My First Grow -newb but trying! fsmith56

I was given 2 clones from a friend. I had just Purchased a 4x4x7 tent and was equipping it when the clones arrived. I had never planted anything in water before. Got on the www and found a site that used Homer Buckets, hanging baskets and air pump for a bubbler system. I built 2 and placed the clones in there new home. They were about 6-8" inches tall at the time. They already had female flowers at the nodes when I got them so that was a possibility I did not have to worry about. I built a light system that involves 12-16 cfl's approx 1000 - 1200 watts output. During veg I ran the lights 18-6 and vegged and fed them GH Maxi- Grow 6 weeks until both plants are about 3-4 ft tall. I did not top them at any time but I did use a little bondage on the so the lower branches were exposed for more bud possibilities. After doing a ton of research I decided I would be better off with a DWC system using 5 gallon buckets since I had already started with 5 gallon. I set up the system in the tent with 3 - 5 gallon buckets for the plants and 1 for the reservoir (I eventually will have 9 buckets in the tent, but this is the first try). I also bought a ppm meter to track the nute concentration. 2 weeks after I moved the plants from the bubbler to the dwc I decided it was time (really past time) to cycle the lights. I changed the cfl's to 2700 and the lights to 12-12. The picture I am posting is 2 weeks into bud cycle and I am a very proud papa!. If anyone is interested I have more pics of the plants and tent evolution from day 1 until current. Please take a look at the pic and let me know if you notice anything that could be wrong or good. I am changing the nutes tomorrow ( can't think of a better way to spend 420!) and will add some bloomalicious to the mix with GH Maxi-bloom. Any other suggestions?

OOPS! forgot to attach the pic

That was bloombastic, not blooalicious

ok people will say that cfl grows are great...and they are..if your looking for bigger buds u gotta usew straonger lights 1000 cfls dont eqaul up to a 600 or 1000 watt light.. way bigger better and tighter buds too.

and the yellow in the leaves means something isnt right as it should be. there is a guide for defficencys on here somewhere.

Lights were om when the pic was shot. Kinda yellow hue

here's 1 more

Ok been a few days away and have made some changes to the plants. They were looking a little too tall so i did what i guess would be a backward scrog. I adjusted the plants with trellis netting so all the little buds would have a chance. These pics are from 14-17 days in bud. Bloombastic and Maxi Bloom. Bloombastic 2 days ago.

so these plants are in hanging baskets?

Good work ant cheap and cheap work ain't good. Anything you do is worth doing right. Invest in proper lighting. I have a 12x12 room with 1 1000 and 1 600 watt HPS. DWC using Gereneral Hydro nutes. I have come across no major problems. You have done well with what you have. INVEST IN PROPER LIGHTS.

I received the new light last week and it has been in operation for about 2 days now. You can already see the difference. I removed all the cfl's and got a 1000 watt for the 4x4 tent. The cool tube really helps with heat removal. Looks like the max heat in the tent is 84f with 46% humidity. The plants seem to do well. I am still using the cfl's in the veg tent 4x2x60. The clones seem to do well in there. I will post more pics later to show the progress. Thanks for all the advice!

The hanging baskets fit in the top of the 5 gal buckets. I just drilled them full of 1/4" holes before using them as planters. I have 6" netty pot tops for the next batch, which i should start in about 3 weeks.

Damn dude seems like you really got your shit down so far for a noob but the hard part is really flowering so youll probably want some way of checking your Ph levels to kerp them in optimsl range

Been a few weeks since I posted anything so I need to catch up. I have made a few changes to the original setup. I have removed the cfl's from the tent and invested in a 1000 watt HPS/MH light. I installed the light and had to turn it to 75% because I was blowing breakers. I live in an old home and it's just not wired for modern conveniences. But even at 75% (750 watts) the change in the plant was visible within a couple of days. This weekend the buds will be 6 weeks and I believe they need another 2-4 weeks. I have too many small buds but they are getting bigger everyday. It will be interesting to see how much yield i will get from these 2 plants. Any advice?

I'm feeling the need to come visit as soon as possible :O)

"feed the need"

New Post! I have started flowering the second batch. First try could have been better and I expect the second try to be great! I have new 1000 watt light and I hope that is what the buds need. Here are a few pics if anyone is interested. Next pics i'll turn the light off so they don't have that yellow look.

That setup does not look like a first/second try.

Good job.

Update! We are 18 days into bud now. I am using bloombastic and GH Maxi Bloom for nutes at about 1000ppm total. They look gorgeous! The new light has done the trick so far. These few pics are with the lights off so you can see the plants better. BTW I've never mentioned this is only 6 plants.I don't think i'll grow but 4 next time as this seems to be getting crowded in the 4x4 tent. Enjoy and please comment!

It took a lot of study and a few failures to get this far. Definitely been a learning experience. Got a lot of good info here at rollitup!