I planted my germinated seeds three days ago. Pre-watered the soil, planted root tips sideways about an inch down, then covered the cups with plastic wrap to lock in moisture. They've been under three 26w soft white CFL lights since being planted, in a grow tent. Is this something I should be worried about? Did I screw up or is it normal for them to take this long? The seeds were about a year old, if that makes any difference.
try to bring the lights as close as you can (6 inches if you can)....dont worry about the plastic wrap..... give it a few more days (2-3)....if you have nothing by then, then you might have a problem
By "don't worry about it" do you mean I should remove it, or not worry about it melting under the close lights? Thanks for the advice!
Alright, I read on the germination 420 sticky that it helps keep moisture in, but I suppose at this point it doesn't really matter anyway.
ive never used plastic to help germ or sprout....and ive been successful on about 16 plants out of 16
You will need more light soon. If your sprouts have any green leaves they are not getting enough light. The 78 total watts ou have going is simply not enough for one plant. The rule I follow is 150 watts for the first plant and 100 for every plant after. It is more complicated than that but it is a decent beginner rule. Also the locking in of moister is not nessacary for sprouts. As soon as the plant is showing green it is transferring the light energy into useable energy for the plant. Covering them only raises the humidity which can have negative effects (slow growth) on the plant please remember that 100% humidity is not the ideal conditions for plant growth. You will want to keep your humidity under 50%. The 100% humidity for clones and sprouts is a complete falacy. They would not require that outside and from personal exp. Both clones and sprouts simply do not require 100% humidity at all.
The problem was that nothing had sprouted, but I was just reading up a little more. Turns out the guide I was following had a typo in it and said to use the 2700k soft white lights to try to sprout, but it needs to be 6500k daylight bulbs. I just switched them out, removed the plastic wrap. Do you think the few days of having the wrong lights will cause them not to sprout up? Or should they be fine? Edit: Also, I'm purchasing a 600w HPS fairly soon, I'm only using the CFLs for the early veg stages.
A couple days will be fine but I have noticed that the better your plants grow during veg. The better they will do during flowering. Lots of people skimp during veg running min lighting during veg but you will get a better yield from flowering with stronger plants through veg.
Does a HPS help at all during veg? I could order it sooner rather than later. I've been trying to avoid getting a MH right now due to some slight money constraints but if it's what I need to do, that's what I'll do.
yup a 600W @18+ a day will do great for veg. but MH will do better. but I have done it with great success (HPS) in the past but now I run 400W CFL's for veg the plants ready for the flr room, if I had a second switchable ballest and fixture best beleive I would be running my MH only for veg. but last round of shit I ran only a hps for veg check out the results in the sig.
Slightly off topic question. How much would you recommend spending on a ballast for a 600w HPS? I can't really seem to find any info on this around the forum, and you seem experienced.
seen kits as low as 150 and as much as 250. the more expensive has a cool tube or sealed reflector which are better for controlling heat. do a search on amazon fir 600W hps kit and you will get tons of options. the kits seem pretty good. I bought my 1000W all seperatly and it ended up costing me 600 plus. don't make the same mistake I did. also don't be taken by the "high efficientcy" claims 600W power draw cost the same no matter what.