Hey everyone just wanted to join the party got tired of trying to find bud all the time as it keeps getting harder and harder in my area so figured I would try my hand at my own crop since I just moved into a bigger place. I have been doing a lot of research over the past week since I germinated the seeds and now I have 5 seedlings that are starting to look happy and healthy, already hit a bit of a hiccup though my windowsill wasn't providing enough light throughout the day for them to start growing properly so one of them is really tall but only has 2 leaves I have a second that is looking pretty good is working on it's 3rd set of leaves now and the other 3 are just now sprouting. My question is I bought a few big cfl bulbs as I'm on a budget one is a 55w 200w equivalent bulb then I have 2 other 42w 150w equivalent bulbs I also purchased one 14w led grow bulb off Amazon that had good reviews so I know right now all totaled I only have about 150w in total covering my seedlings they seem to be much happier and growing more normally since I put those bulbs in but how long can I wait before I have to upgrade to more total watts? Only trying to do one or two plants total but everything I have read has said I should have at least 200w per plant if using CFLs, any input anyone can give this complete novice would be greatly appreciated I am loving this process already I have always wanted to grow my own. Will be posting pictures shortly.
This is the setup I have ATM they are growing much nicer now like I said any input from anyone more experienced would be appreciated
As you guys can see I have 4 clamp style lamps going, the middle lamp is a 55w the two sides are 42w all 2100k as that's what my local hardware store had lol woulda got all 3 in 55 if I could have but they only had one left all the stores in my area are discontinuing cfl sales as LED s for your house are better and not full of Mercury and cheaper but I didn't think any of the home use low watt leds would be suitable for growing and anything else they had was way too expensive to buy. Sent from my XT1585 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
So will this setup be ok for the time being at least until I have 2 good size healthy plants going? I have 2 24w CFLs sitting here as well but no fixtures for them I plan on getting some fixtures for them but don't have allot of cash right now if I really will see better results adding them now instead of later I would consider it, if anyone has any input feel free to chime in! Sent from my XT1585 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
And of course the 4th has the 14w led grow bulb in it that's aimed at the two sprouts that are already doing work Sent from my XT1585 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
I'm going to be updating this page frequently you guys can watch the whole process Sent from my XT1585 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
you should start all those in solo cups with such little light. Every thing would be a lot closer utilizing the light more. How tall is that room? Sorry to say Your plants are going to be 5' tall 1/4 inch thick with 6 leaves a peace at this rate. If you can put them in sunlight and get the proper lighting for that many. This light just might do one. Amazon.com : MarsHydro Mars 300W LED Grow Light Full Spectrum ETL Certification Lighting for Hydroponic Indoor Greenhouse Garden Plants Growing 132W True Watt Panel : Patio, Lawn & Garden
I'm only trying to grow one or two plants at most I have space starting them in a small space for now will move them out into the room when they are getting bigger I was assuming that they wouldn't all do well or even if they did more then a couple would be male I'm just using seeds I have gotten out of my own buys from good strains they were all mixed together though so idk which strains I planted lol and like I said I'm on a budget really spent all I could right now on the laps and bulbs Sent from my XT1585 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Quick update I moved 2 of the sprouts out of the way of the setup so this guy was getting alot more light got him only an inch away from the cfl and he has responded beautifully third set of leaves has doubled in size in a few hours glad I made the change he is still a little pale but I overwatered the big pot and it's taking awhile to dry out hopefully it dries out in a day or two and we can get back on schedule Sent from my XT1585 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
When i veg with cfls i grew then to 18-20 inch but, i used solo cups and built a reflector so all bulbs were parallel to the plants so they got full use of the entire bulb not just the tips, used 10 45watt actual cfls and 8 off the shelf 100watt leds with the globe removed.. many small growers are using off the shelf leds with great results there is a thread online i found by Google "using off the shelf led bulb grow lights"
That's interesting I wouldn't mind trying some they are fairly cheap at the store near me I actually hung one of the lamps directly over this guy with the cone pointing all of the bulb directly into her pot and only a bout an inch away but I keep checking on them every few hours so we will see what happens
update started moving the other plants away and focusing the light on this one and she is doing great now unfortunately it's a little hot in the room to begin with and the cfl s being close and the room already being warm hurt the two leaves but I cut back to just the LED bulb that I got on Amazon and I have to say I put it about 8-10 inches above this plant and in the course of a day saw a massive improvement growing really fast 2 more sets of leaves sprouted overnight and they are getting big fast for a 10$ 14 watt grow bulb it is doing great on this seedling I'm tempted to just replace the 3 CFLs with these as there are only ten a piece and the plants already growing faster then it was with 150 watts of cfl bulbs surrounding it only a few inches away, this one left bulb is giving this plant more light then it needs at this stage for 10$ Sent from my XT1585 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
without the led on, her color is much nicer now getting darker was kinda pale when it was too hot with those lights gonna stick with just the led until she gets a little bigger and that isn't enough anymore Sent from my XT1585 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
this girl has grown 5 more leaves since this morning 2 just sprouted they are just tiny nubs atm Sent from my XT1585 using Grasscity Forum mobile app