Pre Grow Jitters! Questions for PROS ONLY!

[JefferyConner]

Hey guys. I'm under a week of my first grow. I've set up my grow room with what I have been considering the most minimum of requirments. I've got a set two sets of two 100watt CFL over 3 plants in a grow box. I will be adding two more grow light fluoresent tubes later. I'm only growing for personal consumption so my main intrest isn't to get the biggest and best plants known to man, lol. I literally just want a succesful harvest with as minimal of requirments as possible and will upgrade after I'm familiar with the growing from actual expierence rather then what I read. BUT, even though I feel like i've read everything there is to read over and over again about this stuff i still have some questions.

1) I really want to ensure my plants are small. 1-3 plants is all I will ever be interested in growing, but i want them to be small plants. How early can I change the cycle over to 12/12? I was going to wait till its 10-12 inches. Should I wait till its taller? can I put them into flowering stage earlier then that??

2) If i mature my plants early will i be able to tell the *** earlier? Will I normally be able to tell the *** of the plant by 10-12 inches?

3) If I watch my plant every single day and get rid of the males as soon as i tell it's a male...Whats the chance that even that will be too late? I plan on clonning I'm not interested in seeds.

4) I wouldn't figure i would need a 4 or 5 gallon bucket if i want to keep my plants small. But i dont know what to expect. how small can my plant be and still produce a significant amount of yield? What size pot should I use if i'm going to keep these girls short and fat?

5) If my primary growing style is SOG, should I top my plants still?

6) I think i've read somewhere that I should pay attention to the lights labeled "Conversions" like this 23 watt flouresecnt tube = 100 watts!! Is that **? are my lights 23 watts or 100 watts? lol what should I go by.

The seeds i'm using seem to be in great shape, they sprouted while in a damp paper towel. some of them in less then 24 hours, and I probably have 50. I have figured that since weed is a plant, enough knowledge in horticulture and simple biology should easily get me through this. and I was going to figure everything out with basic trial and error. My plants are about 2 centimeters and i have already done an insane amount of work and put so much effort into it already that error is something i would like to avoid. lol So instead of winging it, I have turned to you guys.. If your going to answer even just one question thats great! but just assume I already know MOST of the basic "must knows" so keep that in mind before you bombard me with all this knowledge about the best lights, and the best this and the best that, If can learn just one new thing from this i will be VERY GREATFUL!

 

[orangesunshine]

i ain't no pro but would like to welcome you to the right place to git er dun---if you want small plants all you need to do is cut them back---i like the 5 gal bucket, but you might also use a 3 gal to keep within your parameters---*** is unlikely to show till you have alternating nodes on a 12/12 light schedule---doesn't matter if they are 3" or 36" when you flip them---if you want to keep 3 plants you might consider planting 6 or 7 seeds to end up with 3 after culling---enjoy the jitters man

 

[nvthis]

Welcome to MP!

1. Yes. You can flower them pretty much as early as you want to. There are some things you may want to consider, for example, be careful what you wish for... Too small and you may spend 2 months waiting for a few joints.... Also, there is a point where even in 12/12 a plant may be to small and will not flower until it is ready. There are different rules for clones/seed plants...

2. Yes. And, possibly

3. No. If you can them right when you notice them, you will be fine. It takes time to go from showing *** to dumping fully mature pollen... Kind of the difference betwenn a nice tight rosebud to petals falling off... It won't happen all in one day..

4. There are too many variables.. Are you topping the plant? What strain are you growing? And what phenotypical expression did you see from the seed you are using? Exactly how small do you want to stay? And all this under 2 CFL?

5. Well, with 2 CFL, your primary growing style isn't SOG. It's more like PFITF (which stands for Praying For It To Finish) I would probably top once and hope for the best.. However, I have never done what you are attempting to do, so maybe a more experienced CFL user can give you better guidance there...

Good luck man! Hope to see some pics of some insane low key weed soon

 

[JefferyConner]

Two CFL's are just what i'm using right now. I dont want to crowd my grow box with more light then I have to, I know I know, the more light the better, but I have to stay adapted to my space. I'm assuming my strain is basic regs. lol remember MINIMUM REQUIRMENTS, I will be willing to through alot more money into this after i see what i can do with what i have now. I should have mentioned my grow room is 5 and a half feet tall..So would that mean i would wanna to aim for maybe 4 feet tall plants????

 

[astrobud]

nythis says all the right things :hubba: welcome aboard

 

[7greeneyes]

You need to read the How-To Stickies first, before you ask q's like this. :ciao: Welcome to the 'Passion, bud. Once u get bit, you'll always wanna grow...lol.

eace:,

7greeneyes

 

[orangesunshine]

you will have a good chance at finished 4' plant if they are about 2-3' and sexed when flipped to a 12/12 light schedule

 

[dman1234]

but you cant grow 4 footers with those little floros, you wont get light penatration.

