Please Help with first grow - 0 background on this!

[berts1011]

Hello to all ..just joined the forum, will be trying my first grow.i have been doing research online and there is so many ways about this that is kind of confusing for me.i have no experience on this what so ever but desided why not give it a try, i found 4 seeds in a nug and decided to put them to sprout...the following day they sprouted so i left them till the root was about half an inch long and planted them in some organic soil from home depot in a cup and put them by the window...they kept growing so i moved them under a 23w CFL. all 4 plants are different sizes and i water them every day till the soil is wet. i decided to build a lamp and put them inside the closet under 3 23watt 6500k(cool) daylight CFL and 1 32w 6500K(cool)CFL. i also got fox farms trio that i might be starting to use after about 2 weeks. i will be adding a fan and ventilation system since it get to about 80-82 degrees under the lights...what is the ideal temp in a closet space?? the closet is matte white 2x4x8
i just bought a 42w 2700K(warm)..when should i add it in?
i have read that the color spectrum also makes a huge difference...not sure if the ones i have have any of these.

i will be adding more stuff as i learn. I read about some reflective mylar ...does anyone know where i can find sheets of this stuff?

 

[Antics]

Re: Please HELP with first grow....0 background on this!!

Welcome to

First thing, you'll want to get your lights closer. CFLs should be no further than 6", or 15cm from the plants. I like to keep mine between about 3"-6", or 7.5cm-15cm.

Next, water a little lighter just to keep the soil slightly moist, not wet. You should be able to use a spray bottle to mist the soil 1-2x a day. You want water available, but too much water will reduce the oxygen available to the plants in the soil.

Next up you'll need more lights in the future as these plants grow. The color temperature is perfect for Veg, and I liked to mix the light spectrums by using some 6500K and 2700K bulbs. I used more 6500K for Veg, and more 2700K for Flower.

With CFLs, you should aim for somewhere around 65 watts per square foot, or depending on how you'll be growing, a minimum of 100w/sq ft in Veg, and 150w/sqft in Flower. Actual watts, not equivalent.

For temps, I like to aim between 75-85. As you add more lights the temp will increase, so keep this in mind when doing your ventilation.

You will likely find male plants within these 4, so when you switch to flower, you'll quite possibly be cutting some of them down.

Next, you'll want a timer for your lights, if you don't already own one.

And you will definitely need a PH meter, a quality meter is preferred. The cheaper meters that measure light, moisture, and PH have a very limited lifespan, and are not at all as accurate.

 

[berts1011]

Re: Please HELP with first grow....0 background on this!!

thank you so much for the advice
i had moved the light a higher up because i thought it was getting pretty warm in there....some times it reaches up to 83 i live in florida and it gets really hot here.
i have more space in the lamp to fit in another splitter socket with another 2 bulbs....when should i introduce this mod?
what are some methods for ventilation in this closet space? i can possibly connect to the closet next to it that has the ac system of my house. will that work as a negative air ventilation system?
The last 3 days since i moved them to under the lamp i haven't see any significant change. could it be stress? also the leaves in one of them (the smallest one) are not as green and they look bent down.
here are some pics

 

[doobie gillis]

More bulb adapters.100w cfl bulbs only draw 24w so 4 bulbs in 1 fixture is only drawing 96w.24w cfls put out 1600 lumen.3 four bulb fixtures would put out 19,200 lumen (more lumens than 150w hps and less heat)......good luck.