first cfl grow any advice?

i have 4 practice seeds vegging under 4 23w 6500k cfl bulbs plus one little 15w flourescent tube. see pic. i have one fan blowing the air around so that it doesnt get to warm i also cut holes in the top of the box to ventilate. my plants appear to be dying. i know its because i need more lights and better ventilation. i only intend on using cfl for vegging the switching to hps for flowering.

I can't see any picture but those cfls should be fine for veg. What soil are you using and is your water the right ph?

i just uploaded. check it out.

Trust me...(and if you don't you could waste a bunch of time and go through my 1 continuous journal for the last two years starting with cfls...granted even started with lots more than you) Cfl's and other fluoros have their place and I use them for supplemental and slow and low vegging. But if you have the HID go ahead and use it to veg.

And if you choose to use cfls...watts are watts...the equivalent watts mean nothing...so you are basically growing with a 107w bulb....WAY to little light...you would be better off putting in a window if it is warm enough and keeping them in veg with those lights when the sun sets.

You can grow great weed with cfls...but you need A LOT of them...think 10+ 42w bulbs! Then you have to deal with, why I think they suck...10 different heat sources (and yeas they are hot!) spread around make removing heat difficult...or like the bulbs...inefficient.

I spent a lot of money (little at a time) on cfls...most of which are just sitting around now, before doing it right.

That being said...I currently veg under 6 40watt t12 tubes that are cheap, cool, and if you are not in a hurry...the plants do ok with little stretch. This works for me as I veg the cuttings I took from the plant that went into flower and I can not flower that clone until it's mom is done. And the tubes are completely cool to touch...plants grow into tubes all the time and do not burn (keep it close!)

IMO you are running enough light to root clones, but not much else.

headynuggetface said:

i just uploaded. check it out.

Click to expand...

can you see them?

thanks and yeah the pictures should be up. so i should use the tubes? i wanted to get the tubes but the hard part for me is the fixtures. i have kno way to wire them in unless i get the plug ins i dont remember seeing any at the store i went to. i can figure that out but for the tubes the vegging process will take longer? and will 6 40w tubes suffice for 4 plants?...maybe i should stick to three. let me know if you can see the pictures...they have some life left i think? i could get the tubes today..

and as for ventilation will the holes in the top of the box be alright? or should i get an exhaust fan to outside of the room?

headynuggetface said:

thanks and yeah the pictures should be up. so i should use the tubes? i wanted to get the tubes but the hard part for me is the fixtures. i have kno way to wire them in unless i get the plug ins i dont remember seeing any at the store i went to. i can figure that out but for the tubes the vegging process will take longer? and will 6 40w tubes suffice for 4 plants?...maybe i should stick to three. let me know if you can see the pictures...they have some life left i think? i could get the tubes today..

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Why do you think the seedlings are dying?...they look fine.

I think in your exuberance to grow...you missed my point (easy to do most times!). If you are going to be moving out of the box and growing with an HPS...just do it and veg with it.

I now use 4ft tubes...but that is just me! I wanted T5's but could not resist building a T12 for a 1/3 of the price( 3 dual tube lamps for under 30 bucks + bulbs and some hardware to hang for 50 total...screwed all 3 to some scrap wood so it moves as one unit rather than 3) and my ex bro-in-law vegges under a T5 and that sucker gets hot and the light is not that much better. You could veg 4 plants under my light. As far as how many...the more the merrier! energy consumption dictates the lights I use...or I would double everything TODAY!

I am NOT suggesting that you go out today and buy some fluoros!!!!!! Quite the opposite!!!!!! If you have any money...spend it on an HID light of 400w or more with and air-cooled hood and a squirrel cage or can fan...(could do it for under 400 bucks to your door I bet) If this is out of the question...SAVE what money you would spend on the fluoros until you can afford the HID. Trust me! you can spend a lot over several trips to home depot and wal-mart for cfl bulb etc.

headynuggetface said:

and as for ventilation will the holes in the top of the box be alright? or should i get an exhaust fan to outside of the room?

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If you have to remain in the little box...well???? I would build something a bit larger (then from experience...what ever you think will be plenty big enough...DOUBLE THAT!!!!).

Many use computer "muffin" fans to exhaust heat out of the box...heat is your biggest enemy (well actually spider-mites...don't worry you'll eventually know all about them...)

If at all possible I would put them in a closet or a room instead of the little box.

I have built and still use a 2 x 3 x 4 box but never close them up because they are just too small and build up too much heat...unless you really Mcgyver the damn thing)

So here is the deal...If you are going to grow in a cardboard box...keep doing what you are doing...do not add anymore CFL's to avoid the fire hazard of the box!

Go HID before spending another dime on the pipe dream of growing pot with CFL's

(yes it can be done...but should it...?)

Think outside the box

HayDuke knows what hes talking about, and a single pc fan should be fine for exhaust. You're plants look fine, allthough im not sure about the yellow leaves, that could be burn from nutes? I'm not sure haha.

