Nervous about first grow!

[Bo21]

Hey guys. This is my first Grow and I'm nervous that I didn't do something right. My buds are kind of small and not a lot of resin production. I might just be driving myself crazy, especially because it's my first Grow and I have an unusual attachment to my plant lol.
Day 35 of flower
Strain: Tropical OG
Breeder: 710 Genetics
Light: 550 watts CFL
Soil: organic soil from Lowe's
Nutrients: Veg: organic from lowes
Flower: organic from garden shop
Temp: Between 65 and 80. usually about 70-75
Humidity: between 40 and 65

 

[mattman998]

With CFL you aren't going to have as gigantic buds, at least without a lot of experience. Also on your first grow you aren't going to have the best outcome generally because you haven't had time to dial everything in. Regardless of what it looks like you'll probably get some good bud to smoke and you'll be a little more experienced for the next one. It's all about learning as you go and building up skills.

 

[Kcbscrogger]

Hey guys. This is my first Grow and I'm nervous that I didn't do something right. My buds are kind of small and not a lot of resin production. I might just be driving myself crazy, especially because it's my first Grow and I have an unusual attachment to my plant lol.
Day 35 of flower
Strain: Tropical OG
Breeder: 710 Genetics
Light: 550 watts CFL
Soil: organic soil from Lowe's
Nutrients: Veg: organic from lowes
Flower: organic from garden shop
Temp: Between 65 and 80. usually about 70-75
Humidity: between 40 and 65

It looks ok, you won't get big dense buds using those lights. Hps will get you a better yield. This is mine at 39 days of flower under a 600w hps. Good luck

 

[Bo21]

View attachment 3826623 View attachment 3826622
It looks ok, you won't get big dense buds using those lights. Hps will get you a better yield. This is mine at 39 days of flower under a 600w hps. Good luck

That's awesome! I appreciate it man! It's always nice to hear from and see pictures from people who know what they are doing. Before my plant, I had never seen a plant in person lol! Could you post a pic of your light setup?

I have been looking at running HPS, but have no idea how. Did you use metal halide lamps for veg or did you use HPS the entire time?

Is it absolutely necessary to use an exhaust fan, if so how big?

Any other tips you can give me are much appreciated!

 

[Bo21]

With CFL you aren't going to have as gigantic buds, at least without a lot of experience. Also on your first grow you aren't going to have the best outcome generally because you haven't had time to dial everything in. Regardless of what it looks like you'll probably get some good bud to smoke and you'll be a little more experienced for the next one. It's all about learning as you go and building up skills.

That's my goal is to just learn! Now that I've found this place I can get help from you guys! I didn't figure I'd get a ton of yield with these lights, but I have no idea how to run other light yet lol. So any tips you can give me are much appreciated!

 

[Final Phase]

Each time you make a change like adding light the grow environment changes. With added light you will get more heat... Adding fresh air to circulate and blow out the hot air. An exhaust system will be needed if you expand your experience.
Years ago I was running 50 cfl bulbs in addition to HPS/MH lighting... You can add CFL's - Read up on it in the forums as there is a lot to learn - You may also decide to skip the CFL route and go straight to LED or HPS/MH... Tons to learn...

14 years in this and still learning quite a bit every day!

 

[kermit2692]

Make the jump to hps.. Before you know the lights it's almost a scary thought but do proper light proofing so nobody can see an odd glow from outside and then temp/environmental control and they are pretty plug and play. Just lights.

 

[Bo21]

Make the jump to hps.. Before you know the lights it's almost a scary thought but do proper light proofing so nobody can see an odd glow from outside and then temp/environmental control and they are pretty plug and play. Just lights.

What are ballasts?

Can I use HPS from veg to flower?

 

[Pete Townshend]

You can get decent sized dense nugs from CFL, however it's a pain in the ass compared to HID and LED lamps because you have to keep the bulbs pretty close to the plants. Until the plant stops stretching and is at the the point where buds a just fattening up you're going to need to do daily light adjustments.

Looking at this picture I see a few things to point out.

It doesn't appear that you have done any training to this plant. When growing with CFL IMO it's critical that you train the plant to grow as horizontal as possible meaning you've got to tie branches over to keep the lights as close to all the bud sights as possible. Search LST (low stress training).

How many bulbs are you using? Are you sure you're actually using 550 watts, or is that the "equivalent" wattage? The packaging on CFL bulbs usually have the equivalent wattage printed big on the packaging but if you look you'll see the actual wattage is much lower. So say you think you have a 60 watt bulb, it's actually a 13 watt bulb that is equivalent to a 60 watt incandescent bulb. Check the side if those CFLs and see how many watts you're growing with.

This was done with 148 watts of CFL using the training I talked about with random bulbs placed as close to the plant as possible, (about 3 inches).

 

[Bo21]

You can get decent sized dense nugs from CFL, however it's a pain in the ass compared to HID and LED lamps because you have to keep the bulbs pretty close to the plants. Until the plant stops stretching and is at the the point where buds a just fattening up you're going to need to do daily light adjustments.

Looking at this picture I see a few things to point out.

It doesn't appear that you have done any training to this plant. When growing with CFL IMO it's critical that you train the plant to grow as horizontal as possible meaning you've got to tie branches over to keep the lights as close to all the bud sights as possible. Search LST (low stress training).

How many bulbs are you using? Are you sure you're actually using 550 watts, or is that the "equivalent" wattage? The packaging on CFL bulbs usually have the equivalent wattage printed big on the packaging but if you look you'll see the actual wattage is much lower. So say you think you have a 60 watt bulb, it's actually a 13 watt bulb that is equivalent to a 60 watt incandescent bulb. Check the side if those CFLs and see how many watts you're growing with.

This was done with 148 watts of CFL using the training I talked about with random bulbs placed as close to the plant as possible, (about 3 inches).

I didn't learn about LST until it was to late I think! By the time I tried my stems were to thick to bend! I will definitely train my plants from now on!

I have 16 23w CFLs equivalent to 100w each. 1 60 watt CFL equivalent to 300w and a 1 125w CFL not sure the equivalent but it's one of those big cfl grow lights.

Did I let my plant get to tall for my grow space? I have been adjusting my lights every single day. It seems as if my plant hasn't stopped stretching! When does the usually happen?

 

[kermit2692]

What are ballasts?

Can I use HPS from veg to flower?

You can but it isn't cost efficient. All you need in veg is flouros.. a ballast is a small half PlayStation sized metal rectangle with a fan in it that regulates voltage and sends electricity to your light.