First Timer (CFL Indoors)

Hey all,
Just stopped at home depot and purchased:

• 2 27 Watt 5500K Lights
• 2 Y splitters
• Fertilizer

I would like suggestions please. I'd like to know if this fertilizer is good ? Also how i should have my lights set up. I have 3 going now but I don't have the lights all hooked up yet so they've sprouted i hope i can get them together tonight i just need input.

Pictures:


a bit confused

thanks for the help i plan on setting up a grow journal also.

Looks like you have enough CFL's there for a couple plants. If they've sprouted already, they need light right away.
The plant food is more geared towards flowering - the three numbers? You want the first (nitrogen) to be the higher number for vegging - but don't even consider giving them any nutes until they are at least three weeks of age.

pic of set up :
Sprouted

Total lights: (2) 27 watt 5500
(1) 23 watt 2700k
(1) 20 watt 2700K

I think you will have a nice setup, has for your fertilizer im now 3 week using this fertiliser and it seem to be good for now. Im using 4 enersaver (Globe) 23 watt soft white 1600 lumens and i water about every 2-3 day depend if my finger get wet when i put it in the dirt.

You can take a look at my curent grow.
https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/260126-fist-timer-indoor-cfl.html

Since week 2 my plant grew up about 1 inch but its growin in cold climate here.

FreshMaker

i used those same bulbs for veg in my last grow
they really worked well for veg, i'd give them a 'A', good luck in your grow

get them cfls as close as possible bout 1.5 inch sumet like that.
that seedling looks deep down in that cup, cant u chop it or sumet, not much light guna penertrate down there.
gl

true bout them 5500k cfls, they the same colour temperature as metal halide, i couldnt find em ad to go wiv 6500k for my veg box
get really close nodes with them.

growone said:

i used those same bulbs for veg in my last grow
they really worked well for veg, i'd give them a 'A', good luck in your grow

Click to expand...

Thanks for the input bud

littlewing said:

get them cfls as close as possible bout 1.5 inch sumet like that.
that seedling looks deep down in that cup, cant u chop it or sumet, not much light guna penertrate down there.
gl

Click to expand...

i will cut it down now thank you

mentosice said:

I think you will have a nice setup, has for your fertilizer im now 3 week using this fertiliser and it seem to be good for now. Im using 4 enersaver (Globe) 23 watt soft white 1600 lumens and i water about every 2-3 day depend if my finger get wet when i put it in the dirt.

You can take a look at my curent grow.
https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/260126-fist-timer-indoor-cfl.html

Since week 2 my plant grew up about 1 inch but its growin in cold climate here.

FreshMaker

Click to expand...

thank you ill follow your advice to the tee.

DoeEyed said:

Looks like you have enough CFL's there for a couple plants. If they've sprouted already, they need light right away.
The plant food is more geared towards flowering - the three numbers? You want the first (nitrogen) to be the higher number for vegging - but don't even consider giving them any nutes until they are at least three weeks of age.

Click to expand...

ok im grabbin an extension cord so i can get them baskin in the sun asap. thank you all.
and best luck to you all aswell.

Update:

aluminum foiled it for the time being and adjusted the sizes of the "pots."
temp is around 80 and with the lid on its pushing 88.
any suggestions on anything at all is welcome and greatly appreciated.

have it on 24/7
i want to VEG for 3 weeks and then induce flowering because i will be leaving for winter break (12/12/09) so i hope that will be enough time.

the thermometer is on the floor? if so, too hot! need some venting

yea im going to lift the lid off it.
hopefully no one snoops around in the closet for a little.
They will be in this set up until saturday, then I will be able to re-locate to a better spot/setup

tomorrow im going to get a small fan to put in there.
would it be ok to put a y splitter into a y splitter so i could have 4 lights using on outlet? thank you

EarthBrite said:

tomorrow im going to get a small fan to put in there.
would it be ok to put a y splitter into a y splitter so i could have 4 lights using on outlet? thank you

Click to expand...

you could do that, 4 27w bulbs, that's not much wattage
but as you can see, heat builds in your box, have to balance that heat with venting

growone said:

you could do that, 4 27w bulbs, that's not much wattage
but as you can see, heat builds in your box, have to balance that heat with venting

Click to expand...

okay good.
its actually going to be a mix of 27,20 and 27,23

. 27 watters are 5500k and the other 2 are 2700k so the ratio isn't optimal but the more light the better?

EarthBrite said:

okay good.
its actually going to be a mix of 27,20 and 27,23

. 27 watters are 5500k and the other 2 are 2700k so the ratio isn't optimal but the more light the better?

Click to expand...

ratio should be fine, i used just 5500k and i had great vegging results
when at the seedling stage, you really don't need more than 1 bulb provided your bulb is up close, say 2 inches away
as the plant grows, that's when the cfl's need to become more numerous
but as long as you can keep the grow area temp under control, extra light is no harm

get rid of the foil and use mylar

Snickelfrits said:

get rid of the foil and use mylar

Click to expand...

or at least go buy some foil tape and tape the sides of the box so they are perfectly flat... wrinkles cause heat spot, and heat spots are no bueno! With such a small setup it might not be worth it to get a roll of mylar, although if u think ur going to expand in the future then get the mylar, that shits money

1) Don't use foil, it creates Hot Spots...think along the lines of using a magnifying glass to burn ants. Even white paper/paint is better than aluminum/tin foil.

2) You might as well bump up the wattage on all of those bulbs so they are the same...27 watts. (Or, you can go out and buy the 42W versions...though I can only find them in 2700K in my area). Even if you ran 4 of those 27W CFLs through one cord, you are still using about the same wattage as a single 100W incandescent bulb (the ones with the classic light bulb shape that everyone used in their homes for decades)...so don't worry too much about causing yourself electrical issues with those.

2b) One nice thing about the CFLs, and the fact that the 42W lights are usually 2700K, is that you can run say...4...27 watt bulbs for roughly 100W of total light power during veg, and then simply swap all the bulbs for 42W 2700k versions in flower...effectively doubling your light power for the flowering stage, which is something a lot of people like to do anyway. (2700K is generally considered best CFL for flower because it is the more 'red' light).

its nt the wattage you gota worrie about running through the same cords, its the amps.

an average light bulb runs at about 0.5 -0.6 amps.so hw eva many you choose to run through the same lead make sure the fuse in the plug is higher than the amps you are using.

so if you guna run 4 bulbs, thats a potential 2.4 amps maybe more, so i wouldnt use the standard 3 amp fuse that are usually in things, go a little higher, or u risk the fuse blowing and that could mean death of ur babies if u dnt spot the fault in time.

hope it helps anyway.
good luck