Some newb light and set up question

B

Bongboy00

Member
Hey guys this is my first post after studying these boards and others for years now until I final have a spot to grow. I'm a super newb so forgive me if this question is all over the place
First you can use a regular cfl that is sold at Walmart to veg 6500k, and flower with 2700k cfl (I will be using hps 600w so this is totally just for my knowledge) I just installed a bunch of high hats with LEDs and looked at the boxes and the soft whites are 625 lumens 2700k and the daylights are 625 lumens 5000k both are 65w equivalent and use 9.5w they cost me $25 each. My first question is why couldn't you use these to grow? I know the 5000k is a little low for vegging but why is it that you can't use these or can you providing you use enough and locate them to throw light best? Bc the led systems I see are light $1000+ (panels)

Second question...for now at least?
I replace old recessed Floros so I now have a few 4' lights that I can wire up to a plug that had 40w cool white f40cw bulbs and a few 2' ones that had f20t12 cool white bulbs.
-question at hand is if I can use any of this stuff? When I try to research this it seems light everything from hydro shops etc says grow light but jacks the price up the way I think is that if one bulb puts out the needed watts lumens and spectrum why can't it be used. I have read about people using t5,t8,t12s to grow. I will be using a 5'x2'x7' closet. I plan on SoG and mainlining. I'm going to grow hydro and the system I designed is aprx 18" off the ground call in 2', I'm going to use the top half to veg and clone but I plane on keeping them real short and hopefully get it down to every 3 weeks something is going into flower and something is coming out to be ready to be enjoyed lol this area will be 2' high and I can span in arcoss the whole 5' length if needed ( I am rounding up with the 2' system and this 2' area) which brings me to being able to have the plants 3-4' high.

Sorry back to the lights- these floros would fit perfect in there and I have them already so instead of getting cfls I would use these if I can- pretty much my whole point to this thread is seeing if I can use stuff I have already.

I'm doing this as a hobbie and I'm a big DIY kinda guy and that's the fun part for me is seeing something I build work and what better way now than making my work create life and meds :-)

Third and last question-I'm brain dead right now and can't think of the name it's called when your always harvesting like ever 2 weeks. I see people veg for like 2 weeks just until they are strong enough to flower. With the area I have I would like to harvest ever 3-4 weeks I'm going to use a 600w hps and grow 4 plants at a time.
Question is if I'm only gonna veg these girls short so I can keep them shorter in flowering how do you ever have a cycle? Gonna veg for 14 days than flower for 60? So how are you supposed to constantly harvest if the veg period so much shorter? Can you veg them but just keep topping it in veg to keep them small. The only thing I came up with is to start with 2 plants when they are half way through flower put in two more plants to flower, when the first two are ready for Harvest the new two will be bigger and the same process will be done- I think this could work but I won't be able to use the system I designed which is kind a hybrid dwc/rdwc system which has a reservoir for easy temp and nut control but I won't be able to adjust for individual strain and flower stage of different plants.

I think that's enough for now and I'm sorry this is so all over the place I have a million different things questions, ideas and just kinda the assurance that I'm on the right path.
Yes I know growing hydro is harder etc etc I'm fully aware and fully confident. I really wanna become an active member on this forum I think it's the best one I found but I'm super sketchy on being tracked I'm paranoid, what prevents the man from reading this and tracing it back to my email. Not considering this thread but I would like to be able to post pics of the set up and the whole grow specially the sick stealth clost that looks like a book shelf and hidding air vents in and out. And I also know a lot of the questions I was asking about vegging and flowering etc I'm gonna need to just dive in do it and learn like everyone else I just want the most knowledge I can before doing it. Been waiting a long time for this day. So thank you all in advance for any words of wisdom there's gonna be some nutrient questions to come. I'm still in the process of my remodel and not gonna be ready to really get going for another 2-3 weeks so I can build my set up order my seeds and get going. Till than I just germed two bag seeds I found gonna just throw them in my closet under 2 cfls for now in soil
 
