New Grower/First Grow

Northern Lights

Big Plant 4 weeks old
Made a bunch of newbie mistakes (light fell and burnt plant, overwatering etc)
Been using Light amount of Botanicide Nutrients. (using 1/4 of the recommended amount)
Soil-A mixture of what I had lying Around.
CFL grow- Using Plenty of lights.
Small room with large ceiling Fan.
PH'ing water after adding nutrients.

Small Plant

Less Mistakes
Organic Good Soil.
CFL grow- Using Plenty of lights.
Small room with large ceiling Fan.
PH'ing water after adding nutrients.

Questions:

How am I doing? Comments suggestions?

I am going on vacation for 8 nights...what is the easiest way to water them while i'm gone? I water once every 3-4 days as of now?

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The damage you see on the bigger plant is from a light that burnt 1/4 of the plant...lol. I managed to save it. That was about a week 1/2 ago.

I think she's looking really good. I started out with two plants my first time. I put them in pots that were way too small and limited their growth.

Best way to water your plants while your way would be to have somebody do it for you. I'm guessing that's not an option, so I would water them well before I left and let them go until I return. You could put water underneath them but I've read that's not a great idea.

Good luck! Keep posting pics and enjoy your vacation :yay:

Welcome to MP!

They're looking good. Do you intend to continue with CFLs? If it's possible, you should consider HPS as your girls get bigger. You'll need a lot of CFLs to get the job done.

As far as watering when you're not there...I'll let someone else handle that. I haven't tried growing while going on vacation.

Duplicate

Yup, I am going to do the whole grow with CFL's. I already had on hand enough CFL stuff to hit ém with a lot of light.

My main concern is what to do when I am on vacation for 8 days. I read that I could use a plastic soda bottle with a nail in it? I am thinking If I water them right before I go and then some how get some type of setup to at least get them some water for the last 4 days.......

Thanks for the replies!

What is your definition of "enough" CFLs? It takes a whole bunch of smaller household sized CFLs to get the job done when flowering. And that many CFLs can create some terrific heat and cost twice as much as HPS (but produce 1/2 as much).

I really cannot advise you on a watering method that is simple and reliable, but I would repot them into larger pots before you go. Smaller pots will dry out sooner.

The Hemp Goddess, I meant I have a lot of hardware and the CFL bulbs themselves laying around. How many HPS bulbs would I need to finish 2 plants at a time in flowering? If I can do it on the inexpensive side I will consider it. My goal is to do 2 plants at a time.

For the vacation watering, I will use a pump with a timer and have it water it on the fourth day!

Thanks for the replies!

How much light you need is dependent on the amount of space you are lighting, not the number of plants. How many CFLs are you running now? What wattage are they? You will need a minimum of 5000 lumens per sq ft for flowering (most of us use more). Because CFLs have such a low lumen to watt ratio (usually around 62 lumens per watt), you will spend twice as much on electricity using CFLs rather than HPS. And the CFLs will produce substantially less bud and airier bud than HPS, even if the lumen count is equal. This is because CFLs lack the penetrating power of HPS. CFLs are not the money saving lights that a lot of new growers believe them to be. When you get as many as you need, they will cost more initially, cost more every month in electrical costs, run hotter, and produce a lot less bud than HPS.

How are you going to control how much water the plants get? Most timers cannot be set for less time than 15 minutes and that will be far too long to run a water pump to the plants. I am concerned about a flood...

The Hemp Goddess

Ok, this is my setup:

-I am in a small room 10x12.
-Ceiling fan for air flow.
-I am using metal hooded light fixtures with 2 CFL bulbs attached to each one pointed towards the plants.
-Right now on the large plant I am hitting it with 7350 Lumens. Will duplicate that on the smaller plant when it gets bigger.
-I will also be adding 2 4' double florescent lights to the mix adding another 5000 lumens for flowering.
-The smaller plant will be moved to another area while the bigger plant go into flowering.The smaller plant will get the same 7350 lumens for veg.

-So in total I will hit them almost 20k lumens for flowering.
-When I get back from vacation the bigger plant should be about 16'' tall (its Nothern Lights and is a very bushy squat plant) at that point I will switch it to 12/12 to start flowering stage.
-I am assuming twice the size it is now once its done, so it should be 32-36 inches tall when finished.
-I also will use Botanicare Bloom and PH everything properly(I am using Botanicare Veg and PHíng right now but only using 1/4 the amount suggested every other watering)
-I will attempt to clone and repeat the process.

As for the watering, I will test first. I will fill a pail of water to the amount I water now. And have the pump run until the pail is empty. The timer I bought can be set for shorter amount of time.And I will set it for the shortest amount so it empties the pail. It will only have to run once.

Thanks for the replies!!!!

You really are going to think about setting up a small space that is dedicated to your grow and that you can control the environment. With your plants and light just sitting out in a large space, you are disbursing the light throughout the entire space. Just because you have a lamp over a plant does not mean the plant is getting that much light if you do not have some kind of reflective surface around the grow. And when it comes time to flower, you are going to have to keep them 100% totally dark for 12 continual hours with no light leaks or interruptions of the dark.

