MY CFL GROW continued...

Hey all... just thought Id put an update on how my plants are coming for any of you who saw my first couple threads and helped me out (thanks again!), and for anyone who didnt but are interested in seeing a cheap CFL grow. (my first)
OK.. So Ive got 5 plants total. About 12 26 watt 1800 lumen 6500K bulbs, and 2 26 watt 4100K bulbs, also 1800 lumens. And I keep adding more, although I think Im pretty close all Im going to have. My plants went through about a week and 1/2 of a drout, and where not growing at all because almost all the tips of the plants had grown into the cfls and were burnt (Had them about an inch away and left them for about 8 hours and they were growing fast!). Wasnt sure what to do with them, but eventually I transplanted and topped them and they definately seemed to like it! ALso got rid of tinfoil and used mylar and just recently Ive made a pretty effective mylar reflective hood with some cardboard flaps that ive duct taped to my bathroom vanity. A pic will either be in my galary or attached to this post if I can get the damn thing to work. THey are now about 2-3 inches away from the lights. Also had problems with them being root bound and slight PH problem I think (check my water and it was around 7.3, since Ive been testing and using 6.8

PLANT 1: A lot of the leaves were burnt on this bushy one, so I hacked it to shit (Actually tried FIM), and trimmed off all of the fan leaves. Its now growing out nicely (about 3 days after topping): PIC

PLANT 2: One plants growth tips didnt get burnt and it is growing fairly well now and very short spacing between its nodes. Was very wilted before I transplanted but is doing very well now

PLant 3: My biggest and best looking plant, 4 days after FIM

Plant 4: Big dark green heavy leaves, 3 days after FIM

PLant 5: Was taken out of main veging part and put underneath cabinet in separate part. Attempting the LST this one, and possibly some of the others soon, depending on how this one works out. This is also the plant that has the sole 4100K bulbs X2, and one 6500K bulb.

All plants are about 42 days old from seed, although this is a guess.. ohh yeah, and got the seeds from a buddy who grew outdoors

PLanning on picking a mother in a week or two, and flowering the rest using 2 part BigFOOT ferts for $15 that I bought at a hydro shop. Was too cheap to buy the good vegging fert and am just using shitty MG 8-7-6.
Using a pretty good promix soil, have a moisture meter, ph tester, hydrometer (usually pretty dry, but adding in humidifier), 4 pc fans, carbon filter.... THis site really got me into this, started off without reading anythiung at all, about 1 week in I looked at the net cause I saw a yellowing leaf.. haha sorry for such a long post

PIc one above is plant 1, pic 2 is plant 2, pic 3 showing reflector, pic 4 plant 3, pic 5 is plant 4, and since I could only have 5 attached, this pic is plant 4.
Any suggestions or comments are appreciated! thanks!

u goin cfls all the way?

good question. I have like 4 42 watt 2700K and a few 26 watt 2700K and was going to buy more. But am now thinking about possibly ordering a 250watt hps (even though 400 watt is about the same price on eBay) for $100 and $25 shipping. It includes the reflector, ballast, Hps bulb, and mh conversion bulb.. sounds like a hell of a deal!
I will however use the cfls for sure during flowering, just not sure about the adding of the hps

r u on a budget?

Well sorta, am a student and only work PT. Ive had sick hookups on everything Ive gotten so far and have just about everyhting I need and spent less than $150 including the cabinet which has my grow ferts +soil etc in the one half of the bottom and another chamber that plant 4 is in right now. Might get that hps/mh combo though because it seems to be a great deal.. $300+ for all that at a local hydro shop around here, and $125 on eBay

if u get the money y not throw the hps in there but u can get good smoke goin all cfls.

My FIMd plant doing well!!! Should I start flowering her soon?? Or should I make clones for sexing? Any suggestions? Thanks!

na, i would wait until it reached a foot and a half or your looking it some really small yield not worth all the trouble of growing... be a bit longer patient and it pays out

but a clone or two for sexing it would pay out, and you could top it that way a bit more so it even gets more bushy and if it is female you got yourself one hell of a plant there
and topping because the younger the branches are you take for cloning the easier they grow/root, and the top is almost always the freshest grow on the plant, one thing i learned lately on my own

Hey all.. just thought id post an update pic on my 2 FIm'd plants.. they are doing better than the ones that I tried to LST.. I took one cutting from each plant and am planning on sticking them in veg for a while, maybe a month, and just flowering the parents.. that way ill know which clones to keep, and then I might make a mother out of one of the lady clones.
Notice the diff in colour of the 2 plants?? Huge diff.. Im not sure why.. they have both been given 6.8ish plain tap water, no nutes, just the slow realease in the soil (for the past couple weeks).. the lighter one I think might have a nitrogen deficiency and Ive just given it soem MG 8-7-6 nutes.. any suggestions or comments appreciated!

Go for an npk where the middle is about half of the two outside of it. For example 10-5-10.

Good luck with your yield...

Are you using cfl's all the way through?

Looked at your gallery and everything looks fine. Nice set up. i'm interested in the yield you achieve, also the growth rate of the plants in veg' is of some interest.

Keep posting, and let us know how things are getting along. There's some good threads on here by people that have grown using cfl's, do a search on this site and you might learn something new.

my barfridge flowering chamber is almost complete! I just transplanted the 2 topped plants into 2 parts potting soil, 1 part perlite and 1 part vermeculite, and just deciding which one will have the barfridge home for flowering!
it has 2 X 26 watt 2700K CFLS, 2 26 watt 6500K CFLs, and one 42 watt 2700K cfl.. it also has a pc fan right above the lights at the top blowing hot air out, and a passive air intake at the bottom pulling fresh air in.. the lights are all at the top horizontally, and the plant can be moved up and down through old shelf slots... it is painted flat white.. temp 76, humidity 45%

I need some advise... I am going to start flowering them all reallly soon and have a seperate little area for my clones in veg.. but as you can see from the pic of the barfridge with the topped plant in it, the fan leaves are still yellowing and getting kinda worse.. I only have MG crappy veg nutes and dont want to use any... im going to be puttign it into flowering with my 2 part good nutes very soon.. will it be fine with just plain water for a couple more days, and then start using the good nutes??? or should I keep it in veg until it starts looking greener while using high N nutes and then switch to flowering???
Im very anxious to start flowering as the plants are approx 2 months old and the bar fridge isnt huge..
thanks for any input!!
pic 1 - front view of fridge grow box, pic 2 - passive air intake - pic 3 is what i cut off from the plant in the fridge yesterday.. thanks guys, a quick response with a good opinion would be awesome!!!

skunk? any comments? anyone else?

With the 14 bulbs of cfl how much have you noticed your power bill go up?