Advice on my 2nd grow with flouro's

[TartanToker]

Hey y'all, last year i grew 5 super skunk plants from seeds donated to me by a friend, it was the first time i have ever tried growing and knew little about it... I purchased two 4ft flouros from an aquarium shop, 1 that was 40w with a strong blue colour and a second 30w flouro with a warm 'pinkish' glow. Of the 5 seeds i had, 4 survived, 1 gave up after a week or so, of the 4 survivors, 2 were females, after a total of a 3 month grow i got a yield of 50 grams, the plants were quite tall and a little bit stemmy but the whole building stank of pungent skunk! (wasn't good as the cops appeared at the door looking for some random guy i've never heard of and i was very lucky that they didn't investigage further as my girls were at the end of the flowering stage!!!).
The plants were grown in 9 inch pots all the way from seedling to harvest day using standard potting compost with a little vermiculite thrown in.

I'm now at the 'green fingers' stage again as times are tough and i resent paying £140 for an ounce of damp grass! I bought a packet of 'shiva shanti' seeds last year during a hop over to the 'dam' out of the sensi seeds shop and wanna make use of 'em now.

I know flouro tubes aren't really that great for growing with when compared to other high powered alternatives like 'HPS' however i dont have the cash or space to kit out a proper grow room with fans, exhausts etc...
I have also just found out today off my girlfriend that whilst she was cleaning up one day she accidently broke the 40w 'blue' flouro, so i now left with only a 30w warm glow flouro that i used for flowering and i now need to kit myself out quick with grow lights as i started germinating my seeds 2 days ago!!! So any advice that can be offered on lighting a tight space on a tight budget would be great!!!

My growspace is a closet thats about 6ft high, 4ft wide and 2ft deep, i'm not looking to grow 6ft plants, just a quick grow is all im looking for, possibly taking clones and producing a small monthly crop for personal consumption.

Also looking for a little advice on nutrients and soil as i find it difficult to find fertilizers that have a good balance of NPK, i'm in Scotland, so any advice here from UK growers is most welcome.

At the moment my seedlings are starting out in 5 inch pots filled 3/4 with 'John Innes Seed' compost.
Right...! i've rabbled on too long now!!!!! All advice is greatly welcome!!!

 

[eBUD]

Im not in the uk but go to a local hardware store you should be able to find fish emulsions or some sort of sea tea or kelp product. Any of this is worth checking it out and wont kill you pocket. Go with concentrate like BC big bloom or Fox Farm nutes and you will pay some money. Hope this helps, google hydroponics and find one close to you. They will cary tons of supplies

 

[Cherma]

Welcome Tartan to 420>
6'x4'x2' 1 30w
Ok 1st make sure you have somewhere in the top of the closet to vent out>
2) since seeds are almost ready to plant, get at least a 2-3 gallon pots to plant in after they are ready to come out of the 5" pots>
3) Mount lights or what you have over the plants at 4-6 inches above:
4) timed at an 18/6 cycle for at least 30-45 days> Then turn back to a 12/12>
5) in this time maybe an extra light can come into the picture for you
6) Balanced ferts or nutes: try going to any local gardening store and getting " a potting soil mix, some Bone Meal, and kelp matter< mix this in with what you have along with some, in those size pots maybe just a 1/4 cup of each max mixed in with the soil> This will give some soil nutres already in there, and some supplemenatl feeding will help> but I understand being on a budget>
and being in Scotland, I'd say find a greenskeeper near a golf course and ask what he would do or where to get supplies at near you>
Keep us posted

Hempy Thanksgiving

 

[TartanToker]

Thanks very much for the advice eBUD and Cherma, it's nice to meet you guys
I shouldnt have any problems obtaining bone meal and fish emulsion.

Im looking to buy another light in the coming days as i believe that the one 30w flouro wont be sufficent enough to get the results im looking for, last grow i used the 40w 'cool blue' light until flowering when i included the 30w flouro to achive maximum light and the plants were a little on the stemmy side, i got about £30 ($50) to spend on a light.... i have a aquairium flouro 'starter' sitting spare the now thats capable of powering a 50watt aquarium tube but one thing ive noticed is that coloured flouros from aquarium shops are pretty expensive (considering that i bought 2 last year for £30, i checked em out the other day and one flouro now costs £30!) any budget alternatives that you guys out there can suggest???
I've noticed 'Boss' uses CFL's for growing with very respectable results, this is new to me as i never knew you could use the energy saving lightbulbs to achieve decent yields, maybe advice on this could be beneficial i.e 'how do i know if the cfl's im buying will kick out the correct spectrum of light???

