Please Help Me Grow!

Yo this is my first time posting on the site. I came her because i needed some help growing buds. I have a crawlspace/attic i wanna grow in. I don't know what lights to use for my first time grow. I've looked into and know about HPS vs. CFL vs. HID etc. and i think i wanna get a 125Watt CFL grow light. All i want to grow is one plant to start, so i think i only need a 1.5x1.5 (3sq. ft) area. Does that sound right? What lights do you recommend i start with, and what lamp should i get?

Hey dude I'm new to this growing shizz I got my self a 400w hps this will be
decent enough through out my grow. I got the bulb, ballast and the reflecter
for 60 quid from a local grow store Id recommend this but think about the
heat extraction these things kick out alot of heat.

Hey dude I'm new to this growing shizz I got my self a 400w hps this will be
decent enough through out my grow. I got the bulb, ballast and the reflecter
for 60 quid from a local grow store Id recommend this but think about the
heat extraction these things kick out alot of heat.

livingthehighlife said:

Hey dude I'm new to this growing shizz I got my self a 400w hps this will be
decent enough through out my grow. I got the bulb, ballast and the reflecter
for 60 quid from a local grow store Id recommend this but think about the
heat extraction these things kick out alot of heat.

Click to expand...

How many sq ft is ur growing area? how many plants are you trying to grow. i was thinking cfl over hps since the hps is gonna leave a mark on the electric bill

The thing about CFLS is that they are weak and you have to put them very close to the plants for the lumens to be used efficiently. Try and get even coverage with them. One CFL won't do too much. If I were you I'd double your wattage or so and use 5 CFLS. A quick trip to home depot and you can rig up mogul sockets quite easily. I'd put 4 cfl's circling the plant and 1 directly above it.

CFLs if used right can yield as much as an HPS in that wattage range so don't worry too much about it. Just make sure you have atleast 100 watts per plant and if you are having heating issues then find a way to keep the air flowing through the crawls space/ attic.

If your attic is like the ones I used to live under they get quite warm but already have a lot of means for evacuation of heat. Just let your ingenuity be your guide.

If you do go HID you should try to aim for a negative pressure in your growing area.

Now this would grow a healthy strong plant. In figuring lighting figure lumens output moreover than wattage as it is a better indicator. Light intensity vs distance is a square relationship. So for example at 2 feet away the Light output/4...at 3 feet Light output/9.

As for CFL vs HPS at 100 watts cfl is around 6,000 lumens whereas HPS is around 9,000 lumens. A big percentage difference.

Good Luck.

Cfl's are great use 4 of them for vegging, but when you switch your plants over to flower you would want to get as much light as possible so I would double it and use 8 cfl's. Try to make something like Growforthegold showed you.

thanks. im thinking about 5-6 23 Watt bulbs,which would generate 115-138watts for my one plant. or should i get 3-4 42 watt bulbs? growingforthegold is that setup really necessary for only one plant, i dont think i have the materials to make that

Walmart has 4" T8 CFL lights for 10$ and the fixtures for 10$ 10 + 10 = 20$
They produce little to no heat and are great for beginners. Your space should be at least 4 ft wide and 5 feet tall the plants will get big no matter who says what or unless you have smaller clones to work with. Are you going with soil or trying ur luck with hydroponics? Sounds like soil. Get any soil that has tomatoes growing on the cover. Those usually work without you needing to tend to nutrients until later in the process.

Dont over water!!!! Even if the soil on top looks dry the roots still retains alot of moisture. Just lift the whole plant the lighter means it's closer to watering time or wash your hand and dig your middle finger in the soil feeling for moisture. If your finger comes out with a lil dirt attached to them you still have moisture LET IT GROW if it comes out dusty and dry then water her. LET THE WATER DRAIN until a very slow drip occurs with your pots! That helps retain the correct moisture levels instead of letting your roots sit in muddy water and dying. At least these are the ways I have had most success growing as well. GL

nah for the mone you spend on setting up all those cfls and getting the bulbs you could have a 600w grow light
http://www.basementlighting.com/Merc...duct_Code=HRLP

The setup in the photo isn't required per se but I'd hate to be disappointed in my one and only plant. Out of the 2 choices I'd Get 4 42 watt bulbs...3 encompassing and 1 above.

okay. i got 6 23watt 6500kb bulbs wiht the outlet socket adapters that allow me to plug them right into a socket. will this work fine? and what do you recommend for a hood will a aluminum tray flipped over and hung from the ceiling work?

Hey the tray thing would work, but what you should look into is using a can or something. Theres a couple threads on making them. There legit as hell. and super easy to make. Ya man, u'll be fine with that set-up. Im growing 2 plants with 9 assorted cfls. I think 4 of them are 15watt, 2 of them are 23watt, and the other 3 are 27watt. The plants are just peachy. lol and the cool thing is just one little computer exhaust fan will be sufficient for air movement. The lights are so low heat. I also have a 1000w HPS and...well...thats a different story. lol I'll tell you this much. 2 weeks of flowering on 10 plants with the cfls was like 1-2 days of the HPS. But that light cost me a shit ton a month. and it fried 4 young clones and 1 seedling one time. The important thing is talkin to them. lol Just spend time with your plants and you should always know when ur plants doin good or bad. Oh and are you startin with a clone or seed?