tiny roach

tiny roach

Active Member
Bongboy00 said:
Hey guys this is my first post after studying these boards and others for years now until I final have a spot to grow. I'm a super newb so forgive me if this question is all over the place
First you can use a regular cfl that is sold at Walmart to veg 6500k, and flower with 2700k cfl (I will be using hps 600w so this is totally just for my knowledge) I just installed a bunch of high hats with LEDs and looked at the boxes and the soft whites are 625 lumens 2700k and the daylights are 625 lumens 5000k both are 65w equivalent and use 9.5w they cost me $25 each. My first question is why couldn't you use these to grow? I know the 5000k is a little low for vegging but why is it that you can't use these or can you providing you use enough and locate them to throw light best? Bc the led systems I see are light $1000+ (panels)

Second question...for now at least?
I replace old recessed Floros so I now have a few 4' lights that I can wire up to a plug that had 40w cool white f40cw bulbs and a few 2' ones that had f20t12 cool white bulbs.
-question at hand is if I can use any of this stuff? When I try to research this it seems light everything from hydro shops etc says grow light but jacks the price up the way I think is that if one bulb puts out the needed watts lumens and spectrum why can't it be used. I have read about people using t5,t8,t12s to grow. I will be using a 5'x2'x7' closet. I plan on SoG and mainlining. I'm going to grow hydro and the system I designed is aprx 18" off the ground call in 2', I'm going to use the top half to veg and clone but I plane on keeping them real short and hopefully get it down to every 3 weeks something is going into flower and something is coming out to be ready to be enjoyed lol this area will be 2' high and I can span in arcoss the whole 5' length if needed ( I am rounding up with the 2' system and this 2' area) which brings me to being able to have the plants 3-4' high.

Sorry back to the lights- these floros would fit perfect in there and I have them already so instead of getting cfls I would use these if I can- pretty much my whole point to this thread is seeing if I can use stuff I have already.

I'm doing this as a hobbie and I'm a big DIY kinda guy and that's the fun part for me is seeing something I build work and what better way now than making my work create life and meds :-)

Third and last question-I'm brain dead right now and can't think of the name it's called when your always harvesting like ever 2 weeks. I see people veg for like 2 weeks just until they are strong enough to flower. With the area I have I would like to harvest ever 3-4 weeks I'm going to use a 600w hps and grow 4 plants at a time.
Question is if I'm only gonna veg these girls short so I can keep them shorter in flowering how do you ever have a cycle? Gonna veg for 14 days than flower for 60? So how are you supposed to constantly harvest if the veg period so much shorter? Can you veg them but just keep topping it in veg to keep them small. The only thing I came up with is to start with 2 plants when they are half way through flower put in two more plants to flower, when the first two are ready for Harvest the new two will be bigger and the same process will be done- I think this could work but I won't be able to use the system I designed which is kind a hybrid dwc/rdwc system which has a reservoir for easy temp and nut control but I won't be able to adjust for individual strain and flower stage of different plants.

I think that's enough for now and I'm sorry this is so all over the place I have a million different things questions, ideas and just kinda the assurance that I'm on the right path.
Yes I know growing hydro is harder etc etc I'm fully aware and fully confident. I really wanna become an active member on this forum I think it's the best one I found but I'm super sketchy on being tracked I'm paranoid, what prevents the man from reading this and tracing it back to my email. Not considering this thread but I would like to be able to post pics of the set up and the whole grow specially the sick stealth clost that looks like a book shelf and hidding air vents in and out. And I also know a lot of the questions I was asking about vegging and flowering etc I'm gonna need to just dive in do it and learn like everyone else I just want the most knowledge I can before doing it. Been waiting a long time for this day. So thank you all in advance for any words of wisdom there's gonna be some nutrient questions to come. I'm still in the process of my remodel and not gonna be ready to really get going for another 2-3 weeks so I can build my set up order my seeds and get going. Till than I just germed two bag seeds I found gonna just throw them in my closet under 2 cfls for now in soil
Click to expand...

