first closet cfl grow; any and all opinions or tips highly appreciated!!

i have a few suggestions but i am also a beginner so you should wait for some more experienced members advice before you do anything

i don't think it looks like heat stress except for maybe one of them that has deformed leaves, and that could be genetics as well. but anyways it's not as important to keep the lights superclose when they still are that small, it's more important later, you could try raising the lamps just a couple of inches for now.

a few of them look like they are overwatered, you have to give them a few days to recover from it. watering every second day instead of every day is good but when they are already overwatered you might have to wait longer, it took one of my plants almost a week to recover.

and if they are 2-3 weeks old in those pots i would say transplant asap. i understand the problem with not knowing sex yet and the problem with space, but the roots grow a lot more than you'd think and i think they have ran out of space for sure and will keep growing very slowly in those small pots.

if you search for opinions about the light cycle you will find that everyone has their own opinion in this, but most people seem to think 18/6 is better and i tried a few different ones throughout my veg and i had by far best results with 18/6. the plants grow a lot during the dark hours and i saw much better growth during the light hours as well when i used 18/6. i also think it helps with getting a bit more space between the nodes as they stretch more during the dark hours. if you run 24/0, especially with 6500k bulbs which promotes bushy growth, and the lights so close, the new sets of leaves will begin right on top of the old ones.

the little bit of yellowing you have on some of your leaves looks like some kind of nutrient deficiency/abundance. i would definitely not be qualified enough to say what it is, but look through the stickies in the marijuana plant problems section, there's a lot of good information on this there

again, i'm also a beginner, but there's my 2 cents. good luck with this, nice setup man!

I'm pretty impressed, that's alot of plants to manage. I've actually thought of the roof idea, but it can be very easily seen. The closet is where they should stay. It seems like you have 15 there so lets say you get 7 or 8 female, will you have enough space? I wouldn't have them in clear cups as light can hurt the roots, try a blue or red solo cup. Other than that they look pretty good

yeah the setup is impressive it's gonna be nice to follow this one! and yes they do look pretty good, when reading my post it sounds like i think your plants have a lot of problems but they will be ok don't worry!

and at second thought your pots aren't that small really

but again i hope someone with more experience can correct me on all of my crap XD

thanks alot for all the input guys! first i think thats hella funny you mentioned tha deformed one, i completely forgot to ask about that one! lol i was thinking it was something that i did that was my fault but i think you're right about the genetics factor cuz the leaves look totally deformed. its stem has also started to pinch off and die but its primary rounded leaves are still green so im just gonna leave it. i planted a total of 18 and so far all them are still doing their thing so im just waiting for the 7 or 8, like you said, that are prolly gonna be strong females. so im not too worried about the few that don't make it, but thank you alot for the positive feedback i guess it has been kinda a struggle to keep track of all these babies it was alota work in the beginning keeping humidity domes on all of them when they were still transitioning from germination.

today has been an exceptionally hot and sunny day so ive got them outside, sometimes on the roof (and i should mention that the angle and overhanging trees prevents any unwanted attention from neighbors) but i also just keep them lower to the ground outside its just a bitch to move them around all day as the sun changes. no sweat tho

both pots and soil are still in transit but i am hoping and praying they come tomorrow or any day now.. i know their roots want to stretch out so bad! the thing is that i had a feeling i was watering wayy too often (noob mistake) but usually now by the second day of not watering it seems that even deep down the soil is so damn dry im not sure about how long to wait in order to make them snap out of that "yellow funk" theyre in.. maybe once every 3 day? once a week? it just seems that theres so little soil in those cups that they dry out very fast. but their growth has been very slow and has improved slightly since i cut back on the waterings atleast.. any advice on your guys' experience with watering would be greatly appreciated.

i have them in white styrofoam cups so i dont believe that very much light is penetrating to the roots, but i had thought about using standard red or blue solo/dixie cups. i thought maybe the insulating quality of the styrofoam would keep the roots at a more constant temp.

as far as the tips of the leaves burning i def. wanna try to do some more research, but like i said i think there is a very good chance that the soil i found lying in a supersoil bag in the garden might have been slightly contaminated with miracle grow.. so im hoping the transplant will greatly improve the quality of the soil? i def. wanna invest in ph/humidity/temp/moisture meters once i get some more funds together, this whole thing has been just sort of a project/hobby with some bad seeds i had. they had like a 95% successful germination rate so i was highly motivated to keep them alive, and now here i am lol

i will take your advice on raising the lights ive def. been noticing the fact that they have been busing out alot and that the space between nodes starts at about 1 cm apart but recently have been so fast right on top of the other like you said. i just heard that the cfls dont give off hardly any lumens somewhere after 6 inches? and that as long as my hand doesnt feel too much heat where the leaves are at then it would be fine. plus i didnt know if it was a good or bad thing to stretch the plants out too much cuz that would create for light and airy buds? anyways thanks alot for the advice on those 6500k's

