First CFL Grow Using 30 Watt CFLs

donpaul.p

donpaul.p

Well-Known Member
Member of the Month
August 2013
:welcome:
What strain is it? 2 x big bud, 1 x special kush, 1 x northern lights cross big budd feminsed
Is it in Veg or Flower stage? Currently in Veg
If in Veg... For how long? 3 days since sprouting from seed
Indoor or outdoor? Indoor
Soil or Hydro? Soil
If soil... what is in your mix? basic compost mix, john innes compost,
What size pot? small size pots to start with then 3 or 5 gallon pot to flower
Size of light? currently under 2 x 30 watt cfl daylight and 2 x 30watt 2700 kelvin cfl's for extra light spectrum
Temp of Room/cab? Temps run right around 73 with lights on
RH of Room/cab? hovers around 45% to 50%having a hard time keeping it up
Any Pests ? None yet
How often are you watering? watering when top 2 inches dry out
nutes to be added after growing a while, need advice on nutes plz.

Hi all, this is my first grow in years and im doing it as cheap as possible with just the basics so its sort of an experiment to see where i go from this grow.
grow room is a cupboard 3 ft square and floor to ceiling,

this is as far as ive got so far, i need as much advice as i can get so jump on and keep watching, i need to get the most yeild from this so deciding what to do such as scrog or basically anything, throw me some ideas,

DAY1, soaked both big bud seeds in kitchen roll,

DAY 3, both seeds sprouted and transfered to pots. also soaked both northern light and special kush, wasnt going to grow these yet but couldnt resist so they went in soak today. increased lights to, 4 x 6700 kelvin 30 watt cfl and 2 x 2700 kel for broader spectrum, will be increasing watt size to 40 watt or 45 watt when they turn up, 30 watt cfl gives off 150 watt of light, although i doubt it really compares with the real wattage so will be loading up on cfl's as and when needed, using mixture of both cfl for veg, but for flower is it best to only use 2700 k or can i still use mixture but mainly use 2700,.

DAY 4, both bb are pushing out soil and seed casings are off, no change to special k and nl x bb as of yet.

DAY 5 special k sprouted no change on nl x bb. special k is now in pot under lights.

DAY 7 both bb sprouting leaves now, long stem though so lowered lights, hardly any heat so lowered to withing just over an inch from the plants, special cush sprouted soil and shed shell, nl x bb now under lights

DAY 8, both bb are growing first proper leaves and plants look really healthy at this point, special kush growing slightly crooked, bb x nl, still sprouting.

DAY 9, rearranged grow room and made lights more secure and easier to raise and lower, i turn my back for 5 min to fit new light fittings and cable and when i return 1 bb plant has lost all its leaves, i take one look at the dog n he has got a bright green leaf stuck to his mouth so he cant say it wasnt him, looks like ive lost one of my plants to the dog, not pulled the stem out of pot yet just in case by some slight miracle it picks up and grows, now theirs hoping,

please give me all the advice you can, i will do my best to update this at lease once a day or every 2 days, im in it for the long hall, so the more of you that help the better my plants will be, n keep it real, 420 all the way
 
Re: first cfl grow using 30watt cfls

Hi all, im looking for any advice and tips on this grow, if they all turn out to be female then ill be taking cuttings, the nl x bb is suppose to be feminised seed but no guarantee, the others are not feminised, so the female ones ill be taking cuttings from, im looking for the quickest grow with the most yield, i was considering sog method after cuttings or scrog method, please tell me about any other methods i could try, i have read through many journals on this site and found this the best site by far so will keep reading and learning, any tips and advice is more than welcomed, stay tuned ill upload pics as soon as i figure out how to do it,
 
Re: first cfl grow using 30watt cfls

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Re: first cfl grow using 30watt cfls

please look at my pics and see if the stems are to long, ive lowered the light now so it is almost touching the plants, also the pic of the dog is the guilty one that murdered my plant, but he did leave me the stem, as if i wouldnt notice, sneaky really sneaky, mite try pinching sum of his food, but with teeth like that i dont think i would win, lets c how he likes me hiding his toys, but then he might choose my trainers, cant win either way, the dog rules the roost clearly, lol
 
Re: first cfl grow using 30watt cfls

Impressive log on your grow info. I'm not familiar with your soil product but I know a compost is rich with nutes especially N so I'd take care when adding nutes. Usually its around 4 weeks before I start them on 1/4 the recommended portion and then built up adding a little more each fert time til I reach the amount stated to use on em, however, your compost may supply what the plants need for way longer than the usual 4 weeks. You'd be wise to check the package label of your medium for the N-P-K value in compost/soil to know exactly what it's already feeding your plants; should also say how long it last for the plants. I personally like reading the leaves to know what to give the plants; a nice green I'd skip ferts, a deep green, I'd give more run-off of water, light green leaves, time to feed, etc. It's always better to underfert than over. As far as the plant the dog decided to eat, if the smooch left even one little leaf on it it should come back. If possible, cut what ever stem is above that leaf but if no leaf, maybe it'll come back if you shorten the stalk (I doubt it though). If theres life in that plant do not fert it, just water it for a while. And I will stay tuned for updates of your grow, lol.
P.S. no sense addressing the flowering lites at this point and sounds like your right on for veggin cfl's. Rastafari through the grow. Ahahahahahah that little guy does look guilty~~~~~sooo cute!
 
