new grower! need advice!

[lunchbox4101]

I'm about to grow 7 plants in my 2.5X2.5 closet. I ordered seeds from the attitude seedbank (good or bad site????) I'm using 1 gallon pots (should I use bigger?) And using foxfarm ocean forest mix. Also going to use a 250w cfl with reflector (more wattage???) So after I germinate the seeds and put them in the soil should I use lights immediately and go straight to veg stage? I'm plannin to use 18/6 lighting until the veg stage is over. How long should veg stage last and when do I know its safe to start using nutes????? I'm using grow big, big bloom, and tiger bloom and want to know when I should use it? Also for watering what is the best way to distill water? Boil or let sit out or both or does it even mater????? For my age I'm putting a lot of money into this and want all 7 plants to grow well and want to continue doing this. Any advice would help to make this a successfull first attempt!!! Thanks

 

[Mudslide9791]

Out of 7 seeds you have a 50/50 shot at each being female, so the probability of your grow will be 3-4 females. Also I don't know much about CFL bulbs, I do know that a 400w MH light will comfortably cover a 3x3 space or 9sq feet or so (it's what I'm using). I try to stay at 50watts per square foot, it's a good rule of thumb for optimal growth. I used a small 2000 lumen floro tube for my seedlings from the time I put them in soil until I was ready to transplant them into bigger pots for veg under MH lights for 18/6, worked fine. Veg stage normally lasts as long as you want, however MJ will not flower until it's mature enough regardless of how long it veg's, normally when you begin seeing pre-flowers in Veg 4-6 weeks veg time they are telling you that they are mature enough to flower. I wouldn't use nutes until you transplant them to their final pots and/or they're cotyledon drys up and falls off (Cotyleton are the first "leaves" that are oval in shape, plants use this as food while it builds it's root system) You don't want to boil water as you boil out minerals needed for proper plant growth. Sit tap water out for 24-48 hours prior to use so the chlorine can evaporate.

Good luck man!

 

[madmad]

Im not sure if one 250w cfl is going to cut it for 7 plants, probably several smaller wattage cfls or t5 would do a better job because you can position them differently so you would use most of the light. Im on my first grow myself and went for the 250 cfl for veg and i think it did ok only because i had just 2 plants. The cfl light is somewhat "weak", i dont know how to describe it.

 

[Mudslide9791]

Yeah, I'm building a veg area and opted for 10, 26 watt CFL's instead of 1, 250w CFL just for the purpose of area coverage. CFL's don't have the light penetration that the big HID ballast's have so you will need to move them around and keep them very close to your plants like 1 or 2 inches in order to take advantage of every lumen they produce. Where as you can keep HID lights 1 1/2 ft away and still get better light penetration. I'm on my first grow also but my plants are doing very well.

 

[Gongja]

yo man i'm no expert, but i started with one plant and one CFL bulb 150w, 2100 lumens, and it was straight up not enough light. the node length was incredibly long between leaf clusters, in the wild, this is like the plant literally thinking it was in competition with other plants for enough light (shading effect). also note that this is one plant. now i have 3 cfls with a combined 5300 lumens (2100+1600+1600) shining on that ONE plant, and its growing really fast. because my node length was so long, i started a LST regimen.

however this is not all bad news. cfls are AMAZING because you can get 2 150w 1600 lumen bulbs for 5 bux. and you dont have to be incredibly scared about your power bill, because it takes like 4 CFL lights to equal an incandescent (ish). so you could just be a dude with a big aquarium in his room, no big deal.
If you can, try to give each plant some cfl attention.

Everything i learnt, i learnt from the professors on this forum. if you waste many hours of your life on the cpu, explore this site, and you shall have some fire buds in no time, bud.

love

 

[bunnyface]

Hey,, Just from your post, and going off my 250 watt reflector setup, seven maybe a bit much for the single bulb. I grow four plants well under a 250 plug and grow cfl. any more and I think the vuds would be too small, so seven plants may equal the same dryed weight as four good ones, but thats a waste of seed. This is your first grow? why not just try 4 under the cfl and save the seeds for next time.
Veg until sex is shown, from the main stem small stalks appear, then you can flower, or wait longer to get bigger plant. Thats what I do. For the size of plant you maybe wantinga bigger pot, 2-3 gallon. any more is kinda a waste of soil, unless its for a mother plant that going to be in there a while.
A 1 gallon pot maybe to small, they would probly become root bound in flower and then stunted, then again if you keep them short it wouldnt be such an issue. I say as a rule not to nute for 3 weeks, but Im not in fox farm soil, So cant really advice on that frount.
As for water it depends on where you are op the quailty of your tap water but I boil and then leave out to cool over night to dissolve contams and cholrine. Then top it off with boiling water to make it tepid, tepid water,,(65-80 farinheight i think,, cant remeber) tepid water is up taken better than cold water and very cold water will shock your plants. Think of the temp in the closet,,and then how cold tap water is and how would you like cold water thrown over your feet when your in the nice warm room. Water thats purer, or cleaner shall we say is better hands down than fresh tap water.

Hope that helps,, take it easy and happy grow..

