First grow Fluorescent lighting beginning to end

[westsacgrower]

My first indoor grow second toatal.

Running:
4x2 making 8 total daylight 6500k fluoros @ 35 watts per
air intake from outside air about w/ fan

8 plants total, 2 white widow,2 alien dog,1 ogiesel, 3 super silver haze

just planted the clones yesterday and have them on a 18 on 6 off cycle right now. Hope to put up pictures every couple of days to hopefully show that fluoros do work lol. Let me know any feedback is helpfull. thinking that im going to need more light as I go on.

[westsacgrower]

It has been a couple of days now and the plants really havent started to get any bigger. It has been pretty cold in the garage lately and would be very impressed if these girls made it. Am going to let the soil dry out for a couple days probably going to water it this weekend to let the roots to search for water and create a root network. Since the coldness the leaves have drooped and sucked in just as they do naturally. thinking about putting an electric blanket underneath them to try and promote warm soil and growth and tips on if that would be a good idea would help. ill post pictures up on thursday for the mark of the first weeks grow.

Also had a quick question on if it was a poor decision to put the rockwool cubed clones directly into the 5 gal bucket in hope to not need to transplant them again later. and info is helpful as this is my first indoor grow and plan to only improve from here.

[GreenThumbDoc]

I'm gonna assume your clones have already rooted? If so, I would not suggest going from rockwool cubes directly to a 5 gallon bucket. First issue is very little of the soil in the 5 gallon bucket is being used by the roots, so it will be overkill on the watering. I personally go from a 16 oz solo cup to a 2 gallon bucket and finally a 5 gallon bucket. Can I ask what the ambient temperature in your grow box is? They do look very healthy and green though! :thumbsup:

GTD

[westsacgrower]

Wayyyy to cold i know that for sure. The room is in the garage and the last couple nights have been close if not below 40 degrees.

and about the buckets i assumed so a couple days after doing so. but i think i will just have to keep them in there and accept the slow down in growth for now.

[tevfik]

Very good looking :thumbsup:

You may not need more light if you stay in that cabinet. Maybe one more line with 4 tubes. More is better of course.
You can paint or cover the walls with some reflector materials. More effective use for the lights. Reflector helps warming up there. Also, you can give their dark period in daytime.


I want to see fluoro power. Subscribed:hippy:

[WashougalWonder]

Also had a quick question on if it was a poor decision to put the rockwool cubed clones directly into the 5 gal bucket in hope to not need to transplant them again later. and info is helpful as this is my first indoor grow and plan to only improve from here.

Not so much that you put the cubes straight into soil, but the pots(buckets) are way to big for the plant size and any water will go well beyond the roots and even if it can drain well it will get stagnant down there and possibly cause problems. I would be extremely cautious on watering. Buffers and such in soil get used up in about 4-6 weeks. Those plants will be in the same pots for much longer than that. :twocents: My garden is on a routine where repotting is essentially the fertilizer every 4 weeks. Sure did ruin a lot of good weed until I learned to have the right sized pots.

[jon420]

Subscribed:thumbsup: Nice looking setup and plants:jointsmile:

I am not trying to burst your bubble at all, just want to help out and give you a heads up. If all your plants make it through the cold and make it to flowering, you will deffintaley need more light to produce some nice flowers. Im not saying your setup now wont work but I too use floro's and found that using more than I originally planned is always better, especially during flower.:thumbsup:

[westsacgrower]

Thank you thank you for all this input it is very helpful. Thus cold is going to be an epic battle I'm sure. Thinking about some sort of heating device to run in there but as of right now before I left I wrapped all the buckets in blankets hoping to insulate.

As for the lights yeah I was ready to hear That one lol. I'm constantly looking for a bigger and brighter lamp to put in there. Hope depot has a couple t5 fixtures with about 6 bulbs in it and thought maybe if I gathered up enough money hence the reason why I'm growing with fluoros.

And I definitely won't try and cut steps next time with potting. It makes sense to start small. Will keep that In mind for now on.