Re: first cfl grow using 30watt cfls

thanks for all your comments so far, dog is no longer allowed in same room when the door to plants is open, my grow room is basically a big built in cupbard, its about a foot wider than a door, as the door to the cupboard is a normal size door you get in your house for living room or kitchen etc, not small cupboard door but a normal size house door, height is no issue, as for the lights i will be getting the y fittings to hold the bulbs, ill run the lights in a strait line from front to back using them fittings to get them more even, the compost im using dont have any info on it really, im gona google it and find out whats in it, im also in the UK so products are going to be totally different, the only thing the same is going to be the lights and the seeds.
So as of now ive got 3 plants left, one big bud is doing ok and looks really healthy, special kush is also looking healthy, looked a bit crazy at first but is growing normal as far as i can tell, the northern lights x big bud fem has just shed its shell and leaves are now starting to stretch and grow, this is my first grow using cfl's and ive only dont 2 grows before using hid's but i live in a 2nd floor flat and want to keep costs really low and trying to keep things on the low key due to the country im in, i will be flowering these plants off but unsure when or at what height, i will be taking cuttings if any are female and after these have budded off will be putting them into the grow cupboard, will be using a smaller space to veg cuttings, but got a long way to go yet,.
any advice and tips are more than welcome, as for the dog, well his name is tyson and is a staffordshire bull terrior, not had him long n 12 months old, but been as he likes the taste of my plants im keeping him out the way next time,
the plant the dog got is just stalk, so by morning i will find out if the stem is going to live or die and if its gona produce any new leaves,.

thanks for all your advice and any questions just ask, im not an expert but learning every day.

the cupboard im growing in used to be a clothes drying cupboard and has a small tube like heater at the back that dont work, ive got 2 12v computer fans in their at the minute but their is a big air vent in the side at the top, ive blocked it off just in case when it starts smelling it starts stinking other flats out, but im going to build a decent size carbon filter and fit it into this vent to allow the air to leave at the top and enter around the door, when the doors shut no light is visable so it is pretty much as low key as you can get, so touch wood, all should be well,
 
Re: first cfl grow using 30watt cfls

also im running my lights at 20 on and 4 off, my last grows was at 18 and 6 but that was going back 10 years when it was a given guide that the lights needed to be at 18 and 6 while veg, i was gona leave them on 24 constant and i do know it has worked for a lot of growers but i think that they need the dark period to allow the nutes to go back down to the roots while the plant is dormant giving it stronger roots, any ideas or comments on this, is 20 on and 4 off a good idea or should i change it, remember this is an experiment so any advice or help ill be very very gratefull of
 
Re: first cfl grow using 30watt cfls

teSmp, i think your rite, if their was a perfect growing schedule then i think everyone would be only using that so i think you might well be right, its just the longer light the more grow your going to get, all my other grows where 18 n 6 n them plants got really big as soon as they started growing their real leaves, one of my favs was a jack flash and started off as a window grow but put it under lights and it unded up been a good 5ft tall and massive yield but i had somewhere safe and out the way to grow it unlike where i am now, ill keep it at 20 and 4 and see what happens, the reason ive decided to start my own grow is due to everyone calling everything they smoke and sell cheeze, not sure why the younger generation are callling it this and the prices are stupid as well, going back 10 years i used to get 3.5g for 20 quid now your lucky if you get 2g, n they say its cuz its cheeze, to me most of it looks like commercial grow n maybe they give it this name to sell it to the teenagers, im not paying stupid prices so trying my own grow using these cfl lights to see how it goes
 
Re: first cfl grow using 30watt cfls

Actually, your plants need at least 6 hours of dark time. Think of it this way during the day or "lights on period" your plants are focused on making food "photosynthesis" as well as using they energy created. Now at Night "Lights off period" your plants are more focused on ROOT production. Many argue that a better root system gives better yields.
 
