First time grower with fluorescent lighting!

Ok guys this is my first grow so i decided to go with fluorescent lights since im learning and didnt want a high electricity bill! I heard u can still get very good quality buds from these lights just not as big of a yield so there my practice lights! Im only workin with one plant for now so i can get used to how to water it when to water how to tell signs of difficency and other bumps in the road you might have! Now i got a clone from a good source which happens to be LA Woman which is said to be a really good strain, never heard of it though! My nutrients of choice is from the humboldt nutrients line and i picked up the master A&B along with the verde for my veg stage and i was thinkin about gettin big up powder, ginormous, and humboldt honey ES for my flowering along with duece duece for the last couple weeks and royal flush for the last week! I would appreciate any insight on this strain and any of the nutrients! Does anyone had any good results with these nutrients and ones that are good along with these? Im thinkin about some more for the veg state that i read about on my next time around! I wanna stick with all humboldt nutrients aswell! Pictures will be up soon!
Thanks -CaliBurner

ok so here are some pictures of my plant, its is about 2 months old give or take a week! i also posted some pics of the light im using, it is a fluorescent light thats 6400K 125 watts which is 8,500 lumens!

My first observation would be to get the light closer. Place your hand on the top of the plant, palm down. You should feel warmth from the light but it should be comfortable on the back of your hand. If you can hold it there for 10 sec, its fine, if not, raise the light, if its warm but not hot, lower it. You will get the idea.
The plant itself looks fine and you are doing a great job so far with a very good strategy.

As for your Q about nutrients, nutrients are a small part of the big picture. Light, CO2, air exchange, temps, humidity, water, grower skill, nutes! As long as you get good quality nutes, which Humbolt is, learn how to use them and always remember less is more with growing, the other factors are all more important than a brand name!
Read up on the "perfect" parameters of light, temps, humidity etc and the nute brand just doesnt matter despite what each companies marketing dept will have you believe.
Keep up the good work fella. W

i appreciate the advice! as for the light i feel thats a comfortable spot for it as i already adjust it several times due to already burning a few of my leaves thats why its that high! i have a thermometer in the closet it goes as low as 71 and never higher then 80, i cant get it lower unless i put an ac unit in there, for humidity i dont know i need to get something to find out where its at in there and i keep a fan on one side of the closet door blowin air in and keep the other side of the door open aswell for air to exit. im planning on gettin another fan to blow air out but for now it seems like there is a circulation of air threw the closet. since im using soil i already read up alot on it when feeding the plant and i wait till the top of the soil is crusty dry and about 2-3 inches of the top is dry before i water it and i only give it nutes every other watering, i might need to cut down on the amount of nutes i give it due to some leaf curling which i heard is due to over feeding the plant. now for CO2 ive heard alot about it but still am not sure what or how to do it so im kinda on hold about that one. im just tryin to get the basics down and hopefully become a very good grower and love readin advice from anyone with higher experience then myself! i will put up a pic of the whole closet and how i keep my doors open and fan placement!

When you go to get to flowering, you might want to try getting an extension cord, and putting a couple of 23W or 24W or whatever they are cfls around the bottom of the plant. I'm on my 3rd cfl grow and I've noticed the bottom does a LOT better if you throw some low level bulbs in around there, and since they are very cool, you don't really have to worry about the heat and it'll give your side and mid-level bud sources some added lovin's.

With cfl's it helps a bunch to try and keep your canopy height as even as possible. or as cranker mentioned lights lower when you start to bud. If it were me I'd top that pretty plant 3 nodes down then tie the 2 new tops down a little, to get them to grow horz.

I know with the 1st grow its just fun to watch them grow tall, but with just a 125w cfl your plant will be a tad spindlely and the buds airier than you will like. A squatty plant will work better with your light.

ya im not really into the tall lanky plants, i would like a bushier plant but still learning, im scared to top it myself so i have a friend that has been growing a few years come over and show me how to do it so i will top it soon but as u can see in a few picks i have a string holdin the top down a bit to let the sides grow more then the top. as for more lights i was thinkin about that and i also just recieved me other light fixture which is the same as the one im already using, i was thinkin 0f hanging it vertically along side the plant but that would only cover one side. oh and i should also mention that im a cook of 6 years so my heat tolerance is higher then most so holdin my hand under the light doesnt work i just tried it and i put it literally an inch away from the light for about 30 secs and it was not hot!

looks good

ok so here are some pics of each side of my closet where u can see theres a fan blowin air in on one side and just the door open on the other for air circulation and i took a pic of the closet from above! no i tried a water only cloning just to see if it would really work and due to my friend takin forever to come help me take some clones, i just dont know if it matters if the light hits the bottom of the stem making it not want to root and i just put another cup with slits in it to kinda make it like a humidity dome, like i said just an experiment but idk if it will work, any advice on that would be appreciated!

the cup on top should really be clear so the cutting can get some light! not sure about water cloning though.

