Hey there guys, Complete newbie here. I have tried to read everything so I dont ask dumb already answered questions but I cant find the answer to this one. Should I start lighting my sprouts? They have no leaves yet, and the seed is still attached to the top of them on all 6. Most of them are near 3 to 4 inches tall. I will upload some pics. Thanks in advance! PalmPrePerson
Immediately. They are getting tall because they are stretching in a desperate search for light, that kind of height is not a good thing. You can start with just CFLs about 4 inches away and then lower a bit each day until the bulb is about 1 inch away, as close as possible without touching. Or, if you are using a stronger light start that but backed off and again get it a little closer each day so that the babies can get used to it.
Update. I would like some input to as to how I'm doing, and if I should continue with these babies? As you can see my set up. Its pretty basic. Kept around 75* to 78*. I have 6 100 Watt Daylight CFL's, and then two 4 foot 45 Watt florescent tubes. I feel the soil, to see if I need to water them. I just stick my finger in it and see how it feels, then water if needed. I have 2 strong stems as you can see and then the rest need help so I have set them up as you can see. Input would be appreciated as to if I should keep going with these babies and if I can do anything better or if anyone has any ideas. Thanks! I have 4 different strains. (I labeled them all with the tape on the pots ) And a limited amount of seeds left, so if theres hope I would like to take that route.
you should get a fan blowing on them to make the stems stronger. also i wouldent LST them yet, wait till theres like 4 leaf sets and you transplant them into their final pots.
Don't LST yet. And while a fan blowing gently on them is important, it isn't going to solve your immediate problem. Bury those stretched babies up to just under the first leaves, that part of the stem will turn into part of the root system no problem. Get the lights closer -- with fluoro/CFLs you need them to be within literally 1-2 inches. The amount of light you have is OK for now but you will need more soon. You don't have 100w bulbs, you have 23-26w bulbs that are marketed as "equivalent" to 100 watts. Completely ignore the "equivalent" watts, means absolutely nothing for growers. You will want to target a minimum of 100 actual watts per plant once they start vegging out.
Went ahead and did that Toasty~! And put the lights way closer. I went ahead and also transplanted them to 3 gallon pots. Okie-Dokie. I will get more lights then for sure when the time comes!
Much better, don't you agree? Did you move those lights back to take the pics, or is that the height you are keeping them? They still look far away in those pics, 4-6 inches I would guess. Get them literally 1-2 inches away from the plant. As long as the plant isn't touching the bulb.
I agree 110%! I did move the lights for the pics. You would be correct, for the pics they were about 4 to 6 away. I have boxes under the pots to raise them up so they are closer to the lights, I took the boxes out from under them for the pics. I dont feel like re-making the whole PVC setup so I just am now for the time being raising them closer buy putting those boxes under them. Here are the pics with the boxes.
Update with some pics. I have some yellowing and browning of some of the leaves as you can see. I am thinking it could be a couple of things... But I will tell you everything I know. 1. My soil is PH of 6. to 6.5, It was on the bag. So I'm going to take its word for it. 2. I bought perlite for the soil. The only one my local store had was with miracle grow mixed in. The soil is 80% soil , 20% perlite. So Im thinking the yellowing/ browning might be it hitting some of the perlite with the fertilizer? 3. I am using Zephyrhills bottled spring water. I have no clue what the P.H. is of it. I have a P.H. Meter coming in the mail on Tue or Wed. Might be the problem? The CFL's are around 2. to 3 inches away from the leaves. And I have a oscillating fan on that is hitting the plants with wind. Not a ton just a tiny shake when it goes by. Its on level 1 of 4. I have 4 different strains going. I separated them by name of attachments. With all that above. Do they seem to be growing at the right pace? You can track the days with my previous posts and pics. Thanks in advance for all of the help. Its really appreciated.
Great advice. I made this same mistake myself; only 3 of the 8 that I germinated have made it to week 6 of vegging because of my newbie mistakes. They were stretched like crazy, and since I'm doing a hydro grow, I didn't have the option of burying them up to the lowest leaves. What I did do was take Rapid Rooter plugs, cut them half way through vertically, and wrapped them around the base of the stems for some support. Then I made the mistake of watering right on the base of the stem as it came out of the plug. The stem inside the plugs became roots, and the stem was too weak around the base to support the increasing weight as the plants grew. They started spontaneously falling over right at the base! Now I have three decent looking plants left that I hope I can take another 10-12 weeks to finish the grow.
yea id say so. thats incredibly high. once lowered itll make a world of difference. it seems like you are slowly but surely getting on the right track