Gota 4' 6 bulb t5 setup I used for tomatoes and shit last season, and lucky me, I was just given a little baby! *the guy who gave me it made his own dirt...I'm crossing my fingers that it has no gnats n shit.* The plant is about 2 inches tall. I've lined the closet with some cheap ass mylar and have 2 bulbs on 24/7 about 6 inches away from the plant. In the 6 fixture you have a choice of either 4 bulbs on or 2. The temp is 75F and circulation is positive flow from a little cylinder fan. I flush with water every day and it's spring water at room temp. Here is the thing...I know you are supposed to get cfls close to the plant...but these bulbs actually do produce some heat...like a lot if I put them all on in this closed area. When my veggie starts got too close this spring they all raised their cotyldons and leaves straight up and became stunted. These lights are powerful and bright. Any experienced users of said lights would be appreciated. Anyway..whataya think? BTW thats a homemade t5 stand.
I have used nothing but t5 4ft bulbs in my veg. room with great success. I always keep them about 4" away from the tops, and haven't had any burning of the leaves. Just make sure you have a way to expel the hot air from the room, as temps over 85 degrees can be bad, also make sure you have an oscillating fan to keep the air circulating. good luck!
a fan dedicated to just blowing up on your lights ...blowing hot air up and away from plant should help alitte..need to get a real t-5..my 24" 2 bulb 10000lumen ho kicks serious ass in veg 3 to 4 inch away...89 bucks at htg...no heat
Week 4 and as usual all comments welcome Ah fun times...I did my first transplant to an 8 inch pot. It went pretty good. The plant was a little overwhelmed about 12 hours after transplanting, but it perked right up. It's tasting ferts for the first time and was like "WOAH!" lolz The dirt mix I made is this: 3/4 part Standard Sunshine Professional Potting Mix 1/4 part Organic Dairy washed manure and compost blend 1/4 part *actually less* of organic earth worm castings Plus: 1/4 cup organic kelp meal 1/8th cup soft rock phosphate 1/4 cup Mexican bat guano 3 tbs lime to sweeten the organic dairy manure *its ph is 7.9* 1 tbs organic spirulina I mixed it all up in a bag and used just enough for a 8 inch pot. I have enough left for the 3 gallon final transplant. Of course I made some compost tea and drenched it after it was transplanted... 1 5 gallon barrel 1 Fish tank bubbler 4 gallons spring water 1/4 cup molasses 1/8 cup liquid fish fert 2 tbs organic kelp meal bubbled for 24 hours So I transplanted and it seems pretty happy. I made the mistake of turning on 4 t5 bulbs rather than just the 2 and I was pushing 80F all day...damn those t5's are hot bitches. You gotta have your circulation worked out. So like I said it seems a tad limp but it gets perky and then looks a bit tired...could it be from the transplanting or ferts? It seems to be a girl, and is very compact and bushy at 4 weeks...need to get scroggin'. Lights on 24/7 still. Stinky when you brush up against it...haha Also the gallon milk jug is the CO2 generator...8 tbs of sugar, 2 tbs yeast. Nice and bubbly.
aw crap...I thought I had posted this in grow journals...MODS can you move this thread to grow journals? thx
Thanks deacon...hopefully it will work out. The lower fan leaves are looking a bit darker green than normal...a bit droopy...but the stuff on top is really looking shweet! I think it grew an inch in a day!
OK so my budski tells me to take 2 more plants. If you can believe it, they are the same age as my monster there. 4 weeks old! They were water damaged and in plain potting soil so it's nothing but TLC for them for a while. Lights still on 24/7 and my big transplant is showing some signs of stress? What do you think about the big plant. To me, the bottom leaves yellowing. Medium level leaves looking green yellow mottled. The top leaves are like someone carved them...is that heat stress making them so pointy? The plant hasn't been watered since transplant...the top dirt is dry and the bottom is still a bit moist. It is in an 8 inch pot. I heard you had to let it get bone dry before watering again after transplant. ?? Temps are a problem. This is a 6 bulb t5 in a closet. With all 6 bulbs on it gets up to 84F. Turning on just 4 works a tad better, but do I even need all 6 on for veg? Anyhoo I'm working on ventilation. I put a car shade down below so the carpet didn't absorb all the light...now its even brighter in there! Anyway thoughts on plant health appreciated.
Danger Will Robinson, Danger! While my main big plant is getting taller, the lower and middle leaves are getting yellower:
Last but not least the top of the plant.....the new growth has yellow tips. My reading shows that it may be too much fert and to flush it with water. It's been a week since I transplanted, and its bone dry on the top and just a tad moist...I may be ok with a drench at this time?...I think I have no choice at this point. Thoughts?
OK well I figure I might as well continue this since moving it wold be a major hassle. The yellowing at the top and bottom from my reading is not enough nitrogen. It's in there, it's just that with me letting it get bone dry after the transplanting, it didn't have any water to transport it and it went into conserve mode. Hence the yellowing lower and top. Also the leaves started to get crispy...I had too much wind on it and it started to get wind burn. Still monkeying around with ventilation. The temp below the lights is 80F and above it 3 feet is 75F.
Now for the big plant, its looking a lot healthier to me. In it's gallon pot I am thinking of adding about 1/2 cup of water a day rather than letting it get bone dry. Maybe a cup. The milk jug is the co2 generator. ghetto fabulus! And yes the lights are at a angle...hoping the heat rises up faster that way...
Now the babies...remember all these plants are the same age, planted the same day but mine was put under lights on week 2 and the other two have been outdoor in the rain until about a week ago. They're truckin now! But one plant looks healthier to me. The soil for the droopy right one is kindof weird. Thinking about transplanting?
No no, please, one at a time, lol. I guess people will someday say "Waoh Starberry, dude you rule, nice hydroaquamicro flux capacitor setup man!" Until that day...I continue: Transplanted my two babies. Did some trimmn on the droopy guy..man talk about skunk! Bleh! I can't imagine what this thing will smell like when its into flowering!? I don't think a bucket of ona is going to do anything for them.