New member with a question or 2!

[ninja1]

Hey Guys, new member here! I found your site yesterday and literally spent like 10 hours on it! I am from Mass. , 20 year smoka, new grower.
So I have been fascinated with educating myself on growing my own for months now. This summer I stuck a seed in a pot on my balcony and cared for that thing like it was my first born! It was the most rewarding feeling I have ever had when I smoked my own for the first time, and BONUS- it was awesome! So now I am taking a shot at an indoor 2 plant grow. I took home a small metal file cabinet from work just last night, stopped at H-Depot on the way and bought 2 100watt cfl's and stuck the 2 3 week olds I had already started in the cabinet. Tonight I plan on making it nice and reflective and doing a little something every week to better my operation. Last night after I took these 2 pics I began to LST them and tied them off with some gift wrap string, one at the base so I dont uproot them and one string at the top leaf set and bent it right over to the edge of the pot. Hope to keep them nice and tight little bushes. I plan on FIMming them this weekend. I alson need to get myself a nice odor control unit. Any help would be sooo apreciated guys! As I said, this is new territory to m e but I am super motivated to learn. What do you think about the lighting situation, is it enough, the right kind, do I need to change anything? Any help is good. Great site, great find!

 

[bybliz]

hey ninja, those cfl's are probably 100w equivalents, not 100 real watts, real watts are probably 23w each.

What are the internal dimensions of your cabinet?
Are you planning to start all your plants from seed or are you going to make another box or split your current one to house mothers and clones?
How stealth does your cabinet have to be? if you keep it closed all the time you may have to think of ways to vent.
You will need odour control for sure (unless security is not an issue).
Also noticed you bought cool white bulbs, those will be good for vegging, but warm white will be better for flowering.

 

[ninja1]

yes they are 100 watt equivalents. Not enough you think??

The dimensions are 4 feet tall, 3 feet wide and 3 feet deep. I plan on starting all from seed in a seperate room under a 15watt plant/aquarium flourescent light, I had good results doing that with these 2 guys - had growth after a week in red cups.

Venting - yes! I am looking to find direct plug in pc fans asap! right now I keep the doors open and a small room fan in blowing on it.

so - yes they are cool white, 3500k - dont keep them for flowering time? what do you think, bring it down to 2500K??

and lastly - thank you!

 

[bybliz]

yes they are 100 watt equivalents. Not enough you think??

The dimensions are 4 feet tall, 3 feet wide and 3 feet deep. I plan on starting all from seed in a seperate room under a 15watt plant/aquarium flourescent light, I had good results doing that with these 2 guys - had growth after a week in red cups.

Venting - yes! I am looking to find direct plug in pc fans asap! right now I keep the doors open and a small room fan in blowing on it.

so - yes they are cool white, 3500k - dont keep them for flowering time? what do you think, bring it down to 2500K??

and lastly - thank you!

Wow, are you sure that box 3 ft wide by 3 ft deep? It looks smaller in the picture. My eyes are deceiving me! lol If that is in fact true, that is 3X3 is 9 square feet to play with. I think most people with CFL use a minimum of around 50 real watts of CFL per square feet, that would mean you would need many more 23w cfls.

Venting means you are drawing cool air into the box while expelling hot air out to keep your temperatures from going over 90 degrees F. Not just circulating the same air inside the box. You might have to cut holes in the cabinet to do so. You should have the box sealed so that you can control the odour better such as forcing vented air through a carbon scrubber to neutralize the air, soon enough, they will start stinking.

You don't have to get rid of the cool white bulbs, but you should add more warm white bulbs because they are a better spectrum for flowering.

 

[Batboy]

I'm not doubting your measurements (well, maybe a little), but I don't see how that cab can be 4x3x3.

If you really do have 36 cubic feet of space, you might want to consider an HID light or a LOT more CFLs. If you are going to stick with CFLs, you should consider ones that are much larger, or you'll need to buy a lot more 23watters. 1 or 2 or 3 23w bulbs per plant is not going to impress the plant very much during flowering. In my first grow, a 2 plant CFL-only show, I used over 300w of CFLs (that's actual wattage, not equivalent - it was a mixture of 23w and 42w) and, while the results were pleasing for a first attempt, the buds were not at all dense and the light penetration was a joke. If I was going to do another CFL-only grow, I would consider buying one or two of those big mamma 100 or 200w CFLs (actual, not equivalent!) and then use 23w or 42w CFLs for supplemental side lighting.

