new here, heres my first grow..

[Phrankie]

hi all, new to the forums. I'd like to share with you, my first grow.

It has been about four weeks since she
sprouted. I can't really afford any expensive equipment, have her under 2 cfls for now, and a small fan for circulation. tell me what you guys think, if you have any suggestions i'd love to hear them.

 

[Ricko]

gotta say she is looking really good, nice and healthy looking, well done

 

[Phrankie]

I was a little worried about the two small brown spots on the bottom leaf..But i don't think it should be much of a problem..I just don't know when to start the flowering cycle. She ( i hope) is about 12 3/4 inch tall, and about 17 inches from the widest fan leaves.:holysheep:

 

[Phrankie]

Do you think she's indica?..the leaves are kinda plump lol

 

[Super Silver Haze]

Phrankie, you start flowiring whenever you want. the longer you veg the bigger the plant will get. what size space are you growing in?

depending upon the strain the plant could double its height in flowering. if you find that it starting to get too tall then look into LST or other training method.

indica has fat leaves
sativa has skiney leaves

i think you got an Indica dom plant.

how many cfl's and what wattage. keep them as close as possible to avoid stretching, 1 inch away. there are many here that use cfl's so search around and look through the grow journals and learn what type bulb they are using.

they are looking good and good luck.

 

[Dr. Manny Bowles]

Welcome to MP Phrankie, looking good

 

[Phrankie]

The space is about 7 ft x 4 ft, so plenty of room for one or two plants.
I use 2 cfls, don't have any extra money to buy anything fancy.

one is 23w 2700k lumens, and the other is either 100 or 125 w 6500k lumens. I have them suspended about an inch from the top.

edit: Should i be worried about the browning on the bottom leaves? Plus, where exactly will the buds form? Is it those new branches that are sprouting from the nodes? Hope you understand what i'm askin'....

 

[Alistair]

Your plant looks good, but try to give more light. As the plant gets bigger it will need more light.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

You really need more light (among other things). I don't want to discourage you (but, this is going to sound harsh) This is an endeavor that takes time, money, energy, and committment. First of all you need to do far more research into this hobby. You are trying to grow something that cost $300-400 an oz on the street. You are not going to be able to just put a couple of CFLs over a plant and put a fan on it and expect much.

Okay, we need to talk about your lighting. The 2700K and 6500K are not lumens, but the spectrum of the bulbs--one more blue, the other more red. I am guessing that you have 1 23W 2600K light that is putting out (max) 1600 lumens. I am guessing that the other bulb is a 42W (150W incandescent equivalent which doesn't mean anything) 6500K bulb that is putting out (max) 2800 lumens. This ligh is good for less than 1 sq ft. You absolutely need more lighting.

If you do not know where the buds grow, you have not done enough reading .

 

[Phrankie]

I know i need more light, just can't afford it right now. My girlfriend is 18 weeks pregnant and i am the only income.

Unless you have some extra lights i can borrow.

I measure her today, she's 15 inches tall now. Growing like crazy, even with my current light setup.

 

[peaceful]

Welcome. Nice looking healthy plant there. THG is absolutely right. You will need more light to get a nice harvest. Not so much in veg but for sure in flower. Height is not a sign that you have enough light. Matter of fact, the more good light you have, the shorter and bushier your plant will be since it doesn't have the need to stretch for adequate light.

 

[PencilHead]

I know i need more light, just can't afford it right now. My girlfriend is 18 weeks pregnant and i am the only income.

Unless you have some extra lights i can borrow.

I measure her today, she's 15 inches tall now. Growing like crazy, even with my current light setup.

Which is 15", the girlfriend or the plant? JK.

Do you have anywhere outside to stash her (the plant, not the girlfriend) until you can get some decent lights? If you do taht would be nice, but be cautious about bringing plants in and out as you can get some nasty little hitch-hikers and some nasty moldy things out there.

 

[astrobud]

Which is 15", the girlfriend or the plant? JK.