im trying to think if theres any more info i can jot down, i have the fan blowing indirectly at its lowest setting whenever the lights are on, and im thinking i will being to taper off to a 18/6 schedule for electricity reasons as well as in consideration of the fact that you're saying they get alot of beneficial growth during the dark periods. im gonna go pick up one of those little timer things that switches off automatically, and do you think it would be ok if like 8 of those 18 hours are spent outside in this nice hot springtime sun? i hope bringing them in to the cfls and taking them out to the extreme sun doesnt like shock them or something, but so far so good i guess.

i think you guys are def. right in the fact that they are displaying alot of problems that need to be corrected, and as a good listener i will take your guys' advice and begin to correct some of these issues.. do you think once they get onto their 4th or 5th nodes they stand a good chance of being healthy despite the conditions they are dealing with presently? this is my first time growing so im just highly impressed that something so green and vibrant and growing can come from something so small as a seed i found while smoking.. well seeds i should say i have like 20 or 40 saved right now from another strain that i was allowed to collect while trimming a friends stuff, so if this batch doesnt go well atleast i have a backup for later

thanks alot for the feedback and please please dont for get about me lol i could really use the extra input, as i am highly new to this despite the fact that i try to research and take notes from friends and fellow growers such as yourselves thanks bros!

BBbubblegum said:

It seems like you have 15 there so lets say you get 7 or 8 female, will you have enough space? I wouldn't have them in clear cups as light can hurt the roots, try a blue or red solo cup. Other than that they look pretty good

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I second this. Having enough space for that many plants will be tough unless you are prepared for it. I know. I just had a bunch of clones given to me that I cant do anything with because of space. 7-8 plants can take up a lot of room.

i guess the reason i ended up with so many little seedlings right now is that i didnt expect so many to germinate so well.. i had them in complete darkness on a heating pad and they just all kept popping out little tails day after day.. so i just kept planting them and wrapping oversized clear plastic bags over them to create humidity.. they all grew leaves and here i am with most likely 15 healthy seedlings.. 15 is a large number and i guess i just dont have alot of confidence and want to have plenty of backup plants to continue on with.. right now about ten of the fifteen are working on or are done with their 3rd nodes.. and about 5-7 of them are working on their 4th. so i think, yes, it will be a realistic estimate of 5-7 healthy females that wont die on me anytime soon... they continue to grow and show new sets of leaves so im feeling more confident, but like you have said, as a result of this i will have a size issue..

i know the pictures i have taken look like a small space but i think that the dresser i have them on.. which is about 2 feet x 4 feet.. can be removed and some other clothes and junk in there can also be removed once the plants get larger. i have the lights on 3 sets of extension cords that could be lowered down all the way to the floor and raised and lowered as the plants grow. i will most likely add additional lights once the get to that size, so that not all the lights are just above them. but long story short, i can potentially expand my space to about 3 feet x um 6 feet x 6 feet.. so the floor space of the grow could potentially have 18 sq feet and potentially 6 feet of growth.. of course these are rough numbers, im just doing this in my head and havent measured yet. but ya its a walk in closet so its got alot of space if i move stuff out of it later in the growth.

right now i just ordered 10 pots that prolly hold a gallon each almost, they are 5.5 inches by 5.5 inches, and square, so i think i can maximize alot of space with those and keep them growing for atleast a few more weeks before i have to opt for the 3-5 gallon pots.. and of course more soil..

thanks alot for the comments guys!

hashviking said:

both pots and soil are still in transit but i am hoping and praying they come tomorrow or any day now.. i know their roots want to stretch out so bad! the thing is that i had a feeling i was watering wayy too often (noob mistake) but usually now by the second day of not watering it seems that even deep down the soil is so damn dry im not sure about how long to wait in order to make them snap out of that "yellow funk" theyre in.. maybe once every 3 day? once a week? it just seems that theres so little soil in those cups that they dry out very fast. but their growth has been very slow and has improved slightly since i cut back on the waterings atleast.. any advice on your guys' experience with watering would be greatly appreciated.

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if they are hanging more after a couple of days of not watering, then it's probably time to water again. search for pictures of overwatering compared to underwatering and you will learn to tell the difference after a while. but it will be much easier to water properly when they have a lot more space in bigger pots. i was also struggling with how to water in the beginning, it's hard to know without any experience.

hashviking said:

as far as the tips of the leaves burning i def. wanna try to do some more research, but like i said i think there is a very good chance that the soil i found lying in a supersoil bag in the garden might have been slightly contaminated with miracle grow.. so im hoping the transplant will greatly improve the quality of the soil?

