first grow: northern lights; advice requested

[uzybear]

i haven't actually put my order in yet, so i'm looking for some last suggestions on seeds.

northern lights seems like a winner, but i'd like to know your suggestion if in my place; i want something that can be a good mother plant

where would you order from?

[uzybear]

oh, and i really need to stop talking, but...........

if i happen to get one female, can i take cuttings, make clones, and then take that female and bud it, let the clones grow up, one of which will be the mother (the best) and the rest to flower after the first female(s) flowers? i'm guessing that if i get 1-2 females i'd want to do this to get bud quickly, and if i get 3 or more i'd take one female and keep in veg as mother

are clones weaker than their mothers? would i be wrong in growing a clone into a mother rather than a seed into a mother?

[uzybear]

also, i saw on a vid i watched that the grower took clones of all his plants and then put them in the flower room to bud right away just to sex the plant, i wonder if this is a worthwhile way to go, but he was using feminized.... seems like a quick way to sex them; just discard those clones budded early, and of course discard all the male parental generation

[uzybear]

i'm having trouble stopping talking

what would be the difference in electricity costs between a 200w and a 400w? would the 400w use twice as much electricity?

i'm envisioning about a 5ft by 5ft flower room (ceiling is 9feet), probably have 1 or two flowering first go around, then perhaps four plants at a time from then on

[Scarlet Sky]

a 1000w will light a 5x5, a 400 does a 3x3, maybe a little more.. the power would hardly be noticeable with either of those lamps, why not get the latter? more light = more yeild

[uzybear]

hardly noticeable huh? that's surprising; i checked my energy bill and it seems to hover around $30 a month. it's even a bit higher than i thought since i don't have ac, microwave, and shut lights off often. fridge is definitely sucking some. anyway, if i have cfl's going in veg room 18hrs, and a 400w hps going 12 hrs, every day, year round, i'm wondering how much my rates will hike. if i could reduce power elsewhere, and keep my bill below $50, that would be swell

[Scarlet Sky]

average power consumption for one household is 150$. you can add lots of stuff without worrying.

[MULLETMAN]

kinda agree with scarlet. Run 2 exaust fans, 400watt and oscillating fan think the bill did increase 20 to 30 dollars. Not that bad though for sure.

[ValkyrieAg]

My brother went to CU.

I grow in the same space. Actually I have two closets. One is 11 sq feet and the bigger one is 15 sq feet. The 15sq is my flower room which is the same size as your closet. I typically just use 1-400w hps in there, though I do have 2 of them. I have found that 2 400w hps run too hott simultaneously for the room without ventilation. However, I there are ways to get around that.

What I do is I have a powerbar (buzzbar whatever), and I have 2 8.00 timers from home depot. 7am-1pm Left side HPS 1pm-7pm right HPS.
12/12...400w continuous (instead of 800)....low heat....15 sq foot of 55w/sqft

BTW, check out htgsupply.com for all your needs. I got 2- 400w HPS with 2 free bulbs for 120 apiece 250 at my door. They have foxfarm nutes as well.

As for my 11sq foot veg closet, I use 2 - 2 lamp 4' flos from walmart. If you go, you can get each lamp for under 10.00. Yes 10.00. 25w/sqft. 160w total....Grows fine...as I use them only to get from seedling - sexual maturity. But i definately wouldn't use flos for flowering. When I change plants over, there is a noticeable difference in rate of growth.

When you can get a 400w HPS for under 120, why use flos?

[uzybear]

kinda agree with scarlet. Run 2 exaust fans, 400watt and oscillating fan think the bill did increase 20 to 30 dollars. Not that bad though for sure.

that was my estimate; i'm considering again using the closet (and partitioning into a smaller veg room and a larger grow room) and using just a 200w for flower, perhaps just one plant at a time; i'm a pretty light smoker and 1or2 plants every two months seems right. i know it's rather mellow, but i'm trying to keep things as low-profile and manageable as possible.

closet would be low-pro, easier to setup space, easier to conceal in a pinch, but more heat issue


i'm thinking silver pearl would be a nice first strain; resilient, fast, and NL related