Hello everybody, am i on the right track?

Hey,

I've been a lifelong smoker and a casual hit or miss grower for a couple years, basically throw seeds from the bag in some dirt and see what happens. I'm ready to grow some of that good stuff and I'm ready to buy equipment, I just want to run the list by you all and see if I'm on the right track.
2x 6500k 400w equal (105w actual)cfl's for grow
2x 2700k 400w equal (105w actual)cfl's for flowers
6 site 10 gallon drip/bubbleponic setups from ebay with nutrients,hydroton, rockwool cubes and grow guide
1 fan in and 1 fan out
timer
ICE seeds from http://www.marijuana-seeds.nl/ice.html
and a dream of smoking something other than regs
I know there is more to it than that, but I figured it would be best if i close my eyes and do it before i blow my little bit of doe on bs. I feel that with the tools and knowledge from you guys I can make my dream come true. Please feel free to throw in your 2 cents whenever, it would be really appreciated, especially since it really isn't a topic to bring up with the neighbors. This is my first post anywhere ever, so if I'm doing it wrong or talking too much please let me know.
p.s. my whole setup would cost 233.76-250.00, that really is my max, thanks, and my profile pic is of one of those hit or miss grows i was talking about, it went totally unattended until harvest, what do you think?

Sounds about right. Now for how much wattage those bulbs "Equal", thats up for debate... and some may occur soon enough. The Giant CFL's as big as a 2 litre pop bottle come in 125, 150 and 200 watt... is this what you are planning on only smaller??

You might consider adding a Reptile CFL or two... there is a rumour that UV-B rays pile on the trichomes to protect the plant from the rays. Rumour or not... it does supplement a missing piece of the light spectrum, and better simulate the real world outdoors.

Thanks for getting back to me and Yep! those are the bulbs, they say 11" in the specs. I'm planning to build a 2 1/2'w X 2 1/2'd X 8'h box with a shelf halfway up to house the setup I described. Using only 1 half at first with the hopes of one day expanding to 2 setups to help me sustain 365 if everything goes well. 1 setup would be veg and the other one flowering. Also since I'm on a budget I'm going to paint the inside flat white, I read there is only 5-10% difference from mylar in reflection. The 2 monster cfls connected with a standard T bulb adapter hung upside down thru a piece of round vent duck opened half-way to mimic a reflector (I saw that on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs_QRorECvo&feature=related). Maybe I could use the reptile bulbs on the side? And would 1 of those on all 4 sides be a bad idea?

That should work.

Another possibility... I haven't done this but I have been giving my 13 qt stainless mixing bowl some funny looks. $10 at the warehouse club. 14" diameter x 6 1/2" deep. One of these days I will mount a Reptile UV-B light in one... and maybe a couple small CFL's

that sounds good, by the way...is there such a thing as too much light when dealing with cfl's?

uvb lights aren't for growing. REPEAT: UV LIGHTS ARENT FOR GROWING, they are used in reptile tanks, that's it.

stick to flourecent, HID, or LED lighting for growing plants.

there's such a thing as too much light, but rarely does a grower reach that level.

4 100 watt cfl's should do the trick. anything over 3,000 lumens per square foot will give you a good plant.

remember to keep the lights close to the plant....

hey Redivider, when you say 4 100 watt cfl's, are you talking about 100 watt equivalent or 100 watt actual like the ones I'm using in my setup as described at the top of this thread? thanks

redivider said:

uvb lights aren't for growing. REPEAT: UV LIGHTS ARENT FOR GROWING, they are used in reptile tanks, that's it.

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Agreed, UV-B is not a primary source of light. There are however rumors and buzz going around that UV-B might help pile on extra Trichomes. True or not, supplementing that portion of the light spectrum to further simulate natural outdoor light cant be all bad can it??

all advice is welcome, thats why we are all here. Its very much appreciated. I got another question....I ordered all the equipment and went to home depot to finish off the rest, I am about to order the seeds. I really like the look of these plants called ICE http://www.marijuana-seeds.nl/ice.html. They come regular or fem. I am on a budget so what i need to know is if fem is really worth more than double the price.

you dont want to order 10 seeds and get 8 males, so yes, its worth ordering fem seeds. your setup sounds great, good luck.

thanks, I'm gonna need it and I took your advice and just bought them from nirvana instead. 10 fem ICE.....yummy (lol)i just thought of something, how about spray painting the inside of the box chrome or silver instead of white, wouldn't that reflect even better than white?

hey guys, whats the deal with ona block? does it work and how do you really use it? also I was looking into a cloning gel and I kinda like dutch master replicator cloning gel....they say it can actually suck air bubbles out of the shaft....I have no idea what to get, but off of reading the descriptions it seems as though I could really use these. Anybody?

i used schultz take root and now i have 2 happy little clones going. i just took 2 cuttings, wet them and dipped them in the powder, then put them in jiffy peat pellets, it worked great for me. dont know much about the ona, others on here say it works great for odor control, they have it in jars you can put in your grow room.

hey Concord thanks for the tip and by by the way, please don't laugh or think any less of me but what kind of setup do you call that? I see the tubing but I also see that its in dirt. thanks.

everynowandthen said:

hey Concord thanks for the tip and by by the way, please don't laugh or think any less of me but what kind of setup do you call that? I see the tubing but I also see that its in dirt. thanks.

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i grow in soil and the tubes are part of my homemade gravity fed water system i came up with. the gravity fed water system is just a gallon milk jug, some 1/4" hose and fittings and a on/off valve. i control how much water they get. when i water, they share about a 5th of a gallon because i get about 5 waterings per gallon, so it lasts about a week or so. i always have 2 jugs already mixed with nutes and just swap out the jugs. i use it for both my clones and my flowering box.

thats pretty cool, I've been wondering what to do with the other 4 seeds I'm getting, being that I only have that 6 site bubleponic setup. It seems like the real experienced guys all use soil....something to think about.

thanks, you could do both, but thats alot to take care of, but if you have the room, give it a try. my first 2 grows were hydro and i have a whole setup ready that will go right in my grow box. but i failed both times i tried, then someone on here said give soil a try and i did. i like soil better as there is alot less maintenance than hydro, but to each his own. both can and will produce great buds.

uh oh, now I'm scared. I thought hydro was the easier way

i cant say for sure, and its not as easy as im gonna say right now, but with soil, you just mix your nutes and water them. i mean, you dont have to take your plants out of the soil and wash the pots, and change the soil every couple weeks you know. there are always problems that come up with both, but to me , soil is really easy and takes less time to deal with. ph balance is the most important with both tho i think.

what kind of lights are you using? cfl's?