NEW GROW QUESTIONS HELP

[kotton_mouth]

hey guys
i am a first time indoor hydro grower i usualy grow out doors so im only going to try out one plant first. i have a 5 gallon bucket wit the rocks and pump. a buddy of mine gave me 2 randoms that he order online.
im trying to figure out wat kinda lights i need for veg and flowering.
i currently have a reg grow lamp (like lamps used for snakes and lizards). Is this ok? or do i need to get diff lights? i also need some advice on a lighting schedule.

And heres the thing im germanating the seeds now so i only have like a week to figure this out.

thx kotton

Also would i be able to grow the 2 seeds togeter in the 5 gallon or am i running a risk of both turnig male???

 

[fonzee]

You want some high output light. Probably HID (either Metal Halide or High Pressure Sodium), but high wattage (45 and over) CFLs work.

All produce quite a bit of heat when you run over 200W of them and need venting.

More light (to a point that is pretty high) means more buds.

Blue spectrum is for veg and red spectrum is for flowering.
There are mixed spectrum HID lights that are meant for indoor growing that combine them both.


Veg is best being 20/4, flowering for most strains is 12/12 (tropical sativas might require a 14/10 regime).

Start them in smaller containers and then transplant to the 5 gallon when you know what you are dealing with.

 

[kotton_mouth]

if this works this is wat the lapm i have looks like

 

[MAD DAWG]

Can't see the pic. For lighting you can use CFL's, T5's (which is what I use), and/or a MH/HPS. I have not used a MH or CFL's but I can tell you that the T5 doea an outstanding job during veg. CFL's work fine but you have to have enough of them. You want something in the spectrum of 6400k or 6500k for veg and, in my opinion, an HPS for flower. Go here http://www.htgsupply.com/ and look around. This is where I got my T5's and HPS. It's all what you prefer as there is no wrong way.

A lot of people like going 24/0 through veg and then 12/12 when they want to start flower. I like going 18/6 through veg and then 12/12. Which ever way is fine. Again it's just a matter of preference. Basic dif being you get a little faster growth with the 24/0 cycle. And using 18/6 cycle, the transition to flower when going 12/12 is a little faster than going from 24/0 to 12/12. At least that's what I have been told and that's what my expereince has been thus far.

I would put them in seperate containers if it were me. 5 gal aint much for 2 plants and their roots will get all tangled together. And if you need to seperate them well good luck with that. But just my opinion. I would keep them seperate.

Good luck man.

 

[kotton_mouth]

ok sweet great info im prob gonna use 18/6 then 12/12.

 

[generalgrievous]

I veg at 16... and always get an extreme female to male ratio...

 

[kotton_mouth]

im only doing 1 in a 5 gallon im thinkging of doing 18/ then 12/12 but im looking into 16/ as well as 24/0

 

[MaxCA]

There was some testing a long time ago on overgrow that showed 18-20ish hours of light during veg produced the healthiest and least stressed plants. 24/0 was a bit much and seemed to hinder during the switch from veg to flower. I recommend 18/6, you save a bit on electricity and results are great!

Some great information for new growers on this website
http://www.medicalmarijuanagrowbank.com

Look it up.

 

[HempAlchemist]

VEG:
18/6 of light or greater. @ 24/0 plants veg the fastest. @ 18/6 plants reach the preflower stage the fastest. cant see your pic of the light, but if its for snakes and lizards, there is a good change that the light will have a lot in the infra-red and will slowly cook your plants. the cheap route to go would be "cool/blue" CFL or T5. for CFL's look at the real wattage used not the "equivalent". if you got some money you can get a MH which will cut the time needed to veg vs using CFL or T5. your aiming for 50-60w/sq foot

FLOWER:
12/12 light cycle. any less and the plant will finish early w/o putting on the proper weight. any more and the plant will take longer to finish. some ppl do a week of "transition" where everyday they will reduce the light by an hour until they reach 12/12. others do a hard flip to 12/12. both work and i havent noticed any different in the plant doing it one way or the other. as far as a light, your gunna want a HID lamp, most likely this will be a HPS. another option is to use a CMH. these can be used in veg and flower, and run a lil bit cooler then HPS of the same wattage. these lamps work great if you have only 1 room to veg and flower in and dont want to spend the extra cash to buy both veg and flower lights.

