Miracle grow, 1st grow!!!

Okay before everyone starts talking smack about my choice of soil.... Keep in mind that I've researched heavily before starting!!! I understand that MG may not be the best choice... I know its risky but I decided to do an experiment my very first attempt. Your 1st grow should be about learning right? I just wanted to see for myself that MG sucks before I invest in expensive ferts. So here we gooooooo.... Here's my set up:

Strain: Papaya (2 plants, unknown sex, start from seed)
Soil: Miracle Grow
Pots: 3 gal home depot cheapo plastic pots.
Lighting: CFL through veg! 2 x 42w /// 4 x 26w. I have a 250w hps on the way.. I will soon add it to the mix.
Enviroment: DIY grow box. 2x2x7
Ventalation: 4" 200cfm wind tunnel, 2 x 2" passive intake (through pvc pipe)
Carbon filter: Presh filter
Advanced growing techniques used: 1 plant whom my girlfriend has named bubbles, has been lsted. The other, whom my gf has named buddy, was femed at the 5th node and has 4 tops.

Note: This journal is not starting from the beginning.. I have just finished my first 5 weeks in VEG. I am now on day 2 of flower. (Have yet to see signs of sex)

A few questions; ( I hope some knowledgeable veteran growers will help me out! I'm here to learn )

1) What’s the best growing technique to provide max yield with my grow space? 12/12 from seed? scrog? IDK!!
2) Will my lighting be enough for 2 plants?
3) How am I going to get the MG ferts out of my babies before I cut them down? I read that you can buy an air stone from the pet store and place the plant/stone in a bucket of water, under 24hr lighting for 3 days to clear nutes. Is this correct?
4) How big of and HID lighting system do you vets think my small space can support? I bought 250w w/ a cool tube.. But I think I could probably up the ante and buy a stronger system and use a cool tube..

That is about it right now... If anyone has any interest/questions lemme know!!!

Pictures to come!

Hey Doc, it looks good, I'll pull up a seat! Things seem to have gone ok with the MG so far.It seems to me that you will have more than enough light in your space. I' m not sure how you'll get your babies thoroughly flushed, perhaps a more experienced member will know.
The Mysticwolf

Thanks for the reply bro! Yeah they look well so far. My only issue has been a few burn spots from growing into the CFLs.

Updates:

1) My fan should be here today so I can hook up the ventilation/filter
2) The plant on the left has shown me what I believe to be female flowers. The one on the right has similar nodes.. But w/ no white hairs yet. They look the same but instead of the hairs, there is a small black hole. Hopefully it'll be a she!!

Pics later!

Update:

Well my 250w hps came today.. The cool tube is HUGE!!! Much bigger than I anticipated.. It wont even fit right into my grow space, so I had to jerry rig it at an angle for now. Luckily, If I dont actually connect ducting to it, it will fit in from corner to corner later. This means my fan wont be able to cool the lighting directly through ducting, but I dont think it will matter. It doesn't seem to get THAT hot, so I think my exhaust fan and my passive intake pipes will be enough to keep my temps where I want them.

< from distance < angle of the light

Look up and read about flushing. it's a myth and another newb forum drill found on cannibus forums. you will be fine with MG. Don't believe the hype the cannibus industry has setup...grow that plant just like a tomato plant.

give N during flower. another cannibus forum drill is to use way too high P and zero to little N. And people wonder why yellow leaves and their drop off happens. but in cannibus forums, yellow leaves is healthy and normal.

look up uncle ben here and read up


good luck.

Subbed, i love successful mg grows.

I love low cost grows that are successful. I'll keep an eye on this one. Good luck and looking good so far.

Thanks guys! I'll post some more pictures later when the lights come back on. I might hang that HPS corner to corner so its more direct lighting. I mean, the walls are painted flat white so it should be doing some good as is, I just want to get the most out of it. My fan should be here today as well, so my exhuast should be up and running tonight.

MG is not as bad as every 1 makes out i used it for my 1st ever grow in 08,i also used there nutes aswell it turned out ok for my 1st grow but it was also a ghetto grow with a fan an a 400w hps...LOOKING GOOD REALLY GOOD keep it up fella im gonna keep an eye on this grow also,i hope you get a GRADE-A smoke off them

to get ur nute out just stop giveing them the nutes about 2 week b4 the harvest they will take whats in the leafs an they will start to yellow that is normal so just water the last 2 week

My HPS ballast already crapped out on me!!! Had to send it back today... Looks like my plants will have to be under the cfls until next Tuesday :/

On a brighter note, my exhaust system is hooked up it works great !

Pictures later!

Photo update: everythings looking pretty good! you'll see my fan, large fan leaf etc.

Looks like a female flower aye? and as you can see my cfls are back up til i get the new 250w HPS.

looking real good

I dont reccomend MG but I have grown some nice plants in it. It isnt the best selling soil in the world for nothing.

Not much to say! quick pics

Pic 1: all of, "bubbles" preflowers only have 1 pistol?? I don't understand.. I really don't feel like researching why that is happening. Aint nobody got time for that!!
Pic 2: Buddy's girl parts
Pic 3: bubbles solo dolo
Pic 4: buddy
Pic 5: Both
Pic 6: grow box w/ both.

Okay.. So if you compare these pictures from tonight with the ones i posted last night, there is a HUGE difference. Some of the main cola stems seemed to have stretched 2 inches!! Will this stretching end up being problematic for me? I know they are suppose to stretch a little during flower but DAMN. Also, new leaf sets arrived over night.. My HPS ballest was suppose to be here today but I missed the damn delivery.... I wish I had it because the CFLs just aren't enough :/

Secondly, I just wanted to note that I haven't added any additional nutrients to the pots.. this is 100% MG so far. I am considering buying some low NPK tomato fertilizer for the next watering. What do you guys think? Should I?