My first grow,advice welcome!

I'm preparing for my first grow after reading a lot on this site. So far, i have 6 seeds germinating(I only plan on planting two or three, since my space is somewhat restricted)and am just a little confused on lighting. Since I am planning on growing with a low budget for now, I decided CFL's would be cheapest. The grow space i have right now is about 5x3x4, a small closet off of my bedroom.
The next thing i need to get is a medium (soil) for my plant, and of course, lights. If anyone could give me some advice on effective-yet(somewhat)cheap soil, and some CFL's, that would be great !As far as exhaust/intake go, my small closet grow area is connected to my attic via a small opening in the cieling of the closet, i feel once i get the proper equipment i can have a passive intake from my A/C'd room, and exhaust the "stale" air into my attic. Please, if you have any advice, post!

as you probably already know the more wattage the better for lights. get no less than 27 watt bulbs. this is equal to 100 watts of light in a normal bulb ( this doesnt really matter though). also, get 6500 K "daylight" or "cool white" bulbs for vegging and 2700 k "warm" bulbs for flowering. put those bulbs an inch or two away from the plants. i have found the daylight bulbs at walmart for 99 cents a peice!

as far as soil, i personally get the cheapest walmart soil and then just add foxfarm nutrients. i havent had any problems, except with one kind of soil but i cant remember the name. next go round i am gonna make my own soil mixture modeled after Subcools super soil in the organic forum.

hopes some of this helps, good luck

Thanks a lot! I'm going to go out and get a few 27w+ CFL's, going to hold off on the 2700K's until i need them(and have more money!). But for now, my friend has an overload of foxfarm nutes, and i could probably just use his so Wal-Mart soil will do. Also, a few more questions! As far as electicity goes, my small closet has no outlets or anything, so im going to have to run an ext. cord or two in there. Is there any disadvantage to using ext. cords? I.E., takes away from wattage, etc. If not, then do you think the power used for lighting will be too much for one room to handle? Thank's again for the help, i can always use more though

since your already germ. those seeds, plant them, incase of males. don't give any nukes. until they are at least 4 weeks. then at 1/4 strenth. try to get a power strip with a long cord if you can. but plugging a power strip into an extenstion cord is a fire hazzard. be carefu. aloha

be careful with the lights.. && you got this.

I'm having good success with my all walmart setup. check out my journal in my sig. I recommend the MG moisture control, but the MG organic had bad results for me.

I just bought two 6500K 27-watt daylight CFL's for Veg,and held off on the other bulbs due to money(or lack of). As for the electricity, I have a power strip i'm going to use for my closet, and i plan on adding another Daylight CFL with a Y-split, as i already have a 10.5 inch cone reflector w/ clamp. My friend,who is also doing his first grow, bought reflective car shields at wal-mart, and i was thinking about doing the same once i get the money, they were only $8.00, any feedback on if those are quality or not?

i also use the car reflectors but i got them at the Dollar store, about 3 or 4 bucks ea.

Ok, so i bought Miracle Grow potting soil, with perlite and some other stuff. Also bought a car reflector and im gonna put that around the plant. The temp of the grow room is avg 70-78 degrees, is this ok temp? also, will a small fan work for ventilation until i have more money for an exhaust setup? And for lighting... should my CFL's be on 24/7 for veg? thanks, as always, any advice is welcome P.S. no pics cuz i dont have a camera lol

My plans are about an inch and a half tall now, have about 2 nodes of leaves and are looking good. I'm goign to keep a close watch on the heat for my grow closet,to ensure a good first grow.