A leaf will not heal itself. Once there is damage to a leaf that leaf will never look as good as a new Leaf. If a leaf happens to get rust spots on it, that we will never look as good as a new healthy leaf. Normally the bottom of the plant will be what shows deficiencies first. You need to watch...
An empty 5 gallon bucket is free almost year round if you look hard enough.
For my first run I did CFL on an 8 light panel that i built from a used bathroom vanity that was hanging out in a dumpster. Bulbs were a buck each from the dollar store.
CFL array: 8 dollars
Depth and overall volume, ... A lot of growers use 5 gallon buckets for pots.
If you get the rectangular buckets like Kitty Litter comes in, they measure closer to 6 gallons. A milk crate works well also. Lined with a garbage bag or an old sheet.
It would work just fine for that. I put a layer of soft foam under the mounting pad and used rubber washers to reduce harmonic vibration. I run LED and only have the fan at 20% power.
Some of the super cheap fans can develop vibrations over time. The higher end ones are balanced better, better bearings, quieter operation. I have run both the super expensive and the super cheap filters in various setups, phresh is marginally better, not worth the price in my opinion.
My...
Im very impressed with the 550. 4x4 gives you 25 watts per foot, 3x4 is 33.3. I have mine is a smaller space and use the controller to ramp up to 40 watts per foot during the "noon hours"...
The controller alone was/is a major game changer for me.
Nothing like "copy & paste"... I think everybody is looking for more real-world answers from people who have actually grown them. Not some breeders handbook.
Supplement with silicon and magnesium for tougher stems. A fan blowing on your plants will toughen the lignins in the cell walls making the stems tougher as well.
Autos are friendly as long as you have your system dialed in. any small mistake with an auto will hurt yield. If you have no deficiencies, they make good plants. i wouldnt recommend autos for newbs though.
Tough call. I always do what the trichs say to do... sometimes thats 10 weeks on an 8 week strain and sometimes 7 weeks on a 9. How soon did you start using flower nutes after the switch? You really dont need to start until maybe 4 weeks in. Switching too soon can cause problems with some strains.