First Closet Grow... CFL Lamps...

OK, so this is my first closet grow with 2x 24 W Warm White CFL bulbs + 1x 21 W CFL bulb... The actual lamps that I wanted to grow with are still on hold for 7 days until they arrive in the store which from I ordered them, to be exact...
I ordered 4 x 18 W CFL bulbs which are 6500K or so DAYLIGHT bulbs...
I can add these 3 later if I feel the need to, but right now im only stuck with these 3 ordinary ones...
I have ordered 10 BIG BUD seeds from Nirvana-Shop, these are it.
I have used Destilled water to spray on the seedlings and also into the dirt mixture which has no fertilizer in it.
I germinated them using the wool pad method, where the seed is placed in the middle of 2 moist cosmetic wool pads and are put into a plastic bag and sealed...then put into a warm, dark spot...
After germination... I put the sprouted seedlings into Nirvanas GERMINATION-KIT.

A link to the site is here for more info: http://www.germinationkit.com/

The left seedling had a bit of trouble in the beginning since it germinated 3 days later than the right one and had some difficulties losing its shell, since it was like glued to the leaves...I solved that problem gently with ordinary tweezers and now it is growing ok...

The lights are on 18 hours and off 6 hours with an AC plug in timer...

The grow room itself is covered with foliage entirely for light reflectiveness.

Also in case there are problems with the destilled water of some sort... I have this PH 7.0 bottle which needs to be put in 1/10 of water... But im not sure if the ph will be right with tap water and the 7.0 thingy...Anyways I got a 6 liter bucket filled with tap water that has been sitting on a nice air circulated spot for 2 days and the toxins and shit should be off by now....

These seedlings are 5 days old atm...., no? xD

randude101 said:

Why did you select Big Bud? I have grown it out before and it would not be my first choice for a micro grow.

Click to expand...

I selected it because it was shown as (GOOD FOR BEGINNERS) at nirvana website...+ its yield is quite good and they are simply big and nice lookin xD

Hey. Big Bud is an odd choice for a micro grow. A "big" plant for micro? Oh well, it can be done. You will have to keep your "big" plants small. On your lights, you need more. Looking at your cab pic, I see that your seedlings are stretching hard because of low light intensity. Higher wattage cfls would help. There are big cfls, but they are much more expensive. If you go up to 26 W cfls, you will get many more lumens than you have now. You don't have to order them. Go to a Wal-Mart and you can buy a two pack of 26 W 6500K daylight GE cfls for about $6. I would mix 6500k and 2700K as plants really need both spectrums, although to varying degrees at different stages. You can also buy these Y shaped socket adapters that allow you to put two bulbs in one socket which will increase your light output. Your lights can also be closer to your plants than in the picture. If you wait for your 18 W bulbs to arrive, your plants are going to stretch a lot more without a lot of vegetative growth. The plants will become weak and spindly. Add more of your soil medium half way to the top of your plants. It will support your plants from becoming weaker and prevent them from falling over. The plants will grow roots from the stem. Also foil is not a great reflective choice. Flat white paint is very good. Don't waste your time or seed investment on inadequate lighting. Lighting and setup is probably the most important requirement for any grower, because without it, nothing else matters. Good Luck.

After reading my post, it sounds critical. I did not mean for it to be. It looks like you are headed in the right direction. I only wanted to offer some advice to help your success. Doing what you are doing is the best way to learn. There is no one and only right way. Keep it up.

Thanks, criticism is only good if it is correct xD, yours seems correct (Y)... unfortunately, I cannot paint this closet white, because my girl wont let me xD, its her closet xD, she likes it the way it is...
But YES, they are kind of falling over...but I am supporting them with a stick and stuff...
These 24 W lamps have 1500 lumens... so its 3000 lumens total + the 21 W one... lets say about 4000...
I was just like curious wether or not these 2 could be possibly grown with these regular lamps until I wait for the correct ones. A big problem here in Estonia ( next to Russia and Finland ), it is like impossible to buy something like a 30 W CFL or such...they just dont exist and even cant order... Ive looked like everywhere...biggest flower stores, electric stores, many many construction stores, anywhere... here it is very hard to get the right lights... I at first thought I would get a 150 W HPS or HID lamp here, but I think it simply wouldnt fit in this damn closet xD, plus it takes much electricity, the companies may suspect stuff


How much lumens do those 2 plants need?
When to fertilize and transplant?
+1 more thing if you would... Could someone show me a picture of a seedling that is 1 week old and grown under the correct CFL lights which are like 20 watt or somewhat, so I could understand how it should look like if it is grown with the correct lighting + plant - lamp height ratio or such... would be very appreciated.

Heres the plant now ... 1 week old today...











O and... I put the lamps high at first, because someone advised me to, in order for them to grow tall first and then develope stuff , maybe he meant it just a little while, not this long, dunno...
Also I will take your advise about the dirt...

