First closet grow, please review!! :)

Hey guys/gals,

I'm about one week away from starting my first closet grow and I was hoping (I know you can) you could all help me! I'll tell you my light situation and stuff and if you could let me know how to improve upon it/yield more, please do!
Alright, first of all, me and my roomate are going to be both running the same setup in each closet. So multiply everything by two! haha
For 6 plants (each) we're going to be using 6 (60w) CFL's. From what the package says, I should get about 5000 lumens from all 6 bulbs. Is that correct/enough? Hopefully we will get 3 female plants per 6 seeds we plant, is 5000 lumens enough for 3/4 plants? We will set the lights up somehow (not sure yet) so that they can be moved up and down easily, and will leave the lights 2 inches from the plant tops. I've heard and read in many places to veg on 12/12 and flower on 8/8. But everywhere I read on here says to veg 24/0 or 18/6. Which is better for the setup I'm using?? And how long should I veg my plants under CFL's in order to get the most bud? I'm going to have a small fan setup to blow around the stems of the plants, I've heard this makes a stronger stem to allow more buds to form. I'm not going to have any ventilation system besides the fan, but if need be I can open the closet door for a few hours a day during the plants day to get fresh air. I know that fluoro's aren't the best for growing bud, but it's all I can afford for now, I'm just trying to learn bcause this will be our first grow! I've heard that I would still be able to get about an ounce off each plant? A friend of mine has grown before and told me once the plant is tall enogh to tie down to a side of the pot to do so, then when it sprouts another stem to tie that down aswell. Is this the correct way to do this? And will it help in my situation?? If I do everything here and with all of your suggestions, how much do you tihnk I will be able to yield?? (Obviously it is strain dependant, but approximately?)

Thanks for all your help, next week when I get into my new house I will take pictures and post them for you all to see!! Thanks again!! :)

AllStar

AllStar,

It sounds like you should be OK as far as your lighting goes for getting started. There are a number of grows listed on the site using only CFL's. Try using the search function for CFL. You should be able to find some good info.

As far as your veg time, I would suggest 24/0 or 18/6, opinions will vary from farmer to farmer. You stated in your post that you have heard of flowering for 8/8? That's only 16 hours a day, bro. What happens in the other 8 hours for that day? ;) Anyway, the search tool is your friend. Always use it, it will help you out tremendously. Anyway, good luck to you my friend and send those pics! :rasta:

Peace

Tha Rooster

haha yea I think I mean only eight hours of light per day :P
Thanks

Any other advice from people is appreciated!

AllStar

For flowering, you should aim for 5000 lumens of warm light per square foot. In other words, you don't have much light for 3 or 4 plants. It's enough for one, two if you surround them with the CFLs, and that's probably it.

If you do everything right (which you probably won't the first crop or two), then you can hope for 1 gram per (real) watt, assuming the lights are of the appropriate spectrum. That's a big expectation though, and I certainly wouldn't count on that. What I do is aim for 0.5 grams/watt, and if I get more, I consider that a bonus. That way I'm not disappointed when I don't hit 1 gram/watt (and I never have, although I've gotten close).

You said your CFLs are 60w. I am assuming you meant 'equivalent watts'. That's not a useful measure for growing plants. Those are probably 20w bulbs or something, not 60w. Read the package carefully. 42w bulbs put out like 2000 lumens, and since you say six of your bulbs put out 5000 lumens, that'd mean they're probably 20w bulbs. Assuming that's true, that's 120 watts of lighting, so in a perfect world you'd yield around 5 ounces. That's pretty unlikely though. With that setup, you're likely to get a couple ounces, around there, plus a bit of leaf.

Flower 12 hours on, 12 hours off. Veg with constant light, 24 hours/day, or if you want them to grow more slowly, 18/6.

i suggest getting the spiral 42 watt (real watt) and also on the box says gives out 150 watts those seem to give a good light support for the inexpensive $10 max, nothing wrong with a little extra light just in case u hav problems w/ those other ones since your wattage or w/e they've ben talking bout iz messed up