Hey everyone, So I just started my second grow (last year I did outdoor), this year I'm trying indoor. I started my seedlings in rapid rooter cubes in a propagation dome w/ tray w/ Sunblaze t5 light. Four have already developed their first set of leaves (not counting cotyledons). I just set up my grow tent, it's the Grow Lab GL 80 2'7" x 2'7" x 5'11" Portable Grow Room. I also have a Sunlight Supply New Wave T5 - 28 (2 foot, 8 bulb high output). My buddy who helps me lives in another state and I can't get a hold of him tonight. He had told me if they were developing the leaves I needed to move them from the dome to the tent. So I just moved those four into the tent. What I need to know is the following: How far should I put the light from the plants? I don't want it to be too strong, although I know flourescents don't put off much heat. There are 8 bulbs, I have 4 red and 4 blue, so I unscrewed the red ones and right now I have the fixture about two feet above the plants (still in dixie cups). I know stretch is an issue, I don't want that. I just don't want it too close either. I've never used this light or grown indoors before. I'm afraid of it being too intense on such small plants, as the inside of the tent is highly reflective. Also, I have a little clip fan blowing on them, but I have to go to home depot and get all the other stuff I need (4 inch ducting and exhaust fan). Will these babies be okay for a few days with just the small clip fan circulating air? Any recommendations as far as the best and cheapest exhaust fan to buy? One last thing, I did what my friend suggested and I've had them on 24 hr light since the beginning. I'll only have room for four large plants in the tent eventually, but for now I'm going to transition all of them into the tent and keep it on 24 hour light. Any objections to 24 hour light? He said 24 was fine if I was in a hurry. I'm running out of weed... I'm planning on moving the other 6 plants outside eventually. My friend said just to transition slowly (put in shade first, then gradually more sun each day) which I'm familiar with from last season. He said to make sure they don't get more than 12 hours of darkness at that point so they don't start to flower. I'm still so new to this and any advice, especially regarding flourescent lighting (light distance), using this particular tent... transitioning some outdoors, anything at all... would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!
Dude there is no such thing as too much light... move your lights down and hold them 2"-3" away, not 2FT. Put your hand in between and if you feel lots of heat then move it up an inch or two.... If you keep your lights 2ft away your plants will stretch.(plenty of examples in macro grow section...) Point your fan that way so it can blow that heat away from the plants... Speaking of light schedule....I kept my on 18/6 right from the start...
Thanks man. Yeah, I moved them way closer. The lights don't get hot at all... they are like 2 in away now. I re-planted a couple that did stretch, just removed root cube from cup and dug deeper hole to bury it in, covered with FF soil. Saw lots of white roots already. They are growing fast. Hope that didn't stress them out, I wanted to get the stretch part buried though. Do you have any advice or know of a good link regarding setting up exhaust fan/ducting for a GL-80 grow tent? I haven't found one yet. I'm a new grower, and I'm a chick... I'm really not good at setting this kind of shit up. I just need like an easy how-to guide for this particular grow tent. I appreciate any help, thanks dude.