MiniFX's CFL First Time Grow 2011

mini420

New Member
So I started reading forums after seeing a documentary about grows in Cali and thought this looked like a cool hobby I'd like to try. I'm using 4 year old bagseed I had stashed in a drawer. Let's hope they'll grow!


What strain is it? Bagseed decent mids is my guess, too long ago.
Is it Indica, Sativa or Hybrid? What percentages? No Idea.
Is it in Veg or Flower stage? Just planted seeds 3 days ago, no sprouting yet.
Indoor or outdoor? Indoor. 2'x2'x5' growlab tent
Soil or Hydro? Soil
If soil... what is in your mix? 2 parts Fox Farms Ocean, 1 part coco fiber
If soil... What size pot? Will be 3 gallon
Size of light? 125W 6500K CFL with reflector, 125w 2700K CFL for flowering.
Is it aircooled? 100CFM axail fan exhaust on roof, passive vents at base of tent.
Temp of Room/cab? Not sure at the moment, no forgot to buy a termo. 72 degrees would be a fairly accurate guess.
RH of Room/cab? Not sure at the moment.
PH of media or res? Not sure, need to buy PH meter
Any Pests? No, not yet anyways.
How often are you watering? Seeds were started in soil cup seed starter kit from big chain store.
Type and strength of ferts used? None ATM. Haven't made a decision on nutes yet.


Will post pics within the next few days.
 
Any suggestions on a nutes? I was looking into some FF all purpose stuff. I'm a total newbie. Any advice would be helpful. I'll post pics of my grow room soon. It's a 2'x2'x5' reflective tent in a closet with a 125w 6500k CFL and reflector inside. Going to buy the 2700K bulb when the time comes. I have a 100CFM axial fan for exhaust in the top of the tent. My tent have several vent doors on the bottom of the tent as well as round openings for running wires/duct. I'm using those as a passive intake. I can feel a decent amount of air being sucked through the intake openings. Airflow seems pretty good. I've also got the CFL on 20/4 cycle and a few inches above my planted seeds. I wasnt sure how to germinate and stuff so I just bought a cheap $3 seed starter kit. I've using them before. I have some basil growing from seed next to them. As of this morning the basil has started sprouting but I havent seen anything from my real seeds.
 
Welcome to the forums and good luck on your grow. What documentary peaked your interest? Just curious. As for the nutrients, I'm not sure about the FF all purpose. I've never used it. From what I've read so far, looks like it's a good all around fert as well as a soil rejuvinator. Wouldn't hurt to get you going after they've sprouted a few sets of leaves. It might work fine. I use the FF line of liquid nutes. Easy to work with for me.
Give them a few more days to germ. Some of mine have taken awhile lately.
 
Welcome to the forums and good luck on your grow. What documentary peaked your interest? Just curious. As for the nutrients, I'm not sure about the FF all purpose. I've never used it. From what I've read so far, looks like it's a good all around fert as well as a soil rejuvinator. Wouldn't hurt to get you going after they've sprouted a few sets of leaves. It might work fine. I use the FF line of liquid nutes. Easy to work with for me.
Give them a few more days to germ. Some of mine have taken awhile lately.

I've watched quite a few via netflix but the last one was called The Green Rush.

I took my seeds out of the soil starter kit last night and they didn't look any different than when I planted them. I decided to try germination using the paper towel method. I put the bag in the closet with my hot water heater. I couldn't resist checking them a few mins ago and 2 are starting to split open.
 
Update!

Well the paper towel germination was a hit. I have 2 seeds germinated and planted in soil as of last night!

I still haven't decided on nutes or odor control. I found some cheap fans at a big chain store for air movement. I have a 100CFM axial fan as my exhaust mounted in the top of my tent. I bought a small clip on fan for air movement once I really start to get some veg. I found some small "personal" fans that fit perfectly in the vent holes of my growlab. I'm not using them at the moment but they were $5 and I figured they may come in handy. I figure worst case scenario I'll cough up the $150+ for a 200cfm inline fan and charcoal phresh filter.

Will post pics this weekend. Sorry for the delay, I know it's boring without pics.
 
i recommend earth juice bloom and grow. they work great in conjunction with ffof and theyre the cheapest 100% organic. try em out
 
Those are actually the ones the guy recommended at my local hydro store. I'll probably use those. I found this great little shop right down the road from me. Small store but the guy will order anything you want from a ton of different companies and he doesn't stick you with prices.

Plus I can pay CASH for everything :)
 
I posted this in a similar journal but thought it might be more appropriate here. I'm having a debate on lighting for my tent. I'm debating between adding some 42w CFL with cheap $6 clamp on reflectors from a chain store or buying another big CFL and mounting it standing straight up on the bottom of my tent.

Also I haven't bought a 2700K flowering bulb yet. I buy everything local with cash and the feliz 125w are $40 and 200w are $80. I'm leaning towards the 200w for flowering. I can use either in my reflector. The 125w 6400K came as a package with my hydrofarm reflector for $65 which was a good deal.

