1st journal CFL grow Auto Purp and Unknown strain

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Bayerusa

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Hello everyone I haven't grown since 2008 and have never grown with CFL's for that matter; so I decided to keep a journal. I have 2 plants, 2 strains (unknown sprouted 10/12 and Auto Purp 10/31). They plants are under 2 42W warm white and 2 42W daylight spectrum. I have them in a small make-shift enclosure that is not fancy. I'm using coconut coir as substrate and using the general organics go-kit for nutrients. I plan to switch to 4-6 maybe even 8 42W warm white CFL to bloom. So far my plants are growing very slow because the temp was 95 degrees their entire life because my thermostat was broke. I now got a fan on them and up hoping they improve. Also, I was originally using ALL warm white CFL's which later I learned the obvious in that they need daylight spectrum as well to veg. Again I never grew with fluoro. I really hope they start growing now that I made the changes because they are growing slow. Also I might have nute burned them so I am flushing for a week.
 
Good luck with the wee ones!:) If you have any questions feel free to ask.
 
The problem with autos is that they only live a certain number of days. ANYTHING that stresses them and causes them to slow down growth will affect yield in a big way. In other words, when they get x number of days old they are going to start dying....whether they have finished flowering or not. And unfortunately, immature trichs just do not get you high. I would also not flush for a week--just flush a couple of times. You cannot starve them for a week because you overfed them once.

CFLs are also about the most expensive lights we use to grow and they produce the least. Lighting needs are figured by lumens per sq ft. You need a minimum of 3000 lumens of light in the 6500K area for vegging and 5000 per sq ft for flowering, something in the 2500-3000K range. Even with 8 bulbs you are only going to have enough light for an area about 2 x 2--you will be using 334 watts to produce about 20,000 lumens. Compare this to a 250W HPS which will give you about 28000 lumens and you can see how much cheaper it is to run an HPS.

What kind of ventilation do you have set up? You actually need some kind of exhaust fan that will remove the old air and bring in new air. A fan moving the air around is good, but it is not enough.
 
The problem with autos is that they only live a certain number of days. ANYTHING that stresses them and causes them to slow down growth will affect yield in a big way. In other words, when they get x number of days old they are going to start dying....whether they have finished flowering or not. And unfortunately, immature trichs just do not get you high. I would also not flush for a week--just flush a couple of times. You cannot starve them for a week because you overfed them once.

CFLs are also about the most expensive lights we use to grow and they produce the least. Lighting needs are figured by lumens per sq ft. You need a minimum of 3000 lumens of light in the 6500K area for vegging and 5000 per sq ft for flowering, something in the 2500-3000K range. Even with 8 bulbs you are only going to have enough light for an area about 2 x 2--you will be using 334 watts to produce about 20,000 lumens. Compare this to a 250W HPS which will give you about 28000 lumens and you can see how much cheaper it is to run an HPS.

What kind of ventilation do you have set up? You actually need some kind of exhaust fan that will remove the old air and bring in new air. A fan moving the air around is good, but it is not enough.
You're absolutely right. I usually use MH to HPS but was concerned about electricity costs. I plan to use an LED and supplement with CFL for my next grow. I'm so confused to as how both my plants 2 different strains are so small. I have plenty of circulation, good temps good nutes and plenty of light.
 

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