Multiple lights/types of lights

Discussion in 'First Time Marijuana Growers' started by mellowdramatic, Mar 30, 2008.

  1. Hello all, first time poster but I've lurked on and off for a while. I recently planted some well-germinated seeds that sprouted pretty quickly under natural sunlight through my apartment window. With my most recent paycheck I went out and bought a pair of 75 watt grow lights, as I assumed this would be the best option for my plants in the space that I'm using (about a 2 x 4 foot area in my closet. I currently have 6 planted in large children's beach pails (I know, terrible) and most of them are doing well with the exception of one that I think I overwatered, which has a very feeble stem and is getting very droopy.

    My question is this: do I need to get another lamp if I want my plants to flourish? What if I get another 75w grow lamp, will that be sufficient? I'm running the plants on a 16/8 cycle as of right now, and I have foil up on the walls with a fan and humidifier, and trying not to bother them too much. The ideal situation for me would be to have the plants ready to harvest around early May; I would just like to know how much more power I should get to the plants (please keep in mind that I am on a college student's budget, and I don't want to spike my electric bill too much.

    Sorry about the long post; I've put a lot of time and a fair amount of money into this and I'd really like it to turn out well. Thanks in advance:cool:
     
  2. I dont believe grow lamps are good for the job.
    For veg you want bulbs that are 6000K or higher. Do you know what the K temp of those are?

    As long as the pails were clean and have drainage, they should do fine for now.

    Instead of foil, switch to flat white paint, mylar, or emergency blankets.
     
  3. Thanks for the quick response. On the bulb it says the color temperature is 7800K.
     
  4. how many lumens man??
    do you know what your looking for when you buy a light?
     
  5. I thought I knew what I was looking for but apparently not:confused:

    A friend that has grown before was with me at the time and said he thought it was a better deal for the price. I don't know how many lumens it is, but they're just straight 24" fluorescent bulbs with an extra phosphor blend...I know from a bio class a long time ago that phosphor helps in photosynthesis in other plants...let me know if I screwed up. So far, my plants are doing pretty well under the lights.
     
  6. All right, I realize I messed up and have now bought a fixture with two 48" GE fluorescent bulbs at 3050 lumens each...this should do it, right?
     
  7. I am new here to the board too. I have been reading quite a bit because I am an over preparer, but my understanding of light is this....

    For the veg stage you want to have bulbs that burn around 6500K which produces more of a light in the blue spectrum. This promotes strong stems and some other good features during veg(i know where were a few more but my memory is slipping). Fluorescents in this K range are generally called Daylight bulbs.

    For Flowering, you want bulbs that burn around 3000k which produces more red light. At this time you also want to switch to a 12/12 light schedule. I have read a bunch of posts that say keeping some blue light during this time can be good, but have mainly red light. Fluorescents in this K range are usually called soft white bulbs.

    I had read from a post that they recommended no less than 30w per plant during veg and around 100w per plant during flowering. I am just getting my grow set up finished so I cannot say from personal experience as of yet. I hear a lot of people talk about lights "not having enough lumens" to flower, so I think you really need to step up the lighting during that stage, but for veg, you don't need quite as much.

    I have purchased a 2' T5 6500k to veg @ 5,000 lumens ($35 at local hydro store) and a 125 watt 3000k Hydrofarm CFL reflector and bulb 10,000 lumens ($130). I also bought 4 clamp work lamps with reflectors ($5.50/each @ home depot) and then 4 - 26 watt daylight and 4 - 23 watt soft white bulbs in case I need more light or more of a certain spectrum.

    I hope this helps and I didn't ramble too much.
     
  8. pues gracias, I'm stoked that I bought the GE daylights then. Furthermore, my closet was a perfect setup for it. Hope the cops aren't reading this, haha:smoking:

    Can't wait to see these puppies growing! And I've got some good beasters to hold me off until then.

     

Share This Page