thanks for the advice. i spent a good deal of the day preparing upgrades now that i've flipped the lights to 12/12. i got a ph meter and tds meter. and i got a 4" 176 cfm fan providing ventilation and pushing a carbon scrubber. i think i have the tubing such that fresh air flows onto the plants and then pushed back out from the floor.Ideally, you want the plant within 1-2". If you got 3-4" away, it's not hte end of the world, but you are not using all the light available.
The trick is to make sure you don't burn the plants. A good trick if to put your hand a few inches out from the lights and hold it there for 15-30 seconds. If your hand doesn't burn from the light, move it an inch closer and hold your hand there. Repeat until the light causes you hand to be uncomfortably hot. Back your hand away until it does not burn. That distance is how far away you want your plant from the lights.
In terms of vegging longer to make the plant hardier, it would depend on the strain. Some strains are really finicky. Others, like Chronic, you just can't fuck up.
I like Chronic, because I'm too stupid to grow the more delicate strains.
Seriously, though, unless your plant is some whiny bitch that requires things JUST RIGHT, chances are low that you will screw up the plant, as long as you follow the manufacturer's directions on the nutes.
I have a PPM pen, and it doesn't do me a damn bit of good. Then again, I am an idiot.
This is your first grow. Don't think you know enough to customize things. You don't.
Flip to 12/12, fertilize according the the nutes, keep you pH from 5.5-6.5, keep your humidity low, your temps a bit above room temperature and keep the grow in total darkness during its dark period.
If you follow those simple steps, you will get a harvest and you can start your next one.
Good luck!
. so i hooked up the 176 CFM 4" fan to the carbon scrubber and got ventilating.
grumble grumble. i hate waiting. i'd rather check on the grow tent every few hours just in case my plant gets bitten by a radioactive fungus gnat when I'm not looking and grows into an big incredible hulk of a plant. with super powers. that grows joints already prerolled.The hardest part of growing is ahead of you its called The "waiting" game...the best part at the end you get a nice prize...
thanks for the message, i'm a fan of CFLs. i'm actually down to just the four 68 watt CFLs, so 272 total watts. while my setup cost several hundred, most of that money was spent on the grow tent and ventilation/odor control. you could probably get similar results with just the waterfarm (about $60) and the four lights which were $15 a piece and $5 for the reflector holders.... so $140....
me too! i noticed there was only 1 or 2 other green crack grows on this forum so I thought i'd give it a go. surprised there isn't more talk about it. i guess its just more prevalent where i'm from.
i'd like to wait a full 8 weeks. i can imagine i'm going to be impatient though since this is my first (legitimate) grow. i did do a grow with cfls a couple years ago with some bag seed. did it guerilla style with no meters or timers or anything. got bad case of what i now know are fungus gnats. was picking the little mags off the stems with tweezers daily till i had to cut down the operation at week 2 of flowering because my apartment had become a sea of gnats. didn't know about this forum then....