 

[JefferyConner]

So, your saying if I have 3-6 100 watt CFL, and I had two more 75 watt tubes that wont be enough light? From what i've been reading i figured that would be enough to keep them decently healthy. instead of keeping the lights on top shinning down, what if i line the floro tubes down the sides of each wall in my grow closet with my CFL lights as additional backups? Thats kinda what i was invisioning, stop me if i'm about to do something stupid. lol
And thanks to everyone who has posted so far. i'm soaking everything in!

 

[orangesunshine]

figure 5k lumens per sq. ft.---side lighting is awesome

 

[Locked]

Like orange said...5k lumen per sqr foot for flower and 3k lumen per sqr foot for vegging. Big plants and CFL's don't mix well....CFL's hve quite the ****** light penetration. If you are going to flower with them you will want to keep your plants on the shorter side and open them up with lst to get as many bud sites as you can under the CFL's....you will also need to keep the light as close as you can without burning them. Jmo

 

[JefferyConner]

I plan on keeping them short, I know CFL's are not seen as the best choice for grow lights. I've got the light thing pretty much figured out. Well, we'll find out eventually if i have it figured out. I have about 3k lumen now, i'll bump up to 5k before the veg cycle is over, and then i'll be over 7k when flowering. I'm going to start, and probably stay, with 10-10-10 for both cycles. I'll change it up accordingly during the next harvest.

 

[JefferyConner]

Like orange said...5k lumen per sqr foot for flower and 3k lumen per sqr foot for vegging. Big plants and CFL's don't mix well....CFL's hve quite the ****** light penetration. If you are going to flower with them you will want to keep your plants on the shorter side and open them up with lst to get as many bud sites as you can under the CFL's....you will also need to keep the light as close as you can without burning them. Jmo

wait...what did you mean by "open them up with lst"?

 

[Growdude]

figure 5k lumens per sq. ft.---side lighting is awesome

I dont find side lighting awsome, somewhat effective maybe.

I would add more but dont know where to begin.
Here I guess
http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9396

 

[PuffinNugs]

I dont find side lighting awsome, somewhat effective maybe.

I would add more but dont know where to begin.
Here I guess
http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9396

imo side lighting is only effective when in very small spaces (like 2x2) and you use say shop lights in the corners, (kinda like a homemade phototron)

as for the OP, you want to wait till you see alternating nodes on the main stem before you put into flower, this will help stop stretching, which will be bad enough if you dont upgrade your lights.

ime i get preflowers before alternating nodes on most strains so youll have a idea of the *** beofrehand. (around 4 weeks veg)

if you straight to 12/12 the plants will still veg the same amount of time as it would have if you vegged it under 24/0, so i say veg until mature (alternating nodes)for the best results. you cannont control the plant heighth jsut cause you flower early sine the plant will stretch until mature. ive done 12/12 from seed many times.

for example i had a sativa 12/12 from seed, and it grew 7 ft tall still by the time it was done, still had to veg (under 12/12) for 4-5 weeks before it started to flower, now if i would have actually vegged it it would of been much shorter and compact probably give me more yield.

 

[JefferyConner]

This has been great info guys. I can't thank you enough. I feel like i'm equipped with just about everything i need as far as information goes. Wish me luck!

 

[orangesunshine]

:aok: ---good luck

 

[powerplanter]

Good luck J.C.

 

[7greeneyes]

Here's to you and your new venture, bud. Good luck there.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

So, your saying if I have 3-6 100 watt CFL, and I had two more 75 watt tubes that wont be enough light? From what i've been reading i figured that would be enough to keep them decently healthy. instead of keeping the lights on top shinning down, what if i line the floro tubes down the sides of each wall in my grow closet with my CFL lights as additional backups? Thats kinda what i was invisioning, stop me if i'm about to do something stupid. lol
And thanks to everyone who has posted so far. i'm soaking everything in!

No, not nearly enough light. Equivalent (conversion) wattage means nothing for growing purposes--23 w tubes=23 w tubes. However, lighting needs are figured by lumens per sq ft (and spectrum is important too). You are going to need a minimum of 3000 lumens per sq ft for vegging and 5000 for flowering. How large is your space? Take your sq ft and multiply times 3000 or 5000 to figure lumens needed. You will be surprised how many CFLs it is going to take to supply adequate light. I also am not a big fan of side lighting, believing that the benefits are little if any.

You are also going to need ventilation.