Setup / harvest question

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crowley1027

Active Member
I have one 26w 1600 lumen CFL hovering over a 2-liter with a plant a couple weeks into growing from a seed that i got out of a bag of middies, this is just an experimental grow, I don't expect much out of it. I have aluminum foil domes on either side, one hanging around the light and one around the 2L, and I was just wondering, if I kept the plant in the 2L with the same light and vegged it to like 2 or 3 feet (possible without flowering?), how much can i expect to yield? Also, i'm using "seed starter" soil and i'm not transplanting it or using nutes. THANKs!


ImageShack - Hosting :: 228897333381ns3.jpg - 14 days in, and i'm about 5 days past this. that's not the 2L by the way.
 
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E S

New Member
You'd be wasting time and money vegging it that big for a 26w cfl. Flowering it now will give you the same results.
 
spida

spida

Well-Known Member
I would say re-think your setup all together. Because that will get you know where. Flower now, and your still going to get the same result. Don't expect much under only 1 cfl.
 
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crowley1027

Active Member
Gotcha. Is it better to have no reflection than to use foil?

See, this was kind of an "im gonna grow" idea. So I just went and bought soil. No research, no nothing. This was all from scratch haha. Im going to pick up my check today, what are some fairly cheap investments I should make? What should I buy first?
 
E

E S

New Member
You are slightly overwatering the plant but maybe you just watered?

Whatever you buy, you'll just need more so get essentials and leave the frills on the shelf. You need to focus on getting the temps and humidity perfect before you can even maximize the light. Also wanna consider pest management now before shit gets outa hand. Mosquito dunks and neem are your friend.
 
spida

spida

Well-Known Member
Don't worry about pests indoor, I haven't seen many problems with people growing indoors with pests. I would suggest buying more CFL's. Take the foil off, and hang up emergency blankets, or paint your cabinet walls white.
 
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gforce420

Well-Known Member
if you are getting paid & i'm gonna assume you are on a limited budget well I would suggest looking for the thread called something like "$20 HPS 150 watt w/ ballast". I haven't used these but if you can spend $20 & get a 150watt HPS light & a ballast then I say that is a bargain & perfect for you. The plant you have either already is or is just about @ the best it can do for your 26W light. So when you try to flower it will fail because it is using all of those lumens just to sustain it's own life, creating flowers just won't be possible (@ least not the kind you are hoping for). So get your check cashed & act fast. Get the 150 Watt HPS & that will be enough to sustain your plant through flowering.

Forget the aluminum foil also. It's not good. As I have been told it can create "hot spots" meaning it doesn't reflect light evenly so it can create concentrated points of light & heat that will burn your plants like a magnifying glass burning an ant. Mylar is the stuff you want for light reflectivity. double sided mylar to be specific. If you can't afford the good stuff & you need a cheap solution then see if you can find the reflective gift wrapping paper. It's made of mylar & will do the trick ifyou're on a budget.

Next thing I can give you advice on is forget vegging your plant to 2 or 3 feet tall. First of all, understand the plant will double in size (height) durging flower if it has proper light, which is what you want. 2nd, even w/ your 150 HPS or even a crap ton more light than that you will not have enough to sustain a 6 foot tall plant. Got it? Ok. So w/ a 150 Watt HPS you may want to take your wrapping paper & make an enclosure for your plant about 16" x 16 inches. How long your veg it depends on how you train it. But anyhow I would say you should start flowering by 16"-18" under 150w HPS.

You do not want to veg too long because the last thing you want to do is see a plant grow as well as it can under the light it has while in veg. But then when you try to flower it peters out on you because it's too big for the light. Do it right & veg it early enough then your plant will have plenty of light to flower AND continue to grow as it flowers. Flowering is a crucial time, I mean it's the flowers you're after, so you don't want the plant going hungry for light while it's trying to produce the buds you're after.

In summary....
#1 YOU GOTTA HAVE MORE LIGHT
#2 don't use foil. Use mylar, if you can't use mylar then flat while paint will work.
#3 You gotta start flower smaller, you can't grow 11 foot tall monsters indoors like you can outdoors. & even if you did it wouldn't be the most effecient way to do it.
 
N

NorCal510

Well-Known Member
gforce420 said:
if you are getting paid & i'm gonna assume you are on a limited budget well I would suggest looking for the thread called something like "$20 HPS 150 watt w/ ballast". I haven't used these but if you can spend $20 & get a 150watt HPS light & a ballast then I say that is a bargain & perfect for you. The plant you have either already is or is just about @ the best it can do for your 26W light. So when you try to flower it will fail because it is using all of those lumens just to sustain it's own life, creating flowers just won't be possible (@ least not the kind you are hoping for). So get your check cashed & act fast. Get the 150 Watt HPS & that will be enough to sustain your plant through flowering.