Pictures will be up soon

[jon420]

Thank you thank you for all this input it is very helpful. Thus cold is going to be an epic battle I'm sure. Thinking about some sort of heating device to run in there but as of right now before I left I wrapped all the buckets in blankets hoping to insulate.

As for the lights yeah I was ready to hear That one lol. I'm constantly looking for a bigger and brighter lamp to put in there. Hope depot has a couple t5 fixtures with about 6 bulbs in it and thought maybe if I gathered up enough money hence the reason why I'm growing with fluoros.

And I definitely won't try and cut steps next time with potting. It makes sense to start small. Will keep that In mind for now on.

Pictures will be up soon

Look in to CFL's...They work very well and are not near as exspensive as t5's.:thumbsup:

[westsacgrower]

just put in a heater and that thing puts off some good heat but at the expense of a 1000 watts. So ill be paying the same damn price as a good hps light that would give all my plants plenty light and heat. so i guess theres no real way to get around the energy bill lol thinking about only running it at night during the dark period and hoping that some heat would stay throughout the day while its a bit naturally warm.

As far as Cfls go i was looking today and saw some cool jerry rigged devices that look like they work pretty good so i think ill add some of those as well.

[westsacgrower]

my lovely insulation method ha ha

[tevfik]

:S2:
I always see creativity with fluorescent grows. Thats why i like it more than any other grows.
When your lights are on and when off exactly? By clock i mean.

[Morbidangel]

dont you run your lights through the night? Idk if this is going to help though cause fluros dont give off alot of heat to begin with. why dont you go return your heater im guessing you bought then go buy a 1000w ballast and hood off craigslist. run the shit at night when its the clodest problem solved and you should be able to put the 1000w close as hell to the plants cause its going to be cold as hell. scratch that you will probly want to go with two 400w or two 600W cause of how your room is set up. Dont waste your time with a heater when you can just run your lights the coldest part of the day.

[westsacgrower]

i run my lights from 6 in the morning to 1 oclock am because the cabinet isnt completely light proof so if i had my dark period in the day there would be light leak onto the plants.

And yeah when it comes down to it i think 2 400w hps lghts are my next expenditure. have a friend working a demolition job and came up on a bunch of high bay hps lights so i think ill be getting in touch with getting one of those and trying to figure out how to make that work. especially during flowering.

But as of right now the heater is running 30 min avery hour and 30 min and it keeping the room nice and the plants are reacting extremely well to it by standing much higher and proud. have it on a timer so it saves at least some energy and cost.

[tevfik]

If there is a light leak, you can give the dark period between 7pm and 0am or sth like that. If you're not using the garage by that time of course. Because, early morning (After 3-4am) is the coldest time. Starting the lights earlier than that can be helpful. Even one hour earlier than current schedule can make change.

[GreatWhiteHuntr]

Looking good nice work...Have you put any plants into flower yet. I am just getting started with 4 white widows from seed....sex unknown yet. Right now I have Blue Magoo, Blue Berry, Star Trek, White Widow, Rue Paul, Satan's Song a beautiful Sativa, and also Pharoah's Finest. oh and I am trying to revert one from bud stage to clone called Godbud.

[westsacgrower]

This is the mark of one week since i have planted them in their buckets and have been running 18 on and 6 off. There is some dying of leaves and yellowing so i wanna address that most of all so i dont lose any of my little girls. watered them last night after i gave them about 4 days of a drought to try and make the roots search for water. Also when i watered them i didnt water near the stem but in a circle with about a 3 inch radius to help the roots spread out and find it. i think it worked too. i gave some about 2-3 oz of nutrients because they didnt look so well and those are the first four in the pictures. the second four i did not in experiment to see if they would react to it. But thats pretty much it. the heater is keeping it nice and warm in there now and the plants are loving it.

in order from left to right it is white widow, alien dog, alien dog, white widow

[westsacgrower]

left to right is ogiesel, alien dog, super silver haze, super silver haze

[westsacgrower]

whole view of all of them

[Morbidangel]

What kind of soil are you using? shouldnt need nutes for the first month if your using fresh soil.

