I am new to the scene and I have a few questions in general about growing. I got some seeds from a friend and decided to take a try at it. I currently have 2 Jamaican Pearl seedlings that I germinated by paper towel and have in some miracle grow soil in medium sized pots. I used plant and aquarium florescent I had lying around from my fish tanks. They both sprouted up overnight and seem very tall and droop to the side. I looked into grow lights and wanted to go barebones so I got 4 6500k 23w CFL and 3 2700K(or around there) 23W CFLs hooked up in a storage container with the lid on sideways so air can flow in and out. Since the lights the plants leaves has grown but growth seems slow. So starts the questions. How often should I water them and how much? I have a large oscillating fan but I want to add pc fans to the top and sides for intake and vent. If I have 6-8 CFLs will there be too much heat generated if I put the lid on tight? What should the humidity be like? I am thinking of going hydroponics for control of the elements, does a drip system run all the time and maintain a slow trickle or is it run by a timer- if so what are cycles like? If I do maintain a soil approach how do I go about adding nutrients and is there any suggestions? What about household additives? I am open to any suggestions, links, or advice you can throw my way.
Well use all 4 of the 6500k lights and you should have put them in some better soil because alot of people have problems wit mg but then again there are some people that do excelent i just say give your plant some air when you think it is too hot and you may want to move them into some better soil but wait for someone else to tell you to or do it if no one tells u to switch soil
If you're doing what I'm picturing with the lid you will not get great airflow to the plants just the lights. Idealy you want to take in fresh air low and put out hot air high, you do not nesicarily need a fan for intake if you have a good fan exhausting out. My box pulls ari from one side botom and exhausts out the top oposite side making the air go sidways inside the box moving fresh air acros my plant even without the air circulation fan running. My plant constantly quivers in the breeze wich is a good thing. How big is your container? 4X23w in my 2X2X2foot box I have to keep the door cracked to stay under 76.