Creative lighting solution

[ValuabeVariable]

This is my first post and .....3rd attempt at growing. First time parents found.. was growing in closet. Second i had much better preparations, was growing in woods in a spot where light was getting through and they were growing great. Got to about 20 inches tall when they were eaten by animals..
Now that im out of the house and in college I am trying yet again. Room is limited and am not planing on doing anything special with them and thought id just leave them at the window. There is however too little sunlight so i came up with this solution for my plants:

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/2313/hald6.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/4904/roois2.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

These are the 2 out of 4 plants that have sprouted so far, theres 2 x 20 watt energy saving bulbs in there that dont produce much heat so they are about 5 inches away from the bulbs. Will the lighting do for now?
Curious on any comments.
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/5840/dsc00149qz7.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

[BudBill]

Wow! Schweet!

Have you considered building a "grow box"? Like an old hollowed out dresser with the drawers glued on. You can use a computer fan for ventilation.

The flos need to be a lil closer as well - it will speed them up and stop the s-t-r-e-t-c-h. :)

-Bill

[ValuabeVariable]

I have thought of it but didnt go that far yet. The one plant is ither tilted because it was leaning towards the window before i moved them (theyve only been hanging for an hour now) or because it just isnt strong enough yet from the lack of lighting before. Should i give it some support or let it straighten itself up?

And a short story, my neighbor walked in before and i asked him to look around and tell me if he sees anything strange, he looked and didnt even notice them hanging above his head untill i pointed them out.

[BudBill]

I would move them 2" away from the lights and prop it up. Nothing fancy like a long twist tie with a U so the wee one can rest against it.

Hee hee just wait till you have them in 3 gallon pots :)

-Bill

[ValuabeVariable]

Haha, not thinking that far ahead, why would it be good to move them away from light?

[BudBill]

Sorry... I meant keep the girls (I hope) about 2 inches from the light. They looked about 4-5" away.

:)
Bill

[ValuabeVariable]

With aluminum as reflectors, cant really leave it on because ive got no other light in my room.
http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/4493/47090087hb3.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

[red_eye]

i love it :)

[skullkidnate]

this is an amazing idea LMFAO

[guitarpeace]

your plants are super stretched. I would build a box if I were you and add more light. Go looking around the internet for some ideas. IC Mag has a good forum with lots of friendly people that will help you. You have the right idea for bulbs. CFL lights work great and get good buds. I would use at least 9 bulbs and use a mixture of cool bulbs and warm bulbs to get a good specturm. Some people say use cool for veg and warm for flowering but I mix it up and get good results. Good luck.

[Superpimp]

looking at those poor plants makes me sick, your a evil son of a bitch and should not be alowed to grow pot.....

[T.H. Cammo]

You kids at home - don't try this!!! This is a perfect example of what happens when a person who hasn't got a clue what they're doing; goes ahead and does it anyway!
There is s-o-o-o much information available, I guess it would be unreasonable to think that you might have read some of it!!!

[ValuabeVariable]

Tis tis, for all the pot you smoke you sure are annoying and whiney. I know this isnt the "right" way of growing and im not pretending that it is. This is more of an experiment and letting them grow by themselves to see what happens. Of course if you use 600watt grow lamps with ventilation, reflection, CO2 burners and such youll get the right results, but how would i do that in a 15x 10 foot room (not to mention 90% of the floor is used up by the built in furniture). I know about growing marijuana (in a semi/professional environment) but theres little information of what you can/should do with limited resources. Not allowed to grow you say?, dont exaggerate growing a plant as something more than it is.
If anybodies still interested in how its going ill post some updates.

[BudBill]

:D

I figured you were just keeping them "up up & away" till they got larger. But you have to admit it is a bit freaky seeing them up there.

Updates would be cool - it is always cool to see how the unconventional sometimes presents suprises ;)

-Bill

[ValuabeVariable]

thats true, they wont be up there much longer, i WILL be making a grown box for them, but untill i decide on exactly what light ill use they can hang around a little longer.

[ValuabeVariable]

Heres some pictures of the two today:

http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/4158/pl2ld3.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

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[url="http://imageshack.us/"] (http://imageshack.us/)

[ValuabeVariable]

Story#2: The person in charge of the dorm im in, not sure what the word is, allowed herself in while i was gone, apparently theres no privacy here, and saw the plants hanging from the ceiling. I later talked to her to see what was going on and it seemed like she didnt know what it was. I just innocently smiled and said it was an experiment to see how the plants move towards the light and all she said was i should try to limit it to save electricity. So theyre still up there for now but this just shows once again that this is definatly not a long term way of growing.

[BudBill]

Whew! I swear they were lima beans!! ;)

CFLs would be great for a lil grow box and lil computer fans for air out air in. Cost, heat and your living situation. If the monitor (?) can come in whenever, you are going to be doing some ninja growing.

Lookin good!
Bill

[ValuabeVariable]

Keeping the costs as low as possible, would two 23 watt CFLs be enough to keep em going in a grow box?

[ValuabeVariable]

guitarbox mentioned 9 bulbs, but they cost around 10$ each

[BudBill]

WOW 9 bulbs for how many girls! I was thinking 2 per and even then buy them on sale. 2/$5. You know that they won't get huge but will generate some useable product. Think of a square with one in each top corner pointed in and down. Ahhh you got the gereral idea.

2/23 watters would be fine to veg the wee ones for a bit.

[ValuabeVariable]

I got 2 fluorescent lamps with 18 watt and 1 23 watt CFL bulb. The FL doesnt make a great deal of light and am thinking of switching them to two more 23w CFLs. Should i do the switch or stay with it?

[BudBill]

Yeah they don't out in the open but rough up the grow box and with the tight quarters and reflective surfaces it will be bright enough for 2 small babies.

At least double that for flowering and don't let them get too tall.

-B

[ValuabeVariable]

would 2 23watt CFLs generally be better than 2 18 watt FLs?

[BudBill]

O yeah, with flos you can never have enough.

A couple bank of 4 footers would be awesome but you are space limited for now at least.

[ValuabeVariable]

I know more is better but i meant returning the two 18w FLs and getting two 23w CFLs instead. would the CFLs be better than the FLs?

[Ignavus]

Hey, I had one 18" long FL light for my first grow, that plant got pwned. . . several times. . . anyway, second chance comes up, and i broke the light . . . . . . went to pet store with friend (his seed) and the replacement tube was $50 ish so we looked ath CFL bulbs - $40, so i hear you guys saying to buy for $10 and on sale $5, so just wondering, where do I go for that nice price?

[lune]

Damn bro, I don't know about that, seems like it could get you booted from school...

Peep these, they're a bit more low key

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=75313
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=73654
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=67400
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=50777

Good luck and stay safe.