As for light spectrum, I'm no expert, but I was always told to use cool for veg (6500k) and warm (2700k) for flower with a few others mixed in during flower to give the plant the full spectrum for bud production. Not sure about your 3500k; I guess I could see an argument that it's the best of both worlds. I could also see an argument that you are splitting the baby and not giving the plant enough of anything. . . .

good luck

edit: looks like bybliz beat me to the punch. at least our lighting advice seems consistent; as does our questioning of your measurements!

 

[ninja1]

guys thanks for the quick replies, this site is great. So Youre right, I got my trusty tape measure - 2feet tall, 1 foot and half deep and 2 and half feet long is what i got.

As for the lighting - I didnt see anything larger than those at the Depot, but I only paid like $2 a bulb, so if I need to change them or add more, I would rather do it than keep what I have and hope for the best. So of course I want opinions
Would I be good if I buy like 4 more of the same bulbs - 2 more for each plant?

 

[bybliz]

guys thanks for the quick replies, this site is great. So Youre right, I got my trusty tape measure - 2feet tall, 1 foot and half deep and 2 and half feet long is what i got.

As for the lighting - I didnt see anything larger than those at the Depot, but I only paid like $2 a bulb, so if I need to change them or add more, I would rather do it than keep what I have and hope for the best. So of course I want opinions
Would I be good if I buy like 4 more of the same bulbs - 2 more for each plant?

okay, now that seems more reasonable =), So you have 3 sq ft of space. If you are going to utilize all 3 square feet, I would add atleast 8 more 23w bulbs, which will be around 76w per square ft.

Next question are you flowering just 2 plants for now? you can maybe get away with adding just 4 more bulbs but move the plants and bulbs closer together.

If this is an option for you, you should even look into getting a 150w hps or even 200w hps. More efficient and better canopy penetration.

Either way, your plants will be much happier and produce better with more light than just 2-23w bulbs in that space.

 

[Shred42O]

a little tip to add more lights to each socket is to unscrew that reflector on the light and put a light splitter and you can double your light pretty easily
i have that same light from Homedepot and they can easly handle 2 lights on one

 

[Batboy]

So Youre right, I got my trusty tape measure - 2feet tall, 1 foot and half deep and 2 and half feet long is what i got.

Aha. 7.5 cu.ft. seems more like it. In that case, I withdraw my recommendation to go with HID. I'm sure some people could make it work, but that's a lot of heat for a small metal cab. However, going with the 50w/sq.ft. minimum, you are going to need much more light to make this thing worthwhile.

As for the lighting - I didnt see anything larger than those at the Depot, but I only paid like $2 a bulb, so if I need to change them or add more, I would rather do it than keep what I have and hope for the best. So of course I want opinions
Would I be good if I buy like 4 more of the same bulbs - 2 more for each plant?

A lot of your success will depend on the strain, size and growing style. LST is probably the right approach to keep things short and manageable. However, you still aren't going to get much light penetration into the bushes with only a few CFLs. I reiterate my recommendation (and bybliz's) to go with a very big CFL, even if you have to find it online, or at the very least bigger CFLs like my first grow.

What I did was buy a bunch of 23w CFLs (6500k and 2700k) at Lowes and started with those until my 42watters were delivered. Below is pic of my setup. You can clearly see the different sized CFLs as well as the different color spectrums. In this pic, I believe that I've got a total of 344 actual watts shared by 2 small plants. While I think that this might be a bit much inside of a small metal cab unless you get serious about ventilation, hopefully you can see that you need to put these lights everywhere, because their penetration is so weak that it's the only way to get the plant all the light that it needs/wants. Coinciding with Shred's recommendation, you can see that I used sockets that could handle the wattage and then liberally used lightbulb splitters.

 

[maryjohn]

You should mount your lights directly to your cabinet on a base, oriented horizontally. With 2 feet only, consider a scrog. 42w seems to be a magic number.

Are you thinking internal scrubber?

 

[ninja1]

okay, now that seems more reasonable =), So you have 3 sq ft of space. If you are going to utilize all 3 square feet, I would add atleast 8 more 23w bulbs, which will be around 76w per square ft.

