Hello all, I'm working on a grow with three AK-48 seedlings that are about 6 days old/3 or 4'' in height. My setup is in a cabinet with 4 CFL's hanging in the middle up above and a grow fluro on either side. (see pic.) The plants seem to be attracted to the CFL's rather than the grow fluro. They even appear to be stretching toward them. (I know stretching is bad.) I had them up close to the CFL's for a day or so and they even started leaning sideways toward them. The CFLs are 2700k and the grow fluros are 7200k. I thought during the vegetative state they liked more blue i.e 7200? I am very confused and can't decide which light to put them closer to. Any advice? Thanks!!
Oh, and not to worry about the guy in the middle. I planted him a few days later than the others so he's trying to catch up. Thanks again!
Them puppies are stretching. Those floros should be much closer. Ideally, swap out the 2700K CFLs for 6500K ones.
Ok I raised them way up and shut off the CFL's. The fluro's say 17 watts used with 75 output each. What do you think?
Bump... I'm starting to worry because I don't think they're getting enough light and don't know what to do! Help!
You'll need more light. Get a few 6500k 26-watt cfls, or even better, a few 42-watt 6500k cfl's (say, 2 for each plant). I'm growing 4 plants under 10 5500k 26-watt cfl's (they didn't have the 6500k's at the store I went to) and 3 2700k 23-watt cfl's, for a total of 329 watts. I keep them around 2 inches from the tops of the plants, and I lst them to keep them short, and they seem to like it.
you can usually find them anywhere they sell cfl's. Home depot, Lowe's, wallmart, target, k-mart. They are relatively easy to find, even though I'm using 5500k's with no problem, if I were doing it again, I would just search harder for the 6500's, just in case.
also, make sure you are looking at "actual watts", not "equivalent watts" when buying cfl's. I understand you want 100 ACTUAL watts for 1 plant, then at least 50 actual watts for each additional plant, but more is better.(6500k for veg and 2700k for flowering). I use a few 2700k cfl's as well during veg because I had heard that it's good to mix-up the spectrum a bit, it more closely resembles sunlight or something.
Ok, thanks. Do you think I should turn the CFL's back on? If so, how should I arrange the plants? Thanks again
cfl have higher luma output then t8. read the box and it will tell you. if you have such bad streatching , all you have to do is add soil to your cups. you add soil to saport your plant. it looks like you have plenty of room to do so. your CFL should be with in 2 inches of your plant, but make sure you have plenty of ventilation and a good soft brease flowing on your plants to remove the heat from the bulb. make sure your using 6500 color temp for this part of the grow. anything less wont really be utilized by the plant and will further cause streaching
Yessir, I'd just use whatever lights you have at the moment until you get more lights. Remember, you want the 6500k's for vegging, (plus maybe 2 or so 2700k's just to mix-up the spectrum abit.) The plants should be fine for a couple days while you get lights, a little streching, but that should clear-up once you get the right lights in there. I'd keep the big long fluoro's on as well. more light is more light. You can arrange them however you like, just make sure the cfl's are between 2-4 inches away from the tops. If you can, try to find a way to mount the lights so they are sideways, the plants will get more light from the sides of those bulbs, and put the plants directly under them. I'm using a few plain-old clamp-style shoplights, with some Y splitters in them (they allow you to put 2 bulbs in one socket, and are about 2 bucks a piece at home depot). I'm using 3 y-splitters per shoplight, which lets you put 4 bulbs in each lamp, (one in the socket, then another one in each of the 2 new sockets, which holds the lights at an angle to the tops of the plants In the meantime, use all the lights you have, and just rotate them a few times a day as you see them start to bend. It might even actually strengthen the stem a bit to keep turning back and forth towards the light. Part of your current problem is that your plants are off to the side of the light. Sooooooo, Grab a few 6500k cfl's, mount 'em sideways, or pick-up a few of those Y-splitters from home depot, and put them 2-4 inches above the plants, and get a small, cheap fan to blow across the tops of the plants between the lights, and you are set! Your plants should be fine for a couple of days till you get set-up. Just use wht you have for the time being.
Ok thank you all for your responses. I turned the CFL's back on. I'll be mounting the strip sideways tomorrow so they can get more exposure, as well as a few 6500k lights. I also added more soil so they are up as high as possible. The cups are full. Thanks a million!
Sounds good! I strongly recommend picking up a few of those Y-splitters, that way you can cram more light in your space without needing more light sockets. In fact, if you just picked-up a few Y-splitters, you could leave your sockets where they are, the splitters will hold the lights at an angle, and you won't have to screw around with re-mounting that power-strip or whatever you are screwing your cfl's into
And, I also had to add more soil during the first week or so due to stretching, and they are no worse for it.