I'm blooming.. now what?? vets please post your best tip for a nube and what to expct

I have a 30 gallon rubbermaid with 4 big airstones and a 250 gal/minute pump circulating water. I have 6 100 watt super bright daylight CFLs, 1600 Lumens each, 2 150 watt 2700 lumen CFLs and 1 200 watt 3860 CFL. I have 5 6 inch net pots with 5 plants (1 is female seed). I have the big 200 watt CFL(on top) and a 150 watt CFl (on the side) of the female plant.

The female is 15 inches high but she is a Northern Lights indoor blend so she should be short. I have 2 plants 2 feet tall and 2 about the size of the female 15-18 inches.

I am using General Hydro products recceomended set up except I am not sing FloraBlend. I am in the transition week and have lights 14 on and 10 off. Next week hitting 12/12.

I have a 3 x 3 x 6 grow tent. I have an in line vent with 2 in line fans. One is 120 cfm and this is going into my DIY carbon scrubber. The other is 80 cfm and near the top of the tent. I have a long hose and this system works amazingly well.

My PH is tested twice per day and is orange/yellow (about 5.. The temps get low 65 degrees with lights off high 75 degrees with lights on. Humidity seems to vary depepnding on if its near when I change the rez each week. Above 40% sometimes 70%!

My tent is full and I have to add more CFls on the sides. to get the bottom of the plants.

I am a nubie and and I wanted to see what the others that have done before. What one thing would you have wanted to know in your first go at it?

What should I epxect?
Please post your best tip or opinion for me!

I am not sure what to expect. Please post your best tip if you have had success in the past.
Will I get more than 1 ounce per plant?
When can I tell if the others are females? I ve read on here but I wnated to get some opinions
Should I flush before harvest? What do you reccomend?

well if my math serves e correctly thats around 19-20k lumens. 70% for humidity that isnt in the seedling/germ/cloning stage is a no. try watching that a little more. icant really give you a guess on the yield but the yield will be ok. not the kind of yield that comes with a HID light but you'll yield.

Just keep doing what you doing, some pics would be nice. Watch the pH like you have been. Although if possible i do suggest upgrading to a HID light for the next grow, clf are nice though if you choose to stay on that route. You should def. flush before harvest. 1-2weeks before harvest is when you should start flushing.

You can tell when the others are females in 1-2weeks. sometimes longer :/

I do wish you the best of luck. Keep it frosty

mane2008
Thanks! That 70% humidity is ONLY around when I change the rez. i do that every week. It usually is at 45%.

I am working on PICs, camera busted.

Thanks for the flush advice.

I want to get a light. I have a $150-$200 budget. What would you recceomend. Do I need a ballast? will flourescent work? T5? What do you think?

1 oz per plant seems reasonable but not necessarily easy. Your light is going to be the biggest factor determining your yeild. With 2' tall plants under CFLs it's really gonna be inneficient you should have flipped them sooner IMO. If you can get adequate side lighting though you can help this. Growing out different varieties together is never gonna give you optimal results.
You should be able to tell in about 2 weeks or less in most cases. It will be blatantly obviuos before it's a problem so no worries. Just watch for the white hairs near the nodes.
I would definately flush before harvest especially with your chemical fertilizers. A good sign that a plant will be smooth is that the leaves will be yellow or autumn colors but I guess a more precise way would be using a ppm meter measuring the ppm of your water lets say 0 and flushing until the runoff water is also 0 and feeding the plant with plain water for the last week or 2.

Plants vegged long enough usually around 4-6 weeks perhaps sooner will show pre flowers all of my ladies do.

I have the same size tent & am rocking a 400W you'll upgrade soon, I would look into a HPS light I did a few CFL grows and nothing can touch the HPS

Just FYI, I bought a 400W digital ballast on EBAY for like $160 shipped.

threeandahook said:

mane2008
Thanks! That 70% humidity is ONLY around when I change the rez. i do that every week. It usually is at 45%.

I am working on PICs, camera busted.

Thanks for the flush advice.

I want to get a light. I have a $150-$200 budget. What would you recceomend. Do I need a ballast? will flourescent work? T5? What do you think?

