first timer in need of help

[gundahead1270]

hi all yeah im new at this whole growing thing, i started my plants out from seed, they germinated fine, and there almost 3 weeks old there about 6/10 inches tall there are 12, i started them in these little things that you get wet and expand with dirt, they worked well and they were under 2 1/2 foot flouro lights there 60w apiece they grew nice so i transplanted them into some 8 ounce pots with miracle grow moisture control and they feed plants for up to 3 months so i went and got 2 halogen 100w lamps and hung them over top high enough to not burn them and put the 2 flouro lights in the middle, ive heard everyone saying they have the wrong spectrum and all i just wondered how well this will work and besides spending 200 dollars on a grow light what can i do to make a decent yield and good grow time for these

[KickYoAss]

use your 2 1/2 foot fluorescents, one hot(bathroom type), one cool white, and that's as good as it gets, probly, besides $200+ grow lights.

[gundahead1270]

ok so yeah i went and got a 48inch dual flourescent overhang, and two cfs daylight extra mini 100 23w, plus the two 24inch flourescents using all of them and if i start flowering now they should be ok shouldnt they?

[Prunedale]

I'm about where you are too bud cool!

Grats on your sprout..

I'm so excited too its my first time as well..
Trade pics with me.

I'm only using two low watt flours I'm trying to draw up some plans for abs plastic box with many. lined up with about 16 tubes..

My question.. is it bad for leaves to touch lights?

Do you want lights above instead of one sides..
Essentially I wanted a lower watt hps at top of open box. Inside lined with mirrored acrylic or mylar. extreme mirroring and being able to adjust the height of the hps

[gundahead1270]

thanks all so here are some pics of my grow my plants are really tall but i think its b/c they were stretching for light. now that i have a dual flourescent light overhang two 24inch flourescent tubes and 2 cfl 35w i hope theyll stop shooting up and maybe start growing out, im totally going into this blind i have no idea really if thats enough light im thinking ill need some more once they start to flower, but for now it should be good right? umm aswell the soil i bought is miracle grow time released, so do i need some more fert or will that do for now, all the plants are green and lively some are starting to fall over (which i will fix today) other than that i have one major question i have a friend who is a veteran grower and he told me to distinguish between male and female right above the branches there are these two little hairs he said if there crossed there male if there straight there female, is this true and what are some easy ways to distinguish between the male and female there are 12 plants so i should have a outcome of around 6 females correct? and when do i switch the cycle?



http://i5.tinypic.com/2dippi8.jpg

http://i9.tinypic.com/2iw3bio.jpg

[Markass]

They're stretching, not growing.

eBay: New 250 HPS Econo Grow Light w/ Remote Ballast (item 170076250679 end time Feb-08-07 20:18:07 PST) (http://cgi.ebay.com/New-250-HPS-Econo-Grow-Light-w-Remote-Ballast_W0QQitemZ170076250679QQihZ007QQcategoryZ42 225QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)


A cheap 250HPS...