I have cracked 5 seeds and put them in a soilless mix, under a 400watt mh bulb. I have many cfl bulbs left over from another grow attempt, and was wondering if adding these to the mh light would be of any help to my new plants. I am using a 30-10-10 fertilizer. I am also adding superthrive which seems to be a good vitamin for the plants, I'm hoping it will help vegetative growth. I am also just using two small 4 inch fans to cool the light and ballast. Please let me know if I'm lacking anything with this setup, and what to do with the cfl lights.
whats the temp in ur grow room??? also the way i see it is the more light the better maybe use them to reach where the hps doesnt like to the lower budding areas
I would use the Cfls for the seedlings, probably for about two weeks, before introducing them to the HPS. That HPS can fry those seedlings if you are not careful.
What color temp are the CFLs? Don't use ferts until after three weeks of vegging out, and then start at 1/4 diluted strength and work up slowly.
The cfls are soft white for the most part, I have two unidentified, but if I remember correctly they are also soft white. I got them for 75cents a piece so I bought about 16, theyre not much alone 26 watts and 1600 lumens, but together, they make a difference, about 500 watts and 30,000 lumens with my two others. Where the plant pots are, the temp is about 95 degrees with the light on, despite the fans. Please let me know if this is too high, and if I should seek more ventilation. I have a MH and HPS switchable ballast, with the MH as the only light now, should I not use that intense a light yet. How long should seedlings take to appear after the cracked seeds have been transplanted into the soilless mix. I may have planted them a little deep, but in 24 hours, no seedlings have appeared. My other 5 seeds just cracked in the paper towel, so I am planning on potting them in the morning. Please let me know how I'm doing. Thanks
Just an update, 4 seedlings broke through the soilless mix today, 3 of them look good and healthy, one appears to be coming in a bit sideways, but hopefully that one will straighten out and the other will appear. Still wondering if I should be using the MH light for these small plants. I setup an automated watering system today for fear that the plants were drying out too fast and I couldnt be around to keep them watered regularly during the day. I just set it to water the 5 plants every 6 hours using 200 ccs of water for each cycle. Its a pretty handy unit from what I have seen so far. I hope someone can let me know about the MH light, thanks in advance.
you can put the seedlings under ur mh light but run the light for 24 hr and monitor the temp to makesure it doesnt get over like 85 and makesure the light is about 2 feet away from the seedlings and do the hand check also where u put ur hand above ur seedlings and if u feel any discomoft in ur hand move the light further away. watering every 6 hours seems kinda often to me unless u live in a hot climate.. i water every 3-4 days i feel that if u make spaces between watering the roots search for water which means a bigger plants for me .......
Thanks for the tips so far guys, have a problem with the waterer, the plug slipped out and I missed a good watering or two, I think the plants have been hurt by this, one looks like its a bit fried, possibly from heat too, so I raised the light up a bit and increased ventilation. I can't take pictures right now, as my camera battery is dead. I will take pics asap, but my question is, the four plants that are going only display four leaves, two rounded and two of the typical cannabis plant shape. Wondering if this is expected rate of growth, or if there should be new vegetative growth by now. I am hoping to see some good changes soon. By the way, the two plants are a little over 3 days old Thanks