First Grow- how does she look?

*I posted in another forum- not sure of the proper place so i apologize for the redundancy*

Hey there!
A little about me:
Veteran smoker but when it comes to cultivation I am a total newb. I came into a clone and have been scrambling for information and resources ever since. I can get a little overwhelmed with depression and anxiety so having something to take care of is really helping bring focus to my days (I was laid off in April and idle hands are not good for me). Due to the sheer volume of information out there I figured it might help to rope some folks in to take a look at my girl and tell me what they think or give some friendly advice to a gal

A little about my plant/set up:
Strain: White Widow
Tent: 32x32x63
Lights: CFL's (I know, I know)

Timeline:

5/18- clone was gifted to me out of nowhere- got a bunch of houselights together and left it under those 24hrs/day for 2 days while I gathered some info.

5/20- Gutted an old steamer trunk I found and turned it into a grow box, lined with foil, cut out an exhaust hole for small fan, threw up 4-100w output 6500k lights and another small fan

5/21- really didn't like the soil quality or size pot, so I mixed up my own soil with some pebbles, organic potting mix, worm castings from my worm farm, and some sand. tested PH was 6 so I left it. topped the little girl a bit (just from my previous houseplant experience- at this point I didn't know anything about hst,lst or scrogging)

6/7 - transplanted again, into a 5gal fabric growbag. tied large stems and pinned down near sides of bag to get max light penetration

6/13- Grow tent came in (32x32x63) set up, threw plant in there with my lights and fans

*watered when it was needed with diluted Neptune's Harvest I had lying around. Ordered some FoxFarm GrowBig and Big Bloom but my feeding schedule is obviously out of whack at this point. When GB and BB
came in mixed per directions and fed every other watering. Got some PH up and Down and tested nutes in distilled water and adjusted PH.

6/18 Made a ridiculously amateur light fixture to add more light. My girl is bushy af but I know I made some big mistakes along the way. Ordered humidity/thermostat should be here in a few days- overall good air circulation and humidity doesnt feel high.

current lights in tent:
Eight 100w equiv 6500k 1600 lumen CFLs
Six 60w equiv 2700k 900 lumen CFLs


So, like I said, I came into this clone with absolutely no knowledge or equipment and have just been fumbling my way through it. buying things as I can and hoping for the best while I try to learn as much as I can both about cultivation supplies as well as growth patterns of the plant. I understand that CFL's are not ideal but I am looking to grow for myself and I simply can't afford the hid lighting and all of the extra components necessary to run those lights right now- I need to make a fully informed decision regarding hid vs led etc- so for now at least for this grow and probably the next one- CFL will be all I can work with but I am totally open to NAY and ALL information you guys have to give.

I think my main questions are:

What do you think of the look of the plant in terms of size, color, overall health?

Should I take a bunch of clones and throw this baby in the trunk to keep as a mother?

What do you think I can expect in terms of harvest?

Should I leave the lights/ add more/ take some out?

When do I know that it's time to flower?

TLDR: got a clone- fumbled my way through the first month, what do you think about the look of the plant and do you have any suggestions?

Hey thanks for making it through this post! Any information or guidance would be really appreciated! <3

They look good to me. You should go ahead with the full fox farms trio if you already have those two. You could get tiger bloom and run that from flower to finish, alongside the big bloom. Drop the big bloom at start of flower. Add some reflectors to.those cfls to maximize the light focus on the plants. Looks pretty similar to my first setup! Cfls will work so don't be discouraged. Hope all goes well.

HazednConfused said:

They look good to me. You should go ahead with the full fox farms trio if you already have those two. You could get tiger bloom and run that from flower to finish, alongside the big bloom. Drop the big bloom at start of flower. Add some reflectors to.those cfls to maximize the light focus on the plants. Looks pretty similar to my first setup! Cfls will work so don't be discouraged. Hope all goes well.

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Thanks! I did get some TigerBloom (though I will probably be switching nutes for the next grow. )I'm working on the lighting today, gonna grab some more red spectrums and get some kind of reflector situation going. I appreciate the input and encouragement. Honestly I'm really happy with how the cfls are working, seems like they are doing the trick- maybe I will sacrifice some yield, but It's giving me a chance to start without all the ridiculous upfront cost.

Phoenixfyer said:

Thanks! I did get some TigerBloom (though I will probably be switching nutes for the next grow. )I'm working on the lighting today, gonna grab some more red spectrums and get some kind of reflector situation going. I appreciate the input and encouragement. Honestly I'm really happy with how the cfls are working, seems like they are doing the trick- maybe I will sacrifice some yield, but It's giving me a chance to start without all the ridiculous upfront cost.

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No problem. You have plenty of light for veg. You can flower at any time, but it's best to wait until the plants have matured. I usually veg for a month, which is plenty of time. You'll definitely want to up the overall watts for flower.
To maximize the usage of your lights you'll want to keep them very close to the canopy of the plant, within 1-2". Cfls light intensity isnt that great, so keep them close.
Also you can start LST by tying down branches with plant tie to create the even canopy you want.
Yield all depends on how much effort you put into maintaining the plant, aside from the lighting. There is no reason why you couldn't pull ounces off that one plant.
And as for clones, I would just focus your time on your plant and get the basics of growing down, then maybe next grow or the one after you could start experimenting with clones imho. She does look good though, keep up the good work!

HazednConfused said:

No problem. You have plenty of light for veg. You can flower at any time, but it's best to wait until the plants have matured. I usually veg for a month, which is plenty of time. You'll definitely want to up the overall watts for flower.
To maximize the usage of your lights you'll want to keep them very close to the canopy of the plant, within 1-2". Cfls light intensity isnt that great, so keep them close.
Also you can start LST by tying down branches with plant tie to create the even canopy you want.
Yield all depends on how much effort you put into maintaining the plant, aside from the lighting. There is no reason why you couldn't pull ounces off that one plant.
And as for clones, I would just focus your time on your plant and get the basics of growing down, then maybe next grow or the one after you could start experimenting with clones imho. She does look good though, keep up the good work!

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Nice thank you!! you guys have been pretty encouraging and nice (idk why I always avoid forums) my obsession with taking a clone is probably to do with not wanting to have to start from seed (or buying them lol) but you make a good point on just getting some grows under my belt before I jump into a bunch of other shit. I will definitely up the lights come flower time. I actually did start tying the longer branches down and pinning them to the sides of the fabric grow bag about 2 weeks into veg which is when she really started filling out. I just didn't know that was an actual thing, It was just an intuitive decision based on the growth pattern I was seeing. Yay for happy accidents and shit. She has been vegging for about 34 days but I keep holding off on flower. maybe I should just doi it and see what happens

Phoenixfyer said:

Nice thank you!! you guys have been pretty encouraging and nice (idk why I always avoid forums) my obsession with taking a clone is probably to do with not wanting to have to start from seed (or buying them lol) but you make a good point on just getting some grows under my belt before I jump into a bunch of other shit. I will definitely up the lights come flower time. I actually did start tying the longer branches down and pinning them to the sides of the fabric grow bag about 2 weeks into veg which is when she really started filling out. I just didn't know that was an actual thing, It was just an intuitive decision based on the growth pattern I was seeing. Yay for happy accidents and shit. She has been vegging for about 34 days but I keep holding off on flower. maybe I should just doi it and see what happens

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Probably avoided them because they're usually filled with bitch fits and arguments, Lol. You're a natural if you figured out LSTing on your own! Keep doing that and keeping that canopy even and you'll be golden.

woohoo!