as far as growing 2 plants in one container, yes you can do it, but if one turns out to be male your gunna wish you didnt. I personally wouldnt because if you did get 2 girls, they will end up competing with each other and causing you to train them more aggressively
hopes this helps
HA

 

[kotton_mouth]

HEMP AND MAX great guys you both are a great help the info both of you provided is great im looking into the link you provided max

i do think im gonna get a hid lamp for flowering. the lamp i am useing is LIKE a snake lamp but i have a cfl in it.
can this be used for flowering??
and someone recommend useing mutiple cfls what do you think?

 

[HempAlchemist]

CFL's can be used for flowering, but IMO the amount of money/time/setup needed doesnt make it worth it. the lumen output for a HID is like 3:1 over a CFL, so by the time you get enough CFL's to make up the difference, you will be drawing more then if you just used a HID

 

[kotton_mouth]

ya good point my power bill will be out the roof lol. where do you buy hid do they sell it at home depot??

 

[durka_durka420]

buy hid online.....insidesun.com and hidhut.com has them fairly cheap.....my tip to you is read read read do alot of research.....but hemp is right hid has alot more lumen output then cfl so no use in using them imo unless your using them to supplement hid or vegging...or for clones/moms...hid can be found also at home depot as a security light but you might want to make the ballast remote as they get quite warm if left inside grow box.....but with more things you get what you payfor

 

[HempAlchemist]

if you are good with electricity, a small HID can be bought at home depot or similar stores and converted to a remote ballest setup. there is a good thread explaining this somewhere

 

[kotton_mouth]

@durka durka- thanks for the links i looked into both of themi gotta a lil side tracked with led lol wat out of my price range right now

@hemp buddy your a great help in every thread you help me on thanks bro. i looked on homedepot an lowes web all i could find was bulbs im gonna have to take a lil trip to the store.

 

[Derka]

e-conolight.com might be worthwhile to look at as well. You can get a 150 watt hps for 40 bucks.

 

[durka_durka420]

yeah kotton i got your visitor message while cfl is good for veg/clones/mothers its not the best for flowering but all i did was use a flat peice of board,wire,screw on light sockets(there ment to screw onto a junction box) and some screws,hotglue....its simple to make just wire each socket up one at a time mark holes insert screws....its simple if you can do electrical work if not might want to learn how to wire a light socket.....but heres some links with product numbers so you can call local store and ask to see if they got them....http://www.lowes.com/pd_102355-337-...=0&x=0&storeId=10151&ddkey=http:SearchCataloghttp://www.lowes.com/pd_247588-85538-UT-5677-BZ_0__?productId=3027894&Ntt=security+light&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl__0__s%3FNtt%3Dsecurity%2Blight
http://www.homedepot.com/Lighting-F...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053 these links are for 150w and a 70w hps light there not cheap in stores id order one online in all honesty and dont use halogen thats horrible and creates a ton of heat....EDIT: i looked around and might be cheaper to build your own light out of parts ballast kits are cheap and all u need is a bulb,wire,socket,reflector,box to enclose ballast

 

[kotton_mouth]

sweet durka durka i think im gonna steal your idea for the cfls i am pretty good with electrical so i think i can do it.. but how did u get power to the bulbs did u wire it to a plug and pluged it into standered outlet??? or did you hard wire it stright to the house???
im gonna use it only for veg and clones. i got a job lined up this week so i think im gonmna be ordering a hps online or possibly at my local hydro store. thanks for the help.

 

[blowin]

from soil to hydro what would be the easiest most efficient and reliable way to go???
tuperware reservoir with the plants on top
or rockwool; resevoir drip to the wool?

 

[durka_durka420]

i wired the light for a standard plug in...so i can hook it to my timer