Comments or Suggestions for My First 200 Watt CFL grow

Hey Everybody,

Here are some pictures of my newly sprouted 3 day olds! I've got a THC Bomb, a Paradise Seeds Acid, and a Greenhouse Arjan's Strawberry Haze. I'm using a 200 Watt CFL now for veg and have the other spectrum for flowering as well and literally just bent aluminum foil over the bulb as a reflector, and since the room is painted white, I think it will reflect enough light. I was just thinking about getting a reflector for the side of the plants, since not all the space needs light. I have them in red plastic cups with a perlite/ FFOF soil mix. I was wondering how tall I should let these bad boys get before I transplant into my 3 gallon pots. I want to keep the plants relatively small, and am considering LST'ing and topping them due to limited space and want of yield. I know the lights should probably be closer to the plants, but I have no extension cord, but the elevation from the 3 gal pots should get them close enough to that light, I think. This is my first grow ever, I have done a lot of research and am stoked to finally be seeing these guys grow. Any help would be appreciated. PS. I am on a VERY LOW BUDGET. . So keep that in mind! stay up everybody!!!

P.S. for now, the lights have been on 24 hours a day, I was thinking about switching them to 18/6 a week before I want them to flower and then moving to 12/12. Sorry if I'm getting too hasty here hahaha, they ARE just sproutlings as of right now

br0 dont use alumimiunmnium foil it only reflects heat use mylar or space blanket or da prensent wraping paper
and get that cfl all the way down yer plant are streched get it all da way down to da canopy of da tomatoe seedlings

I'll try to find something to raise them for now, but that light does not move for now. I need an extension cord. Where do I find mylar? I've heard foil is alright for general reflection, I know it isn't the optimal reflector, but it does reflect some of the light. How close do the plants need to stay to the light? if I LST them and get a better reflector, do you think they will be happy? Why do you say they are stretched? I thought that was healthy growth?

i lined a closet with foil once...and only once...it cooked my lady....seen some people reference emergency blankets from walmart or kmart or somewhere like that

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FREE-COMPASS-2-XL-Emergency-Survival-BLANKETS-Tent-Thermal-Rescue-Lot-New-/150748820378?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item231954739a

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Emergency-Rescue-Space-Thermal-Mylar-Blankets-84-x-52-/220923700463?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33701424ef
you can find the blankets at dollar stores or hunting stores in survival kits or emergency kit. Camping section of stores
My buddy cooked his plant once using tinfoil. sad day.

UPDATE: Today I moved them up onto one of my 3 gal containers to reach closer to the CFL. They're probably a maximum of 4 inches from the light now. I will post more pictures in a week or so when things look different. Thanks for the help everyone. My question to Grim and lilrich is did they cook their plants with foil and CFLs or with some other light? From what I've read CFLs really don't put off that kind of heat? I've read you can let the plants touch the bulb and it won't really hurt the plant. Correct me if I'm wrong. But I'll def be buying that kit on eBay thanks lilrich!

And any ideas at what time I should transplant? I was thinking at least a few more leaf sets...But I don't know if I should do it earlier than later. They're in cups and I will be moving them straight to 3 gal containers w/ FFOF + less perlite than what is in the cups. I also have a Liquid Karma nutrient that I was going to introduce soon. Any tips would be appreciated!

This is my first grow, so any help would be great. I want to transplant these guys pretty soon, but I'm not sure how solid the root system is yet and can't really take it out to see. Any ideas on when I should move these to 3 gal pots and/or when to switch the lights to 18/6? I still have them on 24 hrs at day 6. I'm hopefully vegging for 2-3 weeks once I transplant. Thanks everyone.

Hes saying its streched because it grew so tall, my current grow has three plants under cfls and all had at least 4 nodes of growth by the time they got that tall. Do not give nutrients at all anytime soon there is a ton of feed in those potting soils fox farms is no exception, your good for at least a month just on what will be in your soil. Put your hand by your light, see where it actually gets hot to your skin? get your plant up there, the light doesnt move i know....put books or boards or something under it and get em UP. when you do transplant bury the whole thing to right up under those leaves that way you dont have a weak stem like that and youl have that much more root.

ballaboyee21 said:

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This is my first grow, so any help would be great. I want to transplant these guys pretty soon, but I'm not sure how solid the root system is yet and can't really take it out to see. Any ideas on when I should move these to 3 gal pots and/or when to switch the lights to 18/6? I still have them on 24 hrs at day 6. I'm hopefully vegging for 2-3 weeks once I transplant. Thanks everyone.

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Awwwww....sooo cute I love baby pics! I agree with the mylar...although I am using tin foil here and there which now worries me a little...lol! Tin foil was cheaper for me at the time..I kno what your talkin about in regards to being on a low budget, I started my closet grow with $50.00...and that was TOO MUCH - HA! You def don't need any nutes until they are at least a few weeks older, your using a good dirt I think that should have plenty of what it needs for a while. They do seem to be stretching, when you do decide to transplant (which I would do sooner than later) just make sure you bury those stems a bit. And keep em' as close as you can...like 2" away, use books if you have to! I have my 3 ladies in 3 gal pots too (wish I used 5's lol)
Your Paradise Seeds Acid sound SICK!!! I'm not sure about your light schedule, I did 9 weeks veg in a 18/6 then switched to 12/12 for flower which is where I'm at right now. I am sub'd to your grow so don't forget to update stranger....Happy Growing +rep for havin some KILLER strains! sub'd!!!

