Wanting to try my first grow. input needed please

[marcoochie10]

hi. i been reading alot on this forum and i think its about time for me to try something. just looking for some thoughts.i am gonna start with bag seed so if i screw up i didnt pay $90 for it. i was thinking of growing in a 3 by 3 by 3 foot space. i was wondering if i could use the same lighting system as for veg and flowering stages? also what would be the best recommended lighting and time frame for each stage?? i read that you could do 12/12 from veg to flowering?? please any help would be appreciated. i can tell already i would love be grow. seeing a plant grow up and bud out would be like seeing a child grow up lol
thanks guys.

also what would be the best way to get the seeds started? the wet paper towel method?

 

[BWC BayArea]

4 Starters

hi. i been reading alot on this forum and i think its about time for me to try something. just looking for some thoughts.i am gonna start with bag seed so if i screw up i didnt pay $90 for it. i was thinking of growing in a 3 by 3 by 3 foot space. i was wondering if i could use the same lighting system as for veg and flowering stages? also what would be the best recommended lighting and time frame for each stage?? i read that you could do 12/12 from veg to flowering?? please any help would be appreciated. i can tell already i would love be grow. seeing a plant grow up and bud out would be like seeing a child grow up lol
thanks guys.

also what would be the best way to get the seeds started? the wet paper towel method?

There are a few ways to germinate seeds. If ur familiar with the paper towel method, I say go for it. Seen it work many times. Just remember keep em in the dark while germing (at least I do). A 3x3 space is good, just depends on how many plants u plan to fit in there. U remember what kinda herb the seed came from? As far al light goes U can veg and flower with CFLs, T5 florescents, HPS, and LEDs. LEDs are a bit more costly and aren't proven to be that great in flower yet so I wouldn't recommend them. HPS will work although they will cause a lot of stretching (space between branches) creating unnecessarily tall plants. I normally veg with metal halide and flower with HPS. If u only have an HPS ballast a Metal Halide (MH) conversion bulb will work just fine. As far as CFLs and floros, I never flowered with them. I saw a few journals where others did. they appear to work, but not as effectively as HPS lamps. Starting from seed the most important thing is to sex and catch all the male plants so ur females don't get pollinated producing seeds. As far as 12/12 from veg to flower, I'm not sure what u meant. Can u rephrase that part of the question? NE more questions, just ask.

 

[marcoochie10]

thanks for the lighting issue. if i only have cfls what would be the watts needed and how many lights roughly if i wanted to do 3 plants. and are the power of the lights gonna have to be different from veg to flower?
from the 12/12 veg to flower i meant from when i get the seeds in the soil and start my lighting, i heard 12 hours on 12 off get the plant to choose its sex alot sooner, though the yield will be smaller with this lighting structure but from start to finish it will be a faster process.
sorry if these seem like simple minded questions, its the whole lighting i worry about the power and all that jazz
thanks bay

 

[BWC BayArea]

I don't know much about CFLs. The most I've ever done with them is root cuttings and veg. Don't put a plant under 12/12 lighting unless u plan on flowering. I'm thinking 2 regular house hold CFLs per plant. Just a guess.

 

[marcoochie10]

well that sounds doable! alright i got to try to get these bag seeds to show some root then il be ready for planting
thanks alot!!

 

[greengo840]

For babies a bulb per plant is cool until they go into full veg. Onece your plant gets going your goal is to get 10000 lumens to it. More is always better, and try to make sure that you distribute the light evenly. I use those bulb splitters and love em.

For vegging you want cool white (blue color spec)
For flowering soft white (orange color spec)

 

[marcoochie10]

i been reading cees posts who seems to know alot and does 12/12. if i were to try this style first would 4-6 cfl household bulbs be good for the whole grow to harvest on 2-3 plants?

 

[Tyrone Hamilton]

^^ No - once you get to flowering, the more light the better - the light will be on half as much, and the plant is working twice as hard to produce it's buds, so it needs more energy to fill out. You could have 4 23 watt CFLs per plant easily, and they'd still want more. I gave up on CFLs halfway through flowering on my first grow, but they do work.

 

[OldSkoool]

I CFL from start to finish using a mix of 4, 42W 'orange', and 4, 23W 'daylight' spectrum lamps for vegging, and 8, 42W 'orange' for flowering with excellent results. BUT, my grow area is about half the size of your 3'X3'. And I only grow a single plant at a time. If your going to use CFL's I highly recommend you employ LST (low stress training) to keep the tops as close to the lamps as possible. I only had 4, 42W lamps on my first grow, and was very happy with the buds produced.

Like obxgardener points out, the more light the better.

 

[marcoochie10]

ya eh, you guys are sick!! thanks