I don't know what I should do. The more light the better as long as you aren't burning up your plants right? The 125w doesn't seem to get very hot and I've got plenty of ventilation. I was originally going to get a 150W HPS but the guy at my local hydro store didn't think it would be such a good idea with such as a small tent as the HPS produces a lot more heat than a CFL. The 150w HPS system is only $99 at store, while the 200w 2700K CFL is $80. I'm super worried about odor as this is a stealth grow in my apartment closet so I'm looking into a 170+ CFM 4" inline fan with a carbon filter. I'm thinking if I end up getting the fan, which is my current plan, it will move enough air to keep the heat down from the 150w HPS. So I could spend an extra $20 and get a lot more lumens for flowering..... Any thoughts?

Anyone using the Sun System 150w HPS? Does it get super hot? Would it be way to hot for my little tent even with a good inline fan?
 
I'll help as much as I can with this one. It sounds like you have planned it out with options, which is a good thing. Your main factor seems to be stealth, so this is my opinion. Weighing everything out, there is one trigger for me. Bagseed: you have no idea of the genetics, meaning you don't know the height factor or the smell potency at this point. They might stink like a mother, or they might have a mild odor. If you stayed with the CFL, the plants would not get as big and less heat. That would save you a couple of bucks to invest in odor control. They probably won't start to smell strongly until they flower, so that would buy you a few more weeks to get some odor control. Not saying you shouldn't go with a HPS system, but stealth is the name of your game at this point. Hope this helps.
 
Very true. I am trying to not go overboard and spend a ton on my first grow, and stealth is my biggest concern. If it comes down to not being able to grow or not because of the smell, then I have absolutely no issue spending the money on a inline fan and carbon scrubber. This obviously isn't commercial. It's just for personal use and is becoming a really fun hobby! The money I spend on the fan/scrubber still out weighs the cost of buying bud.

I'm a ways away from having to worry about smell or flowering anyways. I'm just trying to be ahead of the game. That's why I decided not to buy the flowering bulb when I bought everything else. I originally went to the store to buy the 150 HPS. I'm still definitely considering it. I might just go cheap and get the $40 125w flowering bulb and see how everything turns out. If I can keep it stealth - then I'll get the HPS. That's sounding like the best option right now. If this is successful I'll probably try 1 plant hydro system with the HPS.
 
Whats up Mini! Pulling up a chair for your grow! I'm also doing a first time grow in a small space....Best wishes ... and hope to see some pics soon!

:high-five:
 
UPDATE!!!

I have decided to skip the bagseed because apparently it was all crap. I order some regular NL seeds and some Easy Rider (lowryder #2 x AK-47) feminized and autoflowering. If all goes well I should be able to start germinating them in a couple of weeks. I'm limited on space so I'm not sure what I'll try first. The EasyRyder was a little pricey but definitely a good choice for my growing goals. I'll have to learn to clone it or maybe I could pollinate one with a NL male and get seeds. I'm not sure how any of that works though. Will definitely need to research it. I'm very limited on space and would prefer to seed the hell out of one of the EasyRyders and just keep an ongoing cycle of starting new seeds towards harvest. I'm only doing it for small personal use. I'd be happy with a couple ounces per grow.
 
I've got a question for you guys. I'm going the autoflowering route and I priced out how to add some extra lighting for cheap using CFLs and accessories from Lowes. What spectrum do I use? Do I use 2700K the whole way? Half and half? There's technically no veg stage. I can either get some 68w 2700K bulbs, 42w 3000K, or 27w 5500K, at least from the store I was in. I was going to add 4 bulbs using 2 light sockets and 2 Y connectors. The most expensive it could get from what I found there would be 4x 68w bulbs at $15 each, and $8 each for the sockets and connectors. So roughly $76 for an additional 272 watts. I'm going to get a 200w 2700K CFL for my reflector from my local hydro store. I was planning on 2-4 autoflowering plants in my 2x2x5' grow tent. I'm starting with lowryder easyryders. Thoughts?
 
I think some of the other journals are using a combination, but for flowering you definitely want lower 2700-3100k.

I've been reading through autoflower journals. I read a lot of people say 25% or less of blue/veg lighting for auto flowers. I might just rock all 3000K and less for the whole thing. Im not sure yet....
 
I was planning on 2-4 autoflowering plants in my 2x2x5' grow tent. I'm starting with lowryder easyryders. Thoughts?

hey man, definitely interested in your grow. this sounds to be exactly what im preparing for, err pretty much. im looking to build a 54"(H)x24"(D)x30"(W) "Stealth" grow cab. Not so stealthy as I was planning but due to the stupid doors in my closet I cannot fit it in their and still open the door.


Anyways, Id like to know how your lowryders work out for you and possibly where you got them. Ive been looking at a strain of Autoflowering feminized Lowryders that are AK-47 & Blueberry. Just wondering what the actual height gets to with CFLs, and smell.


As far as a filter goes, I havent heard to great of reviews in regards to the scrubbers, but I did see a nice DIY by Chevymans Odor control bucket , and its nice because you can decide how strong you want it by how much you decide to dilute it.


Im looking to grow 4 plants in a DWC tub hopefully. Also what kind of a reflector are you using. Ive been researching some DIY jobs here and im looking to make my own but not quite sure how many bulbs for 4 plants i should be looking to use. Our grow preferences may differ but our setups will be practically the same so any tips/findings would be much appreciated, thanks man. :goodluck:
 
How did this grow turn out?

We would love to be updated with some pictures and info! :blushsmile:

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I am moving this to abandoned journals until we get updates.

Thanks and hope all is well in your world!

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