first time grower looking for tips.

hello. this will be my first time growing. my set up is in my closet i have taken several pics to show you guys. i will explain what i have on the way. so far only invested 75$ into it. and not looking to spend much more. i plan on trying to grow one plant and see how it goes.

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here it is.i want to say its roughly 4 feet tall. 18 inches deep and 2-3 feet wide.this enough for one plant if so 2 plants?? it is basically the shelves that are built into my closet i have made into my grow room (or box i should say). i left a 5-6 inch gap at the top for ventilation. will this be enough or just right or too much? the shelves are movable so not a hard fix at all.

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the front is made of other shelves that i stacked on top of each other to build the door. i have cover the whole thing in foil. i know foil is not the best option. plz don't rag on the foil i know.

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here is a top view of the lights i have hanging on chains. the chains are long enough to touch the bottom of this so as the plant grows i can move them. they are 2 grow lights that have 2 6500k t5 bulbs on them 18 inches. so its a total of 4 6500k t5 bulbs. the lights also have a plastic cover over them. should i leav this on or take it off? it is really bright i hope this is enough. ha i have that attached to a 7 day timer. set to have the lights on 8am-8pm and lights off 8pm-8am so 12 on 12 off. should i run a different light time? iv read its ok to run 12/12 from young to mature plant. also i have read better to run 16/8 when young then switch to 12/12 when you want to flower.

it is not letting me load the last pic but it is just a close up of the bottom. i have a small fan inside at the bottom too. for the container i have about a 8 inch tall and 8 inch round pot with holes on the bottom for drainage. will i need a bigger pot? for the soil i got some cactus and palms soil mix. it is soil made for easy drainage. also i picked up some fish fertilizer 5-1-1. that's about it. i am open to any tips. thank you guys.

Setup looks good man, do the basics get the right lights, pick the right seeds, and get the right soil. I know you told us all ur light system, but I am only a simple man basically saying I haven’tgot a clue how strong your light wattage is :) I just use 3 200watt cool FL during veg. If growing plants using bag seed or from friends be very carefully you don’t have much room to play with, if buying seed I would say buy a Indicia strain for such a grow space. I think you will also need to flower your plants when they get to around 6-8 inches tall before turning to 12/12 and if they start to grow out of control meaning grow upwards very fast either during veg or flower try to bend them. Some say Ur plant should grow at least 2/3 cm a day. I have grown some plants that grew 3 inches a day, like I said depends on strain as well as other factors, hope u can fit two in as the more the merrier and hopefully end up with a nice little bit of BUD, good luck on you grow man.

Hey,
I'm quite new to this too but I have researched my A$$ off and used all that knowledge in my present grow.

Could you tell us the wattage of each T5 bulb ? I'm guessing 45watts.

That gives you a 4 x 45w = 180w florescent grow. I would take the plastic cover off. But that's just me. I'm unsure if the plastic will subtract lumen.

Leaving the lights on 12/12 will only confuse the plants hormonally. It's best to leave them on 18/6 for the entire veg stage.
You said you read somewhere that 12/12 is OK for seedlings ? Maybe, but to be safe go 18 on and 6 off.
The bulbs you are using are designed for the veg stage. 6500 kelvin.
For the bloom stage you can leave just one of the 4 veg tubes in and replace 3 or them with the 2700k (warm white).
At the last 3 weeks of bloom make all 4 tubes warm white (2700k)

During the veg stage keep the light close to the plants. but be careful you don't burn them. Watch the spacing between the nodes on the plant. (where you see 2 leaves and then the next 2 leaves). You want to keep the spacing at around an inch to and inch and a half between these nodes. The closer the light the shorter the nodes. When the light is too far away the plant begins to stretch towards it. You don't want too much stretch in a small space. So shoot for the 1 inch node space. DMC1878 was right hen he said try to grow mainly Indicia strains as they are shorter, bushier plants. Maybe keep the light at 8 inches and just watch what it begins to do. you want to stop the stretch and see the nodes develop. Your plant will be almost telling you how high it wants the light. Maybe start at 10 inches and see what happens. I would keep it as low as I could without burning them or heat stressing them. But fluorescents aren't very hot anyway. Let me now how you get on.

For your pot I would use a 2 gallon pot/bucket. This would be a good size for your grow. Re-pot at least a week before bloom so the plants settle in.
Be careful you don't over-water, but water thoroughly, and keep the pots in trays so you can remove the excess water. This removes the chance of root rot.
Move the top soil around gently with your fingers before a watering. This will let it water evenly. Just to break the seal that develops on the soil.

Keep the cabinet well vented (have a low in-take and a high out-take opening).
The heat from the lights will create air movement to replace the air. A fan will be necessary too to strengthen the stems. If they stretch too far they can literally fall over. Train the stems gently to begin with.

Something you might have to think about in the future will be odour control.

You can follow my grow here too. I have a few pointers you might like. I have 10 entries so far. Its on this site under: 'LED grow testing the Pro-Grow 260' in Indoor growing.

You can also see it here: LED LOGGER

I hope this helps.

Take care

U might also think about cutting clones off that plant when she is mature and placing her under a different light outside ur box and flower the clones. Plants from seed can tend to get taller because of the longer veg time needed to reach maturity.