Noob Trying to Start a CFL Micro Grow

[Sr. Cantiflas]

Been a member for a while but never really posted anything. I've been really interested in CFL Micro Grow and I have a cab (half armoire)
W- 2ft 9 1/4 in
L- 1ft 5 1/2 in
H- 2ft 6 in
Any advice will be helpful, I've been reading a lot of micro grow on Hush's & Blynx's thread.

 

[RonSmooth]

Get a fixture instead of spiral CFL bulbs.

4-pin PL lighting is a good option. If HID's were out of the question, my next choice would be a PLL fixture. If you are even a little handy, you can buy the ballasts and bulbs and wire them yourself. This allows you to put the ballasts outside of the grow box to reduce heat.

I use this one for veg:

http://www.htgsupply.com/Product-HTG-Supply-2-Foot-4-Lamp-PL-55-Tek-Lamp

But if I could do it again I wouldn't buy from HTG. Their house brand stuff is cheap for a reason. I would buy a couple Fulham Workhorse ballasts and wire my own.

A T5 fixture would be my next choice.

I would buy feminized seeds. This will save you time & space by not having to grow plants for weeks in order to cull males/

Don't go overboard on the "nutes" There are tons of unnecessary products that will only confuse things.

I recommend growing in coco and using a one part, complete fertilizer like GH;s Maxibloom. It provides everything the plants need and itll be one less thing to worry about.

and start with one or two plants. Work on training them to fill your space.

 

[DoctorEvergreen]

Good to see you in here @Sr. Cantiflas!!!!!

 

[stoned-trout]

start with easy ..walmart got spiral 55 watt bulbs cheap...go with soil..you will be upgrading anyhow as everyone does lol..

 

[growingcrazy]

I would just go straight to PLL's. There is a large thread in the lighting section on them, very helpful.

A cab of that size is pretty simple to setup and dial in for the most part. A few PLL's, a couple PC fans and timers and your set.

GC

 

[RonSmooth]

start with easy ..walmart got spiral 55 watt bulbs cheap...go with soil..you will be upgrading anyhow as everyone does lol..

Or you could get the best you can afford first instead of replacing cheap gear in a year.

Spiral CFL's and soil aren't as simple as a fixture and coco.

multiple plugs and extension cords, adapters, poor light distribution, heat buildup from multiple bulbs, little penetration.

PLL fixtures are cleaner looking, have better distribution, can get evenly close to tops, single plug, reflector (usually) included, only take up inches of your vertical space and are more efficient than CFL's.

I got a 220w 2' four bulb fixture for less than $150 with bulbs/

A T5 fixture of equal dimensions could prob be found even cheaper at a big box home improvement store.

If you could find a premade potting soil that is sufficiently amended, you could get through most of the grow with just water. There are a lot of different brands and mixtures. Its hard to know what you have and what you need to add if you have no experience.

Coco is a blank canvas. It provides nothing for the plants, except one of the best environments for robust root development.

Then all you need is a one part fertilizer to give your plants everything they need from start to finish. Put a scoop of maxibloom in a gallon of tap water, shake, and feed.

 

[growingcrazy]

That right there is pretty much the simplest way to get introduced to gardening there is. Simple PLL fixture and some fertilized soil or some organic soil and just water through each run. It doesn't get much simpler. There is still a good chance for a very nice yield as well.

 

[Sr. Cantiflas]

Sorry everybody for the tardiness been working a lot. I want to thank you all for responding and nice seeing you @doctorevergreen. I've been doing a lot of random exploring here trying to get an idea of what/ how I want to run the grow and I came up with a few ideas. I was thinking about dividing my cab and so I would be left with 1sq ft each side one side for veggie and the other for flowering, I'm also thinking about running 5 plants I've seen it done by Blynx in 1gal goldfish box so I know it's possible, I don't like goldfish so I'm using water jugs. I'm also gonna use a 128w cfl bulb. I have an extra shelf that I'm going to turn into a different cab to grow some bagseeds, I'm also in the search for some classic Mexican strain, I forgot to mention that this will also be a sativa grow or maybe I'll throw one or two indicas for night time use, I really want to bring back sativa I got bored of indicas and I want to feel inspired and since Mexico has some fine sativa I thought I should grow some bagseeds in hope of finding a Mexican sativa strain. My friend grow some but late in the season and in small pot so it grew a single cola with a small side branch the leaves were really thin, my friend had a male next to it and dropped it's dust on her and that's how I got the seeds but anyways back to my cab. Here are the main things:
-Dividing it in half to have a veg and flower room
-using 128w CFL Bulbs in each room
-5 plants (4or3 sativas & 1or2 indicas) seeds will be from Ace seeds (Malawi? ) and connoisseurs genetics (sssdh s1?). I will keep you posted as I get the materials any support/suggestions/ ideas will be appreciated.

 

[NoSocSlic]

You may have trouble with vertical space if you run sativas, unless you have something that responds well to training. Even still it may overgrow the cab. Hybrids are more suited for micro grows. CFL's aren't as efficient as you will want them to be. I am able to get around an ounce off of a plant, and that was with a long veg period and 125w. Four months later it seems like a lot of time and effort for not enough reward. I want to switch lighting. I am curious about PLL lighting. I don't know a lot about it.