Can't seem to come up with a good setup

This is probably going to be a tough read so please bear with me.

Considering a first time grow. First box constructed WAY too large. It was almost 12 cubic feet in volume. I decided that was out of control for just one plant. I should also mention that I CAN'T use HID due to several constraints, space, heat, fire concerns etc. I know, I know, it's the best; I just CAN'T do it that way right now. Maybe later ;)

My second idea was a little bit more modest. It's basically a chest style foot locker that's meant to go at the foot of a bed. I just tipped it on its side so I can swing the top open sideways like a door. It's about 3 feet tall, and the base is about 1.5 feet by 1.5 feet. The problem is I'm not sure if that's big enough space to use 4 warm temperature CFL's to veg and flower in.

Another idea is to veg a plant inside this narrow space, then simply keep it alivwe under cool white (blue) CFL's, and simply take clones from this plant from time to time. I could perhaps flower the clones in a rubbermaid storage bucket converted to a Screen of Green chamber? This would keep the space small on both ends. I'm begining to question whether or not this will actually work... No huge expectations here. Not trying to start an industry. Even growing 2 oz at a time is cool. Just looking for advice to pass on to a friend for personal medicinal use.

I like the idea of 2 little self contained cabs... the foot locker for veg and keeping a mother... and that 12 foot cube you built would then acutally be an appropriate size to flower the rooted clones in.

once I veg a plant to the point where it is only replacing the leaves which fall off, will 2 cfl bulbs be sufficient to keep it healthy with little (only replacement leaves and such) new growth. I'm thinking two 26w cool white (6500K) bulbs putting out 1600 lumens each... -Mark

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Originally Posted by mspofford032579

once I veg a plant to the point where it is only replacing the leaves which fall off, -

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this is not the goal of vegging. You should not be losing leaves like that. If you are, you have problems, and one of the possible causes IS too little light penetration.

BTW if you are using your real name as a username I suggest having your account deleted if possible and starting over. That's BEGGING for trouble.

What I did was... Buy a cabinet from lowes, 2 fans (intake, outtake) one at the bottom, one on top. 20 degrees cooler if no fans were installed. Um, 4gallon container (for mother plant) she looks like a tree now. I drilled 4 holes on top of the cabinet and hung chains (put a screw through a link and sit it on the hole). and I hung a 400 Hps light. I added some Cfls in there for some veg growth.

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Originally Posted by stinkyattic

this is not the goal of vegging. You should not be losing leaves like that. If you are, you have problems, and one of the possible causes IS too little light penetration.

BTW if you are using your real name as a username I suggest having your account deleted if possible and starting over. That's BEGGING for trouble.

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Duely noted. Already considered when signing up. Hence the name ;) Anyway, a friend of mine was wondering, theoretically, how many cfls would be needed to sustain a mother plant which would never be flowered, ONLY used for cuttings/clones for a screen of green method inside a rubbermaid box? Would two 26W cool white cfl bulbs (putting out 3200 lumens) be enough to pull this off?

Just gathering information. My buddy hasn't actually done anything yet. Just curious because greg green said in his grow bible that a plant could be grown to full size, and if never put on 12/12 would stay stable, unflowered, and periodicly shed some leaves which would be replaced, from time to time, and live that way indefinitely, possibly "years." Just cuious if one of these never-flowered mothers would require less light to simply stay alive and dormant...

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Originally Posted by mspofford032579

....how many cfls would be needed to sustain a mother plant which would never be flowered, ONLY used for cuttings/clones for a screen of green method inside a rubbermaid box? Would two 26W cool white cfl bulbs (putting out 3200 lumens) be enough to pull this off?...

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WEll lesse, are you making a SCROG mom? Never seen one, hm! But the 2 cfls while they may keep your plant ALIVE, won't really give you enough light energy to harvest clones off regularly. My moms live under a MH400 and aren't allowed to get more than 20 inches tall. The least light I would go with for a mother plant or 2 of that size would be 4 BIG badass cfls hung around her. But that's just me. I guess it depends upon what your clone-production goals are.

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Originally Posted by mspofford032579

..........would stay stable, unflowered, and periodicly shed some leaves which would be replaced, from time to time, and live that way indefinitely, possibly "years." Just cuious if one of these never-flowered mothers would require less light to simply stay alive and dormant...

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The answer is yes, to stay alive the plant does not need as much light, but if it's dormant, the flip side is that it is producing little to no fresh growth.. thus not truly a mother, just an archived plant, lol. I keep my breeding males in the least-lit corners of my veg closet so they can just chill and not get outta control big.
You will have to watch for signs of too little light, namely, lower leaves being shed faster than they are replaced at the growing tip.
Also a plant in this state requires a careful hand with water and nutes!!!! Overwatering and over ferting are NOT good.... just think... if you want a plant to chill out and do nothing, you can't give it very much fertilizer at all, expecially nitrogen, because then it's going to want to grow new foliage, but if it is sitting there in the shade with little light or water, that is not good.

damn. well scrap that idea. I had some far fetched belief that a non flowering mother could be kept alive with minimal lumens. I somehow thought that copious ammounts of light were only needed for flowering... Also, I had heard that many people will veg seedlings under just one or two cool white cfls. I guess that will only suffice when the plants are small. Just trying to think how someone could get the most from a minimal setup using cfls. I'm starting to think the answer is to simply grow one plant at a time, in a very small space just like in the rubbermaid grow box thread. My research says that Sea of Green and Screen of Green techniques were originally developed to get the most yield from crappy fluorescent setups, so I'm just trying to think of how someone could use clfs for that, and minimize wait time between mini "crops". Why grow one plant at a time when you can have a bunch of clones the same age of the mother which you can start flowering like one week after transplanting right? Problem is, it seems from what you've said, it would require so many cfls that it would defeat the purpose- using minimal wattage. Guess one or two plants at a time is the best way after all...