Cheap lighting

Daf700

Member
training means altering the way they grow by tying them down, heres a few examples from a few of my grows. just pinch the stem lightly until the stem is flimsy and forgiving, then once you got em where you want em, tie them down with a twist tie(i use fishing line lol im just ghetto like that).

the main idea of it is to divide out energy evenly, whatever part of the plant is closest to its light source will get the most energy, so by doing this you keep them all level, scrog(screen of green) do this in a different way but its all for the same reason, equal division of energy.
Hmm my plant is about six inches tall and about a week into veg.it was out in the bright florida sun until i got it inside. What size would be good to start training it?
 

jpockets420

Well-Known Member
Your gonna have to add a lot more than them two bulbs you have when its in flower...unless that is you want a branch with some red hairs. I would get into the thinking of this being a practice run, don't expect a lot from it. You seriously would have been better buying 2 t8 shop lights with bulbs.... $16/piece and put a few cfl's around the rest of the plant. It needs a good overhead light to grow towards and cfl's just don't cut it unless you have an ass-load of them for overhead lighting. I guarantee you go HID next grow ;) Your plant won't get a full 4000 lumens from them bulbs anyway. They don't have any penetrating power even if you keep them right next to the leaves which is why lst has been suggested so expect your plant to only receive half of that maybe a little more. Forget totally about lower and mid growth with that setup also....Good luck!
 

Flares

Active Member
Plants gro fine under cfls. just have to have the right lumens keep them close to the plants. Yeah you could go HID bulbs as the prices for them have come down over the yrs but then you also got to look into getting a ballast too. I always see ppl saying the price is cheap but ballast cost. check out the micro grow section... lots of ppl running cfls with good yields.
 

crazyhazey

Well-Known Member
Hmm my plant is about six inches tall and about a week into veg.it was out in the bright florida sun until i got it inside. What size would be good to start training it?
i start around 4 inches honestly, i make them start to grow towards the edge of the pot so the stem grows accordingly.
 

Daf700

Member
Your gonna have to add a lot more than them two bulbs you have when its in flower...unless that is you want a branch with some red hairs. I would get into the thinking of this being a practice run, don't expect a lot from it. You seriously would have been better buying 2 t8 shop lights with bulbs.... $16/piece and put a few cfl's around the rest of the plant. It needs a good overhead light to grow towards and cfl's just don't cut it unless you have an ass-load of them for overhead lighting. I guarantee you go HID next grow ;) Your plant won't get a full 4000 lumens from them bulbs anyway. They don't have any penetrating power even if you keep them right next to the leaves which is why lst has been suggested so expect your plant to only receive half of that maybe a little more. Forget totally about lower and mid growth with that setup also....Good luck!
Hmm.i have some smaller 23w cfls i can hand around the sides,and i just bought some mylar to put in the roo, with it maybe i can buy an hps light and setup to flower because i heard that they are really good especially for flowering.i like a nice simple grow and the plant has been under the cfls for two days now and it has already grown an inch and a new set of leaves i have it on an 18-6 light cycle which seems to be working well. If i add three 23 w 100 watt equivelent it will be around 7000 lumins theoretically i will see what i can do plants growing fine right now though. And so far im quite happy with the results,so far that is thanks for the advice!
 

Daf700

Member
i start around 4 inches honestly, i make them start to grow towards the edge of the pot so the stem grows accordingly.
My onlt
y problem with that is i dont wanna hurt mylant and kniwing myself so well,i probably will.the stem is a little thin,but its not stretching by any means.i have plenty of head room for it to grow and adjust the lights to,about thepree feet
 

Daf700

Member
Plants gro fine under cfls. just have to have the right lumens keep them close to the plants. Yeah you could go HID bulbs as the prices for them have come down over the yrs but then you also got to look into getting a ballast too. I always see ppl saying the price is cheap but ballast cost. check out the micro grow section... lots of ppl running cfls with good yields.
I agree cfls are good,HID are better.plants growing fine with my cfls.my friend is growing with HID and when i told him i was growing with cfls he laughed at me until he saw my plant which actually isnt tall but short and bushy yet had a slightly thin stem.
 

crazyhazey

Well-Known Member
My onlt
y problem with that is i dont wanna hurt mylant and kniwing myself so well,i probably will.the stem is a little thin,but its not stretching by any means.i have plenty of head room for it to grow and adjust the lights to,about thepree feet
i think i understood that, if your drunk go back and edit this when you arent. but anyway, if your stem is too brittle, make sure you have some airflow on it, once the stem is stronger, just do what i suggested earlier, ill explain it in detail, my method at least. put the stem between your thumb and your index and middle finger, and give it a gentle squeeze. work your way up and down the stem where you want it to bend, after shes nice and flimsy get a tie and make sure it wont dig into the stem, string is too thin and it will fuse with the stem.
 