As I just started here, I'll say hi to the newb above me , before I head on my search, and learn this forum's workings .
 
johnnyslastwords

johnnyslastwords

Member
tiny roach said:
As I just started here, I'll say hi to the newb above me , before I head on my search, and learn this forum's workings .
Click to expand...

welcome to the forum guys, but roach please make sure you post in the proper threads, this is called thread hijacking and it's generally frowned upon

and bongboy as for your questions:

a. harvesting every few weeks is called a perpetual harvest
b. you can use CFL's throughout the whole grow but I wouldn't recommend it if you have access to a HPS light - remember you're trying to mimic the rays of the sun here and growing with CFLs is like trying to grow a plant in the shade.
c. a lot of people including me use t5's to start seeds, clone, and veg plants and they work very well and keep the plants bushier because you can have them like an inch above the tops, but once again I wouldnt flower with one because your yield will be severely diminished. there is a reason everyone uses MH and HPS lights...they just put out WAY more light and your plants will thank you for that.
 
B

Bongboy00

Member
Hey thanks for the reply. Yeah I've done enough homework to know hps is the way to go when flowering. Im going to buy a 600 Watt and through a few cfls 5000k cfls in there to even out the spectrum bWould I be able to get t5 bulbs from like Home Depot and use them instead of the t12 bulbs I have or is it a different ballast and holder? I know the proper stuff to go out and buy but I'm trying to use stuff I have if I can. Like if I can use these t12s to veg instead of all cfls would be great it fits perfect. Are the t5's special or just regular Home Depot Jammie's? I'm sticking w either the cfl or floro set up and not MH to keep temps down

And thanks duh perpetual harvest thank you don't know why I forgot.

Thanks for the warm welcome!!
 
rwbrock

rwbrock

Active Member
I experience growing in a 2x4x8' closet. I use a 400w HPS and utilize a 2x3' area. I have scrogged and I have mainlined, actually haven't done both at the same time but it is def a good way to go about it. I do want to say both those techniques although not too difficult will take a little experience. I would recommend maybe starting with some the uncle ben topping for 4 mains. I say that because mainline requires lots of training, scrog takes some planning. For your first run you may want to work on watering, feeding and just having a successful grow. If I had your space and didn't care about having lots of plants I would build something to divide your close maybe using 2x3 area for 2-4 plants and the other area (divided and sealed) as your veg area. Work on getting the timing down where once your plants are done in flower the veg plants can go right in. A 400 would do good in that space for flower (2x3) and you can use those CFL's to start and veg. Its how I do it but use another small closet for veg. If you read this forum you will see CFL / T5 is much harder to flower and produce under. If you can get a T5 fixture run with that, otherwise I prefer CFL over t8 ot t12. You will need a different ballast for T5 and I dont think they sell at Home Depot? Maybe they do now? Also know T5, CFL they do produce heat as well. Not as much as a 600 but keep in mind with HPS you will need to exhaust heat....fans (inline) make noise and it is much harder to keep stealth. If you can spend $500 and get something like the AREA 51 LED light for flower in your 2x3 area. If your set on having a larger area then maybe go for the 600 dimmable if you can. Heat is typically the biggest issue for closet growers.

You are on the right track it sounds like but the details need to be worked out. It may sound good on paper but the reality is a perpetual grow scrogging and mainlining is something you will work out over time and experience. Get a proper light, understand your environment and issue you will have (heat, sound, humidity)...get that dialed in then start your grow. Next set of issues will be watering, feeding, light schedule, dealing with general plant problems. Get through that and then you have to figure out when to chop, how long to dry, and finally cure....It is a long process when you first start. Could be 1-2 months to Veg, 2-3 months flower, 1 month to dry and cure....All the info is here at your finger tips, when I first started I read a couple hours almost every night. But be careful there is just as much bad info on these boards as good. Once you get past the learning curve it is an awesome hobby! Keep us posted and good luck, welcome to RIU
 