I got 7 seedlings rooting at the moment.

And Cherma... of course i will keep you all up to date with the grow, with pictures as well if i can get my chunky old digi camera working!

Thanks again in advance for the advice all you toker troopers!

 

[eBUD]

There are 150w replacement CFLs that use like 43w of power and put out 880 lumens. They come in soft white and onother color thats good for flowering. Either way they will do great for seedlings up to flowering. They will "lose their steam" so to say in the flowering stage. A ballast of thoes 30w pink floros accompied by the CFL should do you justice.
What do you think? Anyone? lol Im getting excited for your grow. Yikes your bulbs are expensive. Hope ya can find what you need at a deal.

 

[sportsman9987]

Well actually the 150w which are really 42watt put out closer to 2600 lumens. I suggest the Nvision ones you can get at home depot and there approx 10$ a bulb. As for vegging and flowering, you want to get the daylight bulbs for vegging cause they have a bluer spectrum and the soft white ones for flowering. Im not exactly sure if you can buy daylight bulbs that are 42watt (150w or 2600 lumens) but im almost POSITIVE you can get the daylight 23 waters (100 watt) there usually only like 1-4$ a peice too. Usuallyt he daylights will come in a blue container so look for that, but they should say on the box which one it is and the lumen output. Gerneral rule of thumb is 2000 lumens per ft^2. Good Luck!

 

[sportsman9987]

O and to be honest you could do the whole grow with just CFL's if you really wanted to instead of getting more floros. Just remember keep those Cfl's as close to your plant as possible. Preferably 2-3 inchs and its a good idea to have them surrounding the plant 360 degrees. For example some on the sides and some on top. This way you can get all your buds to be nice and big. Hope this helps...

 

[eBUD]

YES this is very true. Dont worrie about burning the plants, CLFs stay relativly cool. If you have a fan close its hard to burn. I have even trying to bend branches out and put a CFL under the canapy of my plant and lighting the under/inside. Woked good for a day but burnt the stem so i moved it after it started to rub/burn.

 

[TartanToker]

Hi guys, thanks for the advice, i went out today for a little shopping.

I ended up getting a decent deal on a pair of aquarium flouros for £35, both kick out 40 watts, 1 of them kicks out light at 430nm and 600nm and the other one at 410nm and 500nm, hanging them from my closet railing tonight (fuck knows where my clothes will go though!)
I also bought 2 CFL bulbs rated at 18 watts that i'll use as supplemental light, claims to be equivilant to 100 watts, got them for 70 pence each (about $1)

Also picked up what i believe to be the best soil i can get locally for potting on... 'John Innes no.2'. Also stumbled across what could hopefully be a good fert for when my ladies start growing a bit more, has an NPK rating of 10-3-3.

1 thing i couldn't find anywhere was 'vermiculite', i used this in my first grow as i believed it was beneficial for the plants... any of you guys know if i can grow a crop without using it???

All in all it basically means i'm gonna be eating baked beans for the next week as i spent a small fortune today! but hey... once i'm harvesting, drying and ultimately...smoking my own crops, it means i'll be saving £70 a WEEK, so a bit of patience and i'll be reaping the rewards!!!

Will post up some piccies of the progress in the coming weeks.

 

[sportsman9987]

I think you will be fine without vermiculite, but its really not that hard to find, they sell it at basic hardware stores or home depot for like $4. Keep searching and i bet you'll find some, if not dont worry about it. Im not to knowledable on nutrients so maybe someone else can help you out with that. All i can suggest is using FoxFarm nutes and following the guide... Cant wait to see the pics, good luck!

 

[Bee23]

Vermiculite is white/pearly rock-like filler. If you look at an African Violet plant half the soil is vermic. See if your store has a similar filler to aerate the soil or get some worms

 

[Dr. 215]

You'll be fine without the vermiculite for sure, just make sure your soil has a nice airy consistency. It should hold when you squeeze it and break up easily when you poke it. This should be an interesting journal for sure, good luck man.

 

[eBUD]

Yeah there are a ton of different ways to mix your soil. You could go and mix your own or buy a premixed promix. And still add things to it to retain water or airate the soil. Read up on what materials do what for the growing medium and make your decision on that. People will aslo share their secrects if you ask nice enough.