[Morbidangel]

Is the yellowing on new growth or old? if its on old dont worry about it to much unless it looks like its spreading going up the plant just keep an eye on it. If new growth is turning yellow that is very bad could be PH levels or some sort of deficiency. Since your using 5 gal buckets for clones you probly dont want to water them untill water comes outa the bottom so testing ur PH through your run off water with PH testing strips is going to be a bad idea. So go buy urself a PH pen.Your PH should be in the neighborhood of 6.0 to 7.0. If its way higher or way lower then that then thats whats most likely whats causing ur yellowing. Its also a good idea to test what ever water source your using cause eventually your soil will become the same PH as its water source. correct me if im wrong :P

[westsacgrower]

Is the yellowing on new growth or old? if its on old dont worry about it to much unless it looks like its spreading going up the plant just keep an eye on it. If new growth is turning yellow that is very bad could be PH levels or some sort of deficiency. Since your using 5 gal buckets for clones you probly dont want to water them untill water comes outa the bottom so testing ur PH through your run off water with PH testing strips is going to be a bad idea. So go buy urself a PH pen.Your PH should be in the neighborhood of 6.0 to 7.0. If its way higher or way lower then that then thats whats most likely whats causing ur yellowing. Its also a good idea to test what ever water source your using cause eventually your soil will become the same PH as its water source. correct me if im wrong :P
Yea the yellowing is on the leaves that were either trimmed or they were old leaves that were already on the clones when i planted them. As far as the ph im not sure ive seen a lot of people suggesting a ph pen on other threads so i think it is about that time that i go get one myself.

And im using miracle grow soil.

[blowsterke]

I am growing like you for six years now. They are really looking nice.

Have a nice weekend.

Blowsterke

[westsacgrower]

Sitting here browsing the forums and im coming on my second week of veg and was just wondering if anyone has grown and flowered the strains that i am growing as well. i was also wondering what the flowering times were and if im going to need to harvest some plants before others or put plants into flowering at different times. so if any one has grown the strains listed below any insight on what the time range is and any info i might need to help them out as they get bigger as ive seen some plants need support in comparison to others. thanks in advance

[westsacgrower]

Here is the pics for the end of the second week of veg. still running the lights 18 on and 6 off. got some good growth and im pleased. thinking about keeping them under that light period for 2-3 more weeks. some of the plants are starting to get full and blocking the light from getting to the rest of the plant so im going to go buy some cfl bulbs and hang them between the plants. let me know what you guys think.

in order of appearence; white widow, alien dog, alien dog, white widow.

[westsacgrower]

ogiesel, alien dog, super silver haze ,and super silver haze

[westsacgrower]

Alright here are some pics for the mark of the end of the third week in veg. not sure how much longer i should veg still before flowering i was thinking another week at the rate that they are growing. They are all about a foot tall if not more an with flowering im assuming that they will double in size. let me know what you think and when i should flower. Not saying that i want to flower asap i mean for all i care i could go another month just want to see everyones opinion

Watering schedule seems to depend on the temperature of the room and how dry the soil look and if they look thirsty. usually about a water bottle full every other day but if its warm and the soil looks dry enough for more then ill go ahead and go every day

lights are working pretty well dont know what to do about the shade leaves they seem to be blocking a lot of light from the lower side of the plant so any input on techniques used in that area are helpfull.

