Indoor CFL grow journal of someone who doesn't know what they're doing.

metagrower said:

A dual lamp 24" fixture cost $16 at Home Depot. The bulbs are a good deal through that site, apparently tho. $13 for 2 "Grow" 55W T5s? Sounds like a good deal to me. Then you can make your own homemade "bat wing" for like $5. No need to spend $70 on that. Then you can actually afford to get enough lights to make up for not spending it on a MH fixture.

T5s are awesome for under canopy lighting. I have found that my T5s don't produce enough heat to burn my plants, even when they touch them. I am trying to come up with a way to "skewer" my under-canopy with T5 bulbs. I'll probably wind up building my own box, of sorts.

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metagrower, home depot has fixtures for t5's?????

This is the lamp I am talking about. Turns out it's not for T5s after all. I stand corrected.

Product Information Error Page

EDIT: That link might not work if you haven't put your zip into HDs website yet. I think the product ID is (taken from the url): productId=100092971

There are, however, some kick ass circline T5 fixtures that I have seen personally at Home Depot. I think they are like $30 each tho, and I can only see them feasible for under-canopy lighting, one for each plant. I'm not likely to try it, though the though has crossed my mind.

That being said, anything wrong with using a bunch of T12s? I have found that they can safely touch the plants...

metagrower said:

There are, however, some kick ass circline T5 fixtures that I have seen personally at Home Depot. I think they are like $30 each tho, and I can only see them feasible for under-canopy lighting, one for each plant. I'm not likely to try it, though the though has crossed my mind.

That being said, anything wrong with using a bunch of T12s? I have found that they can safely touch the plants...

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I pretty much don't know anything about fluros except CFLs. The only reason I was looking at T5s is because that's what the hood from HTGsupply comes with.

metagrower said:

There are, however, some kick ass circline T5 fixtures that I have seen personally at Home Depot. I think they are like $30 each tho, and I can only see them feasible for under-canopy lighting, one for each plant. I'm not likely to try it, though the though has crossed my mind.

That being said, anything wrong with using a bunch of T12s? I have found that they can safely touch the plants...

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I was thinking about the whole HTGSupply vs HD thing for getting the lights. I came to this conclusion, why not both? HD's fixture is nice and cheap, but it doesn't come with bulbs and i can't even find any t5s on their website that would work. So I was thinking I'd go and get the hood from HTGSupply and get an extra set of bulbs. I'd have 2 hoods and 2 sets of bulbs.

pulled two more tonight. Down to 6 left and they're not looking that great. I think I'm going to have to rethink my plans a bit. At this point I would not be suprised if none of the 10 survive (god I suck at this), and chacnes are that only one of my 2 other is actually a girl.

When can I start clipping clones?

Well, you can start clipping clones whenever you want, but it sounds like you've kind of jumped head first into the deep end, perhaps trying to start a sog type operation off the bat. You might want to just focus on the one plant you have right now.

And really, you're probably doing too much worrying about your plants. Plants need some time where you're not doing anything to them in order to respond to what you've done. You aren't necessarily going to see results in an hour.

Don't pull anymore seedlings until they are totally pulse-less.

You can take clippings from a plant in veg or flower. That means it's had time to make it through its seedling stage and into veg. A clipping taken in flower will need 24/0 light so that it comes out of flower. A clone is literally in the same stage of life as its mother. That means a clipping taken at 4 wks veg will be at 4 wks veg once it gets over its shock and takes root. This is one of the most stressful things a plant can do.

I don't think I'd worry too too much about clones and clippings at this point. I know the curve seems slow, and it is, this is not an overnight process. But you'll get it. Try and make sure you learn as much as you can about the maturing plants you have now. And try not to lose any more seedlings. This might mean that you have to make sure your not treating your babies like Elmyra from Animaniacs might.

metagrower said:

Well, you can start clipping clones whenever you want, but it sounds like you've kind of jumped head first into the deep end, perhaps trying to start a sog type operation off the bat. You might want to just focus on the one plant you have right now.

And really, you're probably doing too much worrying about your plants. Plants need some time where you're not doing anything to them in order to respond to what you've done. You aren't necessarily going to see results in an hour.

Don't pull anymore seedlings until they are totally pulse-less.

You can take clippings from a plant in veg or flower. That means it's had time to make it through its seedling stage and into veg. A clipping taken in flower will need 24/0 light so that it comes out of flower. A clone is literally in the same stage of life as its mother. That means a clipping taken at 4 wks veg will be at 4 wks veg once it gets over its shock and takes root. This is one of the most stressful things a plant can do.

I don't think I'd worry too too much about clones and clippings at this point. I know the curve seems slow, and it is, this is not an overnight process. But you'll get it. Try and make sure you learn as much as you can about the maturing plants you have now. And try not to lose any more seedlings. This might mean that you have to make sure your not treating your babies like Elmyra from Animaniacs might.

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Sog operation?

metagrower said:

Well, you can start clipping clones whenever you want, but it sounds like you've kind of jumped head first into the deep end, perhaps trying to start a sog type operation off the bat. You might want to just focus on the one plant you have right now.