B

Bongboy00

Member
Rwbrock thanks a lot really apprciate it. And yeah totally understand really need to dive in to get the times and the room dialed in just trying to get as much info as possible. Thanks for clearing up the lighting questions also bummer bc I have so many fixtures but ill just stick with cfls to veg. And yup I will be running an inline fan and an exhaust fan, thinking I'm gonna go with the air tube 600w hps that will hook up to the inline and exhaust fan. I will add another exhaust fan for the whole room and hope I can keep temps at bay with that.

I figured instead of dividing the closet I'm going to seperate the top 2' and seal it off and seed/veg/clone up there, than I have the other 5' for the hydro set up and the plants to flower so I should be able to fit a solid 3.5-4' plants.

Shouldn't I do a shorter veg to keep them small before going into flower? They triple in size once flowered right? So I figure to veg them up to a foot.

And I totally plan on trying to mainline one of the 4 plants and just top the other 3 so if it comes out great awesome I know how to mainline if not i still have 3 good plants.

Wow I can't believe drying and curing could take up to a month woozas. It'll be worth it when my dreams are blue :-)

Thanks again sry it's a book, I'm a little all over the place my post are gonna be much more specific now
 
rwbrock

rwbrock

Active Member
No prob, always happy to help. I mean you can try and use your CFL all the way through it is still a good learning experience and will work. Its just harder to get those big rock solid nugs but there are plenty grow journals on here where people make it work, just takes lots of light and constant moving things around to keep them close to the plant. With mainlining you have to top and lst so there is some recovery time required in between which delays things a bit upfront but the plants do explode when you put them into flower. But yeah those plants will double in size on you. So depending on your light you prob want to keep them shorter (12-15") and end up with 24-36" plants. Sativa will typically grow taller and take longer to flower than Indica. Drying for me in my conditions typicall takes 5-7 days. Then the cure process which can take another 3-4 weeks (or longer)....you can smoke along the way but you will notice the smoke gets better and smoother the longer it cures (to a point).....I just put my nugs in a glass jar and open daily for a few minutes each day. Keep in cool dark area...
 
B

Bongboy00

Member
Sick thanks for helping me out looking forward to getting things going and I'm sure ill need some more assurance on the way my next set of questions in going to be on nutrients and posting pics of the hydro system I'm building. I've seen the guys they had great results with just cfls but by the time I'm done buying all the bulbs the holders rigging them all up. It's way easier and cheapier to go with a decent hps.

Do you think I can get away with 400w and not 600w hps to flower? It's not the cost bc it's alone a little more which is why I figured to go with the 600... More light more bud right? I'd like to eventually be getting 1g/1watt. But is the 600 going to be much hotter? I'm going to have exhaust and fans..

And yeah I'm gonna go with some bluedream and northerns for my first grow.

Once I get a little closer I'm gonna make a mainlining thread just to make sure I got
 
B

Bongboy00

Member
Sick thanks for helping me out looking forward to getting things going and I'm sure ill need some more assurance on the way my next set of questions in going to be on nutrients and posting pics of the hydro system I'm building. I've seen the guys they had great results with just cfls but by the time I'm done buying all the bulbs the holders rigging them all up. It's way easier and cheapier to go with a decent hps.

Do you think I can get away with 400w and not 600w hps to flower? It's not the cost bc it's alone a little more which is why I figured to go with the 600... More light more bud right? I'd like to eventually be getting 1g/1watt. But is the 600 going to be much hotter? I'm going to have exhaust and fans..

And yeah I'm gonna go with some bluedream and northerns for my first grow.

Once I get a little closer I'm gonna make a mainlining thread just to make sure I got it down
Thanks again stoked to get this going oh and should I be sketched about talking freely on here and posting pics? It's not legal where I am :-(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top