, or 12/12? ADVICE please, it's my first time.

keep the hps and shop lights SEPERATE flower with hps where NO LIGHT from the others gets to them during there night 12 dark must be dark

So I'm a little confused, my bad. So switch to HPS when I want them to flower? After the veg stage which is next for me, correct? And when I use HPS its 12 on 12 off? Not 16 on 8 off? I've heard that. When should I switch to HPS?

juicemc22 said:

So I'm a little confused, my bad. So switch to HPS when I want them to flower? After the veg stage which is next for me, correct? And when I use HPS its 12 on 12 off? Not 16 on 8 off? I've heard that. When should I switch to HPS?

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I think you're already vegging if you're at your 3rd set.
You can veg and flower with hps.
Switch the lighting schedule to 12/12 when you want to flower.
Make sure dark is dark and light is bright.

The third set of leaves is just starting to form, if that helps? Is that vegging? Should I change the lights to HPS right away? How many HPS bulbs do I need? Its only the third week... I should already change the lights to 12/12 instead of 24? I thought I read you should stay 24 hours for 2 months, but I could be way wrong. So once I change it to 12/12 or 18/6... is there a difference? I have heard both 12/12 and 16/8? How long will the veg before i want them to flower? How do I make them Flower? This is my first time like I said. PLEASE HELP!!! I don't want my plants to go dead or do this wrong. They are in a closet, but I have a whole room that I am dedicating to grow. I'm gonna clone with these plants. These are my first ones that I started! MORE ADVICE PLEASE. Please be specific. I want to be sure. I have read alot about growing, but the advice seems to be better.

juicemc22 said:

The third set of leaves is just starting to form, if that helps? Is that vegging? Should I change the lights to HPS right away? How many HPS bulbs do I need? Its only the third week... I should already change the lights to 12/12 instead of 24? I thought I read you should stay 24 hours for 2 months, but I could be way wrong. So once I change it to 12/12 or 18/6... is there a difference? I have heard both 12/12 and 16/8? How long will the veg before i want them to flower? How do I make them Flower? This is my first time like I said. PLEASE HELP!!! I don't want my plants to go dead or do this wrong. They are in a closet, but I have a whole room that I am dedicating to grow. I'm gonna clone with these plants. These are my first ones that I started! MORE ADVICE PLEASE. Please be specific. I want to be sure. I have read alot about growing, but the advice seems to be better.

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Wow

Okay, you can veg just fine with your shop lights, but I doubt they will make very good bud, OR, you can buy an HPS and use that throughout. You can probably use just one HPS light, depending on your grow space and the size of the bulb that you decide on.

You can veg for as long as you want, just remember the plant will double or triple in size during the flowering stage. Some people flower from seed. To make your plants flower or make buds, all you have to do is switch to the 12/12 schedule. Get a timer.

Lighting times:
24/0 = better foliage growth
18/6 = better root growth
12/12 = flower

Peoples opinions differ on all lighting schedules and it's up to you to find one that you like. There's many more than the 3 that I mentioned.

Hope that helps

Thank you, that helped a ton. So I can just switch my lights when Im ready to flower? Would it effect them if I used the shop lights and HPS together, but ran the lights together on and off time? When I do want them to flower and do the 12/12, do I stick with that for the rest of its life?

yes 12/12 till you cut her down and feed only water the last fortnight

check out the bottom link in my sig...it should help you alot....gonna try to get a discussion on lighting going soon...you will want to have 2 seperate areas for growing...A veg area,where your lights will be on anywhere from 16 to 24 hours,depending on what you decide,and its really a matter of preference....when the plants are placed under a 12/12 schedule...12 hours uninterupted darkness,they will begin to flower in 10 days to 2 weeks.
Flouros are fine for veg,as long as you keep them close,for flowering you need an hps...High pressure sodium....this is the recommended light for top yield...the size of this light depends on how many plants you want to grow

so say you had a whole room to grow. how would you set it up? Have the closet be the flowering plants and set up something in the actual room for veg stage? Or since the plants will be bigger in flowering have them in the room with a setup of black sheets and what not? and have the veg plants in a closet? just curious... i have ideas but not sure, wants some suggestions i guess. haha, thanks.

Well,first you need a game plan...and that starts with how many plants you wanna grow?....then decide soil or hydro,for you,I would say soil to start...it is much more forgiving for a newcomer to get a handle on...now its time to decide about lights...for growing primo bud,there is no such thing as too much

If your going to get a HPS light get a switchable ballast so you can run MH for vegging better than flourescents. Also go hydro next time. Use GH nutrients. You should look in the phone book find your local hydro shop and pay them a visit.