First Grow - 40K Lumens - Super Autos. [Please give me advice]

I built a room in my garage for a 1000W grow but I've decided to use my closet that I was going to veg in to grow autoflowering/short plants. I figured it'd be an easier first grow.




I know the ceiling slants down, it's 5.5 feet tall on the taller side and 3.5 feet tall on the shorter end. The floor is 8 feet long and 3.5 feet wide. I'll be hanging a 4 foot 8 bulb T5 light (http://htgsupply.com/Product-SlimStar-4-Foot-8-Lamp-High-Output-T5-Fluorescent.asp) and plan on raising 10-12 "Santa" strains from Flash seeds, here's the strain info:

This plant is the holy grail of autoflowering strains and has a great fruity skunk taste, a good long lasting buzz and big hard buds! This plant is very easy to grow in any environment and is a true classic that you must have in your garden.
Type: Autoflowering
Height: 40 / 80 cm
Time to harvest: 60 / 70 days from seed
Yield: 25 / 45 gr per plant



2/28/11 - Panda filmed the walls

I'll be adding the 4' t5 in the next couple days


This is my FIRST real grow, I know I posted pics of my room in the garage but this is a much more realistic. Any advice is welcome and much much appreciated!

dont forget to insulate the floor.

Insulate it? What do you mean? The panda film should reflect enough light to keep the floor cool enough

Updated, new pic of room





Links to threads with a similar set up (8+ autoflowers under CFLs) would be very helpful and i'll +rep

The room looks incredible! I'm definitely jealous of your space. Have you looked into LST at all, I know I bring it up a lot but if this is your first grow it's a super simple way of growing a plant that will use a maximum level of light from your CFLs (even canopy) and be MUCH easier to work with (less room for mistakes and unintended stress). If your growing with the CFLs this will give you the best outcome (in my opinion). Cant wait to see some pics of the plants! Are you doing seeds or clones?

sfsurfer said:

The room looks incredible! I'm definitely jealous of your space. Have you looked into LST at all, I know I bring it up a lot but if this is your first grow it's a super simple way of growing a plant that will use a maximum level of light from your CFLs (even canopy) and be MUCH easier to work with (less room for mistakes and unintended stress). If your growing with the CFLs this will give you the best outcome (in my opinion). Cant wait to see some pics of the plants! Are you doing seeds or clones?

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I've got the Marijuana Growers Bible by Jorge Cervantes and he mentions it in there, soo i'll be reading about it. I know you tie your plant down, im assuming to maximize light from lower branches? I'll read more and get back to you though.

I'm doing autoflowering 'santa' seeds from dope-seeds. Is this a good room to veg bigger strains? I bought tiny ones, I think too tiny. I have more room than I'm giving myself credit for lol, they get like 90cm high max I think.. I think I forgot to realize CFLs can be super close and are slim.

I think these

Arabic said:

I've got the Marijuana Growers Bible by Jorge Cervantes and he mentions it in there, soo i'll be reading about it. I know you tie your plant down, im assuming to maximize light from lower branches? I'll read more and get back to you though.

I'm doing autoflowering 'santa' seeds from dope-seeds. Is this a good room to veg bigger strains? I bought tiny ones, I think too tiny. I have more room than I'm giving myself credit for lol, they get like 90cm high max I think.. I think I forgot to realize CFLs can be super close and are slim.

I think these

Click to expand...

Haha I have that book too, super helpful! LST basically redistributes growth hormones by tying the main growth tip below secondary growth tips so when the plant rights itself they form an even canopy. That way you have 10+ main colas all getting the most intense light possible instead of having one main cola getting full intensity and secondary colas only recieving partial light. You should definitely check it out, I think you could better maximize your yield using the method.

Itll be ok if the strain is a smaller one, as long as you give it adequate veg time youll have some healthy looking plants. I would however recommend you grow out 6-10 potential mother plants and when they're sexually mature take two clones from each plant and determine their sex by flowering the clones (make sure to mark the clones so you know which plant it came from). Once you know which are female, keep two of the most hearty and healthy looking plants as your mothers. That way you will have access to clones you know will be female and you can skip the seedling stage which is finicky at best. With a couple of mother plants youre grow will become much more reliable and efficient.