Forget the aluminum foil also. It's not good. As I have been told it can create "hot spots" meaning it doesn't reflect light evenly so it can create concentrated points of light & heat that will burn your plants like a magnifying glass burning an ant. Mylar is the stuff you want for light reflectivity. double sided mylar to be specific. If you can't afford the good stuff & you need a cheap solution then see if you can find the reflective gift wrapping paper. It's made of mylar & will do the trick ifyou're on a budget.

Next thing I can give you advice on is forget vegging your plant to 2 or 3 feet tall. First of all, understand the plant will double in size (height) durging flower if it has proper light, which is what you want. 2nd, even w/ your 150 HPS or even a crap ton more light than that you will not have enough to sustain a 6 foot tall plant. Got it? Ok. So w/ a 150 Watt HPS you may want to take your wrapping paper & make an enclosure for your plant about 16" x 16 inches. How long your veg it depends on how you train it. But anyhow I would say you should start flowering by 16"-18" under 150w HPS.

You do not want to veg too long because the last thing you want to do is see a plant grow as well as it can under the light it has while in veg. But then when you try to flower it peters out on you because it's too big for the light. Do it right & veg it early enough then your plant will have plenty of light to flower AND continue to grow as it flowers. Flowering is a crucial time, I mean it's the flowers you're after, so you don't want the plant going hungry for light while it's trying to produce the buds you're after.

In summary....
#1 YOU GOTTA HAVE MORE LIGHT
#2 don't use foil. Use mylar, if you can't use mylar then flat while paint will work.
#3 You gotta start flower smaller, you can't grow 11 foot tall monsters indoors like you can outdoors. & even if you did it wouldn't be the most effecient way to do it.
Click to expand...

I can't find the "$20 HPS 150 watt w/ ballast" thread you mentioned...
 
spida

spida

Well-Known Member
gforce420 said:
if you are getting paid & i'm gonna assume you are on a limited budget well I would suggest looking for the thread called something like "$20 HPS 150 watt w/ ballast". I haven't used these but if you can spend $20 & get a 150watt HPS light & a ballast then I say that is a bargain & perfect for you. The plant you have either already is or is just about @ the best it can do for your 26W light. So when you try to flower it will fail because it is using all of those lumens just to sustain it's own life, creating flowers just won't be possible (@ least not the kind you are hoping for). So get your check cashed & act fast. Get the 150 Watt HPS & that will be enough to sustain your plant through flowering.

Forget the aluminum foil also. It's not good. As I have been told it can create "hot spots" meaning it doesn't reflect light evenly so it can create concentrated points of light & heat that will burn your plants like a magnifying glass burning an ant. Mylar is the stuff you want for light reflectivity. double sided mylar to be specific. If you can't afford the good stuff & you need a cheap solution then see if you can find the reflective gift wrapping paper. It's made of mylar & will do the trick ifyou're on a budget.

Next thing I can give you advice on is forget vegging your plant to 2 or 3 feet tall. First of all, understand the plant will double in size (height) durging flower if it has proper light, which is what you want. 2nd, even w/ your 150 HPS or even a crap ton more light than that you will not have enough to sustain a 6 foot tall plant. Got it? Ok. So w/ a 150 Watt HPS you may want to take your wrapping paper & make an enclosure for your plant about 16" x 16 inches. How long your veg it depends on how you train it. But anyhow I would say you should start flowering by 16"-18" under 150w HPS.

You do not want to veg too long because the last thing you want to do is see a plant grow as well as it can under the light it has while in veg. But then when you try to flower it peters out on you because it's too big for the light. Do it right & veg it early enough then your plant will have plenty of light to flower AND continue to grow as it flowers. Flowering is a crucial time, I mean it's the flowers you're after, so you don't want the plant going hungry for light while it's trying to produce the buds you're after.

In summary....
#1 YOU GOTTA HAVE MORE LIGHT
#2 don't use foil. Use mylar, if you can't use mylar then flat while paint will work.
#3 You gotta start flower smaller, you can't grow 11 foot tall monsters indoors like you can outdoors. & even if you did it wouldn't be the most effecient way to do it.
Click to expand...

In response to paragraph 1 - I'd have to see a $20 hps and ballast to believe it. Don't expect it living a long time for only $20. That's highly unlikely unless your like building your own bulb and ballast.

In response to paragraph 2 - For reflection, I would suggest emergency blankets instead of wrapping paper. Personally, I think it would get better reflection, and emergency blankets only cost under a dollar each usually. And you can find them in outdoor sports sections.

In response to Paragraph 3 - For size, I wouldn't build an enclosure that's 16" tall. I would personally think that's too small. I would get a 2 and a half feet tall enclosure, about a square foot, possibly a little more. Learn how to do SCROG. It's in the growfaq under methods I think. I'd find a link but I'm kinda busy. Read up on SCROG and to me I think this will greatly improve your yield without having tons of space height-wise.

gforce420 - I am not disrespecting you or saying you are wrong on anything. So don't get me wrong you have good advice, I'm just giving my personal opinion on the subject, because if I was him, I'd like quite a few suggestions to decide how I am going to do it. Basically everything you said was correct, I was just explaining how to do those things in a different way. (This is just to cover my ass, as some people get mad over things like this)
 
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crowley1027

Active Member
Okay, update: I took the bottom foil off (I left the foil dome because i'm only getting 1600 lumens and I dont want to lose any of them [haha]) and I Just started flowering. 12/12 is now on. I've noticed, however, that the foil dome above the plant actually sped up growth for me. Anywho, how long do you think before they should be done? Next plant i'm gonna hook up everything. New lights, new pots, new seeds, new everything.
 
C

crowley1027

Active Member
Another update: Its in my closet, which is probably 2'x5'x6', I added another 2000 lumen CFL, so now there's 3600 lumens hovering over my baby. I took all the foil off, and lined the wall behind the plant with foil. I also have a fan blowing air around in there.
 
spida

spida

Well-Known Member
For the 20th time, foil is NOT good man. If you wanna burn your plant, then go ahead, but there is easier way to make reflectors. Use emergency blankets. They only cost like less then a buck. And do 12/12 for about 8 or 9 weeks.
 
G

gforce420

Well-Known Member
spida said:
In response to paragraph 1 - I'd have to see a $20 hps and ballast to believe it. Don't expect it living a long time for only $20. That's highly unlikely unless your like building your own bulb and ballast.

In response to paragraph 2 - For reflection, I would suggest emergency blankets instead of wrapping paper. Personally, I think it would get better reflection, and emergency blankets only cost under a dollar each usually. And you can find them in outdoor sports sections.

In response to Paragraph 3 - For size, I wouldn't build an enclosure that's 16" tall. I would personally think that's too small. I would get a 2 and a half feet tall enclosure, about a square foot, possibly a little more. Learn how to do SCROG. It's in the growfaq under methods I think. I'd find a link but I'm kinda busy. Read up on SCROG and to me I think this will greatly improve your yield without having tons of space height-wise.

gforce420 - I am not disrespecting you or saying you are wrong on anything. So don't get me wrong you have good advice, I'm just giving my personal opinion on the subject, because if I was him, I'd like quite a few suggestions to decide how I am going to do it. Basically everything you said was correct, I was just explaining how to do those things in a different way. (This is just to cover my ass, as some people get mad over things like this)
Click to expand...

Hey spida, no offense taken.. .just want to clarify a couple things

as far as your response to paragraph 1. On the $20 HPS, I too am skeptical but I saw a thread on these forums w/ a crap ton of posts on it so i will try to link that in a post in just a couple mins. But like I said I haven't tried it, just saying if it's legit then it's a great deal.

As for your point on paragraph #2. good point. I've heard of using both. If it was me i'd get the good stuff from the hydro store I was just relaying what I had heard about wrapping paper being mylar & thought that might help. I've heard the same about shock blankets & according to you they are cheaper so prolly a better suggestion so..... good point, ty.

As for paragraph 3.... perhaps you misunderstood or perhaps I wasn't very clear. But i never intended him to make an enclosure that was 16" tall. When I said 16"x16" I was speaking of width & depth, not height. Height would be unlimited & adjusted by light height. Bigger than your 12x12 recommendation but certainly I'm not advising anyone to grow in a 16" high room.

Ok, hope that clears things up. & thank you for being so diplomatic in your disagreements w/ my post :)
 
spida

spida

Well-Known Member
gforce420 said:
Hey spida, no offense taken.. .just want to clarify a couple things

as far as your response to paragraph 1. On the $20 HPS, I too am skeptical but I saw a thread on these forums w/ a crap ton of posts on it so i will try to link that in a post in just a couple mins. But like I said I haven't tried it, just saying if it's legit then it's a great deal.

As for your point on paragraph #2. good point. I've heard of using both. If it was me i'd get the good stuff from the hydro store I was just relaying what I had heard about wrapping paper being mylar & thought that might help. I've heard the same about shock blankets & according to you they are cheaper so prolly a better suggestion so..... good point, ty.

As for paragraph 3.... perhaps you misunderstood or perhaps I wasn't very clear. But i never intended him to make an enclosure that was 16" tall. When I said 16"x16" I was speaking of width & depth, not height. Height would be unlimited & adjusted by light height. Bigger than your 12x12 recommendation but certainly I'm not advising anyone to grow in a 16" high room.

Ok, hope that clears things up. & thank you for being so diplomatic in your disagreements w/ my post :)
Click to expand...
1st - Cool, I'll check that link out. Haha.

2nd - Lot's of stuff works, just helps for a variety of supplies you can use in my opinion, and i've seen that wrapping paper before its probably near as cheap as the blankets if not as cheap or cheaper, but again variety. Haha

3rd. Good at first i was like 16" high?! haha. it can be done, but ehh. for tiny yields. :)
 
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crowley1027

Active Member
Is it bad to have two different color lights on the plant while it's flowering? I have a more orangy-yellow 26w 1600L CFL and a whiter/bluish 2000L CFL on the same plant, I just started flowering a day ago or so. I'm not concerned if it'll make a small difference.
 
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