First Grow Ever CFL

Hello everyone first time ever writing in a forum but have been reading a lot on this site. I'm at day 15 of veg on my first grow. I got 3 urban poison starting to take off under 8 150watt (equivalent) cfls and 2 300watt (equivalent) cfls; I have mixed spectrum, some 2700k and some 3500k, and a couple 6500k. My medium is 75%coco coir 25% perlite. I'm using general hydroponics flora series as directed on the box. I water twice a day occilating between feeding with nutrients and regular tap water with calmagic phed between 5.5 and 6.5 Here are some pics of the last couple weeks. Just looking for input and advice from more experienced growers. I'm doing it cheap I know but it's my first grow. I fimmed them after the 3rd node and have new tops coming in. But if you look at the last 2 pics I have one plant that it reaching up and the leaves are up. And the other always seems to be more on the droopy side.

They look good to me but canna coco doesn't need perlite it allows roots to have excellent source of oxygen , canna even says if u mix perlite with the coco to not even use there coco nutrient line and go straight to there aqua line. But keep it up they look good. GL and welcome to riu

tropicalcannabispatient said:

They look good to me but canna coco doesn't need perlite it allows roots to have excellent source of oxygen , canna even says if u mix perlite with the coco to not even use there coco nutrient line and go straight to there aqua line. But keep it up they look good. GL and welcome to riu

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Hey thanks for your input. In regards to the perlite, I was just following this guide ( http://www.growweedeasy.com/cfl-coco-coir ) from growweedeasy.com which has been another site which has provided a lot of good info for me. In that guide, which is a pretty cost effective, they say to use simply use flora micro, grow, and bloom. But I purchased the whole starter series and followed what's on the box. Is occilating feedings (nutrient rich water, plain water, nutrient rich water, plain water ect...) necessary? Or should I do two feedings before a mini flush. I have read multiple places that a small downside to coco is its ability to hold onto salts and cause lockout. I water till I get runoff every time. Side note, I really hope at lease two of these ladies are actually ladies.

I should also say that I'm vegging under 24 hour photoperiod after reading lots of debate as to whether 18/6 was better or more advantages.

LOB said:

Hey thanks for your input. In regards to the perlite, I was just following this guide ( http://www.growweedeasy.com/cfl-coco-coir ) from growweedeasy.com which has been another site which has provided a lot of good info for me. In that guide, which is a pretty cost effective, they say to use simply use flora micro, grow, and bloom. But I purchased the whole starter series and followed what's on the box. Is occilating feedings (nutrient rich water, plain water, nutrient rich water, plain water ect...) necessary? Or should I do two feedings before a mini flush. I have read multiple places that a small downside to coco is its ability to hold onto salts and cause lockout. I water till I get runoff every time. Side note, I really hope at lease two of these ladies are actually ladies. View attachment 3567042View attachment 3567043

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Canna coco is more like hydro then any other setup.. Drain to waste hydro not recirculating. That chart is useless it's just a quick reference / guideline for plants that have reached there peak e.c. You need to buy an ec meter and a ph meter , . Then check the e.c of the water and go to this site http://www.cannagardening.com/growguide once ur there input the ec, type of medium and ect... Never feed with plain water not even for the last two weeks if ur at 2.0 e.c and have 14 days till harvest gradually lower the e.c day by day...1.9 1.8 1.7 ect.. Keep your ph at 5.8... If u have a water softener or R.O then add calmag before u add the canna nutrient line..make sure u maintain at least 20 percent runoff . Start your ec low and work your way up, do not feed everyday until your plants want to be fed everyday , get a moisture meter to know when to water and adjust timers and whatnot accordingly. And do not rely on the runoff water to get the e.c and ph of your root environment , use the 1part coco 3 part water slurry extraction method

tropicalcannabispatient said:

Canna coco is more like hydro then any other setup.. Drain to waste hydro not recirculating. That chart is useless it's just a quick reference / guideline for plants that have reached there peak e.c. You need to buy an ec meter and a ph meter , . Then check the e.c of the water and go to this site http://www.cannagardening.com/growguide once ur there input the ec, type of medium and ect... Never feed with plain water not even for the last two weeks if ur at 2.0 e.c and have 14 days till harvest gradually lower the e.c day by day...1.9 1.8 1.7 ect.. Keep your ph at 5.8... If u have a water softener or R.O then add calmag before u add the canna nutrient line..make sure u maintain at least 20 percent runoff . Start your ec low and work your way up, do not feed everyday until your plants want to be fed everyday , get a moisture meter to know when to water and adjust timers and whatnot accordingly. And do not rely on the runoff water to get the e.c and ph of your root environment , use the 1part coco 3 part water slurry extraction method

