Get the soil nice and watered, THEN put the seed in, probably about an inch below the soil. After you see the sprout pop out of the dirt, give it a little water and some lights, but don't burn the baby. That's all I can answer.
SCORE! I just found a little worm in my soil. Also, the stem was pretty bent (like almost 45 degrees bent) after a minor calamity so I added more soil and the plant looks fine. I'm keeping air flow and soil abundant to strengthen it.
The plant went from the leaves facing sideways to straight up. I'm quite pleased. http://s658.photobucket.com/albums/uu310/NRKsoldier/?action=view¤t=025.jpg
This is my set up thus far. I've got a light on either side facing slightly down and natural light coming in from the window. The window is also open with a screen in so the natural breeze can strengthen the stem. 026.jpg picture by NRKsoldier - Photobucket
Right now my lights are 26w and 18w, both cfl. Later, probably in a week, I will replace the 26w with a 60w. Then, a week later, I will switch the 60 with 18w, remove the 18w and bring back the 26w as an addition to the 60w. Then I will replace the 26w with a 60w and have two 60w cfls going. Suggestions? How long should my light cycle be 24/0? Until I get that 60w replacement next week? I also just switched my set up to directly above the plants because it seemed like the unevenness of energy coming from individual lights was causing the plant to tip to the stronger side.
It looks like its stretching, trying moving the light closer and adding more soil to the pot. As far as light cycle goes I use a 24/0 light cycle for vegging. Cfls are good cause you can get them like an inch away from the plant and not worry about burning them. Remember a 12/12 light cycle will make them flower.
to be honest with you bro you can use a larger wattage cfl than the lamp dictates.. i spoke with a buddy of mine whos been an electrician for about 20 years now and he told me that the lamps restriction is due to heat caused by incandescent bulbs... cfls generate far less heat... i have 120 watt cfls in a lamp that can supposedly only handle 60...
after about 2 weeks ur going to have to have 100w on that guy... definitely stretching maybe u should put it outside till u can get the lights but idk move the lights closer to to stop the stretch get that 60w in there asap and at least 2 23's or 26's and run it 24/0
I have moved it to inches away, and I guess I'll switch that 18 up to a 26 until I to the two week point, then I'll get two 50's. Also, now the lights are much closer, like inches away. Thanks. Okay, I'll add more dirt and keep it on all night for a while. Thanks. Interesting, well that makes sense. I'll check my hardware store and see if they have an 80 or something. A 26w and an 80w would be pretty cool, right? Thanks.
I just bought another 26w and replaced my 18w, so I have two 26w CFLs. The lights are 1.5-2 inches from the plant, I measured. (I know, nerdy.) Hopefully, I won't get much more stretching. Also, I covered a good 1/2 inch to an inch more of the plant with soil, so to strengthen the stem and to not have my precious cannabis treasure get floppier than Elton John's penis at the playboy mansion. (sorry for the unnecessary vulgarity) Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks again for everyone's support and graciousness.
Awesome sounds like you got it under control. See if you can't pick up something bigger at home depot, I found some 150watt cfls with 2600 lumens each the other day.
I'm thinking two 60w CFLs will be bought in a couple of weeks. I'd bump them up one bulb at a time. Then maybe if it all works out I'll get two 70w CFLs and call it a day, I don't think much more energy will be needed. Maybe 80w, I'm not ready to decide that far in the future just yet.
u really only need 100w per plant... 2 60w would be perfectly fine for 1 plant , ive got prob 172w on two plants right now and they are both growing fine with no problems with stretching planetbulb.com is where i got my 105w and i got a 68w 2700k spectrum from home depot.... altogether less then 60$ for my setup with the lights,
I think next week I'll add one 60w and then the week after that I'll add the other 60w. After both are added do you think I can change the light cycle to a 16/8? Thanks!
Will my local hardware store be likely to carry a 60w CFL? I got the 26w at Walgreen's but that's as high as they go.
ive found 42w at target, and a 68w 2700k bulb from home depot but thats for flowering not vegetative... im sure home depot, lowes, anything like that owuld have that
Alright, that gives me hope. Thanks. Oh yeah, it's the morning of day two, and things seem to be progressing nicely. The little set of fan leaves are about as big as the cotyledons, and I haven't noticed anymore stretching, after about two inches of distance from the lights. I will leave it at this distance for a while because I'm pleased with the results. It's still on the 24/0 cycle and I water it a small circle of water every day, once. The picture is a closeup of the progress with water droplets, that's me being sentimental about it.