My first post, my grow, and... 4 very important questions.

So, I'm new to this place, and I'm very new to growing. I've read, talked, seen, and taken in a lot of knowledge about growing. But, I still have to work out the fine details.

My first question is, I have one plant, err... Soon-to-sproutling (I'll post pictures later, it's not currently near me... >.>). And, I have a few choices of lights.

First on the menu, is my fluorescents. I have two fixtures, that hold two 48" bulbs. So, 4 lights, altogether. I have 4 normal, white bulbs, and I have 4 Plant and Aquarium bulbs. They're all 40W a piece. These guys would be placed on either side of the plant, facing it's respective side.

Second, I have CFL's. I have a few different choices of CFL's but I don't have as many fixtures. So, I'd be using, say 2? And it wouldn't be very balanced. I don't know what a mixture would be like, (say one normal, and one plant light in each fixture?) Or maybe using 2 fixtures, and a flood CFL light?

Third, does a fan need to be on all the time when the plant starts to poke it's veggie head out? Or only when it really starts to mature? I know it helps to strengthen the plant, but all the time? Even at (the plant's) night?

And my fourth, and final question, can someone give me the exact light timings? I'm not too sure about it, I hear 14-24, and then 9-12?

The room I'm using is a closet, and it's a good 4 square feet of space, about 5 1/2 feet high. I have the walls, and floor covered in photo paper (Really big spool of it. It's glossy, and very heavy). And I have a small, oscillating fan for helping ventilation. I don't have much for real ventilation, seeing as this is supposed to be somewhat secret. Also, I have a electronics timer for the lights. Again, I'll post pictures tonight, when I actually get a chance.

That's about as far as my grow can go. I realize I have a lot to say, and I appreciate you guys taking the time to read it all, really helps me out

-- Godspeed

Here's the pictures I promised;

I'm thinking about using the fluorescents. After I put them up, I really liked them. They light up the entire closet. Very bright. Not hot, and very spacious...

It's a pretty ghetto set up, but I'm going for minimalistic, but with good results.

This is the lights I'm using. It doesn't say a lot--I know. But maybe it can help with some of my questions...

Godsp33d said:

So, I'm new to this place, and I'm very new to growing. I've read, talked, seen, and taken in a lot of knowledge about growing. But, I still have to work out the fine details.

My first question is, I have one plant, err... Soon-to-sproutling (I'll post pictures later, it's not currently near me... >.>). And, I have a few choices of lights.

First on the menu, is my fluorescents. I have two fixtures, that hold two 48" bulbs. So, 4 lights, altogether. I have 4 normal, white bulbs, and I have 4 Plant and Aquarium bulbs. They're all 40W a piece. These guys would be placed on either side of the plant, facing it's respective side.

Second, I have CFL's. I have a few different choices of CFL's but I don't have as many fixtures. So, I'd be using, say 2? And it wouldn't be very balanced. I don't know what a mixture would be like, (say one normal, and one plant light in each fixture?) Or maybe using 2 fixtures, and a flood CFL light?

Third, does a fan need to be on all the time when the plant starts to poke it's veggie head out? Or only when it really starts to mature? I know it helps to strengthen the plant, but all the time? Even at (the plant's) night?

And my fourth, and final question, can someone give me the exact light timings? I'm not too sure about it, I hear 14-24, and then 9-12?

The room I'm using is a closet, and it's a good 4 square feet of space, about 5 1/2 feet high. I have the walls, and floor covered in photo paper (Really big spool of it. It's glossy, and very heavy). And I have a small, oscillating fan for helping ventilation. I don't have much for real ventilation, seeing as this is supposed to be somewhat secret. Also, I have a electronics timer for the lights. Again, I'll post pictures tonight, when I actually get a chance.

