2nd grow; single plant CFL grow discussion

Hey everyone,
This will be my second grow. First was all CFL with just bagseed to make sure I knew what I was doing and came out with mild success, ~ 10 grams dried from just one small plant harvested a bit early.

Now I just have a few questions:

for my next grow I am planning to grow just one plant, WoS Afghan Kush Ryder Fem [hopefully the seed I got doesn't fall victim to some of WoS earlier problems with their auto's not being auto]

Is it best to use only 2700k cfl's for an auto? or would it be better to mix in a 6500k or 4100k bulb or two?

If you are only growing one plant, around what total wattage should suffice? I know more is generally better but since its only one plant and space is an issue I don't wanna go overboard.

[I'm doing this on limited budget as a side project, ie. not interested in the ultimate multi-plant grow to yield 2+ oz per plant; I'm fine with a single small plant that yields btwn 1/4 to 1/2 oz or more]

I know CFLs have issues with getting light to all the buds, so would LST be a good way to go to help this out? I would like to keep the plant small but because its an auto I don't want to stress it too much or top it.

Thanks for any help and info y'all can provide; I'll get some pictures up once the grow gets going.

Hello Grady. I am by no means an expert at CFL growing but from the plethora of research I have done (and current grow) I can suggest the following:
- 6500K for veg and 2700K for flower (or at least the majority of the light)
- If you are planning on keeping the height down, then definitely LST, this will ensure light penetration to the bud sites.
Perhaps we can provide some more info when we see your setup. What size of grow space, light setup etc.
Good Luck !

ok, I thought that was the case, higher K rating for veg and lower for flower.

I guess then the question is particular to autoflowering strains, is it better to go with all 2700K since essentially the plant will automatically enter flowering mode after a few weeks? Or since it will go to flower mode regardless would it be better use use all 6500K lights? My worry is that there have been bad reports with WoS Afghan Kush Ryders not auto flowering so I thought perhaps using all 2700K would help the plant induce flowering early as opposed to having to switch from 20/4 to 12/12 to force it into flowering.

I am heading to buy supplies now, hope to have more info on the set up once I get ti built this evening. cheers thanks.

Dude, sorry, the comment made earlier was perhaps in haste. I have NO EXPERIENCE with auto flowering strains. I hope I didn't confuse the issue for you.

The plant will be in a one gallon bucket, just regular potting soli with some Perlite, its all I had on hand. It will grow inside a roughly 1.5 cu ft box from a microwave.

The CFLs are mounted in holes in the side of the box with holes going vertically in a line so I can raise the lights over time. I am aiming for somewhere around 150W of CFLs in total. The ones I have are weighted towards the 2700K side but I could easily switch them towards 6500K if that would be better for an autoflower plant.

There is around 1.5 ft of vertical grow room before I open/cut the top of the box to allow for more room. This is essentially a stealth grow, just one small plant is all I'm after so, yes the box seems small but there won't be a lot of plants to fill it out.

I'll try to get a picture but need new batteries in my camera.

here's some crap photos of the grow box. thanks to my macbook's shite camera.

its just a big cardboard box from a microwave you can see the holes cut in the side to fit the light sockets in vertical rows to allow the sockets to move up as the plant grows. I still need to cut more holes in the rear of the box, but I took the first pick so that you could see the idea.

you can probably barely make out the timer in the background too, nothing fancy.

Does anyone have experience growing auto's with CFL's?

I'd still like to know what color spectrum is best suited to autos? 2700K with the mindset that the plant is essentially going right into the flower phase so the 27's will promote that stage of growth? Or 6500K with the mindset that since its going to flower fast anyway might as well try and promote as much vegetation as possible?

I've currently got it at 109 W leaning towards 2700K.
I plan to put some white material on the sides and bottom to increase the light getting to the plant. I'll do that just after the see pop's. It sunk in a shot glass of water, now I've got it in a warm place(~ 70 F) in a moist towel waiting for it to pop.

Also the open side of the box is where I will place a small fan that can run as either exhaust or intake. I'll cover the rest of the open section with a poncho essentially. Temperature shouldn't be a problem even with the small box, my apartment tends to be on the cold side.

So I'm concerned now that the Afghan Kush Ryder seed hasn't sprouted yet.
I put it into the soil after it began showing tap root over 3 days ago but no sprout yet.
Should I have the pot in the grow box with lights on?
Or should I wait until it sprouts and keep the pot near my base board heaters (~70F) in the dark?

Still no sprouts, the kush and another seed I germed (Dinafem Cloud#9) are both sitting in the grow box with lights on 20/4...
getting worried that I've got no sprouts yet...

Some seed's take a few days bro.. givem time! Diggin the little ghetto box btw lol also, yes they need the light on so some heat can help push the sprout's up.