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yes this is almost surely the reason for their yellowing, they will be fine as soon as you've transplanted. the leaves that already look like that might still look that way but all your new growth will be healthy

hashviking said:

i will take your advice on raising the lights ive def. been noticing the fact that they have been busing out alot and that the space between nodes starts at about 1 cm apart but recently have been so fast right on top of the other like you said. i just heard that the cfls dont give off hardly any lumens somewhere after 6 inches? and that as long as my hand doesnt feel too much heat where the leaves are at then it would be fine. plus i didnt know if it was a good or bad thing to stretch the plants out too much cuz that would create for light and airy buds? anyways thanks alot for the advice on those 6500k's

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you don't want them to stretch too much yes, but a bit of stretch can be nice so that the light can still reach the lower growth. but i think this is a subject that everyone has their own opinion on what would be optimal.

hashviking said:

im trying to think if theres any more info i can jot down, i have the fan blowing indirectly at its lowest setting whenever the lights are on, and im thinking i will being to taper off to a 18/6 schedule for electricity reasons as well as in consideration of the fact that you're saying they get alot of beneficial growth during the dark periods. im gonna go pick up one of those little timer things that switches off automatically, and do you think it would be ok if like 8 of those 18 hours are spent outside in this nice hot springtime sun? i hope bringing them in to the cfls and taking them out to the extreme sun doesnt like shock them or something, but so far so good i guess.

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the fan sounds good. i think you will see faster growth right away if you change to 18/6! i have no idea if bringing them out in the sun could shock them, doesn't sound likely but someone else would have to answer that

hashviking said:

i think you guys are def. right in the fact that they are displaying alot of problems that need to be corrected, and as a good listener i will take your guys' advice and begin to correct some of these issues.. do you think once they get onto their 4th or 5th nodes they stand a good chance of being healthy despite the conditions they are dealing with presently?

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for sure. they don't look too bad at all, i think they will be fine and start growing really nicely

I hope they all live and that most of them are female. Good luck, man. I always hated throwing away extra plants just because I didnt have room. Im building a new box today just to keep these extra clones that were given to me.

hey guys! so incase anyone is still following this thread.. i'm thinking of posting a whole new one all together but i dunno how this whole forum thing works and or if its better just to keep one thread going throughout the grow.. anyways


since my last post i have transplanted all but three into larger, half gallon square pots, that are proving to be a great improvement for the new plants. they have started growing vigorously and i am very pleased that no new spots or yellow coloration are showing on the new growth.


aside from them being rootbound in their small 12 oz cups, they were also sitting in poor quality, possibly miracle grow contaminated, soil. I have now purchased a shit load of fox farm ocean forest and have been using this soil for the transplants. i have been told that the soil contains about a 30 day supply of nutes, so i think in about 4 weeks ill begin using some sort of vegetative specific nutrients, and then of course some blooming nutrients..


i have added a couple more 23w 6500k 1600 lumen bulbs, so now my total is 200 actual watts with at the most 14,400 lumens of light. I have the lights about 3 inches from the tops of the plants, which is much further away than i had them before (i was told that this would not be good as the nodes would not space out far enough to get equal distribution of light). I will continue to increase the distance away from them as they grow, but i also don't want to loose lumens by having them too far away. I have purchased additional emergency blanket material and have the entire space covered in it, including emergency blanket with copy-paper-backed reflectors. I don't believe im loosing a significant amount of the light, but i do know that mylar or panda film would reflect alot better.. next grow possibly. I have also invested in a timer and have the plants running on a 18/6 schedule, with 7-8 of those 18 hours outside in the noonday sun (from about 1030 to 530).


my watering schedule has changed since i have put them into larger pots, and im finding that im watering about once every three days, but once every two days on average. when i do water i don't pour directly near the stem, and instead water in a circular motion more towards the perimeter of the pot, so as to force the roots to spread and look for their moisture. i also have been keeping the amount of water per watering to a minimum, as i have read that the plants can tolerate drought much better than they can tolerate flood, so to speak.


other than that, i plan on transplanting once i see roots at the bottom of these pots, and, depending on how many are healthy females at that point, will either transplant into 2-3 gallon, or 5 gallon, pots.


i sincerely hope someone reads this post and finds interest in my small time cfl grow, please do not hesitate to post any comments tips or criticisms! thanks guys!


oh and here are some new pics!

really nice man the plants are doing well now. i have about the same watering schedule and i water them the same way, although i spray the leaves completly wet as well and they really seem to like that. you have read up a lot now and i think this grow is gonna be great! im subbed

do the leaves enjoy being wet? i thought about doing that to maintain humidity n stuff but i wasnt sure if that would like damage the leaves or create for powdery mold or anything, do u do just like a fine mist? cuz whenever i accidentally get some huge droplets of water on their leaves when im watering i always wick it away with the corner of a paper towel or something cuz im afraid thats too much water to be chilling on their leaves. but i will def. keep that in mind!

