kaiten's 1st grow w/ CFL

[kaiten408]

Hello fellow users and growers, after a few weeks of lurking here and reading some books I decided about a month ago to start growing.

Considering cost is an issue right now I went with a CFL set up in my closet. I also opted to use some nice bag seeds I have accumulated. I attempted to germinate about 20, but only 5 sprouted.

Lights:
At first I was 2x 13w CFLs, which have since been upgraded to 2x 68w and 2x 26w for a total of 11,900 lumens @ 2700K

Medium:
~50/50 mix of Miracle Grow seedling starter soil and Jiffy Mix soilless mix (a mixture of peat moss, perlite and lime)

The "grow area" has been covered with an emergency blanket to keep light in and has a "door" for the front also covered. A fan has been keeping the temps stable and I can see some good girth building in the stems. The climate stays at around 70-75* with ~40% humidity.

Anyway, onto the pics. Let me know what you guys think, this is my first attempt at this and any and all help will be appreciated.

-K :jointsmile:













And this one is my Ivory :rastasmoke:



Can anyone tell me what those little stems are that are poking out between the lower leaves and stem?

kaiten408 Reviewed by kaiten408 on 12-16-2009. kaiten's 1st grow w/ CFL Hello fellow users and growers, after a few weeks of lurking here and reading some books I decided about a month ago to start growing. Considering cost is an issue right now I went with a CFL set up in my closet. I also opted to use some nice bag seeds I have accumulated. I attempted to germinate about 20, but only 5 sprouted. Lights: At first I was 2x 13w CFLs, which have since been upgraded to 2x 68w and 2x 26w for a total of 11,900 lumens @ 2700K Medium: ~50/50 mix of Miracle Rating: 5

[headshake]

Can anyone tell me what those little stems are that are poking out between the lower leaves and stem?

are you talking about where the new growth is coming in? if so those will be shoots of new growth.

also, keep your lights to within 1-4" from the tops of your plants. CFLs don't have great canopy penetration.

good growing!


-shake

[kaiten408]

Thanks shake..i'm trying to figure out how I can get them closer without it looking too ghetto.

And as for that new growth, I mean this part that I have circled..sorry for any confusion

[redtails]

Yeah those will be branches really soon. He tried to explain it with "shoots", people and their technical terms...

[deadbeef]

This should be an interesting grow to watch. Good luck kaiten.

[kaiten408]

@ deadbeef: Thanks man...I hope it turns out well

@ redtails: Gotcha, thanks for clarifying that for me.

UPDATE:

I lowered the 2 main lights in the front by using a hangar and clipping them to it. I'd say they are about 3-4" from the tops. Looks kind of ghetto now, i'll try to whip something up better and get a picture.

Any tips on watering? I've been watering every other day, putting about 3-4oz. of water in each pot, no nutes.

[kaiten408]

Pics as promised:



And a couple of my baby, Ivory....she's already starting to get that familiar smell :jointsmile::jointsmile:

[headshake]

Any tips on watering? I've been watering every other day, putting about 3-4oz. of water in each pot, no nutes.

pick up your pot around the lip with just your index finger and thumb on both hands. you will be making a "diamond" shape while holding the pot in the middle of the "diamond". bounce it up and down. do this when dry and then again after watering/feeding. there will be a very noticeable difference. when it's dry, time to water.

don't worry about the grow looking ghetto. we all start somewhere. it doesn't matter what anything looks like besides the final results.

good growing!


-shake

[Enemyace]

Hi kaiten 408,

I'm new on the board too, only a couple days. Yer girls, (hopefully!), are lookin' good. How old? I have a couple plastic "terra corra" pots like that. Will be interesting to see what progress and results you get from the cfl's. Considering those myself. Looks like you're making good use of your resources. Good luck!:thumbsup:

Mike

[kaiten408]

Thanks Mike :thumbsup:

They are about 2-3 weeks old I'd say. I think they look pretty small compared to some other grows on here, but I think that has a lot to do with my lighting situation.

I started out with just 2x 9W 5000K cfl's putting a whopping 900 lumens ...then I upgraded to 3x 26w cfl's but it was still weak...and finally up to 2x 68w + 2x 26w. I think changing the lights so much might have stunted the growth at first, but now they are doing very well.