Do you have anywhere outside to stash her (the plant, not the girlfriend) until you can get some decent lights? If you do taht would be nice, but be cautious about bringing plants in and out as you can get some nasty little hitch-hikers and some nasty moldy things out there.

:laugh: good one ph. but yea you are going to need more light

 

[Phrankie]

I'm gonna work on getting more light. I'm not really able to place her outside, too many nosey neighbors.

What light would you reccomend? More cfls? Or is there something in the $20 range that would work better.


edit: i found a 400w hps light on the lowes site, but i couldnt find a fixture for it

 

[thedonofchronic]

I measure her today, she's 15 inches tall now. Growing like crazy, even with my current light setup.

yes the plant seems like its growing at an
incredible rate of speed. this is because it doesnt
have enough light. Its trying to find more.
the more light, the tighter the nodes

What light would you reccommend? More cfls? Or is there something in the $20 range that would work better.

you will not be able to get any proper lighting for 20$. cfls cost under 10 dollars each but to be honest, you need so many of them to work how you want them theres really no point. An HID light will produce far better results than any flourescent. The bulbs you can find for hps and mh lights, but the ballast hood reflector you will also need. I reccommend taking time and saving money perhaps at a better time in your life. this is an exspensive hobby theres not many ways to shortcut around that.

 

[Phrankie]

I've been reading as much as i can on indoor growing. This is my first attempt at growing and i have to learn sometime.

Everyone keeps telling me that my lights aren't good enough. People have been using cfl's from veg to flower with good results.

Not everyone can go out and spend $150-500 for fancy lights, ballasts, etc.

This plant orignally started outside. Small, alone and if i didn't bring her inside when i did, she surely would have died. We had like 12 days of rain not long after i brought her in.

I never thought i'd care so much for a plant. I check her every morning and night. I'm doing my best at giving this plant a chance, and for people to say i'm wasting my time..hurts.

I'm not giving up. I don't even care if my first yield is only an 1/8.

 

[astrobud]

just add one every week till u get 2 or3 more, def will help. glad to hear your not giving up. it will pay off soon enough

 

[PencilHead]

I'm not giving up. I don't even care if my first yield is only an 1/8.

You hang in there, Phrankie. Schoolboy's first plant yeilded a whopping 3 grams I think, and everyone had told him to put the little booger out of her misery.

I voted for him for BPOTM on the basis of tenacity alone. You go, friend--I'll be right here cheering you on.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I've been reading as much as i can on indoor growing. This is my first attempt at growing and i have to learn sometime.

Everyone keeps telling me that my lights aren't good enough. People have been using cfl's from veg to flower with good results.

Not everyone can go out and spend $150-500 for fancy lights, ballasts, etc.

This plant orignally started outside. Small, alone and if i didn't bring her inside when i did, she surely would have died. We had like 12 days of rain not long after i brought her in.

I never thought i'd care so much for a plant. I check her every morning and night. I'm doing my best at giving this plant a chance, and for people to say i'm wasting my time..hurts.

I'm not giving up. I don't even care if my first yield is only an 1/8.

When people use CFLs from veg to flower they have 20 or more of them and even with that yield is far under what you would get with a HPS. We don't mean to hurt your feelings, but there are simply certain things you need to grow pot and adequate lighting is one of them. Most people who do not have $150-500 to invest in proper equipment do not grow (actually most of us have spent thousands rather than hundreds. It is kind of like saying you want to build a street racer, but all you have is a lawnmower engine and some wheels off an old wheelbarrow--it is just not going to cut it.

Also, if you are your pregnant girlfriend's only source of income, it might be best if you did not put your freedom in jeapordy...

 

[Super Silver Haze]

add more lights as money allows but im sure that in time you will realize that a HID is a must have. the heat from a bounch of cfl's will get hot like a 400 watt hps.

dont try and piece a lighting system together b/c i found that it was cheaper to buy a complete system (light, ballast, & air cooled hood) from HTG. there are many sites that sells grow equipment.

you can grow w/o using a HID light, look through the grow journals and im sure you will find one.

good luck