new to growing

[slowmo77]

Hi. Im new to this and would appricate any feed back i can get. I started with bag seeds and germinated them in plain top soil. after two weeks i moved them to my mixed soil. its 4 parts compost potting soil 1 part peat moss with nutes added. 10-5-10. im using 2 24'' 17watt fl lights 2'' above the tops of the plants. so far so good. i do have one that looks real bad but im experimenting with it to see if i can bring it around and logging what i do and how it effects it.. thanks for any help you can give. i also wanna say thanks to all the growers that make a place like this availabe to us all. i've really found alot of good info on this site already. looking forward to learning and trying new ideas.

 

[Mutt]

you'll want more intense lighting soon. 2 17W flos is not enough.
more like 30W would be better.

 

[slowmo77]

ya im about to go to four 4 foot fl lights. i used the smaller ones while they're young so i don't have to worry so much. im not sure if it matters or not but i worry enough as it is. this is a test grow before i order any seeds. i wanna make sure my soil mix is good and get a watering system down. i've decided to go with the 4 foot lights in veg and a hps in flowering. how many watts would you suggest the hps be? and also when should i step up my fertilizer from 10-5-10 to something stronger and how much stronger should it be? thanks for the help

 

[akirahz]

depends on how big the grow area is and how many plants your trying to light up in flowering.. most do well with a 400 watt HPS, some 600+ and more so.

a 400 watt will cover about 10 square feet i think? 51,000 lumens / 5,000

i wish ya the best of any circumstances and that you conquer any problem u face in your grows :>

 

[PurpleSkunk]

yes u need better light i had my mh go out and the reason i knew is i got growth like yours small.i suggest 2 maybe 4 42watt cfls there 150 watts each unless u have some cash and want the best for your grow area.PS

 

[slowmo77]

i've seen a lot of different light setups and im not sure which cfls to get what type of light should they be. i'd love to get a mh light but they're a little pricy for me. i don't mind spending money i have but its not always easy to spend 100 plus on a light. how many 4 foot flos could i use and still get good growth?

 

[akirahz]

id say 160 watts worth of tube lighting would be alright for now (80 + 80) , 2 bulbs per fixture, each 40 watts, 4 footers

 

[PurpleSkunk]

cfls save space u can get more light in your area.if your in the states hit walmart there the twirly bulbs 42watt eqauvlant to 150 watts there like 9 bucks.the bulb adapter are like 2 bucks turns 1 light socket into 2.and the clamps they run about 10 bucks.i hope this helps.PS

 

[slowmo77]

thanks purp,, thats what i needed to know. i've heard soft white and hard white mixed? is that the same for cfls. do they need to be soft, hard, daylight, or what? some many choices its easy to make the wrong one!

 

[tom-tom]

id also say to decrease the nutes ur putin on that one that is burnt cause at the germ stage they will grow great without any nutes at all i never used any nutes on a plant that small its to easy to burn them up id give them straight water right now for a week our so till they get some stature to them ,,but hey just my opinion i hope it will help u out also when i first started i only had 1 17 watt floro lol and it worked alright for about 2 weeks then i had to go buy a bigger floro u can get some very nice ones cheap at like a home depo kind of store ,,also u may want to ask about nutes on that small of a plant that is just in the germ stage pretty much but like i said in my opinion id give it some time to grow cause they are to easy to burn when they are that small for a first time grower like my self

 

[slowmo77]

oh i forgot to say the one that burnt is deformed due to me not removing the shell. lesson learned. then i made the mistake of putting it in straight peat moss with nutes already in it. bad idea. know im just experimenting with it to see if i can bring it back

 

[akirahz]

thanks purp,, thats what i needed to know. i've heard soft white and hard white mixed? is that the same for cfls. do they need to be soft, hard, daylight, or what? some many choices its easy to make the wrong one!

Get daylight 23 watt 6500k CFL's from wal-mart (2 pak costs about 7 bux) they each put out 1600 lumens *

use these for vegetative growth

for flowering, get 42 watt 2700K Soft white CFL's from wal-mart (9 bux per bulb) each one puts out 2700 lumens.

Now if you want to mix spectrums during flowering, you can go to lowes and get 3500k bulbs there, i think they are sylvania, they put out 1600 lumens, and if you want to mix spectrum in your vegetative i believe they have a 5000k one called "full spectrum" on the package that puts out 1600 lums i think.

You dont need to if you dont want, personally im just using straight up 2700k cause i flower from seed practically, but youll want 6500k for vegging, its what i would use if on a budget, plus the 6500k i've heard gets you a higher female ratio if you use it in vegging.

Now if you want to know how much light you need, go by a lumen rule.

You need to measure the length and width of your grow area in feet. "12 inches per foot" Then you multiply the length and the width to get your square foot measurement. Now you can calculate how much energy you need for this space. 5,000 lumens for every square foot.

so if you have 4 square feet, thats, 5000x4= 20,000 .. you'd want 20,000 for optimal growth, but you can get away with less, say 3,000 lumens for every square foot. 3000x4= 12,000 --- this will give you alright veg growth, but you would want to bump up to at least 5 for flowering probably, or even more would certainly not hurt.

Hope this helps ya out some dude :>