Looking for experienced advice on my next grow.

Well I finally bit the bullet folks an started my first grow, talk about being in love <3 I think I now understand somehwat how parents feel lol. Anyway, to clear things up, I'm just growing personally an atm I can't afford a semi - expensive setup so I'm currently running a Lumi 125watt 'warm' CFL bulb in a wardrobe that is pure-white inside and out. I'm currently in week 8, (will be 9 on Tuesday coming) but tbh the plant has only really been 'flowering' for around 5/6 weeks give or take...when I vegged her I germinated 5-bagseed, 4 cracked an I only had 3 pots available so one pot was double planted lol this lady I'm flowering now was the smaller of the two double-planted ladies to begin with but then when I seperated them into bigger pots I think fudged up an split too much of her root system off....she sat in veg, almost lifeless for a week or an she was also the very last of my ladies to show her female pre flowers. The other 3 bagseed germed, my brother got a nice indica an a lovely big sativa, I kept my indica-dominat shortie an the 2nd that germed...a lovely sativa-dominant which unfortunately went hermaphrodite on me. Alas that mofo got a final look-over of appreciation, as she smelt lovely an was growing superbly under my current lights, then she got chopped My next question regarding my future grow is this.., should I add extra CFL bulbs next time around..or should I add an LED rig into the mix instead ? The LED idea has been floating around my coupon for weeks for now an I suddenly just remembered I had made this account last year, so, humble growers, gurus an ganja inhalers..if you have any advice at all even if its not about the lights please let me know, it would me most appreciated I assure you all One love.

P.S. - I recently came into possession of feminised White Rhino, Aurora Indica, Mazari, Honey Haze an Special Queen seeds. My bro will also have a Power Kush clone ready for me shortly so I need to pick 2 -3 strains from the list to add the next garden, any suggestions folks ? Peace

Whats up, nice work so far, I started in a cabinet a while ago so I understand what your dealing with. The CFL in question is a single I am assuming. Depending on the size of the cabinet you could make a cheap plywood light rig with a few gang boxes attached and then use splitters and get multiple bulbs off the same fixture. I did one with four spots and used cfl floods for a while, it's in the shed now but still working hard LOL. The LED ring I would have to see a pic to tell you if its anything worth while but leds are popping I am loving on some led lights for a grow coming up in the summer to keep my temps more normal in the hot times. My vote would be White Rhino and the clone, all girl and ready to roll without sexing and taking up more space for you. Then you can concentrate on training and getting the most meds out of them.
MD

Plemon mmmmm

Hey Moon, thanks for the reply an kind words. Yeah I'm running one single bulb atm, exactly like that big beauty in the second picture I was also toying wi' the idea of making up a rig or two like you have shown, mainly to use along the sides or bottoms an just keep my current bulb uptop. Are they difficult to assemble etc ? Mmm mm mm that Plemon looks heavenly mate lol All those seeds I mentioned are feminised btw. Oh and the LED rig will most likely be a Mars Hydro. I did see ones on ebay earlier tonight ...45w jobbies, by Excalven I think the brand is but don't qoute me on that lol

I'm using a slightly older tablet atm an the camera is so-so to say the least! I'll get my bro to take some nicer photos in a day or two so you can get an idea of what I'm working with

cool no worries I know the one your referring to. If you have the large cfl your about as good as your getting until you go to the led unit. The weight of one alone of the cfls is enough for one socket. You will be very happy with the led for the space you have. I have been playing with adding in more leds to the vertical setup, and strips are very handy now a days they have remote controllers and can be hung vertically easily with out to much swaying in the fan breeze. I have not had them in enough to tell if they are working better then the 600 at the moment but i will see lol.
MD

I'm running a experiment with some led 19w 3500k and 5000k with defuser removed. Unbelievable

I think I will bite the budlet an get an LED rig for next grow. Thanks again for the replies folks

The problem that I have had with a tight budget is that there are a lot of cheap options out there that we get hooked into because we don't have the cash. When I restarted my growing I went out and got a couple CFLs, a month later I got a cheap LED from Amazon ($60)- I moved my CFLs into my veg area and used the LED for flower. three months after that I went out and bought 2 1000 Watt HPS/MH systems for $125 a piece for flower and switched the veg to 8 T8 lamps at about $17 each), then last month I upgraded to 5 CMH (I build myself for about $90 each). Now I am looking at COB LED and am building a system for about $300 per light.

What I am getting at is everytime I buy something I learn that I can do better and upgrade it, in turn giving away the equipment that I no longer use thus wasting money. If I could do it all again I would try to buy the best (not the most expensive) lights right away and save lower yields and money in doing so. So my advice is research everything very well before buying. In my opinion lights are your most important element to a good grow.

Some places where you can find a good deal on lights are stores like Goodwill, I once bought a 600 watt HPS Hi-Bay light system for $10 added a cord for about $5 and bought a new new bulb for $20ish and came out with a real good light that I could use for $35. I have a friend that went to a police auction and got some lights, but I think that is bad karma so I will just build my own.

Thanks for the detailed reply Sally. I really get what yer saying wi' the whole "I can always do better or upgrade". Also seems like everytime I've decided on a certain setup...some new way or method pops up lol Which is why for the minute I think I'll stick wi' my trusty CFLs an experiment wi' a LED rig thrown into the mix........for now at least anyway lol Good tip on the goodwill stores. UK smoker here but still there are plenty of shops like it an maybe even find some at auctions an the like. Happy smoking

While I have your attention guys do you mind if I ask a question, I'm only using water an bat gauno to feed my lady...will she need a flush ? The NPK ratio is 3-15-4. I was going to flush then read a few comments on here regarding natural fertiliser an not flushing.