Re: first cfl grow using 30watt cfls

Kushwestcoast, see thats how i used to think going back 10 years ago and how i grew my first plants, but ive heard that many differnces from growers and have heard of people leaving them on 27 7 till flowering and got good results, does anybody else have any ideas about this, woudlnt mind getting a broader view on whats right when coming to light and dark period, i have no problems taking it back to 18 and 6, its the way i used to grow and always got good results, i chose 20 and 4 to try and increase growth period but by giving it 4 hours of dark i was still giving the roots chance to develop, Kushwestcoast you got me thinking now if ive got it right, possible gona change it back as its how i used to grow it years ago, id like to hear a few more views before i make my mind up, hmmmm, im gona read a few more journals and see what people have been using, i dont want to stunt the roots cuz the more the roots spread sidways the broader the plant, from my experiance the plant will only normally grow as wide as the roots, possibly slightly wider but from my past i noticed the plants tended to grow as wide as the roots could grow, with only ends of branches sticking out further than the pot, or was i just thinking to much about it at the time, maybe i had been smoking when i came up with that conclusion
 
Re: first cfl grow using 30watt cfls

n leave my dog alone, he not got no pests, he is a pest but he is wormed and flea treated on regular basis, n trust me he is getting knowhere near my plants, so any mites he might pick up while walking are gona sleep in the dog bed wiv him, but come to think of it, he gets in my bed n sneaks under the covers, hey whos flat is this, mine or the dogs, im now starting to wonder, after all he dont pick up my shit he makes a mess eats all the food, wont share is food, try taking a bone off him n then see how much he shares, but he is more than happy to sit their looking sad n giving me his paw till he gets one of my biscuits or what ever else im eating, enoughs enough, im gona get my quilt n go sleep in his basket n c how he likes that, problem is, dont fink he would mind im sure he prefers the double bed anyway, that is till he falls out in the middle of the night n wonders what the hell just happend, bloody mutt,
 
Re: first cfl grow using 30watt cfls

not that i go round shitting in the middle of the street, i leave that to him
 
Re: first cfl grow using 30watt cfls

Here's some other thinking:

From Chronic Chrissy

" Light Cycles

The dark cycle is very inportant to palnts. Respiration (this is when plants are making energy from sugar to oxygen) Continues in dark but at a much slower pace, almost independent of available oxygen because the leaves are not making oxygen in the dark.

In the dark there is a shift from leaf production to root production as the leaves transfer excess energy down to the branches and roots. Therefore, some dark time allows for better root structures. The "Experimental Root Growth 10 Days After Cutting" graph on page 33 shows that giving plants a 24-hour light cycle is not the way to supercharge growth"

This is from "How to supercharge your garden" With the graph on page 33 this follows...

"Light period for cuttings

Plants have a free running internal bio-rhythm of 21-27 hours. In this rhythm, they need dark time. Cuttings have a built in daily rhythm (age also) that they inherit from their parent. Cuttings will root better with a 6 hours to 8 hourdark period because this is the main time when leaves and the stems transfer energy down to the root zone for storage and growth."

The chart has hours of light per day on the bottom, and length of roots in millimeters.
-@ 4hours of light the roots after ten days were only 22mm long
-@ 8 hours of light after 10 days the roots were 25 mm long
-@12 hours of light we shoot up to 40mm long
-@16 hours it peaks at 50mm
-@20 hours it drops down to 37mm
-@ 24 hours it drops down to 29mm

There is also a shitload of info regarding root to yeild ratio vs veg to yield ratio, and draws the conclusion that at the end of the experiments the root to yield ratio was higher.
 
Re: first cfl grow using 30watt cfls

18 n 6 is what i heard and years ago it was a rule i stuck to and never wavered from, but ive read that many grows that are 24 hours light till flower and they have got good results, possibly they wasnt growing the plant that big and probably used sog method, im gona keep a dark period as i do think it is needed to rest the plant and let any nutes drain back to roots and this has got to be a good thing for the plant, to me 24 light would stress the plant, but if it did the results would be poor,
 
Re: first cfl grow using 30watt cfls

im gona do some more research it seems like you go that from a good source, plus it also depends on the results they got because their is no saying all plants was 100% identical, could be clones yes, but if 1 was half in inch closer to light it would change the outcome by quite a bit, or if their was a stronger breeze on the one, their is that many variables to try and get exact that it just wouldnt be possible, but that chart does show root growth and it clearly increases, but does more root growth mean bigger yield or does more root growth mean the plant is putting more energy into roots than it is in growth, the roots suck up water and nutes so a low nute compost would mean the plant needs more roots to pick up the slack and the same in dry areas, but if the nutes r ok and the plant is watered does it need to have that much root growth, im not an expert so cant say, but i am gona keep a dark period, if i had 2 rooms i would try different times, but i cant take this risk, at least not till ive got sumet to clone off,
 
Re: first cfl grow using 30watt cfls

so many variables, who made this so difficult, surely after all these years someone would of figured out what the optimum light period is, but it seems their is no optimum, people r getting results off what ever lighting they give it, maybe higher powered lights dont need so much rest period or maybe they do n low powered lights dont need rest period, its to hard to say with all the light types and compost and hydro types and even cana types,
 
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