NO1 Plans to Fail...They Fail to Plan!

[KnowledgeIsPower]

Posting this in the Grow Log section because this will turn in2 my log.
Anyway...
I want to start my log by showing a plan that way i can get any possible bumps as smoothe as possible b4 i hit them.
I will be startin my grow (from seed) in a few days so please help b4 i get to my sprouting phase.
But yeah...U get the idea tho so lemme jus get 2 it.

- Room demensions: Unknown right now but will get them ASAP. Roughly 4.5'L, 3.5'W, 6'H
- Medium: Fox Farm Sea (or ocean?) Forrest soil

Germination:
Paper towel method in ziplock bag to lock in moisture. Then placed inside metal baking pan w/ lid, wrapped w/ heating pad

Sprouting:
Party cups in dome to lock in moisture, under 24hrs of 120watt incandescent GE plant light until popped out of soil. Then switch to 24hrs of a single 100 watt standard CFL until 1 or 2 sets of bladed fan leaves. No nutes.

Vegetative:
Aprox. 3 gal pots under 24hrs of (unknown) watt standard CFL for first 4 wks. Then switch to 20hrs for next 7 weeks. Then 17hrs the last b4 entering flower. I will DEFINATELY be doing sum LST n im considering fimming and/or topping. Also unsure of wat type of nutes i will use. i have some 20.20.20. lawn fert i would assume i could disolve a bit of in some water. yes? I do know nitrogen is wat the plant craves at this stage.

Flower:
HOPEFULLY 5gal buckets under 13hrs of two 120watt incandescent GE plant lights. Then switch to 12/12 the 2nd week. I want the last maybe 10 days to be an 8/16 light/dark schedule but im not 100% sure how i wanna work my way there from 12/12. Also unsure wat levels of nutes i wanna feed it here. I do know to keep the nitrogen levels VERY low.

Im on an extremely tight budget and was able to afford a fan (couldnt skip that), but have no money for pH testing. Im using boiled water left out to cool to room temp. I also have no thermometer but im a pretty damn good judge of temp n hope that between me n the plant, we'll figure out wat she needs. :)

iight well that's all she wrote 4 now. hope 2 hear sum things soon. cant wait till i can show you guys sum pics n progress. critique!

[CanGroIt]

Great that you have a plan....but your plan will only work with the right equipment....

Don't use those ge flood light looking, so called "plant lights".... Those are on the market because ge knows beginners will buy these not knowing they won't do the job.... They'll put off plenty of heat though....

You're better off with cfl's.... If you can only afford two right now....no worries.... As time goes, you can add more.... You'd probably want at least 6-42w minimum for flowering....

The lawn fert is not the best and I wouldn't recommend you using but that's just me....

Just my :twocents:....

CGI::::::

[monny10]

Knowledge Is Power...

Hi mate,

Your definately going to need a thermometer to measure temperature my friend.... and P.H is one of the most... If not thee most important aspect of your grow you are going to have to get right...

I would also recommend you get some sort of HPS lighting during flower otherwise your efforts will be in vain

Good Luck

and I'll look forward to reading your grow:thumbsup:

[KnowledgeIsPower]

srry about the delay in the reply. also been a delay in the grow as well.
i just got my seeds today tho so get ready. :)
as 4 those ge plant lights, i know they're mostly heat but they worked great 4 getting em to sprout after germinating them. that lead me to think....if they worked for germ, would they be good for flower to? i found sum 42watt(100watt equivilent)cfl's btw. 2700K, 2700 lumens. good 4 veg, right? o n the exact room measurements will be taken today! :)
and why hps in flower tho? i've heard of ppl getting great grows with just a red spectrum cfl. or is that lies/myths?
anyway....thanx so much 4 the replies! grow log will be starting soon!

[bigsby]

Here is my 2 cents.

1. Pick a light schedule and stick to it. Don't go pissing them about with different schedules. You'll screw them up. I suggest 18/6 for veg and 12/12 for flower.

2. If you aren't going to spring for a pH meter then skip the nutes too and invest the $$ in a bag of Foxfarm Ocean Forest potting soil. It is well buffered for pH so if your water pH is off it will make up the difference. You won't need any nutes with this soil. It takes all the guess work out of the equation. You won't screw up your plants by over feeding them, etc.