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Thanks for the advice about the ec meter I'll look into that for sure! However I am trying to keep this grow very cheap, as it is my first. And when I say plain water I mean phed to 5.8 with a few ml of calmagic per gallon. Tap water is pretty much my only option however. Also I've read that coco can maintain oxygen even when fully saturated, hence being able to water multiple times a day without fear of drowning the roots which confirms it being much like hydro. That being said I believe that without an ec/ppm meter it's better safe than sorry for me to switch between nutrient feeding and watering with "plain" water. It's not going to flush out all of the nutrients/salts but it will at least keep me from getting into a dangerous level of salinity. And yes I produce at least 20% run off every time. I also like what you said about not jumping into a 2 week flush with plain water and to gradually taper off the nutrients. Hopefully by flower I'll be able to get an ec meter. I think I can get by without the moisture meter for now as well.

And I understand that the chart is a basic guidline, and I started with 50% recommended ppm to start them off and gradually brought them up to what the box says and the have loved it so far from what I can see. I'll definitely keep posting pictures as this continues! Thanks

Why CFL's and not mh/hps? Just wondering.

Anon Emaus said:

Why CFL's and not mh/hps? Just wondering.

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Combination of cost, electricity, and space.
I'm growing in a 2x4x6 (WxLxH) closet so heat would be an issue. In the future I want to get a nice grow text with ventilation ducts and what not but this is my first grow ever.

LOB said:

Combination of cost, electricity, and space.
I'm growing in a 2x4x6 (WxLxH) closet so heat would be an issue. In the future I want to get a nice grow text with ventilation ducts and what not but this is my first grow ever.

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Gotcha, well good luck and welcome to growing! Have fun

Anon Emaus said:

Gotcha, well good luck and welcome to growing! Have fun

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Thank you very much I'm really excited! Also a huge fan of top gear too by the way!

Looks good. When using cfl use actual watts, not equivalent.

Aim for 100 acualt watts for first plant and 50 for each additional for veg. Aim for 150 actual for first and 75 each additional for flower.

Or shoot for 50-60 actual watts per square foot.

Looks good. You have enough for the small plants. You need more watts as they get bigger.

I prefer to run a 50/50 mix of bulbs. Someike a 2-1 ratio.

For every two blue bulbs run one red in veg and reverse to one blue for every two red in flower.

whitebb2727 said:

Looks good. When using cfl use actual watts, not equivalent.

Aim for 100 acualt watts for first plant and 50 for each additional for veg. Aim for 150 actual for first and 75 each additional for flower.

Or shoot for 50-60 actual watts per square foot.

Looks good. You have enough for the small plants. You need more watts as they get bigger.

I prefer to run a 50/50 mix of bulbs. Someike a 2-1 ratio.

For every two blue bulbs run one red in veg and reverse to one blue for every two red in flower.

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Thanks for the encouragement, and yea sorry I just remembered the equivalents off the top of my head but I have 8 23watt and 2 50watt so a total of 284 watts which is just about right according to your guidelines for veg. I have a couple more splitters for more bulbs once flowering starts.
Currently running
4 6500k 23W
4 3500k 23W
2 2700k 50W

Is there really a need for the 3500k bulbs or would I benefit more from switching them to 6500k for vegging?

Thanks just trying to acquire knowledge.

LOB said:

Thanks for the encouragement, and yea sorry I just remembered the equivalents off the top of my head but I have 8 23watt and 2 50watt so a total of 284 watts which is just about right according to your guidelines for veg. I have a couple more splitters for more bulbs once flowering starts.
Currently running
4 6500k 23W
4 3500k 23W
2 2700k 50W

Is there really a need for the 3500k bulbs or would I benefit more from switching them to 6500k for vegging?

Thanks just trying to acquire knowledge.

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I noticed when using flouro's of any kind that plants seemed happier with the more spectrum I added.

Here's a little update, they're doing great! New tops coming in everywhere since I fimmed all of them. Debating on whether I want to fim the new tops once they take over the canopy. I super cropped the new tops to spread them out and grow outward. Which I'm also hoping will strengthen the base of the new kolas once they come in. Excited for the next couple weeks of veg! Only thing is I don't know the sex yet. Hoping for 2 outta 3!