CFL grow. comments appreciated!!

[J.C.grower]

high guys so this is one of my first grows and im currently experimenting with different lighting and different mediums. i have a 150 watt hps cab which i currently am doing and the ladies are at their 3rd week of veg. anyways this is my CFL experiment and i am using 3 X 32 Watt CFL's on both sides and 1 X 72 watt CFL in the middle. theyre at week 3 and a half of veg, nex week i wil flip to 12/12.
botom left: Abusive Og
bottom mid: Blue Dream Haze
bottom right: Diablo Og x Sage
top right: Chemdog
top mid: Fire Og


i am also thinking of adding a ScrOG in this cab, but im not quite sure if i should just let these ladies spring up and grow strait.. what do you guys think?
thanks! comments are greatly appreciated!
JC

 

[gloryoskie]

I do LST on my girls, works best for me, as I only have 24" of headroom. My sativa blends are a bit of a wrestling match but worth it all the way. I veg 4-6 weeks, depending on ambient temps.

What's your head room, and have you scrogged before? Are they topped?

 

[GhettoGospel]

LST is your friend

 

[J.C.grower]

What's your head room, and have you scrogged before? Are they topped?

the cab is 3'X2'X6'. ya im currently experimenting with the Scrog method in my other cab. (150 Watt Hps). so i am thinking of introducing the ScrOG to these ladies.. and no they are not topped. dont feel like stressing them out too much
thanks for the comments and advice!!
JC

 

[CannabisDog]

Good list of strains there. Happy growing.

 

[Guest 263194]

LST will work better for Cfl's

 

[zamzia]

It'll be interesting to see what happens comparing your hps to the cfl grow. I have popped seeds and done clones under cfl, but put them under mh for the proper veg period. The only grows I've really looked at for cfl is micro grows, but you have a reasonable grow space. Good luck anyway.

 

[J.C.grower]

thanks zamzia , yes it should be very interesting. I set up a ScrOG in there and moved the lights closer to the ladies, they seem to be loving the screen, since theyre starting to fill it up. will post updates and pictures tonight/tomorrow. thanks for all advice and comments!
JC

 

[NeWcS]

When my lights come on ill show you how well lst works with cfls and leds. My girl is a beast. She is out growing my tent

 

[NeWcS]

Here is too me a good example of LST. This plant is in week 2 of 12/12 after 5 weeks in veg. She is well over 3ft high but with the LST she is under a foot high but about 30" wide.

 

[Guest 263194]

pic's plz

 

[squn]

very nice strains m8
we wainting for update

 

[J.C.grower]

sorry guys! updates with pictures will come soon, trying to find my camera. :/ thanks for the comments and advice!
JC:jont:

 

[J.C.grower]

hey guys so finally i have an update of the cab ! i decided that i am just going to leave them growing upright and not introduce any form of LST , since i am alredy going into week four of flower. these ladies are just exploding through growth.
Day 17 flower

diablo og

Abusive og

top of the canopy

Hows it looking??
thanks
JC

 

[NeWcS]

You need more lights brother!!! With cfl's we want bushes not trees.

 

[J.C.grower]

really?! do you mean all around the plant? i.e. bottom, middle of plant?
thanks
jc

 

[SpaceKiller]

really?! do you mean all around the plant? i.e. bottom, middle of plant?
thanks
jc

with CFLs you need them very close at all times. unless you have one of those new handy CFL ballast, my hydro store has them they can use up to 400 watt CFL and they sell the CFLs there. its pretty wicked they have it on display and those plants look gorgeous.

but yea i digress you dont have one of those but id suggest looking they cost 120$ at my plant store for what it is i think its worth it if you can find one.

regardless CFLs need to be close, put them anywhere above the canopy and all around the sides, saturate your plants in every angle and youll notice a huge difference in growth.

having small CFLs also has it advantages, you can get them closer and in more places than a hanging ballast so use that to your advantage of course a hanging ballast doesnt necessarily need that due to its penetration compared to CFLs.

 

[NeWcS]

(I grow with cfl's and led's which aren't as good as HID's so take what I say in terms of only cfl's and led's)

You want more lights hitting those bud sites. Think about how far your lights are from some of those bottom bud zones. Those are very weak. To have to get lights down to those spots you'll need some side lighting or should have LST'd to create bushes so all those bud sites are at the top even though some of those site are at the bottom of the main steam. Again, Not that I am an expert by any means (I use cfls and led's) but if you look at the pix I posted you'll notice that all the tops of the branches are level in the canopy. Almost like a SOG.

 

[SpaceKiller]

to be more specific you need to have your CFLs close very early on otherwise the plants reach for the high light. just keep it close to them.

its also good to note, letting your plants stretch like that usually leads to problems during flowering.

the majority of the times i can judge from seeing stretched plants is they cant support their own bud after a while.

like mentioned learning simple LST will benefit you greatly. methods like mere pipe cleaners holding stems down will render any LST you do to be good. dont be afraid, just do not go over board.. be gentle.

 

[NeWcS]

At this point those steams should be like trees and are going to be hard for him to bend them without breaking them.