Next question are you flowering just 2 plants for now? you can maybe get away with adding just 4 more bulbs but move the plants and bulbs closer together.

If this is an option for you, you should even look into getting a 150w hps or even 200w hps. More efficient and better canopy penetration.

Either way, your plants will be much happier and produce better with more light than just 2-23w bulbs in that space.

yes, just 2 plants at a time, I live in an apartment and cant get too crazy right now, just got the itch to grow! i probably couldnt go the HPS route yet due to venting and cost, but I am willing to buy the biggest CFL's I can get my hands on tonight on the way home from work!
So if I can find 4 like 50watt cfl's for those 2 plants -
what temp range is good, all purpose for veg and budding, and you guys think I can grow some nice bud like this?
I am going to keep these guys low to the ground, like I said they are already tied off.

 

[maryjohn]

You don't want your temps much higher than 86.

50w cfl's don't exist as far as I know. Veg with what you have (i veg with 26 watts) and when your 42s come you will still have time before flower.

Much bigger than 42 and you lose efficiency is the party line.

 

[ninja1]

[/quote]
Now I like that idea! Thanks ! I am going to buy a bunch of splitters and more bulbs tonight and light that shit up! Like you did, I am going to get some warm and some cool whites in as much wattage as they have in stock, I am glad I asked for help and more glad you guys offered to help!
Now - when its time to flower these little ladies can I keep the lighting I have and just go 12/12 or do I really need to change the temp ratings too?

 

[ninja1]

You should mount your lights directly to your cabinet on a base, oriented horizontally. With 2 feet only, consider a scrog. 42w seems to be a magic number.

Are you thinking internal scrubber?

I will probably end up mounting them very close to the plants - inches away.
As far as a scrubber- I am still up in the air, as I said my only other grow was outdoors, and I brought it in at night for darkness, then back out again in the morning

 

[maryjohn]

It's gonna reek all over when they flower. Start working on the scrubber now.

Mount your lights as high as you can and raise the plants if need be. Nobody complains about too much head space. Remember the most light comes out the side.

 

[pufferfish]

do ur lights right & this scrubber is EZ to make...good luck...http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=509470

 

[Mk3Jetta]

6500K for cool white and 2700K for warm white. These are your vegetation and flowering temps of light you want.

I would cut a round hole the size of your fan in the very top of your cab. ceiling. Mount the fan outside so it is sucking air through your intake. Also you will need a 'passive' intake and not an 'active' one. To sum up a passive intake it is a large hole, usually towards to bottom of your cab, so that it draws in cool air while the active exhaust pulls out the hot stuff and brings in freshness.

Get a thermometer with indoor and outdoor capabilities. Thermometers are awesome and you will need to measure the temps in your cab or your could be trying to grow in very high temps and not really know it.

The next thing I would do if I were you is read as much as you possible can and than read some more. icmag is full of intelligent people and knowledge. I have learned pretty much everything I know from this site!

So if the cab is 24" tall how much actual grow height do you have? measure from pot base to your lights, than subtract about 2" for heat purposes. Than you will have your grow height.

When you decide you want to switch into flowering, put your lights on a 12hr on 12hr off cycle aka 12/12. Your plants will triple in height possibly so that is why you want to figure out your grow height options.

 

[sin_competitor]

i think when i build my cab i might have to start with those same lights.

 

[ninja1]

Hey all! First thanks to everyone helping me to make this an awesome grow!!
So, you spoke up about my lights and I listened! I stopped at H-depot on the way home yesterday and for $13 a piece I picked up 2 - 68/300watt monster cfl's - 2700k, and added those in - so in total now I have 2 - 68 watts, and 3 23 watts = 205 watts hovering over 2 plants. Am I there now? it is BRIGHT in that cabinet,
As for venting at the moment I have the doors opened on both sides and a small fan moving air through the cabinet.
The plants are tied down pretty low to the pots. I think they are kind of stressed from all the changes (repotting, 4 times the light added, LST) when I checked them this morning the leaves on one were very droopy. The other is lovingthe lights - every branch is turned up to them.
I still dont know what strains I have but I can notice some differences -
the first plant is a very dark green with long pointy leaves, very slow growing
the other is a very bright green with fat soft leaves. this plant is growing fast.
Thanks for reading! thanks for helping!

 

[ninja1]