Me and my cousin are starting a grow project help plz

pretty much at the moment all we have is a 4ft standard florescent fixture, 2 3000k bulbs in it.

I have 4 small plants lined up underneath it.

(some of the seeds we sprouted didnt grow so im sprouting some more, id like to have 12 plants in all. I was wondering, should we switch to compact flourescent or will standard do ok?

We are pretty broke as ive been sick for over a year and not working, and he doesnt have to much income after bills.

I was thinking of putting up 1 more fixture with 2 more bulbs and makin em 6500k for growth, that would be about 160 watts total which would only be an extra 5 bucks on the power bill. We can afford that. We have a box build for the plants and we are gonna line it with aluminum foil to reflect the light.

Also im confused because ive been seeing 6500k for growth and 3000k for flower and visa vera, which is it lol. Or should we run a 3000k and a 6500k in each fixture all the time?

Thanks guys, i realize this will only yeild about 1/2 to one ounce a plant which is fine and why we are gonna try to do 12 plants.

Lemme know what ya think, thanks. If needed ill get pics.

The lower range bulbs like 2500k or 3000k are for flowering. You want 5000k-6500k for vegetative growth. There are some good guides under the newbie section of the forum that explain more about lighting and exactly what you need. I definitely would recommend getting another fixture with 6500k bulbs in it, and yes, you can absolutely use them both (the 3000 and the 6500) at the same time.

doobnVA said:

The lower range bulbs like 2500k or 3000k are for flowering. You want 5000k-6500k for vegetative growth. There are some good guides under the newbie section of the forum that explain more about lighting and exactly what you need. I definitely would recommend getting another fixture with 6500k bulbs in it, and yes, you can absolutely use them both (the 3000 and the 6500) at the same time.

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ok thanks man, ill look them up, ive been readin around different places. Id like to get 4 fixtures total because 10 bucks extra a month aint bad. I just need to sell my damn stereo and id have 600 bucks XD

Edit: Been readin around and people are sayin t12s wont cut it, i think i have t8s, not sure probably t12s though, we are gonna try 2-4 fixtures with 6500k bulbs and see what happens, if its an epic fail we will only but out like 50 bucks total.... in the mean time if i find a buyer for my stereo im gonna go with compact flourescent because I dont wanna deal with venting and shit id need to do for HPS or MH

look n your local craiglist for grow lights i got my 250 watt hps for 70$ an its in a closet an im only using a house fan to vent it, dont have a temperature gauge but my plants look fine an healthy, im a broke ass grower an theres household items you could use to vent, 200$ could make u a bad ass grow box....whats the size of your box? hightechgardensupply.com has 150 watt hps for 79? i think ballast an all...but give some dimensions

Skryptz said:

look n your local craiglist for grow lights i got my 250 watt hps for 70$ an its in a closet an im only using a house fan to vent it, dont have a temperature gauge but my plants look fine an healthy, im a broke ass grower an theres household items you could use to vent, 200$ could make u a bad ass grow box....whats the size of your box? hightechgardensupply.com has 150 watt hps for 79? i think ballast an all...but give some dimensions

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The box is like 2ft by 5-6ft, I see that freakin t12s are like 3000 less lumans then t5s sucks man. its in our attic too, i dont have the money to have a house fan runnin. and the attic gets fairly warm as it is 75-80 all the time.

Im gonna try to stick with florescents if I can find cheaper t5 fixtures, 250 for a 6 or 8 bulb is rediculous.

200 bucks for a sunblase 8 bulb t5 system. I just put my stereo up on craigslist for 450 obo. so we will see what happens. Not sure what im gonna do about smell now lol though. What soil would you recommend, im gonna pick up a bag of peat/hummus mix for 2 bucks tomorrow.

Astaldoath said:

The box is like 2ft by 5-6ft, I see that freakin t12s are like 3000 less lumans then t5s sucks man. its in our attic too, i dont have the money to have a house fan runnin. and the attic gets fairly warm as it is 75-80 all the time.

Im gonna try to stick with florescents if I can find cheaper t5 fixtures, 250 for a 6 or 8 bulb is rediculous.

200 bucks for a sunblase 8 bulb t5 system. I just put my stereo up on craigslist for 450 obo. so we will see what happens. Not sure what im gonna do about smell now lol though. What soil would you recommend, im gonna pick up a bag of peat/hummus mix for 2 bucks tomorrow.