Daf700

Member
i think i understood that, if your drunk go back and edit this when you arent. but anyway, if your stem is too brittle, make sure you have some airflow on it, once the stem is stronger, just do what i suggested earlier, ill explain it in detail, my method at least. put the stem between your thumb and your index and middle finger, and give it a gentle squeeze. work your way up and down the stem where you want it to bend, after shes nice and flimsy get a tie and make sure it wont dig into the stem, string is too thin and it will fuse with the stem.
Sorry if that was hard to read,i am using an ipad so trying to type fast with it it kinda hard.anyways what i was trying to say is i dont want to hurt it as the stem is a little brittle. I will try once it becomes a little thicker.Oh and i added two 23 w to my lightingso now i have 2 42 w and 2 23w so about 7000 lumins (so the package says not sure of the exact lumin output) and they are all about 2-4 inches from the plant so i think im good on light.i als o have another fan now too,not directly on the plant though.any other suggestions?
 

crazyhazey

Well-Known Member
Sorry if that was hard to read,i am using an ipad so trying to type fast with it it kinda hard.anyways what i was trying to say is i dont want to hurt it as the stem is a little brittle. I will try once it becomes a little thicker.Oh and i added two 23 w to my lightingso now i have 2 42 w and 2 23w so about 7000 lumins (so the package says not sure of the exact lumin output) and they are all about 2-4 inches from the plant so i think im good on light.i als o have another fan now too,not directly on the plant though.any other suggestions?
oh haha i know what you mean, i hate getting on here on a mobile device. my only advice would probably be to do the hand test, make sure your lights arent too hot for the plant. and keep on top of it, they can stretch whenever and its best to catch it before your leaves get burned.
 

dc4

Well-Known Member
Sell the ipad and buy some decent lights :D:D:D
Ha, crazyhazey I always see you bragging with training plants :D
Oh and..... spaghetti :D
 

Daf700

Member
oh haha i know what you mean, i hate getting on here on a mobile device. my only advice would probably be to do the hand test, make sure your lights arent too hot for the plant. and keep on top of it, they can stretch whenever and its best to catch it before your leaves get burned.
Yeah i always do the hand test i ususally have to adjust the light once every two days or so sometimes once a day
 

crazyhazey

Well-Known Member
Sell the ipad and buy some decent lights :D:D:D
Ha, crazyhazey I always see you bragging with training plants :D
Oh and..... spaghetti :D
hahaha yeah im quite the training enthusiast, wish i could give more examples but my goddamn camera broke. +spaghetti for you buddy.
 

crazyhazey

Well-Known Member
Yeah i always do the hand test i ususally have to adjust the light once every two days or so sometimes once a day
thats good, just always keep an eye on em as they get bigger they're even more likely to stretch. im with dc4 on selling the ipad though you could buy yourself a nice 250w, maybe even a 400w and buy like 3 ipads if you do a stadium grow with a few plants, all you gotta do is some cloning and you could fill out a room pretty well.
 

Daf700

Member
hahaha yeah im quite the training enthusiast, wish i could give more examples but my goddamn camera broke. +spaghetti for you buddy.
I got the basic piture.i really enjoy growing i dont have a part i like best but i love to wake up walk in and see how much it has grown.very rewarding hobby so far.
 

crazyhazey

Well-Known Member
I got the basic piture.i really enjoy growing i dont have a part i like best but i love to wake up walk in and see how much it has grown.very rewarding hobby so far.
the point is basically to keep all the tops at equal height so none of them get more energy than others, the plant then focuses on all growth rather than one branch primarily(why the top bud is usually the highest yielding). and i know what you mean, growin weed has its benefits for sure, very fun to watch too. sometimes i wonder how many thousands of dollars i saved on weed by growing it.
 

Slipon

Well-Known Member
if it was me ..

I would go to "wallmart" and buy a 2 tube T5 fixture .. and 2x6500K bulbs to fit in it ..

I can get it at my local "wallmart" for maybe 30$ .. enough for small seedlings/plants ..

then add one more at pay day ... once the plant is a bit bigger aso.

once you have 6-8 bulbs you could maybe consider to get a HPS for flowering ..

once your plant is to big for the tubes and you had a few more pay checks ..

upgrade along the way .. I did it in a simar way .. I now have 3x2 tube T5HO I made in to a diy fixture ...

and a used recondition 600W HPS with a new bulb and wireing aso. got it over 1½ month ..

look around .. do some research .. you could also just do the fist grow with T5/CLF and then on your next use em for veg and get a small HPS ..
do it right .. no need to hurry ..
 

dc4

Well-Known Member
the point is basically to keep all the tops at equal height so none of them get more energy than others, the plant then focuses on all growth rather than one branch primarily(why the top bud is usually the highest yielding). and i know what you mean, growin weed has its benefits for sure, very fun to watch too. sometimes i wonder how many thousands of dollars i saved on weed by growing it.
Even better for equal buds is main-lining. Maybe you've heard. Search on the forum, it's some fine ass shit :D
 
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