 

[2stoned2function]

lunch box, slow down tiger lol. All of these questions you have are covered on this sight. It has helped me so much just reading stuff that's already here. just google and put rollitup at the end of what you want to know.
To start with tho, you DEFINITELY need more light if you plan on doing 2 good plants let alone 7. If you use 1 gal pots dont expect huge yields per plant.
For your space, I would say buy a 400w hps (you could get an hps/mh, but you will want hps for flowering either way).
For the pots, I would say you could veg out all 7 in the 1 gal then transplant to AT LEAST 2 gal (preferrably as big as you can fit in that small closet comfortably). and narrow it down at that point to possibly 4 females (if they are fem seeds or you are just lucky).
As far as nutes go, tons of info here at riu just use the google method. you will prob need to start around week 2 1/2 or 3.
Don't let your 1st grow overwhelm you, clear your mind and learn from anything that doesnt go the way you like. If you stay patient, calm, and listen to people here (and your plants) and you will have something to show for it from this grow. and you will only get better from there. I promise
good luck bruddah

 

[sasquatch19]

is it an actual 250watt bulb, or the 85watt bulb thats equal to a 250watt, big difference. either way, 7 plants will probably be too many plants, i use 2 85watt cfl, 500watt equivilent for veg, then a 400 watt hps for flower, and never have more than 5 plants a time. btw it's also in a 2.5 ft x 2.5 ft area of my closet

 

[2stoned2function]

ps if youre desperate on the water situation run to the grocery store and buy a couple gallon jugs of distilled water. be sure to let the top of the soil dry between the waterings.

 

[2stoned2function]

sasquatch made me realize, if you get the 400w hps you can def use that 250 w floro for veg. so you dont need the hps right away

 

[sasquatch19]

but is it a true 250 watt? 600watt replacement cfl, or is it the 85watt 250 replacement?

 

[2stoned2function]

sounds like he spent money on one of the fancy grow floro's w reflector. like a sunmaster or somethin (just the impression I'm getting) so should be a true 250. If it isn't tho he should def consider the mh/hps combo. all that you pay extra for is the bulb, typically.
Ahh, growing is def one of the best investments to get into isn't it? (really tho lunchbox, all the stuff you essentially need for indoor growing will pay themselves off in a matter of a couple good grows.

 

[sasquatch19]

my 85 watters cost 35 bucks a piece, 1 is 3000k the other is 5500k. they work great for my little hobby garden. but my first grow i flowered with cfl's, the buds were beautiful. but no substance. the HID lighting is what you gotta have for flowering.

 

[2stoned2function]

definitely, I cheaped out on my 1st grow. knew I needed hid and my floros wouldnt cut it, hit up ebay for 150w hps I would not recommend anyone wasting their time w one of those lil bitches. talk about heat. my grow space is on average 7 degrees cooler (w same temp outside tent as before) with a 400w cool tube, than it was with the 150 built in ballast bs. the 400w long ago paid for BOTH of them too

 

[lunchbox4101]

Well I bought feminized seeds so I'm not worried about that but thanks for the help. And I was intending on going with hps but I can't afford the ballast! Could I just get a higher wattage cfl? Or could someone send me a link to a better way for lighting. I'm tryin to spend no more than 70 so if you send a link make sure I can set everything up for less than that!

 

[2stoned2function]

If youre not willing to spend more than 70 I wouldn't expect good results/yield, as you cannot afford hid (or led which is wishy washy and costs a ton). maybe two ok plants (couple ozs) at most. I guess buy as many cfls as your wallet will allow? (def look into what other people are doing in regards to spectrum combos)
Even that 150w that I totally threw money away on, was $75 w free shipping, so I doubt anyone can help you more than we have, considering the size you are working with.
I'll give you one last piece of advice before I leave you alone.
If you plan on growing more than once, don't start the 1st one going half ass. you will most def regret it when you're buying the shit you actually need on your 2nd and 3rd grow (not to mention all the bags of weed you will have to buy because the yield sucked). this is coming from someone who has been in your shoes (in regards to not wanting to spend on the 1st grow) It sucks to spend the money to start, but that feeling will go away very quickly come harvest time

 

[lunchbox4101]

Well I'm pretty much broke as a joke. Id spend as much money as it takes to do this but I just don't have the money. I just want one grow and with the money from that I will buy a much more advanced setup. Its not that I'm trying to half ass it, I just don't have the money to go as big as I want. What about mh lights tho? Do you need a ballast for that or will it get to hot????

 

[Mudslide9791]

I bought a 400w switchable ballast complete set for $150 on amazon.com, it included a 400w HPS bulb and 400w MH bulb. If you can beg borrow or steal that money you DEFINATELY would not be dissapointed and it would more than pay for iteself on your first grow, as you can squeeze 4 good sized plants under it and SCROG around 6 for nice yield.

 

[lunchbox4101]

Could you send me a link?????? I might just grow a couple plants now with what I have and grow the rest around christmas. Maybe someone will get that for me for it!

 

[Mudslide9791]

Could you send me a link?????? I might just grow a couple plants now with what I have and grow the rest around christmas. Maybe someone will get that for me for it!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002J7PYSU/ref=oss_product

This is what I have and I couldn't be happier with it. Comes with both bulbs MH for veg and HPS for flower, adjustable hangars, just plug her in and go =) Also, I have 1, 6inch fan (wal-mart $8.99) blowing across my plants and I'm able to keep the MH bulb 16" off my plants. They love it =)

Oh yeah and it comes with a silent electronic ballast, magnetic ballasts can get loud sometimes I hear =)