What is the actual wattage of the bulbs that you are using? Also, what is the color spectrum? You will need bulbs in the red spectrum for flowering--something around the 2500-3500K range. For vegging, you should be using something around the 6500K range. So different bulbs for vegging and for flowering. I would also advise against just going out and getting more light that is not going to be efficient for your purpose (the 2 fluoro tubes). Twenty thousand lumens is only good for 4 sq ft --a 2 x 2 space--which will not even contain a 4' fixture. You also need some kind of exhaust system. Plants need a continual supply of fresh air all the time the lights are on for proper photosynthesis. This entails exchanging the air in the space at least once every couple of minutes.

It is far better to wait until a plant shows sexual maturity before putting it into 12/12. A plant will not flower until it is sexually mature, so putting into 12/12 prior to this is counterproductive and usually results in a lot of stretch.

If you are serious about this, I encourage you to do some reading so you know what your plants are going to need to make it to harvest. Your light is your most important controllable factor and will directly affect your yield. CFLs will cost the most and yield the least. Ventilation is also important and will need to be addressed as the plants get a bit larger.

Your watering plan sounds like it will work just fine. Can you tell me more about your timer with increments shorter than 15 minutes?

Just to be clear I have all the CFL light bulbs in Large Aluminum light cans that are all pointed at the plants. So the plants are surrounded by light from the lights themselves as well as the reflection of the lights from the Cans. The fan in the room runs 24 hours a day which is set to draw air into the room. For now that's all I can do. Except to add the 4' florescent lights to the mix.

As for waiting for the plants to be mature before switching to 12/12, I read that Northern Lights are quick growing and can be switched to 12/12 when as small as 12 inches tall? I wanted to switch mine around 16 inches tall? Is this not correct? How do I know when the plants are mature enough?

Thanks!

** PS- Both the plants have grown quite a bit since I posted the first pics.........they are looking very healthy too!

Plants are ready to be flowered when they reach sexual maturity. The size and strain of the plant is immaterial. Putting into 12/12 before they are ready is counterproductive. First you are depriving them of 12 hours of light a day that they need to grow. Second the 12 hours of dark will make the plants stretch (when it should be growing). This results in less bud sites and therefore less bud. Two plants the same height can produce far differing amounts dependent on how much the plants stretch.

Regardless of the fixtures you have your CFLs in, if you do not have a reflective surface around the area, you are loosing light and with CFLs that is a bad thing. In addition, keep in mind that you are spending twice as much on electricity every single month running CFLs rather than HPS. What wattage CFLs and what spectrum are you using(actual wattage, equivalent wattage doesn't matter)?
Cannabis is a high energy plant and has very specific wants and needs. Lights and ventilation are only 2 of the necessary components, but they are probably the most critical. Unfortunately, it does take more than just putting a few CFLs over top of plants in a big space and turning a fan on. If it was this easy and this inexpensive, everyone would be doing it and cannabis would not be $200+ an ounce. Unless the fluorescent tube you are going to buy is a T5 and you can afford both vegging and flowering bulbs, the fluoro tube lighting is a waste of money. The T5 is the only one good enough to use to grow. The others just do not put out enough light for the space they require.

You also want to be exhausting air out of the space, not just blowing air in. This does not give you the air exchange you need.

I am not trying to discourage you, but I hate for you to spend 4 months on these plants to only end up with a yield that is in grams. You simply are going to have to get a proper space set up if you want these plants to finish and yield enough to justify your time and energy.

I am not sure what you are going to do on your time away from your plants, but you might sneak some time in to read up a bit more on the life cycle of cannabis and what a proper grow is going to require. It can be done with CFLs all the way through, but I sure would like you to try and save for more/better lighting. The difference is dramatic. But you are going to need

I guess you got problem with your lights on your first picture. Why not consider using LED Grow lights. LED light systems run extremely cool and most do not need you to do anything to control heat. Unlike CFL, you have to adjust bulbs 1-2 times a week, as your plants will be rapidly growing into them

Ok, I am taking all this advice and when I get back from vacation hopefully my plants will be alive! I will address my lighting situation when I get back. Right now I have a timer (digital) that allows me to run a pump for 1 minute. In that minute it will water the plants on the fourth day(hopefully) with the right amount they need. I tested it and It SHOULD work......lol.

:aok: You will not regret this. Your lights can make an incredible difference.

Try and do some reading up on lights, so you have an idea what works, what works best, why spectrum matters, how much light you need, etc. Unlike HIDs, LEDs are not all essentially alike. For instance, there is not a great deal of difference between different 600W HPS systems. Whereas for LEDs there is a huge amount of difference between like wattages. I do not know enough about LEDs to make my own buying decisions, so relied on others who knew more than I did. It is important to keep in mind though that good LEDs are not cheap and cheap LEDs are not good. It does take quite a bit of money to outfit a space with LEDs compared to HPS.

Have a great vacation and we will talk about lights when you get back.

as far as watering, give em a good soak before you go and make sure there is no water sitting int the drip tray. runoff is nasty stuff for plants to sit in, too many salts build up. as far as lighting with cfl's, i'll let someone else touch that. THG pretty much summed that up

It looks like you're doing a great job, I am curious what ph you are using when you say you set the ph after adding nutes, do you monitor the ph of the soil? and how dry do you let it get?
I am subbed in and packing the bowl
:vap-Bong_smoker:

Ok, I got back from vacation and the plants survived! The smaller plant is twice the size of when I left! The bigger one grew also, but was drooping a little because it did not get quite enough water. I watered them when I got home last night and now both are in fine shape!!!!!!!!!

great news!