First Indoor Grow with CFL

Becorath

Becorath

Well-Known Member
Hello! I am a fairly experienced Outdoor grower, having successfully (Not counting failed Experiments) Harvested for 6 Seasons. I primarily grew for volume and yield and had some fairly large trees. I haven't grown in the last 3 years and decided to start a new Project. This will be my first indoor grow and I decided to try it with CFL. I plan to try HID in the future. Maybe grow #2!

I would like to Veg for 5-10 Days and then go into a 12/12 light schedule to keep the plants short and harvest quicker.

I have started with 6 Bulbs...
2x - 23watt - 1600 Lumens - 5000k
2x - 26watt - 1650 Lumens - 2700k
2x - 40watt - 2720 Lumens - 2700k



The Closet is located in my master bathroom. I have chosen this location for it's proximity to a water source, the added privacy of it being in the far corner of my house, and the location of the already installed exhaust vent that I will utilize.

I am growing in soil pots. Compost from Horse manure and yard trash. yard clippings, leaves, hay, etc. I run a small horse ranch, and have been growing in this medium for quite awhile. Vegetables and Cannabis.

I am going to post some photos of some of the equipment I used to give others some Ideas!

IMAG0472.jpgIMAG0469.jpgIMAG0468.jpgIMAG0470.jpgIMAG0471.jpgIMAG0467.jpgIMAG0473.jpg

~Day 1~
The closet is mostly set up. The only thing I am missing is Mylar blankets to line the walls and door. I am not rushing this right at the moment because the walls inside the closet are painted a bright white, but I will have the Mylar up before the plants get going.

I have started this grow with some leftover seed I acquired from a friend. I have Germinated 10 seeds, and I am looking for about 4 Females to start.

~Day 3~
8 of the seeds have Germinated, still haven't given up hope on the last 2! I have now moved the germinated seeds to small cups.

~Day 5~
4 Seeds have sprouted! Looking good so far!

I now start this Journal on day 6.
  1. Is there any advice you guys can give an indoor/CFL noob?
  2. What do you think about my lighting? is it adequate?
  3. Should I get more bulbs?
  4. If so, What Wattage/spectrum should I add to it?
  5. What do you think about my lighting plans? (24 for 5-10 days then 12/12 to flower)
  6. A total of 11,940 Lumens. Will this be enough for 2-4 Plants on a 12/12 from seed?
 
Becorath

Becorath

Well-Known Member
~Day 7~

I now have 7 Seedlings sprouted of the 8 germed seeds. Looking good. one of the 5000k bulbs stopped working yesterday! :-( That sucks! I will be going to the store in the next couple days to get a replacement or 2. Any recommendations? should I get more? or do you think I have enough?
 
Gastanker

Gastanker

Well-Known Member
Looks good. If all plants end up being female you'll want to add some more lights later on in flower. Right now you should be fine with what you have.

I had a really successful CFL grow using 388 total watts at the end - link in my signature, it might be helpful to just skip through it.

Keep it up!
 
Becorath

Becorath

Well-Known Member
Day8

The last 2 seeds have germed and sprouted VERY fast and are almost the same size as the others already! I now have 10 seedlings! I'm hoping for 2 or 3 healthy females. If I get more than that I will be buying many more lights. I already need a couple more 6500k bulbs to get the proper spectrum. The seedlings have 2 more leaves. Other than the first 2. And are about 2in tall. I am typing this from my phone and will update more in depth later.
 
Becorath

Becorath

Well-Known Member
I apologize for my absence. Work has been brutal! I work at a mental hospital and it seems to always come in cycles...

~Day 16~
All but 2 are doing great. the 2 are still alive, but not doing much growing. I seemed to have had a problem and have uploaded a pic to show it.
These spots on the leaves... what do you think they may be?
IMAG0511 (1).jpg

I have also purchased 2x 125w CFL Bulbs to add to the grow.
Today I decided to start 12/12. I want to keep these under 3ft tall if I can. I am using all 1 gallon pots, except 1x 2 gallon and 1x approx 1/2 gallon pot Just to experiment.


**Note- I am growing these from Bagseed. I didn't want to waste good seed on this trial indoor run. I have purchased the Indoor Mix from Nirvana, and plan to germinate a pair of them in a week.
 
SnatchNgrabya14

SnatchNgrabya14

Member
Looks like it COULD be some heat damage? Did you water them with the lights on by any chance?

Everything else looks rather awesome, good fellow---sub'd up for sure.
 
SnatchNgrabya14

SnatchNgrabya14

Member
PS-Try posting up some pictures of your actual grow area---Its benefits are two-fold; you can help people by giving them an example of what to do (because personally from your initial set-up pics you're DEFINITELY moving in the right direction) and it can help people diagnose your problems a little easier. For instance, how far away your lights are and whether or not you've got decent ventilation, etc.
 
Becorath

Becorath

Well-Known Member
I will def get some pics up later. I was thinking Heat/Light dmg as well. the lights are approx 2-4 in away from plants, and there was possibly some water on the leaves. I assume these droplets could have acted like small lenses to burn the plant. It has been a mess in the closet lately, but I should have some pics up soon.
 
Becorath

Becorath

Well-Known Member
Ok, time for updates and pics...

My Soil is a Mix of:
  • An Organic Potting Mix
  • Screened Compost (Yard Trimmings, Horse Manure/Urine)
  • Perlite
  • Peat Moss

Lights in there..
1x - 23watt - 1600 Lumens - 5000k
2x - 26watt - 1650 Lumens - 2700k
2x - 40watt - 2720 Lumens - 2700k
1x - 125watt - ???? Lumens - 2700k

Total of: 280watt -17,340 Lumens

And I also have 1x - 125watt - ???? lumen - 6400k that isn't installed yet.



As you can See I have put a plastic coated wire rack on the tops of 2 of the pots to "SCROG" 2 of them. This is my first time SCROGing, so It's just a trial.

Still no sign of Flowers on any of them... Been doing 12/12 for 2 weeks now. except for 2 days when I was gone and I forgot to switch my timer back on and it was 24/0 for 2 days... stupid stupid...

Questions or advice are more than welcome!!
 

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Becorath

Becorath

Well-Known Member
pkyabigtime said:
tie it down around the rack lst style and youll get more yield bro. good job though!
Click to expand...
Thanks! will do!
I am hoping for some beautiful females, but not expecting great things from the bagseed. I am using these beans to work out the kinks in my Indoor setup. I miss my Outdoor grows... Will be starting one in the Spring :-)
 
Grumpy'

Grumpy'

Active Member
When doing a scrog it is important to make sure your s teen is above the edge of the pot. This will allow you to work with "weaving" the plant, allow air to circulate preventing moisture from building up and ease of watering. I only say this cause your pictures appear to has the screens sitting right on top of the pots.
 
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