How is my set up & other questions

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Edgar

New Member
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I have only some questions. How is my set up? I got 5 plants in total. My 2 biggest were my first. I am doing a side by side comparison on MG Soil ve FFOF Soil. And not using no fertilizers right now. Still trying to decide. Ph is steady on 7.0 and i do have some yellow leaves but i am sure it will go away. I still don't know the problem but im trying to figure it out. I had a 24/0 light for a month but now i do 18/6 or 20/4 until i get to move them into another cabinet for vegg nd flowering. And one last question about how long until i can prune or cut some leaves and such. Or how do i make my plant wider.
 
Re: How is my set up & questions.

Wider plants are made from stronger light. That is the ideal way.
Don't trim anything until the 5th tier of true leaves and by then you only want to cut the top internode.
I don't see that there is very much light, that T8 vertical tube is not helping these young plants much...

how many watts are you running?

V
 
Re: How is my set up & questions.

I got about 4 lights. 2 15w cfls which you can't see ha and 1 t5 20w and that t8 probably 15 w. Im about to gather up some money for Hps nd mh lights.
 
You could bring those cfls down alot closer or bring the pots up. In my opinion They only put out sufficient light at no more than 6 inches. The t8 may help later in flower but it would need to be nearly touching the foliage. A HO t5 is more similar to the distance of a cfl, still just a few inches. I've been working with cfl for months and they will do the job for you all the way to flower stage. At which point I might invest in a small bloom only ufo led light,theyre fairly cheap. Because you're going to be adding so many cfls to satisfy your girls it will be crazy. This I know from experience.. Lol. All this is my two cents, so take it as you wish. Good luck with the gang, they will be in good hands I'm sure...there's tons of good folks on here looking to help a feller out.

All this is null if you decide to get the mh/hps setup
Cheers
 
Since you've already spent money for your current set-up, I would not replace it. Just supplement with 23watt daylight CFLs for the veg and 23watt soft white for flower. You won't build up any heat, but you'll notice a huge difference when those daylights come on! Wear sunglasses in your veg room!
 
So you're telling me with just CFLS i can get to flower? But how much watts would i need? & has this been working well with you? Have you gotten many buds out of it
 
All my harvests from my sativas have been under CFLs. In Veg I have 10 23 watters, mixed daylight and soft white. That is about 1000 watts output at midday. I have 4 of the daylight CFLs on a separate timer for an on time of 4 hours, from 10 AM to 2 PM. This simulates the sun being overhead. The area of the veg set-up is 36" x 34" x 60" tall.

I grow them out to about 30" tall and 30" in diameter, with lsting, which makes an interesting fit into the flower closet! I set the bins at an angle to get all the branches to fit.

For flower, I use 6 23 watt (600 watt output) soft whites for the yellow spectrum. The closet I use for flower is a typical 48" x 24" x 60" tall. I clip the lights to the closet shelf and raise the pots to the lights. I should add 2 more.

My harvest have been several 3" - 4" colas dried plus a lot of smaller buds and sugar leaves. The dry weight per plant has been around 14 grams. I usually space them out so that I'm harvesting only one plant per month or so.

Bottom line is that you won't get massive COLAs and massive yields with a small indoor grow under a few CFLs. This set-up is good if you don't care about beautiful buds. And if growing for self and family. But you can get quality smoke, powder for capsules, or cannabudder, it's the trics that matter, when you harvest, and how skillfully you cure. (you have to dry and crush those big buds to use them, anyway, right?)
 
Edgar said:
So you're telling me with just CFLS i can get to flower? But how much watts would i need? & has this been working well with you? Have you gotten many buds out of it
Click to expand...
Check some of the cfl journals. Atrain is one that comes to mind check how he started his first grow with cfl and His first crop was not bad at all. They will do the job for you, but plant management such as Lst.. Is crucial. This is to keep your canopy even (as much as possible) so you can have the lights closer to the majority of budsites. And like I mentioned you'll want to add more cfls by seeing which buds aren't getting light penetration
Atrain Indoor T5 Closet Grow - White Widow Auto - White Cheese Auto - Royal Haze Auto

Interesting note.. At one point I had up to 16 x 23w cfl and 8x HO T5s'
 
Cost to yeild ratio can be pretty good if done rite. most I've seen either chains a few together and or having a few high watt CFL. lots of them as close as you can is key! I've seen people build reflectors for them as well. it pretty cool!
 
Aluminum foil is not ideal, unless you can get it mounted without crinkling it. The crinkled ridges will cause hot spots or focal points and could adversely effect the foliage with heat stress or light burn. It will work but keep in mind that foil is not As effective as mylar... Two more cents for you.
 
I'm unsure if you would have hot spots with CFLS would you? I'd think it could only help. it would have to be done correctly. also I heard mylar is not the best at reflecting light back it absorbs most of it. white would probobly be best but all three would work just fine I'm sure! that's the best thing about DIY is I may make it or have a diferant oppinion or approach than you but both ways are probably just fine!
 
Mylar is 95% effective at reflecting light back. I believe flat white paint was around 85%. White polyfilm is around the same if I remember correctly.

Mylar can be found on emergency blankets, car windscreen covers (those things that keep the sun out of your car so it stays cool) and some hydro stores carry it.

Thin mylar can throw off hot spots like aluminum foil if it's creased as well. The car windscreen pieces sell at my local dollar store, so they would be cheap as well. I painted white though because I had it on hand.

I've seen CFLs measured a few ways. Some people go by lumens, some people go by watts. The general consensus seems to be at least 3-4 23W per plant (or from what I've come across anyways). I've also seen it put as 5000 lumens, or 50+ watts per square foot of growing space.

I made a reflector out of a white dish tub, and will have 10 23w bulbs in it for a total of 230 watts or 16000 lumens. My grow space is approximately 2.2 square feet. That gives me around 7200 lumens per square foot or 105 watts per square foot. Mind you, my brain is a little melty after figuring it all out. But now, it's pretty engraved.
 
thanks for clearing it up. I didn't know molar was that reflective. also that it could cause hot spots. how did your reflector work out do you have any pics!
 
Youre going to have some issues using the MG soil...this is why youre getting some ywllowing btw..imo
Im a noob too...but MG soil retain so MUCH water and has fert already i it..youre going to run into over watering and a little nute burn.
Be VERY careful on your watering. Use the lifet method..you are NOT going to need to wateer as often compared to reg soil.
Trust me, I know.
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Building on what Jamesnns said: There are many recipes for soil, from home-made composted mixes to ready-to-plant houseplant mixes with nutes already added.

My formula is this: around 40 - 50% Black Gold planting soil, then equal amounts of sand and vermiculite. I go by how well it flows between my fingers, dry. If it feels good to me, it will feel good to the plants and will drain well, but hold enough water to keep my plants happy. I use additives sparingly, no more often than once a week.
 

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