Thanks in advance.

from left to right: White widow, alien dog, alien dog, white widow, ogeisel

[westsacgrower]

left to right: alien dog super silver haze, super silver haze,

[Morbidangel]

Dude you got them in 5 gal buckets i would at least veg them till they are 25+ inches tall or all that dirt you got them in wont even get used. :jointsmile:

[azdesertdweller]

i thought this looked familiar....i have almost the same grow setup goin,if you look at the picture here, i've made clips to connect them(hanging lights) together,reducing 1 chain each...the CFL's are on the opening side of the closet,however i'm considering adding another bank of lights(like a tanning booth)bringing the total lumins to 34,800 at 384w........ur grow looks good to me...i guess i'll be looking in every now and again...:thumbsup:

[westsacgrower]

i thought this looked familiar....i have almost the same grow setup goin,if you look at the picture here, i've made clips to connect them(hanging lights) together,reducing 1 chain each...the CFL's are on the opening side of the closet,however i'm considering adding another bank of lights(like a tanning booth)bringing the total lumins to 34,800 at 384w........ur grow looks good to me...i guess i'll be looking in every now and again...:thumbsup:

Nice i like how you cliped them together to make it look like a tanning bed. Ha ha and yeah it looks like we got the same lights lol. im probably going to get some cfls and clip them on like you have good idea i was waiting for a way to do it so tanks. How did you connect the cfls to power though that was one of my main concerns cause the cords are like the most expensive part.
Your grow look tight though looks like were somewhere around the same stage look foreword to seeing more too.

[azdesertdweller]

as a closet grower(:thumbsup:)you'll find,you want to try many different setups...til you get one that works for you,(i'm still not satisfied...)i live in an older place and the goddam wiring is ALUMINUM..so i really can't run the big lights(1000-600w lights are in the fire zone for me ,so i'm forced to use FL's and CFL's),just gotta concentrate the light,...by concentrating the grow area,you bring more light into play for all ur plants combined...,once you sex your plants,you can scrap what you don't want,concentrate your grow further....and use part of that closet for a seedling/clone booth:D...all these lights and the fan(8 cords total)run to 2 power strips,these plug into a (1000w) digital timer..this timer is run off an extension cord(HEAVY, 5/8 in thick).....here's a side shot of the set-up....and the mess of cords i have...which will change again when i start the flower stage.....but you have an exhaust vent....and i am SO jealous....lol

[westsacgrower]

ITs an intake fan that brings fresh air into the room so that it can have just enough co2 for the plants to breath. Im thinking though that once i start flowering ill turn the fan around and run it as an exhaust fan so that smell and humidity will hopefully be sucked out for my neighbors to enjoy ha ha. But i like your setup i think im gunna cut mine in half and start a veg and flower room so i can produce more often.

[azdesertdweller]

thats the idea...good luck...:thumbsup:

[westsacgrower]

Here concludes the 4th week of veging under my t8 bulbs still running only 8 of them for 20 hours. found a great deal on some 600 watt hps lights and am going to for sure use those for the flowering part of the cycle.

also am going to try and take at least one cutting from each of the plants so that i can do this process over again with out having to get all new clones. so if there is anyway beginners guide to cloning without spending 200 bucks on an aeroponic cloning unit.

anyways most of the plants grew about an average of 4 inches from last week as i tried to show by using the measuring tape. i rearranged some of the plants thining that there was a stunted growing spot or something because some plants just arent growing as evenly as other are. but anyways after this week should start flowering and im exited. let me know what you think.

the first four are white widow, alien dog, alien dog, white widow and super silver haze

[westsacgrower]

these next three are super silver haze alien dog and ogiesel.

[westsacgrower]

So i gave in and bought two 600 watt hps bulbs and its like a damn sun in a garage ha ha the plants are going to love it. Bought them specifically for flowering and should start to run the 12/12 within the next day. added some pics so you can see where they are at and if you can does anyone know how much taller they will get cause i was worried i was going to run out of room. enjoy..

[Morbidangel]

They are going to double in size at least. So i would say they are going to come up to your power outlet you have on the wall there.

[azdesertdweller]

ya...with all that sun power,those fuggers are gonna be monsters,i had to move out of the closet,and i'm at 4 plants,starting 3rd month of veg(ya 3rd)...and when i flip 'em in a month...i expect monsters also....MONSTERS....lol:thumbsup:

[Morbidangel]

ya...with all that sun power,those fuggers are gonna be monsters,i had to move out of the closet,and i'm at 4 plants,starting 3rd month of veg(ya 3rd)...and when i flip 'em in a month...i expect monsters also....MONSTERS....lol:thumbsup: WOW 3 months of veg is that from seed or clone?