today im wondering if i should water.. its been 2 days since i last watered, and 2 days seemed to be enough time for the soil to dry out when they were in small 12 oz cups, but now that i have them in larger pots im noticing that on the 2nd day of not watering the soil is still moist about an inch or so under the surface of the soil.. when we water there should be no moisture at all in the first 2-3 inches of soil right? the very surface of it looks dry, but ya im still feeling moisture underneath so i think ill wait till the 3rd day of not watering to water. any tips?

thank you so much for continuing to follow my grow ratthemligt, and thank you for the strong words of encouragement! do you have a thread going for your plants right now? ima check yours out

ill post some progress pics in a few days, not much else has been going on since the last post but i am noiticing significant growth! they seem to be working on their 5th and 6th nodes and on a few of them i am noticing significant thickening up on their main stems to the point where it looks like on some of them that the old skin surrounding the stem has sort of peeled and burst to make room for the added growth in the stem! very happy with this fox farm ocean forest!

just a quick update, not much else new to ask or post journal wise..


my recent purchases include 10 large square pots, each im told holding 1.5 gallons. this should suffice for the next transplant, as i am already beginning to see roots emerge out of the holes of the small square pots i have them in now will give them a couple more weeks or 6 inches more growth before i transplant into the 1.5 gallon, square pots.


i purchased a 1.5 cubic foot bag of fox farm happy frog to fill the large 1.5 gallon square pots when i do intend to transplant, as i am told that the difference between the ocean forest and the happy frog is that the happy frog has no or almost no nutrients, whereas the ocean forest has a 30 day supply of nutrients built into it? maybe this is a topic of discussion/research on my part? what exactly is the difference between ocean forest and happy frog?


anyways, i purchased happy frog for when they are larger because at that point i would like to add additional veg nutrients anyways, and so the happy frog shouldnt have too much or none at all by itself?


in addition to the ten large square pots and all the soil i have between the two 1.5 cubic foot bags of fox farm soils i have, i also purchased a growing-grade hand sprayer for misting their leaves. i am told i should mist approximately every 3 days? do the plants like the mist right as they are waking up and getting their first light of the day? do i spray moderately or do i completely wet every inch of the plants thoroughly?

Hey there Your babies look fantastic....excited to be here for your grow!!
that is all I have to say now...I've got some reading to do first...

Ok that's a lot tto start with but I give u props and yes raise the lights about 4 inches above them for now and let the grow to about 2 inches from the light then keep it 2 inches until they are a little older to much light will stun them that young and change to 18/6 imidiately. And make sure u have good drainage in all cups and only water when cups feel lighter and if u have already watered them that much the soil probly is leached of nutes use a fertalizer with a veg nute ratio 24-18-20 but use it at like 1/8 th strength until there bigger then gradually work up to 1/2 to 3/4 strength don't over do it

for some reason it gave me issues posting this with that last post, but here are some updated pics


thanks calicat! really appreciate hearing that bro!

klogrower, ive been on 18/6 for probably over a week now, ive been keeping the lights at about 3 inches and im now running nine 23w 6500s and one 45w 6500, so a total of like 250w and like 17,000 lumens. i get 8 of the 18 hours outside in the hott ass weather weve been having over here lately. the plants havent been in cups for like 2 or 3 weeks now, i have them in like half gallon square pots. i can just now see the roots emerging from the holes in those pots, so i purchased some 2 gallon square pots for the next transplant once the roots fill out some more. i changed the soil after all those issues with the over watering, so now the soil has plenty of nutes that havent been washed away, no worries about that. im using fox farm ocean forest right now and its just about to run out of the nutes it comes with, so i purchased happy frog for the 2 gallon transplants because im gonna start adding nutes once i transplant and the plants are alittle bigger. right now the plants are about 6 inches and 4 weeks old, they are working on their 6th and 7th set of leaves..

any tips on misting? or on good nutes to use? i think im gonna stick with fox farm but we'll see

nice refektorz br0 ! for da roots at da botom br0 i use hydrtron expanded clay i put a layer of dem ballz at the bottom of every pot !
[dis a pro-tip br0]

zoot! thanks for the feedback bro! whats the purpose of the expanded clay again? better drainage? i see alot of people using those for hydro, but you can also add those to your soil? is it not good to mix those all throughout the soil or specifically right at the bottom of the pots? i think i will def. be thinking about that and other things i can do to prepare for my next major transplant into 2 gallon pots.. thanks bro! keep following man i really appreciate it

just a quick photo update

let me know what you guys think!