Please Help ! New to growing and have a few questions .

[kmac9119]

Hello , im new to this site and new to growing. Im attemping for the first time to grow. Im looking to only have about 4 plants flowering at a time. Im useing Fluro to grow. I have a 4 ft Balist with two T12 40 Watt bulbs (Think its about 3000 Lumens per bulb, and color temp is 6500k i believe) , I also have 6 CLF's . Two putting out 1600 Lumens and two putting out i think 1000 or so lumens these all have a 6500k Color temp. and i also have two 1000 Lumen 2400k bulbs. I heard these were good for flowering. Like i said im very new and this is my first time. Everything seems to be going good , but i have a few questions and was hopeing someone with alot of experience would be able to help me out.

How close should i have my lights to my plants?
Roughly how tall will my plants be when they start Veg stage ?
Im running my lights 24 hours , when do i change to a diff light sched?
How many lights would i need for 4-6 Plants and how many lumens and what color temp??

Also looking for any little tips and hints to help me out with this , im really just reading alot on here and winging it ... but would be very thankful if someone who knows what the hell they are doing to help me out.

Thanks guys

[Slevinkal]

Keep the lights a couple of inches from the plants. I grow using T8 Fluoro's and the plants seem to do well when the light is no more than 2" away.

Are you starting with clones?
Plants start growing when vegging. Did you mean how tall should they be when entering flowering stage? If so that's basically up to you. How tall do you want them to be at harvest? They can grow twice as tall during flowering, even taller than that is not unheard of.

Between 18/6 and 24/0 is fine for vegging plants, diff peeps set to diff times. Fresh clones need diff lighting though...

6500k for vegging at roughly 2000 lumen per square foot
2700k for flowering at 3000 lumen per square foot

BTW get a fan for the plants if you dont have one already, they'll need it.

[kmac9119]

Thanks alot , that answered damn near all my questions. Just starting to learn the life cycle of cannabis.
One more question , when will i be able to tell if my plants are male or female? How tall will they be about and during what stage can you tell ... Veg or Flowering?

Thanks again

[Slevinkal]

You wont be able to determine their sex untill theyre a week or so into flowering, give or take a few days. There is no set height for veg or flower. You can start their flower cycle when theyre as little as 8? tall and have atleast four sets of leaves (or so ive read). Or, you can wait till theyre 4? tall. It all depends on how much you expect to harvest and the amount of room u have for them to grow. Since they double, or more, in height during flowering if you only had four feet total height fpr them to grow in youd want to start flowering when their about 20? tall, a little less than half the space you have available. If you had 8? clearance you could wait till theyre 3?+ to flower. That part is up to you and your space restrictions. Now, of course, the smaller the plant come harvest the less product youll get. How much space in height do you have total? Sorry that this post is jumbled but im at work, on my cell, now...

[kmac9119]

My space is 10 ft High , 3 ft wide and 2 Ft deep right now. All my plants are either just starting Veg or still seedlings. So they fit fine in that space now, im just worried about how tall and Bushy these will get. I want to grow 6 total plants and hopeing to have 3 or 4 Females at the end. But if all 6 of my plants end up being Female, how much room would i need? Roughly how much per plant if i decide to grow it between 3 and 4 Ft tall before flowering so about 8 FT tall after flowering ( Which is still good for the space im in , but not too sure about the Depth and Width i need. Thanks for all the help ... You seem to know what the hell your doing .

[kmac9119]

Also whats a good nute to add during veg ?

[harrybuzz]

i recommend that you follow a plan designed by a company. i am using the aurora organics and just got a copy of there nutes schedule. it has made it easier to understand. until i am more proficient with the whole process i will have to rely on the companies recommendations.