The yellowing leaves are the cotyledons...they contained the nutrients for the seedling until now...the soil should have organic matter to support the seedling for a while, unless it is a soil less mix. Beware of the #1 mistake of the new grower...loving the plants to death by feeding them...remember the goldfish you killed??? Same thing. Let the leaf color tell you when to feed and then do so with caution (1/2 strength or lighter!)

thanks for your help. it is a closet grow..ya might not be able to tell by pictures. i have a 2w by 2l by 2h space above a 2w by 2l by 4h space. its divided by that platform holding my plants. i plan on vegging with cfl the transfering to the hid underneath. i plan on buying that when i get my gov. check in feb or april. i was just paranoid about the "dying" plants. i was watering to much perhaps..and i did feed them some nutes...maybe to much then. thanks again!

The space you describe will work pretty well...your challenge will be keeping things small (and heat)...flower early and LST...I actually cram 4 plants in flower into that space and easily get an ounce per plant dry of potent strains that yield low (37g/plant for the last 3 better yielding strains).

i was going to wait to flower when the plants got about four or five more inches taller making them about 6 inches. sound about right? my plants will be hitting lights if i let them go any further. you say keeping things small? i keep the lights approximately 2 inches from the plants added a couple cfls so know i have about 250w (actual wattage) 4 2700k and 8 6500k daylight plus one t12 20w daylight.

i included a pic of my flowering setup (no hps...yet)

sounds good...I have no experience forcing flower on a seedling that small, but not much different that 12/12 from seed...It may take a while to start to flower. I almost always am showing pistils in veg before flower...just because of circumstances or laziness...so I am always tied down to 12" and bending branches later...so I would say that your plan is good. Put them in their final container soon and keep them cool (<85) Have fun!



Edit: re pot with good potting soil and NO NUTES for 3-4 weeks...then you can probably do only bloom nutes or one last veg feeding or a mix either way no more than 1/2 strength...if you get a ppm pen...keep it under 1000 for most strains

your help is appreciated thanks coach

Incedently heady, FYI you can buy a fixture to hold the 4' tubes at any hardware store for about $12 and it comes with a plug so you have no wiring to do. Good luck with the plant growth as well as growth of your grow space.

Hayduke said:

Trust me...(and if you don't you could waste a bunch of time and go through my 1 continuous journal for the last two years starting with cfls...granted even started with lots more than you) Cfl's and other fluoros have their place and I use them for supplemental and slow and low vegging. But if you have the HID go ahead and use it to veg.

And if you choose to use cfls...watts are watts...the equivalent watts mean nothing...so you are basically growing with a 107w bulb....WAY to little light...you would be better off putting in a window if it is warm enough and keeping them in veg with those lights when the sun sets.

You can grow great weed with cfls...but you need A LOT of them...think 10+ 42w bulbs! Then you have to deal with, why I think they suck...10 different heat sources (and yeas they are hot!) spread around make removing heat difficult...or like the bulbs...inefficient.

I spent a lot of money (little at a time) on cfls...most of which are just sitting around now, before doing it right.

That being said...I currently veg under 6 40watt t12 tubes that are cheap, cool, and if you are not in a hurry...the plants do ok with little stretch. This works for me as I veg the cuttings I took from the plant that went into flower and I can not flower that clone until it's mom is done. And the tubes are completely cool to touch...plants grow into tubes all the time and do not burn (keep it close!)

IMO you are running enough light to root clones, but not much else.

Click to expand...

I agree with the number of cfl's needed for proper growth. I have ( 23w cfl's going on one plant. And it is doing great. You would need (32) 23w or (16) 48w cfl's to make a good grow based on you growing four plants.

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SimplySmokin said:

Incedently heady, FYI you can buy a fixture to hold the 4' tubes at any hardware store for about $12 and it comes with a plug so you have no wiring to do. Good luck with the plant growth as well as growth of your grow space.

Click to expand...

Yup...Home Depot sells them for $9.96. They hold two bulbs (about 3 bucks each and come in 6500K) with minimal reflector to take up space...so you can put several close together. The only bad thing that I am seeing using them is the purpleing of the stems seen with fluorescent lighting...and thought I have new strains, it seems to be more with the tubes...this goes away when put under the HID.

But If you are going to veg in the 2x2 space cfls are your best bet...unless you want to drop some coin on a 2x2 4 bulb T5



edit: After thinking about your set up...it occurred to me...I built a 4' tall box to veg in when I was still under the voodoo spell of the possibility of growing with CFL's...once I figured it out and bought the HID...the box was not tall enough to mount light inside and keep plants 8+ inches off light. I have mounted the light and reflector on top of the box to remedy this...If you continue with your plan...you may consider moving veg elsewhere, and mounting the HID in the upper veg space...or just fighting the heat of lots of cfls.

With pots and space for the light and room between the light and the plants...you are left with about a foot...you could check out Hobbes' CCOB (crop circle of bud) He seems to have tip toed off the edge lately, but his methods are solid. I do similar training but not as serious.

When trying to come up with the set up that works for you...it is REAL easy to spend too much on stuff that will not be your final set up as you trial and error...Just be careful and think it through!

i disassembled my closet setup and moved upstairs. ive learned that cfls can give off quite a bit of heat so now that i transferred everything upstairs to a bigger room i shouldnt have that problem anymore (HOPEFULLY). i will update pictures shortly.