first time grower, need advise!

I am a Wa state MMJ patient, just became certified, so decided to try to grow for myself.
I paid way too much for 2 reallly bad plants at my local dispensary(from what I can tell) one had a couple big stalks broken off and seems to have been used for mass clones, strain is romulus GF, 2nd plant, which just says northern lights #1 is long spindly, not a lot of leaves, also had many cuts on it when I paid way too much for them at the dispensary (supposed to sell for around 15/plant, I got suckered into paying 50 for 2 rejects, and they don't seem to be doing very well, can't seem to find the place where you upload pics, as far as lighting goes, got a T5 "sun blaze" high output fluorescent, 8-54 watt 4 foot 6500k "blue"lamps (40,000 lumens...?)
The guy at the hydroponics store told me this would be fine until flowering, he said to then get 4 "red" lights" and set in a red/blue configuration.
Others have told me that HPS is the ONLY way to flower if I want decent output (plus 1000 watts)
My romulan grapefruit plant looks a mess, with much new growth that appears to be curling under.
The tall thin "northern lights" plant has decent looking leaves, many many new reddish shoots coming out from by new leave sections (new branches I am guessing..) This one had an almost completely purple stalk, which the kid at the disp. said was "probly a nute deficiency".
I bought the fox farm series of nutrients, big bloom, kangaroots, and rootdrench and a microbe mix.
After getting them home and reading the bottles, they all seem to have the SAME ingredients, just at differing %'s.
And they had a feeding schedule for said products, seems like a bit of overkill, .5 tsp one, 1 tsp of the other, yet same ingredients.
I can use a really patient mentor or two, I am disabled with a spinal tumor and on SS, this has already cost more than intended for this stage of the game.
I am interested in hydro, but was kind of pushed in the direction of soil to start due to the expense involved.
I used 1 gallon pots with an organic soil w/ vermiculite (called "roots organics" formula 707)
I had read an article somewhere online about a type of growing that utilizes fish waste (I have a koi pond) and thought I could get by cheaper using their "natural" fertilizer.
I am going to keep looking to try and upload some pics, in the meantime, anyone who is willing to offer any assistance, I thank you ahead of time for your kind help.
~cheers

if you need serious output for constant smoking (depends on your condition i guess), you need an HID. That would also require appropriate venting and ducting because of the heat they put up, so it makes it quite expensive to start (but in the end, worth it). If you're just growing for a joint in the evening, CFLs could do the trick. Be a lot simpler. With CFLs make sure your plant is as small as compact as can be. You can take them straight to flower and skip growth for that. They'll still grow, just not big. Which is perfect when using CFLs. You can make up for size with more plants, once you can clone them. Cloning is important.

Choose your medium wisely. Growing with soil is often complicated and low-yielding. A cheap hydroponic solution like coco-coir would be perfect. It's just like soil but much easier to work with, and costs about the same (hardly anything, also reusable). Perhaps for your next batch.

For now, you should flush your plant (flushing means giving a whole lot of water, read about it), and then start feeding it with very low dosage of nutes (I'm assuming they are small plants). Never feed with the recommended dosage, that's sales-bs.

Using fish water can be excellent but it *usually* requires good organic skills in soil. You can just try and see how it goes, it probably won't kill your plants, but if it gets complicated, hydro is better.

Be sure to message me if you're having trouble getting information. It's all out there, but sometimes it takes time to find and understand.

Best of wishes

Thanks so much for your reply!
I finally figured out how to upload the pics, included, the bigger one is the problem child, the romulan gf, it has a hole in the main stem from where a branch was inadvertently snapped off, I am unsure if it will even heal itself with such a huge hole???
Yesterday I DID do a flush with like 4 gal H2o (2 gal pot) now I am allowing it to dry, the leaves, if you can believe it, are even more shriveled up now then when I took these pics earlier today, it may be history??

So the fluorescent I described won't do the trick?
The hydro guy said all I have to do when I go to flower is to remove 4 of the blue lights, add 4 red to the 4 blues in an every other pattern, he says that will take me through veg and flower without the need for other lights.
Seems most have neg opinions on the fluores, he says he grows with them and yeild is large, no issue there..I am sure of the fact I will need more lights, just not certain which types, the sodium ones seem to be mentioned a lot.
Tomorrow I get the rest of "the girls" delivered,and the lights I have are only 2x4', which won't be enough for 10 ish plants!! NOT from my local dispensary,either.. but a guy I was turned onto via the hydro store, he not only delivers, but will help with anything he can, and he only wants 100 'donation' for 6- 1 1/2 foot bushy full plants! I will have quite an array of strains, along with the northern lights, the romulan (even if the bigger plant dies I do have a clone I took 3 days ago that already has a few roots)
He is bringing me white widow, blueberry kush, and one that is euphoric but I can't recall it's name, LOL.
I am also in the process of building my own hydro "bubbleponics" type unit, with a pond pump in the water and nuts, as well as 2 airstones, just need to figure out the plumbing out, oh what fun this is!
My son was killed in a car accident on his 21st birthday a few yrs back, and my ultimate goal is to become very educated in all aspects of growing,not just so I have great medicine, I want to name a strain after him
And God knows I need a hobby, with my injuries and back problems I don't get out much, this will give me something to do..I thank you for your reply, and hope to continue getting tips whenever you feel the urge, lol.
Peace~