LordRalh3 said:

Hes saying its streched because it grew so tall, my current grow has three plants under cfls and all had at least 4 nodes of growth by the time they got that tall. Do not give nutrients at all anytime soon there is a ton of feed in those potting soils fox farms is no exception, your good for at least a month just on what will be in your soil. Put your hand by your light, see where it actually gets hot to your skin? get your plant up there, the light doesnt move i know....put books or boards or something under it and get em UP. when you do transplant bury the whole thing to right up under those leaves that way you dont have a weak stem like that and youl have that much more root.

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LOL....it's like the more blunt...less girly version of my post!!!!

Ok now I know Im stoned....just looked at the pics again and cant believe i didnt see it, that light is like many FEET away from your plants....that WILL NOT work for a cfl....I dont care if its a 300w you have to get your plants right up close to it

LOL!!! yeah....i used about 30 encyclopedia brattinica's my entire veg cycle

"Please........help us LordRalh3...tell em'......the light....it's just so far, we must stretch to the light, please help us"

I would recomend a shelf (brackets are like $1-2 at almost any store any board will work, but it looks like the light is a cord and hanging??? it doesnt have to be on the ceiling if this is the case

Hey guys, just wanted to let you know I did move the light down after the first 3 days, which is when all that bad upward stretching occurred, now it is approx. 3-5 inches from every plant. They are much happier now. The leaves are getting much bigger and there is way less upward movement. And yes, when I transplant to the 3 gal, I will make sure most of that stem is covered up with soil for support. Would it be too early to transplant tomorrow or sometime this week? I've never done it and I don't want to shock them at all. And yeah, the closet really isn't deep and it isn't mine, so for now, I think the hanging will have to suffice for the light. I know it's ghetto. But it's all I've got. This is just an experimental grow, trying to see how everything works, although I have done SOME research, I'm not looking for A+++ buds, because I know I am lacking A+++ equipment. Thank you so much calicatt AND LordRalh3 for stopping in! And also, do you think 24 hr lights are bad at this point? Should I have started at 18/6? I do have a light timer.

If you have the timer kick it to 18/6 or 20/4 already, development in darkness is very needed, id wait on the tranplant a few more days at least

ballaboyee21 said:

Hey guys, just wanted to let you know I did move the light down after the first 3 days, which is when all that bad upward stretching occurred, now it is approx. 3-5 inches from every plant. They are much happier now. The leaves are getting much bigger and there is way less upward movement. And yes, when I transplant to the 3 gal, I will make sure most of that stem is covered up with soil for support. Would it be too early to transplant tomorrow or sometime this week? I've never done it and I don't want to shock them at all. And yeah, the closet really isn't deep and it isn't mine, so for now, I think the hanging will have to suffice for the light. I know it's ghetto. But it's all I've got. This is just an experimental grow, trying to see how everything works, although I have done SOME research, I'm not looking for A+++ buds, because I know I am lacking A+++ equipment. Thank you so much calicatt AND LordRalh3 for stopping in! And also, do you think 24 hr lights are bad at this point? Should I have started at 18/6? I do have a light timer.

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psssttt...i secured chains to my closet walls going horizontally and used big binder clips to hang my lights from.

Just put small spoonfuls at a time of lightly fluffed soil in the top of your cups for a few days longer. I wouldn't transplant yet...make sure they are mostly dried out when you do or it will get messy. I wouldn't even water them until after you transplant into good dirt. Good Luck balla!

So, there is good news and bad news. I'll start with the bad news. One of my friends at the site knocked over all the cups and soil and decided to transplant them into the larger 3 gallon containers. I was pretty bummed to find that the THC Bomb rootling was not adapting well at all and the leaves were shriveling and one had a hole in it already. These were transplanted two days ago. Do you guys think they are alive? It feels to me like the leaves aren't as wet and bendable as I remembered. But I might just be paranoid. I only want the best for my babies . One of them has a really yellow bottom leaf now. Doesn't look like there's been much if any upward growth since the transplant yet. Any help would be great. I also set up some panda paper as a reflector to keep all the light in the small area. Good news is that I started 4 sour d and purple bag seeds and am going to cut the weakest two and grow those in the THC Bomb's place. Once the bag seed sprouts and I think it has healthy root development, I am going to throw the red light spectrum on and keep both lights going for the rest of the grow. Any tips would be great! PS. I have CalMag and some Liquid Karma nutrients. Any idea when I should introduce either of those nutrients? I was thinking not for a while since it already will have more than needed nutrients in the soil. Any help appreciated!!!

In summary. THC Bomb is dead, and replaced w two sour d seeds instead!