[azdesertdweller]

seed...and cfl's....started germination dec 6...wetsac,you got enough power with the 2 600's and the FL's to do a hole room....i'd say 10x10....at least...maybe have both bulbs(hps/mh)...for perpetual grow,and a definate clone box for them fuggers you want to keep.....:thumbsup:

[westsacgrower]

Yeah i think im goin to use just an open space and use the fluoros for the next set of clones while these are flowering. i looked it up and i think that some plants will be ready to harvest sooner than say the super silver haze and when that happens i can just move the ones I was Vegging to the flower room i guess i can call it. and yeah i was told about a 100 watts per plant. I wish i had the room to stick 4 more in there ha ha.

do you guys think its too much light cause from the looks of it plants are loving it and just exploding with growth. thursday/tomorow will the be end of the first week of flowering and it shocked me how fast they grew. ill post pictures up for sure.:D

[azdesertdweller]

i seen pics of those pro growers using 5-1000w set-ups...go on you-tube...they got vids of everything from seed to smoke....got a fan on 'em?

[westsacgrower]

Here are the pictures of the first week of flowering and the 6th week total. Running the lights about 11:30 on and 12:30 off to make sure that they are getting the full 12 hours. Added a little bit more soil to the top of the bucket so that it could get a fresh taste of some nutrients as well as starting to use some miracle grow bloom booster about a half dose every couple of days to make sure they stay well nourished. Have some questions about some odd spots on some of the leaves it doesnt look like its taking over the plant its only on some of the bigger fan leaves. take a look and tell me what you think.
Over all im extremely pleased with how fast these darn plants are getting i hope i dont run out of room cause i really dont have anywhere else to put em.

[westsacgrower]

hers some more shots and some of my problem leaves

[azdesertdweller]

hey westsac...you definatly got something goin on there,more than likely a pro will be along directly to give you some info...if it was me,i'd cut those leaves off,you got enough sun power in there,it shouldnt make a difference at this point....i'd say it was a chemical imbalance....couldn't hurt to flush the plants for a coulpe weeks,...oh ya..sharpen your machete,looks like your goin in fer jungle warfare soon.....:thumbsup:

[westsacgrower]

Ha ha thank you I will do that I might need a hack saw to take these things down the stalks are about the size of a dime and strong as hell. :D

Today was the first day for 6 out of 8 of the plants that are showing good bud growth except for the super silver haze monsters. They look like they have some pistils coming out of the lower branches that are more in the shade maybe idk but there is no growth besides vertical growth coming from those guys still.

[Morbidangel]

Looken good man :jointsmile::jointsmile::jointsmile: maybe a burnt spot from a water drop?

[westsacgrower]

Looken good man :jointsmile::jointsmile::jointsmile: maybe a burnt spot from a water drop?

Yeah i was kinda thinking that but i cant remember watering it and it splashing on the leaf. Usually i will just use a cup and water just the base

[azdesertdweller]

how's your problem with the spots on your leaves?:wtf:

[westsacgrower]

how's your problem with the spots on your leaves?:wtf:

im thinking pretty good. Nothing new has appeared and i switched my intake fan from the outside and turned it into an exhaust fan and i think thats helping a lot because it feels like its cutting down humidity and its making my garage smell NICE ha. But ya as far as the spots they havent gotten any worse or spread. my new main worry though is mold. one of the reasons why im now trying to suck moisture out and keep good air movement. its seems like where it would happen the most would be down towards the base of the plant where there is the least amount of circulation. But besides that the buds are coming in damn strong and fast. ill have pictures up this week for the end of the 2nd week of flower. Im really impressed. these lights are kick ass. The super silver haze is growing like a weed(no pun intended :D) and has grown to almost 3 feet 6 inches.
I chose not to estimate a yield because i didn't want to be disappointed in my results but as of right now and looking at the way its heading the top colas are going to surpass my expectations.