Oh and I smoke very little, though I am loving the edibles!! I made 12 pounds of canna~butter after watching an older gal on youtube make it, not weak "lime green, either"..it was like hot motor oil, except very dark green, and it is completely knock out stuff!!
I have had a severe case of insomnia for 3 yrs (since my son passed) my experience with pot was in junior high, dime bags with seeds, etc (late 70's stuff)And I didn't smoke any again until my son had me try a bit right before his birthday, he said "Ma...this is LEGAL now for people like YOU, go for it!!
So, I have a very low tolerance, if I am successful in my indoor farming what I don't use for cooking, and a nice stash for myself, I am going to donate most of it to people like me(via the dispensary), on social security with no extra $$.
10$ a gram for the best of the best is pretty darn cheap, but I know a lot of people can't even afford that.( I am beginning to think "donating" 10/gram is by far cheaper than all the expense of growing) but I want to do it, I want to learn!
Thanks again for your time...
Just spreading the healing...

You can use those lights for veg and flower. I don't know too much about the t5 lighting, so I will simply refer you to the best source of information I know on the subject. This guy has been getting GREAT results, and I think reading through this post would benefit you greatly. That being said, if you have any other questions that isn't related to t5 fluorescent, I will probably have an answer for you so don't hesitate to send me a message. I am living in Wa state, too. Anyway heres the post--- https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/358190-led-without-leds-my-first.html

those lights will work fine. You want 6500k for veg and 2700k for flower. Some people also use more of a balance spectrum

well, like I said - if you use, say, a 100w of flouroscent light, if you're REALLY good, you can get like... 50-80 grams off of it. The same actually goes for HID lights, but with much more wattage and flexibility when growing.

Donating and spreading the love is very cool, but only if you can afford it. I wouldn't think you want to put in a few hundred bucks on HID's and venting now just so you can donate, but maybe you are. Anyway, you need some healthy plants before that.

It's amazing that the dispensary would sell this plant to you. It's in very bad shape. After flushing, start feeding it in low amounts. If you can get an anti-stress agent with goodies for the plant, like algae juice or rhizotonic by canna, this will help your plants. Make sure you foliar feed them. There's a good chance they'll come through. Also make sure the other plants you will get are healthier than these.

Growing is an great hobby. changed my life.

Good luck newwb in your quest to get "your girls" back to a healthy state so that you can smoke or eat "Your Meds" ... As the fellow people stated, those lights will take you through the veg and flower stage in a good way.

Marajuana plants have a way about them so that even though you think all is lost, with a few tweeks here and there, they will usually spring back to life. They are a weed in all aspects of the word ... Never give up on them is what I am trying to say here ...

It is also very nice of you to "Pay it forwrd", and share with those less fortunate. But always remember that Charity begins at home ... Always make sure you have enough, before you take care of others ... They will understand

Please keep us posted, and if you have any questions (which I am sure you will), this is the place to be ... Good Luck and Peace and Love

The MaineYankee

I do have another silly question..HOW do you start a grow journal? Do you just go to the grow journals area and "start a new thread?"
Then how do you put the link into your signature?
I've really upped my game since I first started, have the 4' T-5 running 4 blues, 4 red spectrum lights, but wasn't seeing that inch or 2 a day, so I got a 1,000 watter going now, and also have ordered this...
http://www.horticulturesource.com/complete-hydroponics-aeroponic-soil-grow-systems-parts-trays-reservoirs-etc--c29/complete-hydroponic-systems-parts-ebb-flow-drip-feed-etc--s54/c-a-p-custom-automated-products-ebb-gro-12-grow-site-system-complete-w-55-gallon-reservoir-new-version-p4490/?osCsid=27299ba28fa42fdd184be935fad5b54a
Then I found a great buy on amazon and ordered 2 600 watt HPS/MH 4 piece sets (comes with reflector which is a bit cheesy) but it also comes with both MH and HPS bulbs, just the cost of the 2 bulbs is about what the unit cost..so I ordered 2.
So I found a great source that grows 100% organic and he is setting me up with the balance of my limit, and since he said he gets 1-2 inches a day growth in his 6000 watt veg, I told him I would be happy to pay him more to keep them an extra 2 weeks so they'll be huge when I get them...he won't take more than 10 a shot, which is pretty righteous in my book.
So b y the time those girls are ready, my ebb and flow 18 pot system (bought the 12 site with 1 6 pot expansion set) it will grow up to 48!!
I can't seem to find any grows with this system(hope this isn't a bad sign), if anyone knows someone who uses this please feel free to post their link, mucho appreciated!!
So now I will upload more recent pics of my girls...the sick are healed..or at least in a LOT better shape than when I originally posted.