Suuns6500k

[suuns6500k]

It's me again,I wanted to know if this is too much light as I have just recently planted my seeds half an inch down in soil. Mostly 15 watt cfls but a few 23 watters,second time I sprayed with ro water today to keep the soil most because it started feeling a little dry and warm from the cfl heat,and is it bad for my soil to get warm from the light?

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[budz4me]

I have read all of your threads.

That being said....it may be easier for you (and us lol) if they were all consolidated, I have 2 things for ya:

1) THG is right, CFLS are too hot and too costly to run. That is way more light than seedlings need. The heat that those are creating are going to require way more ventilation than you have.

2) Make sure to use distilled water in that humidifier, or you will end up with chalky stuff all over the place (TDS that are unable to evaporate)



EDIT: I believe Kraven said it best, give us an idea of what you want out of this...and we can go from there" Also, my RH(relative humidity) usually in the mid 40's but that's only due to the environment....im sure they can withstand drier areas.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

My humidity often runs below that without adverse effect. More problems are caused by high humidity than low humidity.

 

[closetkid]

I've played with a few cfl's going with the 26 watts using one warm and two daylight bulbs per foot.

 

[suuns6500k]

Is it okay for the soil for seedlings to be warm?

 

[closetkid]

yes soil when in the 65 to 70 temp range promotes the best seed sprouting

 

[yooper420]

I put a couple tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide per gallon of water you add to the humidifier. This eliminates all the gunk. Lot cheaper then the stuff they want to sell you.

 

[suuns6500k]

Well,I dropped my pots yesterday and two sprouts were exposed but I quickly put them back in soil,I only see two sprouting up so did I lose the other two,this is how they look today. Also is it okay for my soil to be room temp about 65°f to 75°F or should the soil be cool.stuck my finger in it and it feels slightly warm,hope that doesn't kill my sprouts. Also I wanted to know if it's okay to have a dome on them to keep humidity levels at a sufficient level. Thanks,in best hopes
Suuns6500k

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[suuns6500k]

Also is it okay to mist the tops of my pot two to three times a day to keep the soil and sprouts moist?

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

No--there is no benefit in doing that. The sprouts do not need to be moist.

 

[suuns6500k]

Well I don't have enough money to buy that only cfl for now

 

[suuns6500k]

Anyone that grow with cfl that I can talk to?

 

[closetkid]

Misting the plant will help to keep them cool, but dont be surprised to see dead spots where the water drops magnify the light killing the plant cells underneath.

The tube of the cfl lights are cool giving off little temps but the white ballast it's hooked to is another story. Really need air movement over the bases of the cfl to get the most of them and ime anything less than the 26 watter is wasting time and electric

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Misting can cause problems. If there is not good air movement, any evaporative cooling effect, if any, will be minimal. Plants with soil that is too wet too close to the stem can cause damping off. No real upside to misting unless you are trying to treat a deficiency.

If you cannot buy more/better light, you are going to have to get your space smaller. Like closet kid said, CFLs smaller than 26W are virtually useless. They will work while the plant is very small, but light intensity falls away so fast that even 6" from the plant, it is going to actually be getting a very small percentage of the light.

I notice that your temps are 79F. That is the top limit of what you want it to be.

Remove the foil from the floor.

While I am not trying to discourage you, growing cannabis takes certain things and good light in the correct spectrum is the most important. Simply put, you are not going to be able to take a plant(s) to harvest with just a few 23-26W CFLs. There is a reason that cannabis is expensive--it is hard to grow and takes certain equipment that is not cheap. Is there any chance that you are going to be able to buy more/better/bigger lights?

 

[suuns6500k]

Maybe a 250 watt cfl fixture

 

[budz4me]

Maybe a 250 watt cfl fixture

I would strongly suggest saving up and waiting until you can atleast get a 400W cool-tube and fan set-up. I have an Apollo 400w cooltube and it worked great and still does, I have since upgraded, but I still use it for vegging.

THG has a neat DIY setup for a cooltube setup in the DIY section.

I started where you are at bro...and I am far from where I need to be....but I can tell you...the CFL's I own are in my light fixtures in my home...and that's it.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

How much is it? Can you give me a link to the one you are looking at? To actually be able to advise you on lighting, I need to know how big your space is.

One of the reasons that CFLs are not our light of choice is that they have the worst lumen to watt ratio and that makes them more expensive to run every single month. For instance a 150W HPS will provide the same lumens at a 100W less power consumption or a 60% power savings every single month. But it goes beyond that--the light from the HPS is just better light to grow with and will produce a lot more.

Another alternative is a T5 fixture. While these are still fluorescent lights, they are superior to other types of fluoro lighting. T5s will put out 92-100 lumens per watt, 50% more than CFLs, which average 62 lumens per watt. T5s come in a variety of sizes, but the most common are 2' and 4'. The 2' bulbs average 2000-2500 lumens per tube. The number of tubes you would need would be determined by the size of your space.