its been three weeks

alright ...i started 3 weeks ago,18 seeds in 9 cups...9 seeds in 5 dixie cups sprouted....i started the seeds under 24/0 lights,at 3500 lumins(2 x 100 w cfl's)soon as the smallest cleared the cup rim,i upped the light to,7.000 lumins(4x100w cfl's)and dropped the time to 20/4....growth is good to real good(in my inexpierenced opinion)no chem's yet...soil has them...height of tallest...4+inches,gearing up for transplanting...i'm waiting til they get an average of 6 inches...i have a styrofoam chest,4 ft. x 1 ft...divided up into 4 compartments
in case i get 4 good females....then its ballast lights..2 sets i think, in addition to my 4 current cfl's...then dropping the lights to 18/6...till i can't take it anymore(45 to 60 minimum)ya ..i'll dope 'em,when there ready...and i already got some big screen for the scrog(1.5x1.5 squares)...now,if somebody can explain to me in english,how to post pics,i'll do that...til then all u got is my word.....lol:smokin:

Cool, I'll take your word then...I think you have to have 50 posts or something to post pics, but you can link to an album elsewhere that contains pics you want us to see. Good Luck!

decided to transplant today,delicate operation for me as i have,2 plants in 4 cups,...think i'm gonna slice down the middle...and take the original dirt with the root...gonna try not to handle it(the plant itself)...maybe that will ease the transition...my 4 ft.cfl ballast lights are here,....2 sets...4 bulbs...you think i should wait on turning them on?maybe stay at the same light level until they appear to survive the transplanting?....also...the grow closet i utilize is in an unheated room...with the 4x100w cfl's in use,keeps the temp at 75+...turning them off drops the temp into the 60's...even lower,so i'm back to 24/0...i got a million questions,and its just bagseed:S2:...wait til i get some GOOD seeds....i'll be back

If it were my grow, I'd use as many lights as I have available to use. :)

How did it turn from 9 plants in 5 cups to 2 plants in 4 cups i didn't get?
If you have 5 cups then 4x23w? (Forget about their equivalents, tell exact wats what they're using) CFL's will be enough for now. Running long tubes will be waste of light at the moment IMO.

its 2 plants per cup x4 cups...plus 1 single plant...and i'm running minimum watts at maximum lumins....136 watts at a little over 12,4000 lumins...for now

How did you get 12400lm from 136w? It makes 91lm per watt and only t5 tubes have that rate.

i got 4x100 w cfl's putting out 1750 lm each...7,000,plus 1 x4 ft t8,putting out 5700 lm...seems to me thats 12,700,HOWEVER...i may be wrong,just reading what the manufacturers specs are....so i transplanted yesterday,first thing i learned ,1 seed per cup,at 4 inches,root bind is impossible to seperate,for me anyway,so i sacrificed 1 plant per cup,and i'm not sure of their survival,maybe i just wasted 3-4 weeks...anyway,should they hang on,i have another ballast light...T8..5700 lumins ...upping the total to 18,400,or 236 w...my calculations=100 w cfl=27w...x4=108w....+1 set ballast lights...t8..at 2850 lumin each...5700 lumin..at 64 w total......hmmm...172watts...i'm assuming this is correct,seems correct,......its been 12 hrs since t-planting....no drooping of leaves,so far...so i'm semi-optimistic,however,since this is my first grow,i would not be suprised at catastrophic failure,i'm in this to win this,so round 2 would be the next day:D....

So, you have 4x27w CFLs 1750lm each. That makes sense. Forget about 100w. Its just confusing. Large amount of lights from the tubes will be wasted in that big area. 4 CFL will be enough at the moment. Reach 3500lm per square foot then you're good. You can switch the tubes on when the plants are bigger.

well,i saved a total of 5 plant...3 showing signs of tranplanting stress(yellowing tips,drooping)i'm continuing the same program i started with,what ever survives,survives...i shut off the tube lights,back to cfl's..i originally figured on 1-2 plants maturing...the rest,would likely fall due to my inexpierence...so far i'm in the ballpark...the next two or three days will tell...
Living and learning,folks............

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Originally Posted by azdesertdweller

so i transplanted yesterday,first thing i learned ,1 seed per cup,at 4 inches,root bind is impossible to seperate,for me anyway,so i sacrificed 1 plant per cup,and i'm not sure of their survival,maybe i just wasted 3-4 weeks

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When you plant more than one per cup wait to see which one is the weaker or more fragile looking of the two and take a pair of sterilized scissors or razor blade and cut that weaker one off at the dirt line. :thumbsup: Trying to seperate bound roots is nearly impossible to do without a good amount of stress. I've done it but it was a big, fat pain in the ass all the way around and set me back about 2 weeks in my grow. :(

here it is sunday morning....so far 5 survivors...the yellowing has advanced microscopically...drooping has abated and recovered......growth has slowed to a crawl,watering once a day,misting 1-2 times(spray bottle)daily....24/0 on the lights..i don't know the length of interim on t-plants,for death by shock...but, i'd say the prognosis is favorable...:smokin:

tuesday morning,these plants have bounced back,the yellowing has stopped at the tips,no drooping,gettin leafier,everybody's workin on their 4th node,lookin good...i altered my light set-up...4x27w puttin out 7,000 lumin...4x23w puttin out 6400 lumin....these 8 light bulbs,put out 13,400 lumin,and only use the equivilant of 2x100 w regular bulbs,it's 4 light sockets with Y adapters,alternating 27,23,27,23....light configuration is different with every stage,i'm looking to utilize a pulley system to raise and lower the whole setup...as soon as the 4th node establishes itself,i'll turn a fan on them,i have two larger plants,and what i hope are three smaller females,time will tell:smokin: