My First Grow

Sup guys this is my first grow, i'm using fluorescent lights 120 watt bulb at the moment, another one 125 in the mail any day now, we're tight on money so that is the reason for not having the best equipment. I plan to switch to HPS 400 watt for flowering and veg. I am currently using Miracle grow: Organic choice. I noticed today there were these tiny white bugs in the soil. I don't think they jumped at all, and there was no larva. I was wondering what it could be. It wasn't spider mites either. I currently have 3 plants growing, ak-48 from Nirvana shops.

I read a couple reviews on the soil you have, and people say that it is bug infested.

Yep, word from the learned is that MG has had a few batches of bug laden soil go out. No good. Look around for ways to get rid of them (it's out there.)

You said 120W Florescent, is that a CFL and the bulb equivalent? Those pics are pretty small, but, that looks like a much smaller bulb (maybe a 30W 120 eq.)? You'll definitely want more lighting, but it's a start.

Yeah I wanna get fox farms. In just tight on money is all. I knew this miracle grow shit wouldn't be good but I decided to try it

That. Bulb is 2100 lumens and 120 watt I don't recall it saying it was equivalent, but you are most likely right about it being 30 watt. What do you recommend for first grow low budget?

Good luck with your first grow.

The hard truth is that you get out of your grow what you put into it. It is possible to grow a plant with minimal light (assuming you get all the other stuff right, like nutes, temps, disease, ...) and it will produce a little bud. But if you want a decent return for your efforts, you're going to want to triple (at least) the amount of light you've currently got. Like Minnesmoker said, it looks like a 30w. Get a few more of those, and make sure they're the correct spectrum for vegging (6400K). The name of the game with cfls is positioning and proximity to the plant, so surround the plant with as many cfls as you can afford to buy.

First thing's first, though.. sort out the bug problem. Add more lighting when you can afford to.

Check these forums for micro-grows using just a few small cfls. Some of the results I've seen posted here are incredible.

Peace

Yeah ill do that. But I have no clue what kind of bugs these are. They are small little white bugs and they just crawl around in the soil and on top of it. Not on the plant though. Any idea what it could be?

I think they're called fungus gnats or something. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure they're harmless.

Found this on wickipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungus_gnat

if they are fungus gnats they are the larval form. And they aren't leaf eaters, but they aren't harmless. Fungus gnat larvae will eat your roots so if you see ALOT of them then it's an issue. If they are scarce it's a non-point really.

I have havign great success in a MG organic soil (NOT POTTING SOIL) I used the in ground soil. I blended it with peralite and did a pea gravel / sand layer on the top to help with bugs. If you're in your final home (pot or bucket) then you can get sand and cover the top layer with that, it really helps with bugs. just make sure to be cautious when watering.

I did have to flush my system with peroxide once or twice to address a fungus gnat issue. Now i have liek 2-3 adult fungus gnats in the room with a 18 ish inch plant. That number I'm not really worried about.

I keep hearing that with fungus gnats you need to tone down the watering, cause if you overwater it can make infestations worse.

Well I don't think they are fungus gnats because they are really tiny. They have no wings. And they aren't larva form, they have antennas I believe really small ones. They also have legs.. They are really really tiny. Like a flea but a tad bit bigger that fleas. Like 2 fleas in one and they are white.. I have no idea what they are

Soil Lice?

They look like little white moths without wings really

Ok we'll I caught one and I found that they do hop. Pretty high and far also. They are white or tannish and have antennas. And small legs. Like a flea really.

Check the bugs above... Those look like what you've just described.

For lighting, 5000k - 6500k for vegging, 2500k - 3000k for flowering, or you can use a mix and match.

Cheap do-it-yourself light boards are pretty simple simple to manufacture. My "light bar" was built with 4 surface mount light fixtures (the kind with a bare bulb) I went with plastic ($.99 each) so that I could notch them for wires. I wired serial, and wired a 3-prong (grounded) cord into the first in series. In each outlet, put an outlet doubler ($1.49-$2.49) In those, I either put bulbs or more outlet multipliers. I think my light bar set up (bulbs included) ran about $45.00. I did get lucky finding my big (65w) 2700k and 6500k bulbs on deep discount (I paid about 6 each for them.)

So I was going to purchase this light for my grow, the current bulb I have now is only 30 watt 2100 lumens 3500K. So I was gonna get this bulb here.

http://www.amazon.com/Lights-America-9266-Lifetime-Fluorescent/dp/B001BPYIZ6/ref=sr_1_3?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1357768861&sr=1-3&keywords=cfl+fluorescent+6500k

Will this be good enough for my grow along with the 30 watt, for seedling and vegetative?

Bump bump.

Sorry, thought I responded already!

There's a nice sticky about bulbs, lumens, etc. on the top of the first page of this sub. You really want to be running higher WATTAGE, and as you veg, you want that light to be in the 5000k-6500k spectrum. If you bought 2 4-packs of 23 watt bulbs (one 4-pack of 2700 and one 4-pack of 5000k-6500k), 4 outlets, and 4 splitters you would have a nice 184 watt full cycle growlight setup, you can get nice coverage with that, and it could be done for about 25 dollars at a Menards, Walmart or Home Depot

Alright thanks. Ill go check Home Depot out for more Cfls and make sure they are 5000k or 6500k for veg