First Grow Help

Hey everyone, im looking for some help on a fairly stealthy and cheap growing setup. I have a dresser i was going to make into the area, line with reflective material and so fourth. So the only option for me really is fluorescent lights. And I would like to use them through the vegetative and the flowering stages if possible. I was thinking either 2 T12 40Watt bulbs, which I honestly haven't heard great things about them. Or some CLF's, which i think would be cheaper and seems to be more popular. What I dont know is, how to distinguish what type of bulb to start with and whether they are 6500 or 2700 (and what that even means for that matter). So the gist of what I need to know is can i successfully grow with just fluorescents and if that is possible, which bulbs do I start with and switch to for the flowering stage (if any switching is required). Im not looking for a bounty of buds, as this is a first attempt with bag seeds. Ill be happy if I get a small but successful plant.

CFLs work better 6500 for veg.. 2700 for flower

i had 7 6500 cfls on my plant for veg.. took off like crazy... been on flower with 6 2700's and a 15w tube... showed signs of female after 1.5 weeks and it taking off. its over 3 feet now.

just make sure you don't mess its schedule up or anything (light, watering, feeding) .. they dont like that. .and will stop growing until they are satisfied.

Okay so it is possible without all the big expensive lamps. And as far as watering goes, i haven't found much information on how often to water, how can you judge when it needs to be watered?

when its small just check the soil with your finger..


you want the soil to dry out but not get totally dried out. make sure there are drainage holes.


once the plant gets bigger you can usually tell when the pot is out of water just from how it feels right after you do water til then.

once it gets bigger you want flowering nutes and add them every other water.. for a beginner, like me, i found the 10-10-10 solution worked best..

read the faq.

it tells you everything you are asking.

you can find 150w hps setups for around 80 bucks....

or you can use CFL's.

6500k and 2700k both work for growing, they fall within the maximum efficiency someshit, you want to mix up the spectrums b/c they stimulate the plant to grow differently.

6500k makes tighter nodes, shorter leaves, so ppl use that for veg. it also shines kind of blue, which looks like the sunlight you see during the summer... these burn cooler than 2700k lights, and therefore you can use more of them without raising temp as much as you would if using 2700k.... all of these reasons make them a popular choice for veg.

2700k makes longer stretchier plants... they shine orange in color and resemble the light you see during the autum.... the burn hotter, so you have to watch the temps, but CFL growers that are much more experienced than I am swear that these are the better options for flowering....

i use a 50/50 ratio.... they call it dual-spectrum lighting....

you'd know this if you read the FAQs!!!!