You definitely are in a situation. To start with, I don't know how many lumens you really need. I do know by looking. Looking at your original pics that your close-ups of your plants are receiving enough light whereas the pic showing the closet and both pots are not. In that pic, everything looks dim. I don't know if it is because of flash from the camera or what. When you look at the tips of the close-ups notice how bright they are. While you wait for your additional lights to come in, move the bulbs about two inches or maybe four cm from the plant tops. No need to transplant any time soon. Your pots are big enough. As far as fertilizing, most people say don't as the seed leaves supply all the nutrients it needs. Mine usually turn yellow when I do this. I usually use a mild fertilizer solution at about a week and a half. If they still yellow, I up the strength.
Bad news is, as your plants get bigger, You will need more light than you currently have now. Add more cfls to maintain the brightness. By then, you are not far off from the wattage used by a 150 MH or HPS. I don't know what it's like in Estonia, but it is hard to imagine one 150 HID drawing attention. Less than a TV or computer or other personal items. I would strongly recommend HID lighting for much better results. They put out MUCH more light than cfls for the same amount of electricity used. The cfls in the wattages and numbers that you have now will not penetrate past the growing tips resulting in not much bud.
Looking at the tips of your plants, they look fine. It is the length of the stem that concerns me about your lighting needs. It's OK though. Do be careful not to let the soil get soggy, keep it moist not overwatered.

Oh, yeah, thats just the camera, that made it look dim... I tried making different sorts of pics, ones with flash on and ones with off and so on...
About the HID... its just a concerning measure, the electricity... From what I have read, it takes way more wattage than CFLs.
If I get a bigger space and am more experienced in growing, I thought I would buy HPS definetely, yeah.
Just need a bigger grow room...Ill hope to fix that problem permanently when my new appartment becomes available

Go get some experience. You are already started. Your current setup is using 69 W. The 4 bulbs you ordered amount to 72 W. If you put them all together you will be using 141W. That is only 9 W shy of the 150. At least use all the cfls. What are the dimensions of your closet? Properly spaced, you should get even light distribution.

1 meter height, 50,5 cm width and 49,5 depth.
I have put the faster growing seedling deeper inside the pot, also added dirt to both of them, they seem much better now, altough Im not quite sure if they can cope with only 3 of these lamps atm...What do you think?
Here are some new pics:

hey sorcerer. this is a tight setup to learn with. i pulled just under a 1/2 oz of blue streak with 2 - 13watt cfls. my room the same dimensions as yours too. If you could flip those lights to sit horizontal it would help a lot

Ill keep in mind, thanks.

Hey man, your plants are looking nice and healthy, a little stretchy though.
You should try to get them a little closer to the light. I would say about 5cm or so. Just put your finger close to the light and see how close you can actually get untill it becomes too hot for the plant. Also turning the lights on there side makes much better use of the minimum light. With such small amounts of light, you need to utilize every ray.

You can make simple reflectors out of aluminium soda cans for bulbs that size. Just cut the can top off then cut the can in half lengthways. Then mount the bulb's socket to the inside base of the can with the shiny inside above the bulb reflecting all the light going every ware except you plants and being wasted, directly on your babys.

Good luck with your grow. hope I helped a little, Ah.

Thanks for the tip (Y)

O, 1 more thing, I wanted to know how the hell do you hook up those small pc ventilators inside closets?
Thats my only concern at the moment...I have no idea whatsoever about how it is connected and powered, how do you do it? You go to a pc shop and buy a little ventilator with the cords? Then what? It would be really appreciated if you could post some pictures of how it is connected also (Y)

DAY 9-10, UPDATE, FIRST PROBLEMS...Leaf Curling... I have no idea what I have done wrong, here are some pics of the plant that has always been on the left side of the pictures, the one that was not as big as the other... :

Your pictures aren't there but make sure that you are not overwatering. You should judge when they need water by lifting the pot, when they feel light hit them up. One common mistake when starting out is to love the plants to death, what you really want to do is supply the things that the plant needs to grow and then step back and let them do their thing. MJ is most sensitive when it is at a young age, don't fertilize until they are big enough to handle it and do your best not to over or underwater. Overwatering is probably more common especially among new growers, it is pretty easy to drown seedlings.

Ive lifted the pots and they were INDEED heavy... I thought I couldnt overwater myself... I didnt want to think so... but as you said it now, now I see it myself xD, thanks (Y), umm...



What should i do about that heavy dirt? xD
How tall should a plant be before fertilizing would become available?


PS: Pics are now back xD, errr and im high sorry if anything goes wrong in text lol xD

AllStar said:

hey sorcerer. this is a tight setup to learn with. i pulled just under a 1/2 oz of blue streak with 2 - 13watt cfls. my room the same dimensions as yours too. If you could flip those lights to sit horizontal it would help a lot

Click to expand...

word! your plants would love it!

... and be carefull with water on the leaves while lights on - could burn them!

Roger that. Thanks!

UPDATE:
2 Weeks Old: