Super Newb Question

looking to do my first grow, basically 450 watts of fluro's, Im using 18 ounce cups with holes poked in the bottom filled with some bag soil I found on the side of my house. I plan to plant seeds in 21 of the cups (I know that not all of them will sprout) and hopefully be able to get a good ammount of females out of the ones that do sprout.

My plan is this, to simply leave the plants in the same 18 ounce pot for the entire grow, to not give them any extra nutrients/plant food, and to veg them for about a month on 24 hour light and then switch to 12/12 for 2 months.

If I was to do that, how many grams am I looking at getting off 1 female plant? Im assuming its going to be a very small ammount.



My goal for my first grow would just be a few ounces, 2 or more would be great because I dont smoke very much.


it being my first grow Im trying to keep it as simple as possible, as short as possible, and still get my self a few ounces.


All replys and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

this post has to be one these joke posts... he can't be serious...but what the hell... youll get a dime sack of crappy bud per plant using no nutes and crappy lighting

dogglet forever said:

this post has to be one these joke posts... he can't be serious...but what the hell... youll get a dime sack of crappy bud per plant using no nutes and crappy lighting

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nope, not a joke, im really that clueless, even tho I have done a shit ton of research in the past on this subject.


the lighting isnt that bad is it? I got 3 150 watt lights, fan blowing on the plants, some shiny metal sheeting on the inside of the box etc.

the only thing Im debating is the plant food and the transplanting when the plants get bigger.


what would you suggest I do, without making things to complicated. I can easily go out and pick up some plant food and follow the directions and transplant the plants after a few weeks of growth if thats what you would recomend.


I dont mind being flamed for being stupid lol, but dont give up hope on my dumb ass just yet. Il do what it takes to get a decent yield.

your plants wont last the entire grow in little cups. They will have roots poppin out the little drainage holes in the bottom in a few weeks. You need to just grow a few plants and transplant them into at least one gallon containers but I like to use 2-3 gallon grow bags.
Either way, shoot for like 6 plants done right, not 20 plants done poorly
Read the FAQ at the top, lots of great info in there

Stoney Jake said:

your plants wont last the entire grow in little cups. They will have roots poppin out the little drainage holes in the bottom in a few weeks. You need to just grow a few plants and transplant them into at least one gallon containers but I like to use 2-3 gallon grow bags.
Either way, shoot for like 6 plants done right, not 20 plants done poorly
Read the FAQ at the top, lots of great info in there

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only reason I hate to move them to bigger pots is you never know which are males and which are females.

I thought about doing 2 weeks of 12/12 then transplanting but that would mess up the flowering.

then I thought about doing 12/12 for 2 weeks, seeing which are which and moving the females to bigger pots and then putting it back on veg but that seems like it would waste allot of time.

I have done allot of reading on all of these things but had allot of mixed answers so I end up second guessing my self on simple things.




how would it be if I started 10 plants in dixy cups, fimed and transplanted each plant into gallon containers after 4 weeks and then let them recover for 2 weeks before I put them in 12/12 for another 8 weeks?

sound like I would be getting a better harvest?

do what your planning on doing, but run 12/12 from the get go once they break ground (flowering). Also the soil that has been siiting in your back yard probably has been hijeacked by all kind of parasites. Good luck though man

pennywise619 said:

do what your planning on doing, but run 12/12 from the get go once they break ground (flowering). Also the soil that has been siiting in your back yard probably has been hijeacked by all kind of parasites. Good luck though man

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wouldnt that give me some freakishly small yields?

I like the idea of it, getting it from seed to harvest in 9 weeks would be cool, but from what I hear id be lucky to end up with a blunt after everythings all said and done.


EDIT: the soil was in a sealed bag, so I dont think anything would have gotten in there from my yard.

Yes, but you cannot veg for 30 days in 16 ounce cups let alone flower for 2 in them. They would have sucked up all the nutes in about a 2 weeks and you babies would be hella rootbound. If you want a bigger yield as least trans into 1-2 gal buckets I prefer 2 gal, but hey gotta work with what you got.

If I were you I would just start out at 12/12 and run with it you should be able to get a blunt per plant.....

I have a plant I couldnt fit in my veggy room that I put into flowering right after 1 week. Its tiny, Ive heard that some people put there seedling in 12/12 so I thought I would give it a try
I did try with 2 other but they both ended up being males. Kinda weird since I get about 60-75% females. I figured the strain I was using didnt like being forced into flowering from the start

pennywise619 said:

Yes, but you cannot veg for 30 days in 16 ounce cups let alone flower for 2 in them. They would have sucked up all the nutes in about a 2 weeks and you babies would be hella rootbound. If you want a bigger yield as least trans into 1-2 gal buckets I prefer 2 gal, but hey gotta work with what you got.

If I were you I would just start out at 12/12 and run with it you should be able to get a blunt per plant.....