That's about as far as my grow can go. I realize I have a lot to say, and I appreciate you guys taking the time to read it all, really helps me out

-- Godspeed

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your light cycle should be 18/6 this cycle helps promote good root groth when ready to flower go to 12/12 the fan should be on most of the time to get thick stalks. or the cfl bulbs get y conectors you can use 2 bulbs per fictor. to get more go buy a build a light kit from manards.how many lumes in the long bulbs? and buy a spair timer if you can aford it. i had mine die on me lucky for me it was during veg. gl on your grow

ya those y connectors work wonders, i have one socket splitting into 7 CFL bulbs for my veg area so put as many of those as u have space for and can keep cool id say

hossfield said:

ya those y connectors work wonders, i have one socket splitting into 7 CFL bulbs for my veg area so put as many of those as u have space for and can keep cool id say

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I am not so sure about that. Specify what kind of socket you are using first. Most sockets like what he or anyone would probably be using state 60watts max. Now at the least you would be putting in 160 watts, that is about 140 watts over the rating specified. Thats abit much, be careful you could be telling someone how to burn their house down.

rkm that 60 watt rating is for an incandescent bulb and will not apply to the cfl's. VV

rkm said:

I am not so sure about that. Specify what kind of socket you are using first. Most sockets like what he or anyone would probably be using state 60watts max. Now at the least you would be putting in 160 watts, that is about 140 watts over the rating specified. Thats abit much, be careful you could be telling someone how to burn their house down.

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I'm pushing 160W with all these fluorescents, is that too much? How much can I push before I have the law knocking on the door, asking about my electricity usage?

VictorVIcious said:

rkm that 60 watt rating is for an incandescent bulb and will not apply to the cfl's. VV

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I understand that, but 60 watts is 60 watts no matter how you slice it. He is plugging in 7 bulbs into one 60 watt max socket. Each of those bulbs are probably at the minimum 23 watts each. 7 times 23 equals 161 watts plugged into a single 60 watt socket.

I am only going by what was stated, and assuming that he is using a 60 watt socket due to how common they are. I am just trying to get the original poster to keep safety in mind.

Godsp33d said:

I'm pushing 160W with all these fluorescents, is that too much? How much can I push before I have the law knocking on the door, asking about my electricity usage?

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I am more concerned about how you plug in your cfls. If you overload a socket, you may have a firefighter knocking on your door first.

rkm said:

I am more concerned about how you plug in your cfls. If you overload a socket, you may have a firefighter knocking on your door first.

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I've decided against the CFL's. Too much heat. I'm going with the flourals.

Is it wise to use the plant lights the entire span of the plant? Or should I use regular flourals for the veg, and the plant lights in the flower/budding phase?

hey guys, I dont know much about growing, but I can help with the electical part of it. Im an electrician. when you are talking about Watts you need to think about the AMPS, that is what will burn your house down. Add up all the watts in your lighting circuit. Watts is equal to the voltage times the amperage. So for example if you are using 6 - 100watt lamps you are using 600 watts of power. In a residential circuit you are probably on 120 volts. So.............120 volts X Amps = 600 watts, therefor you are using 5 amps. Then you have to figure in all the extra stuff on your circuit. Things like fans and what ever else you are using. A typical house circuit is rated for 15 amps. You should not be using any more than 80 percent of that cricuit. 80 percent of 15 is 12 amps. If oyu are using any more than that you need to reconsider, otherwise you will be blowing fuses or resetting your breaker constantly which can be a pain in the ass when you are trying to keep the lighting on a specific time. Just a little helpful tip, a typical bathroom circuit is 20amps and only usually have a small fan, and a few light bulbs on it. Also kitchen and garage circuits are usually 20 amps. If you have any other questions please feel free to ask. If I dont know the answer, I can find out, I work with hundreds of other electricians. Good growing!

these are all good questions and i'm in the same situation and just want to get in the thread.
what is a T5 fluoro? i can't find any as was suggested.

Has it sprouted yet?

you may want to think about buying a larger container once they start getting to be about 3 or 4 inches..that one wont be big enough if you want some big plants.

You can never have too much light, in fact you should beef it up even more!!!!

Godsp33d said:

I'm pushing 160W with all these fluorescents, is that too much? How much can I push before I have the law knocking on the door, asking about my electricity usage?

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