Click to expand...

this place sells HID lights for less than $150 comes with everything you need except for the timer. for your space i recommend a 400w. that will def. put some penetration to the lower canopy.

btw since you are using cfls i rec. you trim lower branches as they wont get much light at all.
http://www.htgsupply.com/Category-HTGSupply-Grow-Light-Systems.asp

http://gyazo.com/9bd368d9f1964114905462fbf204ade5.png
usually around $138 shipped. doesnt come with a cooltube or extra bulb though you can add those options on

Thanks for the replies!

SO I'm convinced. Ordering new light.

I will set up this week. What type of bulb should I use initally? I'm going to use 400w ballast system and just the the GROW BRIGHT 400w MH and HPS.

Since Im in transition this week I should just use the MH??

I have a PPM meter and monitor that. Right now it is at 1400 (mnual reccoemnds 1460 but thats close enough for me!) I will flush it out 2 weeks before harvest. While I'm flushing is it still blooming under the lights or since there are no butes does that stop?

+ rep to all for the advice

mh is for veg. hps is for flower. i would just use the hps if you choose to get it now. and take some of those cfls and get some clones popping soon

My 400W does get my tent warm, I use and this would be the minimum that I'd suggest 4" 190 CFM exhaust with carbon filter, 4.5" axial fan 110CFM pushing air into tent. I am looking into a 600W & 400W cool tube and just use my 250W for vegging, t5 for seedling & young clones. I have 0 heat issues with 250W and my setup the 400W does get things slightly warm but nothing to be worried about. No air cooled for me right now just passive and active air intakes / exhausts

HPS it is!

I use the passive intake and it works well.

My light, which I bought on EBAY is setup to do MH or HPS so I can choose, all you have to do is change out the bulb. If your going with 400W I would highly suggest a cool tube design just so you can maintain ideal temperatures. Water temps tend to increase with higher grow temps which can lead to problems down the road. That is why some of us use coolers to keep reservoir temps below 70F. Good luck on getting everything setup.

Weedler said:

My light, which I bought on EBAY is setup to do MH or HPS so I can choose, all you have to do is change out the bulb. If your going with 400W I would highly suggest a cool tube design just so you can maintain ideal temperatures.
Water temps tend to increase with higher grow temps which can lead to problems down the road. That is why some of us use coolers to keep reservoir temps below 70F. Good luck on getting everything setup.

Click to expand...

QTF(quote the fucking truth). True he can buy a switchable ballast. I was just trying to save him a little bit of bread lol. the non conversion MH bulb does put off more lumens. although

Threeandahook? what will you do with all of those cfls? will you make a veg room for rooted clones? like convert an unused closet to a veg/clone room? I find that to be best efficient so
the 400w is only in use for flower and you can get some multiharvest things going down, when you learn how your strain works. i guess a 400w can hold 4-6 nice sized plants. but if you went to the SOG(sea of green) approach that plant number can basically double to 10-12(something like that).

Heres what my cooltube looks like
My tent prevents me from airtight cooling it. (only has two vent ports smh)

I'm def checking out ya grow in a sec weedler. Best of luck to both of you two!

mane2008 said:

QTF(quote the fucking truth). True he can buy a switchable ballast. I was just trying to save him a little bit of bread lol. the non conversion MH bulb does put off more lumens. although

Threeandahook? what will you do with all of those cfls? will you make a veg room for rooted clones? like convert an unused closet to a veg/clone room? I find that to be best efficient so
the 400w is only in use for flower and you can get some multiharvest things going down, when you learn how your strain works. i guess a 400w can hold 4-6 nice sized plants. but if you went to the SOG(sea of green) approach that plant number can basically double to 10-12(something like that).

Heres what my cooltube looks likeView attachment 1372022
My tent prevents me from airtight cooling it. (only has two vent ports smh)

I'm def checking out ya grow in a sec weedler. Best of luck to both of you two!

Click to expand...

Id love to have a veg room but my space is at capacity. my tent is full. I'm going to have to grow, clean sanitize rez, start over. The is strictly personal and if get what I want from 3 palnts Ill be fine.

How long to your cure when you harvest? How long should i expect from harvest until its ready. I was planning on 4 weeks, is that too fast?

2weeks is the avg cure. some go longer.