[westsacgrower]

Hello all for some reason i wasnt able to edit any of my posts for a while because it said i wasnt allowed to but now i finally can. So here are some new updated pictures of the mosters that are growing in my closet in my garage.

one of my questions though is the plant to the far left is a super silver haze and it runnin to be about 4 and a half feet tall now and its getting too close to the light i think. it seemes that the white hairs arent growing out of the top of it as much as the others because it is too close but im not sure. let me know what you guys think. the lights are 600 w hps with a fan running pretty close to them

[Morbidangel]

Looken good!!! If there only a few weeks into flowering you may be able to bend them down a lil bit. Just grab the top tie a string to it put some holes on the rim of your bucket and bend it down from the light as needed. This is what i would do if my light wouldnt go up anymore.:stoned::stoned:

[westsacgrower]

Here are my beautiful ladies starting their 7th week in flower. first picture is the two super silver hazes and the white widow in the middle. the second picture is of the athree alien dogs that are doing so much better than i thought they were going to do because i have never heard of them before and the third is the top cola of the bigger white widow compared to a spray paint can.

my predictions are that the white widow is going to be done first followed by the alien dogs and finally the super silver hazes because i read they have a longer harvest period than most.

the smell is through the roof.. literally lol. the white widow has this awesome sour smell that smells like some serious kill as well as the super silver that has a tint of fruityness to it. and the alien dogs.. well they just smell like good ole skunk.

still runnin the lights full power at 600 watts for 11 1\2 on and 12 1\2 hours off making sure they get a good calvin cycle.. (learning about it in my bio 10 class) let me know what you think guys

ENJOY273537273538273539

[rattlingdags]

I can see why you're happy :) Well done

[westsacgrower]

Not a good day. Ive been gone for a couple days and i come back to only the left side light being on and i narrowed it down to it just being the bulb but i gotta go get a new one rightnow. another thing is that my white widow is doing some weird stuff and is starting to look weird. Ill have some new pictures as soon as i get back from the store with a new light.
to describe it for right now it looks as if its starting to bubble in a way with how the hairs are coming out. there are just groups of hairs coming out of little pods on the ops cola and it makes to look like some weird looking bud. let me know if you have any ideas on what its doin ill be right back

[westsacgrower]

I cut down the two white wodows yesterday because something told me it was time to do so. The pistils were pretty much all turning orange and gettin nice milky thc production so i chopped them two down. here are some pictures of the buds hangin in the garage.
the other pics are the rest of the plants still finishing up but they should be done by the end of this week or so. i had to add the two flouros back in there because one of my lights burned out so that setup is what i have now lol oh well it works until the next grow :smokin:
274107274108274109274110274106

[omnibuddy]

I cut down the two white wodows yesterday because something told me it was time to do so. The pistils were pretty much all turning orange and gettin nice milky thc production so i chopped them two down. here are some pictures of the buds hangin in the garage.

Trust your gut, listen to the plants, chop the sucker down! lol

It looks like a really nice harvest, grats on your grow!

[westsacgrower]

Got about 3 3/4 oz from the first two plants i cut down which im pleased. just put them in jars to give them a nice cure and they smell crazy. the hairs turned bright red and the buds stick to my fingers its crazy. The two super silver hazes came down a couple days ago and it looks like ill pull out with about 4 oz from them cause they have some dense buds. got three more plants that are finishing up and then its time to start over again. ill upload some pics as soon as i get it all cut up and clean

[westsacgrower]

got just over 5 oz from the two tall super silver haze plants which gives me just about a half pound. i think total now i have 9 oz which is one o over a half p. just cut down the last three plants in my room which were alien dog and im very impressed whith its results. enjoy the picture. hoping to get the other half pound i was looking for to make my quota ofa full p from 7 plants. 274576