And really, you're probably doing too much worrying about your plants. Plants need some time where you're not doing anything to them in order to respond to what you've done. You aren't necessarily going to see results in an hour.

Don't pull anymore seedlings until they are totally pulse-less.

You can take clippings from a plant in veg or flower. That means it's had time to make it through its seedling stage and into veg. A clipping taken in flower will need 24/0 light so that it comes out of flower. A clone is literally in the same stage of life as its mother. That means a clipping taken at 4 wks veg will be at 4 wks veg once it gets over its shock and takes root. This is one of the most stressful things a plant can do.

I don't think I'd worry too too much about clones and clippings at this point. I know the curve seems slow, and it is, this is not an overnight process. But you'll get it. Try and make sure you learn as much as you can about the maturing plants you have now. And try not to lose any more seedlings. This might mean that you have to make sure your not treating your babies like Elmyra from Animaniacs might.

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One plant? There are actually two that are thriving and doing well. Esmerelda and Princess consuela, seen below respectively.

I think you're right. I've been told by a few people that micromanaging too much. It's my first grow, I can't help it. I've got the lights on a timer so I think I'm gonna go and just take the day off. Keep my distance and just let them do their thing, hell I've got plenty of homework I need to catch up on anyway.

I only pull once i'm certain they're dead. The ones today, they were laying on the soil, their leaves had shrivled up and were hard, and they were starting to lose their color. If they weren't dead they wanted to be.


I'm still at the point where I have 3 that might, might, make it. I highly doubt that I wont lose anymore.

I'm bored, somebody should comment

Nothing new to report today. E is still showing some signs of nute burn, but I'm not too worried. PC is still looking really good. 2½ more weeks till E hits the 2 month mark. That weekend I'm going to go and clip some clones so I can sex them.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions?

Hey, I like your journal, just read the whole thing, seems like you're really struggling and suffering when your plants don't do well. I know the feeling, I just started growing my babies about 9 days ago, and it kills me when they're being retarded and not growing as well as I hope. But I love them, retards or not, I'm so attached to them. Before I started growing all I wanted was to get some bud, but now all I care about is for my babies to be the best weed plants ever. I live in NYC, weed prices are -insane- here, I'm tired of overpaying for shit amounts. Growing healthy plants now became my new hobby, I don't even care about the bud as much! (of course i do, but i love the growing process ).

Good luck with your little girls, I hope they all make it.

vargsriket said:

Hey, I like your journal, just read the whole thing, seems like you're really struggling and suffering when your plants don't do well. I know the feeling, I just started growing my babies about 9 days ago, and it kills me when they're being retarded and not growing as well as I hope. But I love them, retards or not, I'm so attached to them. Before I started growing all I wanted was to get some bud, but now all I care about is for my babies to be the best weed plants ever. I live in NYC, weed prices are -insane- here, I'm tired of overpaying for shit amounts. Growing healthy plants now became my new hobby, I don't even care about the bud as much! (of course i do, but i love the growing process ).

Good luck with your little girls, I hope they all make it.

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I'm not sure if I mentioned it earlier or not but, I'm originally from Long Island. So, I understand your pain. Where are you getting your supplies? There's a pretty decient hydro shop in Queens, I've gotten a bunch of stuff there. It's right off the LIE, exit 20 I think. Here's a link: GrowNY.com, a growing online experience. There's one in Brooklyn too I think, but I've never been there.

Anyways, Thanks for reading. Hope to hear more from you.

any updates?

metagrower said:

any updates?

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Not really, seedlings are still deadish, Esmerelda and Princess Consuela are still moving right along. The other day the top 2-3" of Esmerelda slumped over. I put a steak in there and by morning she was fine.

I never got an answer from you, what's a sog operation?

I was bored so I made a slide show of Esmerelda, check it out

Slideshow of The Life and Times of Esmerelda - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Just read through your grow journal... im learning a lot from your mistakes so hopefully i dont run into the same ones; just started my first grow about two weeks ago... hopefully they turn out as nice as Esmerelda. Nice slide show... funny how she was able to make such a nice come back after being eaten by your cat! Keep it up and good luck

sdmj said:

Just read through your grow journal... im learning a lot from your mistakes so hopefully i dont run into the same ones; just started my first grow about two weeks ago... hopefully they turn out as nice as Esmerelda. Nice slide show... funny how she was able to make such a nice come back after being eaten by your cat! Keep it up and good luck

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That's great. Part of why I made this journal was so people who are in the same position I was in when I started can find out about easy to miss mistakes. Glad I could help.

And yea, it's crazy how she rebounded. When it happened I was ready to write her off and start a new plant. But hey, take care of them and they will grow like weeds.

2.5 weeks until I start cloneing. I've been looking around, reading reviews, and talking to people. I think I want to go ahead and get a daisy cloner. High Tech Garden Supply Its within my price range and only does up to 8 clones (I'm not going to need a 30 cloner unless I start dealing). I think it'll work well for me. Anyone want to tell me otherwise, or even agree with me?

...there are two moths haveing sex on my desk...