1st bagseen, CFL to HPS

So here goes nothing. Im a total noob giving it a go. Got tired of the high prices and risk of getting some good smoke. Plus I love growing in my garden, so I figured, why not grow something really useful. I'm hoping to one day become a caregiver for a local patient or 5, since I love helping others and not only myself. I've looked into going to the Oaksterdam seminars in AnnArbor but can't afford the gas for the 200mile roundtrip drive every weekend for 26 weeks. (I say 26 weeks because I would have to do not only the basic class, but also the advanced.)
For the past 3 months I have dedicated my life pretty much to researching growing methods and everything inbetween. It seems like the more I learn, the more questions I have lol.
Well, here's what I have decided so far. I have right now a small VEG box 17x17x17. A 50 cfm bathroom fan rated at 2.5 scones for ventilation. Right now I'm doing fine with 1 passive intake hole 2.5x2.5. After I transfer my first grow to the FLOWER box I will be adding another 2.5x2.5 hole. For now I have 4 CFL's. 2 23w and 2 13w. I started germination in a wet paper towel between 2 styro plates placed on a small DVD player left on for a bit of heat. Transplanted 8 seedlings to small peat pots with Organic MG potting soil I had laying around the house. After about 8 days or so I started to take out the weakest plants keeping the best 4. Shortly there after I placed the peat pots in 1/2 gallon plastic pots (Hawiian Punch gallon jugs cut in half) with prenuted soil (.5-.5-.5) Day 22 I started my 15-30-15 nutes, and they began to blow up. So far it looks like I have 2 Sativa dominate and 2 Indica dominate ladies.
As of right now I'm thinking that I will be doing a Scrog grow to obtain a higher yeild for the small area I have available. My FLOWER box will only be about 2.5' wide 2.5' deep and no more than 5' tall.
A friend of mine who is also my connect and fellow grower is losing his house to foreclosure has offered to give me his 3 400 watt HPS hoods FREE!!! I am super thankful for all of his generosity and knowledge. He is also giving me an unlimited amount of seeds from another fellow grower in our circle. A new mix that I have never come across, Trainwreck X JuicyFruit. (There's a funny story of how they came to be). So after this first trial run with the bagseed that will be my next adventure.
I'll post the pics of my ladies in a later post. Right now I just want to get everyone up to speed.
Hope to hear some input from anyone who's willing to stop by. Open to suggestion too. Any and all help will be greatly appreciated. Happy growing!

Just a few quick shots of my ladies early on. No worries, it gets better.

These I took about a week ago I think. I'll post more in a few days. The red solo cups I fitted to my cfl's and lined with foil as a makeshift reflector. Seems to help a bit. (talk about low budget lol)

Looking good man. You really scored with them HPS lights, man what a score!

Peace
K-town

I know... I cant believe how smoothly this is all going. As soon as I start to stress about something it all starts to fall into place.

How long you plan on keeping them under CFL's before you switch them to HPS?

Peace
K-town

Probably another week at the tops... I still have yet to build my FLOWER box. I'm not sure about the size of the HPS lights. I'm wondering if I can somehow fit 2 of the 3 lights into my box. Still kinda worried about heat problems... I would like to cool tube them, but I'm on a very tight budget for a little bit, (hoping unemployment will come thru)

Well let me know how that goes and keep us updated on the grow. Hope it all works out for you.

Peace
K-town

Hey... thanx for taking the time to read and reply... I will keep posting as time rolls on... Happy Growing.

mind if i pull up a seat??

the more the merrier!

Quick Question:
The nutes I have are rated at 15-30-15, will that be good enough to get me thru both VEG and FLOWER? If not, what kind of problems would I run into if I were to only use this thru the entire grow?

Well.. change of plans... Those HPS lights I was talking about, I'm not getting them. Instead I'm getting a 400 Watt Metal Halide. It's not what I was expecting, but it was free.. how can I complain?
Only problem I'm having is trying to make a cool tube for these big ass bulbs lol.

So I was searching around e-bay and craigslist for a new 400 watt Metal Halide bulb. One of my concerns with the fixture that was just donated to me is that it is a lot bigger than I expected. So I decided I wanted to try and cool tube it. Another is that I'm on a very tight budget, so I cant afford to buy a cool tube for it and would like to make my own, but all of my ideas are being torn to shreds because of the sheer size of the bulb. It's just too wide. Well that's what I thought until I came across the aquarium bulbs. They remind me more of a HPS bulb. Small and compact, and easily cool tubed. I just dont know if it would work with the light setup I have, or if they would even work for growing. Does anyone know anything about using these aquarium bulbs for growing? Please help!

Looking good man. Keep the updates flying.


Peace
K-town

Well, Like I said before. This run was a bit of a trial run, and fate has ensured that it was a short lived one.
In the recent past, my family has run into a few problems. (nothing to do with getting busted, we all just need to come together to help another out)
So I've been elected to come and watch over my grandfather for a few weeks. Meaning I have to get rid of my ladies. I'm hoping that after a few phone calls I will be able to place them in a good home, but if all else fails I will just find them a nice field to live out their days.
On the up side, I'll be getting paid minimum wage for a babysitting gig pretty much... cant really complain about that. Now I'll have the cash to really do my setup right this time. Good lights, Good ventilation, Good soil, Great Seeds (Hillbilly Trainwreck x Juicy Fruit)
Another positive thing about this situation is my grandfather may be getting his MM card. He jokingly asked his doctor about replacing some of his pain meds with pot, and the doctor told him if he really wanted to that he would sign for it. So when I get down there, I am for sure going to be trying to convince him that he should replace his meds with some MM.
At least this little break will be a good chance for me to research what strains make great MM and ways of growing great Medical grade.
Sorry for the delay on finishing my Journal... Ill keep everyone posted on when Ill be starting up again. Happy Growing.

ohh thats kinda crappy about having to give/chop the ladies on the other hand u get some money waooohooo gl..

+rep

wtffgr33n said:

ohh thats kinda crappy about having to give/chop the ladies on the other hand u get some money waooohooo gl..

+rep

Click to expand...

I dont think i could ever bring myself to chop a lady lol. Ill go diggin in the middle of the night if i have to, put her in a safe place outside, off the beaten path. There wont be much time for the rest of their veg stage since its so late in the year, not going to expect them to do anything special as far as yeild. Ill be happy if they even make it to harvest lol.