Everyone hates on CFL and Flourescants but if you check my signature i had a plentyful harvest of 3oz in a small cabinet. Just take your time and keep lights close as possible...

CaliBurner said:

ya im not really into the tall lanky plants

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, i would like a bushier plant but still learning, im scared to top it myself so i have a friend that has been growing a few years come over and show me how to do it so i will top it soon but as u can see in a few picks i have a string holdin the top down a bit to let the sides grow more then the top. as for more lights i was thinkin about that and i also just recieved me other light fixture which is the same as the one im already using, i was thinkin 0f hanging it vertically along side the plant but that would only cover one side. oh and i should also mention that im a cook of 6 years so my heat tolerance is higher then most so holdin my hand under the light doesnt work i just tried it and i put it literally an inch away from the light for about 30 secs and it was not hot!

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If your going to use fluros, get used to it.

MisterCannabi said:

Everyone hates on CFL and Flourescants but if you check my signature i had a plentyful harvest of 3oz in a small cabinet. Just take your time and keep lights close as possible...

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I think CFL's are great for LST. If you get a big enough pot and circle the plant around the outside, you can actually hang an 84 watt in the middle and put 24's around the outside and have a couple 42's in top. Right now I have an Exodus cheese that has light coming from all around, no heat damage, and it's got about 10 branches at 1 1/2-2 feet. Thing ought to be a winner, was just put into flowering.

CaliBurner said:

Ok guys this is my first grow so i decided to go with fluorescent lights since im learning and didnt want a high electricity bill! I heard u can still get very good quality buds from these lights just not as big of a yield so there my practice lights! Im only workin with one plant for now so i can get used to how to water it when to water how to tell signs of difficency and other bumps in the road you might have! Now i got a clone from a good source which happens to be LA Woman which is said to be a really good strain, never heard of it though! My nutrients of choice is from the humboldt nutrients line and i picked up the master A&B along with the verde for my veg stage and i was thinkin about gettin big up powder, ginormous, and humboldt honey ES for my flowering along with duece duece for the last couple weeks and royal flush for the last week! I would appreciate any insight on this strain and any of the nutrients! Does anyone had any good results with these nutrients and ones that are good along with these? Im thinkin about some more for the veg state that i read about on my next time around! I wanna stick with all humboldt nutrients aswell! Pictures will be up soon!
Thanks -CaliBurner

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Huh, lots of good details here.

I don't know about those nutes since I've never used them. I just know AN and I don't want to give you advice you can't use.

I haven't really used fluroscent bulbs since I started out, but I think the other posters have already answered their concerns abotu tthat. Not bad, but not the best choice ever.

ok so heres an update, finally started my flowering cycle, got my nutes and put of some reflective plastic and took some clones! here are some pics of my nutes for flowering and the clones along with my cleaned up plant. i took off most of the fan\water leaves a day before flowering!

ok well i know i havn't posted any new pics for a couple weeks now but no one has responded either, so i would like to share my baby(s) with u guys! this one is my LA Woman that i vegged out a little to long but she looks nice!

now this plant has been threw so much, i believe its growth might have been stunted due to heat when it was planted outside but it is recovering nicely and the flowers look beautiful! it is almost the same age as the LA Woman give or take a week! well this is Kens Grandaddy Purp!

ok well i know im not gettin much love on this post but i will still update my progress with some pictures. my plant is now in week 6 and has very nice colas on her. i will be letting her goes into week 9 which is when LA Woman finishes best!

looking nice, she should pack alot of weight on over the next few weeks.

That's one nice looking lady you have. I will pull up a chair and enjoy the show keep us updated, is that a copy of your rec taped to the wall?

GUYS!!! LIGHTS?>?>?> 6500K, or 5000K what the fuck is better? or should i just delete my account?