3. Start in 8 - 16 oz party cups, repot after 2 weeks to 1 gallon or equivalent pot for veg. Then repot into 3 gallons pots 1 week before you switch to flower. Also, veg for 4 - 6 weeks and then on to flower. Your lights are weak so you can't handle a huge plant. Even with this schedule you will need to LST them in a pretty significant way.

What ever you do keep it very simple. Get a grow or two under your belt and then you can start experimenting if that's your passion.

[PhatJay]

I have been growing under CFL's for the past 2 years, because like you I started on a very tight budget. Here is my 2 cents based on what I have learned...


1, You have been given some great advice already on this thread, make sure you heed it.

2, Growing on a budget costs more in the long run.

3, CFL's are great for seedlings, cloning and veg. But they are very weak when it comes to flowering. If you can get HPS or LED for flowering do it. I plan to switch to LED or HPS for flowering as soon as I have the cash. (I want 1 or 2 of those Wex-C150 units but I am struggling to find them in my country)

4, If you are going to flower under CFL's then you need to keep your plants small and the lights close. Topping/Fimming with some L.S.T or Scrog is the way to go. I currently have 4 plants in the last weeks of flower under 2x250w 2700k CFL's. 3 of the plants are Fimmed and LST'd and just 12" tall. Large plants under CFL's = lots of popcorn buds, not more bud. I reckon I veg for around 21 days, but it is hard to say, because I go by size rather than age.

5, Don't underestimate how much your plants are going to smell, I started without a carbon filter and I think this was my biggest mistake.



I was planning to put some pictures up of my Bonsai Babes in the next couple of weeks, keep an eye out for them, I think you will find them interesting.

Last but not least, you asked a question in my grow log about my covers. That was one of my very early grows, so I cannot really remember where I got the inspiration from, it just appeared in my brain one day and I got busy with a pair of scissors and a pizza box.

[KnowledgeIsPower]

Wow! So much great advice!
Thanx so much!
FYI if i could spend money on a pH meter, i DEFINATELY would, and as soon as i can, i DEFINATELY will.
I wont feed them any nutes until i have 1 n i guess then its a good coincidence i went w/ the FF already. ha.

@phatjay...i definately plan 2 LST. No doubt about that. and pizza box & scissors. ha. kool. thanx.
O n b4 i 4get, why do u flower under a 2700K cfl n not a 6500K?

Again, thanx every1 4 the respected advice.
I'll keep em small.

[bigsby]

KIP if you are growing in FFOF then do not feed them anything until week 3, 4, and 5 of flower and then ONLY 1 tsp of unsulfered molasses to 1 gallon of water. That's all you'll need. Do not give them nutes. You will kill them. The FFOF has plenty. Just follow the up-potting schedule. It is easy as piss. You can even get away with not having a pH meter assuming your water isn't too out of wack. Perhaps get strip to determine the initial pH. I don't even need to measure mine any more. I know it takes 4 drops of pH down to bring it into range.

Hey PhatJay, I have 2x Wex-C150s. Here is my feedback.

They are great lights and you can definitely flower with them. However, they have quality control issues. I ran my lights for ~18 months and then one died. I sent it back to Welthink and they replaced it immediately, no questions which speaks very well of the company. Then last week my second unit went down. It's on it's way back. They cost $45 to ship. They are now seeing duty in my mother/clone cab. I replaced them in the flower room with a 400w ceramic metal halide (CMH) The growth difference was noticeable on the second day and I didn't even have the lights close to the plants at that point. I went with the LEDs because I was worried about heat issues. However, it has turned out to be less of an issue than I feared. That said, they are ideal for the cab because of their low heat output.

If I had to do it again I probably would only get one of the LED bars for the cab and skip the second bar in favor of the CMH. In your case I do not recommend them at all as you do not have a local rep to repair / replace them if they go bad. I'm pretty sure that a 250w CMH would compete with my 300w of LED. Hope this helps! Hey if you are interested in one of mine perhaps we can work something out? Just a thought...

[PhatJay]

O n b4 i 4get, why do u flower under a 2700K cfl n not a 6500K?

2700k = red spectrum (better for flowering)
6500k = blue spectrum (better for veg - although to be honest, I used a red spectrum for veg once and it didnt seem to make any noticeable difference)

A mix of red and blue is best, especially during the flowering phase, which is why other forms of lighting are better than CFL, because they emit both spectrums.

@Bigsby - I guess I am going to have to do a bit more research, but I might take you up on that offer.