J DizZle said:

okay. i got 6 23watt 6500kb bulbs wiht the outlet socket adapters that allow me to plug them right into a socket. will this work fine? and what do you recommend for a hood will a aluminum tray flipped over and hung from the ceiling work?

Click to expand...

Yes that would work just fine, make sure to provide plenty of side lighting aswell. As for a hood can't help you there, i'm sure there is plenty of DIY threads just google "DIY reflective hood" that should help.

ThatStankyDanky said:

Hey the tray thing would work, but what you should look into is using a can or something. Theres a couple threads on making them. There legit as hell. and super easy to make. Ya man, u'll be fine with that set-up. Im growing 2 plants with 9 assorted cfls. I think 4 of them are 15watt, 2 of them are 23watt, and the other 3 are 27watt. The plants are just peachy. lol and the cool thing is just one little computer exhaust fan will be sufficient for air movement. The lights are so low heat. I also have a 1000w HPS and...well...thats a different story. lol I'll tell you this much. 2 weeks of flowering on 10 plants with the cfls was like 1-2 days of the HPS. But that light cost me a shit ton a month. and it fried 4 young clones and 1 seedling one time. The important thing is talkin to them. lol Just spend time with your plants and you should always know when ur plants doin good or bad. Oh and are you startin with a clone or seed?

Click to expand...

thanks. yea i got a quad of some no name dank that had a a couple seeds in it. im gonna try that, the seeds dont look cracked.i just picked up a quad of blackberry k i would love to grow but it had no seeds from any of the buds their so dense. oh well. what computer exhaust fan are you using... i was just thinking a small fan that i could plug into the wall and get blowing the air around by the plant whenever i need to fan it. do i need an actual exhaust?

Although the lumen rating between a HPS and a CFL varies at 100w the over all par output doesn't vary that much. It is a fact.

i agree with you bro

6X23W CFLs give off less light than a single 125W CFL and are far more enoying to cool.For your space you should aim for around 125w CFL light or 75W HID.The 23W, splitters and all the accessories will probably cost more than a 125W.Remember that your would need to change bulbs from veg to flowering. for veg you want 6300-6700K (daylight, blue) and for flowering 2300K (warm white, red).The problem with CFLs is that they need to be close to the plant. With 23W you need to keep them 1" from the plants. With 125W a 2.5" is good enough.They main key is to use your lights properly, no matter what they are. Use good reflective materials and shield up everything.For my CFL veg. closet I use a glass tube (something like a cool tube) that my exhaust vent (around 70cfm) is pulling air from and so pulling out the heat from that single 45W.Its not that great, but I need to keep growth slow as I need to wait each time for the flowering room to clear and my veg. space is small.I just let the plants grow on the glass tube. that way they are at the right distance from the light. pretty simple.

If it is your first grow then i would do it in soil it is far less stress all though i do both i think that the plants in soil produce has much but for less work.Plus take all the stuff that is going to have to be set up in the crawl space.A few pots a bag of compost a bag of perlite and that is the grow medium there.Go for a h.p.s light these are great for vegging and flowering.But i would get a small box set up going for getting seedlings or clones going you will need flouresent tubes and a couple of cfls.Get the flourent tubes cool daylight spec this will anable you to have them inces of the top of the plants.Then have a couple of wall mounted cfl's on the walls i have 2 oneach side 2 cool daylight again and 2 warm daylight the warm ones will give you that bit of heat needed for getting the young plants started off.After a couple of grows you will be produceing some top notch bud.Because it is a first grow go for a indica these tend to be more easyer to get to grips with because there not big like sativa's.There is alot of info out thre now when i started it was trail and error but you get the jist after a couple of grows.It is well worth buying all the equipment needed before you get the seeds or clones.Get the room right first you will need a good exaust system and a good light h.p.s is the most productive light out there at this time some will dissagree but h.p.s is the best i have tried.Get the temps right in the room with a good ossalateing fan the exaust fan this should be easy done i like to have one ossalateing fan for the plants and one just for the light have it blowing all the time on full at the hood most heat is caused by the heat stored in the reflecter and hood.The other fan i have blowing across the top of the plants thus copying the wind.The exaust will be for 2 purposes one is to get stagnent air out of the grow room and the other is to pull the hot air out of the room.Watch has many threads on you tube has possible the most inforative i have watched is with out a dought see more buds 1/2/3.Good luck in the new venture hope all goes well and remember grow for fun and enjoyment of the end results or it will become a pain.If you have the money go for a ready growing tent with these everything comes with it and it is plug in and .........................................................................TYKE...................................................................................................