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oh I see


so I would be much better off using a bigger pot 1-2 gallons, using some plant food, and veging for a month first...


lets say I got my self some 1-2 gallon containers vegged for a month, flowered for 2 months and used some generic plant food under 450 wats of fluro's

what kind of yield am I looking at per plant?

with 20 plants you would be looking at about 3 ounces dryed, but even for 20 plants you still would need more watts than what you got. For as much electricity your runnin might as well be runnin hps...

pennywise619 said:

with 20 plants you would be looking at about 3 ounces dryed, but even for 20 plants you still would need more watts than what you got. For as much electricity your runnin might as well be runnin hps...

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I dont have 20 plants, Im just doing some research before I start my grow in a week or so.

I also doubt il get 20 females, or even 20 plants for that matter as il be using bag seeds from a bag of mids and may not even get enough seeds.


lets say I got 2 gallon pots (started them in 2 gallons so no transplanting) and vegged for 8 weeks with plant food etc and only had 8 females under the 450 watts, would that be a even better yield?


I hate to bug you with these questions considering that I could answer them for my self if I did enough googleing, so I want you to know that your really helping me out here and saving me allot of time so thanks



Im basically trying to figure out how I can reach my yield goal (3ozs) with the resources Im working with (450 wats in fkluro's, bag soil, miracle grow fert used at 1/4th strength) in the shortest ammount of time possible.


considering I have never grown before these things would all be trial and error for me which is why its so nice to be able to consult with people with experience.

If your going to grow in 2 gal pots veg for a month and and then switch to 12/12. There is not enough room in a 2 gal pot for vegging 2 months. You would need 5 gal to veg for 2 months. with 8 fems you should reach your quota. Just remember that with bag seed you have a 50/50 ration of male and female so start off with alot. If you could run a 400 watt hps your yield would be way higher with just 4 plants.

Also, with miracle grow start feeding after 2 weeks 1/4 and then up it every feeding by 1/4 until you reach 1 tsp per gallon.

pennywise619 said:

If your going to grow in 2 gal pots veg for a month and and then switch to 12/12. There is not enough room in a 2 gal pot for vegging 2 months. You would need 5 gal to veg for 2 months. with 8 fems you should reach your quota. Just remember that with bag seed you have a 50/50 ration of male and female so start off with alot. If you could run a 400 watt hps your yield would be way higher with just 4 plants.

Also, with miracle grow start feeding after 2 weeks 1/4 and then up it every feeding by 1/4 until you reach 1 tsp per gallon.

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ok sounds like a plan

what are your thoughts on fiming?

say i get 20 plants, fim them after 4 weeks let them recover for a week and then flower for 2 months?

or should i just keep it simple for my first grow?

Dude eithether top or fim at 2 and a half weeks with at least 5-6 nodes. anything over 8 is a loss. I alway top, but fimming is better 4 tips is better than 2.

first off welcome to the world of growing weed..

well you seem pretty dead set on using those flouros... and you should be you already bought them... i speculate if your first grow is low/moderately successful you will want to upgrade to a HPS system. i'm sure you know now about the different spectrums red for flowering blue for vegging. spend the money and buy T-5 light bulbs... however right now you will fine with just cool-blue's which are perhaps the cheapest flouros out there 4.00 for a 2-pack... then if you still do not want to spend the cash on T-5's, buy warm flouros and mix match one blue one red for your flowering stage...

so what if you do grow 3 oz's then what? you have to start from scratch... investigte a prepetual grow... so you can get to where you harvest like every 4 weeks or so if not sooner..

basic rule of thumb is the bigger the pot the bigger the plant...

i wouldn't use soil that has been sitting outside.. bugs and little critters you can't see are living in that soil... theres a reason even at wal mart they cover the better soils from the weather...

the nutrition of your plant is important... if your on a budget and do not want to use MG use fish emulsion its cheap and your plants love it, oh and its hard to burn them with FE... but this will only carry for about 5 weeks of vegging. then you need to hop in your car and find grow store or hydro shop. and spend some money on hydro nutes... theres many brands and many people who will tell you what they use is the best... expriment, but remember to not mix match brands... one, it defeats the purpose of finding out which one works the best... and many of the better nutes come with schedules... i use the fox farm brand right now... but i'm gonna try flora nova next

PH of water i wouldn't worry about right now... see if your soil contains dolemite, that helps keep your soil at 7.0 PH which is acceptable...

i dont know if 3 ozs is possible with flouros but heres some examples of what i get with my measly 400 watt hps...

1st pic last harvest undried

2 3 pic size example

4 a hermie pulled a few days prior the main harvest... but more dry and nice crystals

oh yeah this is bag seed...

4th pic is the KB's getting ready and other clones in the dome

5th i'm shooting for an 1/2 pound or more every 4 weeks i bought a light mover to help me accomplish this