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T5s are good. I've got one lonely 4ft T5, runs constantly and never even gets warm. I'd love to have one of those 8bulb fixtures, though, that's awesome!

I bought my lights from HidHut.com They had these clamp-on CFL fixtures for $12 bucks that will take up to 150W CFL bulb. I got 3 of them. Currently they are holding 26w bulbs, but I'm planning on getting a stronger one once my plants are a little bigger. I like these fixtures because I can move them around really easily.

As far as potting soil, just stay away from anything that has time-release fertilizer in it. I'm a big fan of sphagnum/vermiculite mixes. I fill the bottom 1/3 of the pot with a nice compost, and the top 2/3 with sphagnum/vermiculite. It's got great drainage. Only thing I'm worried about with the sphag mix is fungus gnats because of the humidity where i live - they're everywhere! And apparently they like peat. If you use a peat mixture or peat pots, put a layer of sand on top of the soil to prevent fungus gnats.

it doesnt matter what flouro you use you will never harvest what you would get if you spent a 100 bucks on a 100w x 2 mh and hps light i started with this unit and its worth the money now i have a 400w switchable ballast and my girls took off this is day 1 flowering

i have a real cheap hps mh setup im selling contact me if your interested [email protected]

ryanp1 said:

it doesnt matter what flouro you use you will never harvest what you would get if you spent a 100 bucks on a 100w x 2 mh and hps light i started with this unit and its worth the money now i have a 400w switchable ballast and my girls took off this is day 1 flowering

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if you can run a 400w MH or HPS without a fan then im sold, otherwise I CANNOT afford an electric bill above 15 extra a month lol

Unless I could use like 2 120mm PC fans that move like 110 CFM to cool it, Then id just go an HPS/MH switchable also.

Can you give me an example

Say 1 ounce per plant off of Flouro or 4 per plant off of MH/HPS?

ALL im looking for is like 1 ounce per plant

Astaldoath said:

if you can run a 400w MH or HPS without a fan then im sold, otherwise I CANNOT afford an electric bill above 15 extra a month lol

Unless I could use like 2 120mm PC fans that move like 110 CFM to cool it, Then id just go an HPS/MH switchable also.

Can you give me an example

Say 1 ounce per plant off of Flouro or 4 per plant off of MH/HPS?

ALL im looking for is like 1 ounce per plant

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Here are some pics

Astaldoath said:

Here are some pics

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your plants are way too stretched. you need to lower those lights or put them cfls around for side lighting. im a new grower but i know that much.. you need some kinda ventalation 2. i dont have a good vent system just two fans blowing, one on my babies n another to blow some hot air out.. so far its been ok. im using a 150 hps n 4 6500k cfls for the sides. the temps are steady bout from 81 to 83f.. i hope that ok for them.. good luck with ur new babies...happy growin'...

smoker715 said:

your plants are way too stretched. you need to lower those lights or put them cfls around for side lighting. im a new grower but i know that much.. you need some kinda ventalation 2. i dont have a good vent system just two fans blowing, one on my babies n another to blow some hot air out.. so far its been ok. im using a 150 hps n 4 6500k cfls for the sides. the temps are steady bout from 81 to 83f.. i hope that ok for them.. good luck with ur new babies...happy growin'...

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K they are way to stretched so there isnt even any point in growin with the light up there like that?

Im gonna let it go cause my cousin is convinced they will grow ok like that. Ill prove it to him by lettin em go, until i get money for my HPS MH setup.

I need some info on how big of a fan setup ill need, i dont want anything that will draw to much more power along with the lights

Dude lower those lights. put them and keep them 1-2 inches above the plants and keep them on 24-7. T8s and t12s are fine for vegging, get another fixture or two, they are cheap. I veg with 4 4ft shop floros. (8 bulbs, 4 6500k daylite(blue spectrum), 2 aquarium/grow 5000k(red spectrum) and 2 kitchen/bath. then for flowering swith out the 6500 bulbs for some 2700k and with a timer, put them on a 12-12 lite schedule.

I veg my babies to 24 inches then flip them. (I use a 1000wt HPS for flowering.)

You can get some decent buds flowering under floros, but they won't be as dense. At least you won't have a big heat issue. To help dense them up you could try the molassas tecnique once they are in flowering.

Good luck, and lower those lights!