1st serious try growing built pretty nice DIY CAB Input please

I doubt its a deficiency in plants that small, what kind of soil are you using? It may be over watered, do you have holes in the bottom of those cups? It could also be a pH issue, do you know the pH of the water you are using and the run-off? They could also be root bound in those little cups, can you transplant them into bigger containers?

Im using organic vegetable and herb soil and not sure of ph using bottled water but just got ph tester going to have to check it out where do i want to be ph wise n yea those arent best cups for pots will be switching those out asap thanks for info reikox

Heres snapshot of soil mix any input if levels are good or i need diffrrent soil thanks

Sorry everyone been trying to upload pics for week now n no luck always sits there uploading and never does so when it will work more pics up

Finally been able to upload pic of each plant and these are in fact few day old pics but they were transplanted and have been alot healthier looking and were getting rootbound in those small cups so seems good and even got my humidity leves at around 40% avg now and high temp of 78° F and around 66°F with lights off and got my timer set for lights so i dont have to manually do it lights go off midnight back on at 6 am so things are getting better and moving along

Trying to figure out when i can fim these babies anyone who knows glad to hear your thoughts

Wait until they have five nodes before topping.

5 nodes from first node or from first set true leaves?? Just want to be sure

True nodes, but it's just a rule of thumb. Topping will slow down the plant growth, so waiting until it's bigger helps minimize the down time.

Right i figured id wait till theyre right under a foot then let heal for a week and then put them in flowering. Not sure if 3 topped plants will fit in 20 in wide 15 in deep and 2 ft tall any thoughts on that im hoping to fit 4 at once in flowering if can still deciding on my lighting as well have 6 23 watt cfl at 1620 lumens ea for total of 138 watts and 9720 lumens either looking at getting at least 2 42 watt cfls to go with those or a couple t5s along top or any other suggestions no hid or anything gotta keep electric bill at minimum

Need some opinions been researching for almost week now all i have left to do to box at this point unless something comes up is flowering lights trying to decide what to do so heres my 3 options keep in mind ive only ever used cfls wouldnt mind trying something else not sure if i have the space so il lay it out you guys tell me what you think is best

Keep in mind flowering chamber is approximately 27 in tall, 18 in wide, and 15 in deep.

Option 1 - Keep box the same and use my 6 23 watt cfls at 1620 lumens each and get 2 65 watt cfls at 3900 lumens each for total of 268 watts and 17520 lumens (which i know is probably just fine for the space i have but would like to experience something other than cfls lol.

(For options 2 and 3 i would be building another box to fit right on top of whole cab split it where the veg n flower wall is caulk it n all that for light leaks between sides and move veg lights up on its side to make more room for taller vegging and whatnot but mainly to mount new light for flowering so there is still 2 feet of growth room without light being in way during flowering)

Option 2 - Buy a viavolt 150 watt hps light from lowes around 90$ and build the box like i said in paragraph before and mount high as possible to leave as much room as possible so hps isnt too close to plants and gives them room to grow not sure if space would still be big enough to not get too hot in flowering chamber which i dont want but could use fans n what not to keep light cool, along with building fixtures for at least 1 23 watt cfl in each corner so 4 at least about halfway down to bring light to lower area of plants when they get taller( This would be my preferred option honestly would like to try hps and its all wired to lol thats plus) for total of 242 watts and 6480 lumens from cfls doesnt tell me lumen output so looked it up roughly around 15k lumens hps so total of roughly 21-22k lumens. (Again if i can go this route with added space on top to mount and leave same room for plants i will)

Option 3 - (Still favorable option) same thing as option 2 will need to build the extra space to mount lights preferably to leave optimum growth space and use t5ho fixture of 4 18 in tubes and mount high and with t5s would go ahead and use all 6 23 watt cfls about midway through box with fixtures so leaves wont burn if they touch or get to close to the cfls and the t5ho tubes should cover the top and wouldnt create near as much heat as hps but not near as many lumens either but not a bad route either. For total of 234 watts and 17720 lumens.

Now i know my cab isnt as tall as preferred but in all honesty all ive bought to make it is 3 8ft 2×4 1 sheet of plywood and veg cfls and flowering cfls and y splitters for sockets and literally everything else was shit i found around here and there from home and work including all light sockets and both fans which i got off old ovens from my work which saved me alot of money lol ive spent with bulbs so far about 50 - 60 so heres options and watts lumens all together to see close comparison

Option 1 - 6 23 watt cfls 2 65 watt cfls at total of 268 watts and 17520 lumens with no improvements to box

Option 2 - 4 23 watt cfls 1 hps 150 watt at total of 242 watts and around 22,000 lumens with added height to box to mount light fixture higher without stealing grow space

Option 3 - 6 23 watt cfls t5ho fixture with 4 tubes for total of 234 watts and 17720 lumens with yet again added height to box to mount light fixture higher without stealing space.

Now right off the bat i notice option 1 is most watts least lumens but least heat output. Option 2 my favorite is in middle of 3 options in watts and 5000 more lumens than option 1 or 2 but most heat output but maybe i have just enough space and can take care of heat problem with fans to cool hps light plus have added height to mount lights hide wires and save precious grow space. And option 3 not bad would still add the extra height to mount lights but i dont think the t5ho fixture will put off much heat so wouldnt have problem there and thats all i can come up with for now working on posting pics but this site dont like uploading them most days...

Heres the hps fixture and the t5ho fixture only thing with t5ho fixture is they come with damn 6500k bulbs so would be replacing all 4 tubes in it for 2700k bulbs which would end up costing more than hps fixture and honestly the hps fixture is cheaper than t5ho fixture as is but cfls are cheapest of any obviously lol but need some input folks hope to see some input in next couple days so i can get going on finishing flowering side so itl be ready when the plants are btw theyre coming along nicely i put a 1/2 in board under pots to raise them barely right before i left for work and when i got home i could tell the significant growth from 7 hours and 1/2 in closeness to cfls than before which they were already really close just seeing how far i can push it without burning plants dont want to push it too far i may not be here to lower them if they grow into the light.

Here they are had to take quick couple pics didnt have time or feel like taking them out when i got home

They are looking good, they like the bigger pot. As far as the lighting, I would go with option 1, BUT use LED bulbs like blynx. They are more efficient for cab grows and don't require a reflector.

Not trying to persuade you to buy T5's but another cheaper option rather than viavolt is:

http://www.amazon.com/VivaGrow-Light-Hydroponics-Lamps-6500K/dp/B00XI6A6LG

Thank you yes they are liking these bigger pots looking better n better every time i wake up i honestly wish i built it bigger money just small issue when i built it n wanted to see how cheap i could do it now mostly for personal unless i can yield an oz per plant i doubt it in this box though idk though never had a cab but as far as leds you talking about the screw in ones from your file cab that you mentioned blynx used in one of his honestly thats how i found icmag someone talking about blynx 1 sq ft cab on rollitup n ive been here since dont fuck with other sites this by far the best glad to have some helpful input from you reikox was kinda hoping at some point blynx will check mine out lol but so just the leds no cfls at all or both or what just want to do best possible option

Trying to post some pics uploading takes forever on here for me but plant 1 looks mostly sativa plant 2 is looking indica dominant for sure n the runt of the pack is lil both to my eyes fatter leaves than 1st plant but taller than 2nd plant and aint a runt anymore will be posted in order from 1 to 3 when they upload

PLANT 1

PLANT 2