Hey guys, Ive been looking up videos of other peoples grows and have noticed that my plants are growing quite slow compared to others. My plants are about 1 month and 1 week old and theyre about half the size of other guys' 2 week old plants. I'm using a 22 inch T5 grow light 24/7 on them and they seem to look good for the most part, theyre just small. Do T5 lights generally produce smaller plants? Is it just the strain of plants I have? I'll have pics of my babies up. On a side note, one of my plants is not looking so hot. Its yellow on every tip of its leaves and the leaves are stiff. I definitely dont water too much, and form my research, I think it may be Boron deficiency. I just need feedback guys. there are two photos that are similar, its to show how rigid the leaves are on one of the plants. One is how the leave naturally is, and one is it "cupped" upwards. Its the last 2 pictures and the leaf on the right.
Hey man, yes, T5s will grow slower compared to HID lights. Check my LED grow, there's a little Christmas tree (natural, un trained) clone grown under T5, which is identical clone and age as the 4 I have scrogged. The yellow tips, I'd assume is nute burn. If you're in soil, I'd guess that the soil istoo hot, but I'm officially a hydro guy now, so I don't know the best way to fix it.
What do you mean by the soil being too hot? Because the temperature is fine. And There arent any nutes in the soil. I did, however, mix half soil and half worm castings. But worm castings should be fine for sproutlings.
T5's produce more lumens per watt than any other light. A 400w HPS produces 90 lumen per watt. A 1000w HPS produces 140 lumen per watt. A 28w T5 produces 104 lumen per watt. I'd say the T5's are way better and produce less heat. Meaning that they can hang just above your plants.
[quote name='"Cannible"']What do you mean by the soil being too hot? Because the temperature is fine. And There arent any nutes in the soil. I did, however, mix half soil and half worm castings. But worm castings should be fine for sproutlings.[/quote] Hey there, my apologies about the use of the term "too hot.". I don't mean temperature wise, but nutrient wise. These young plants are being over fertilized, is what I mean. The yellowing of the leaf tips is generally an indicator, especially in such a young plant. That said, because I'm a hydro guy, I don't know the best way to fix this issue in soil....
[quote name='"charon001"'] T5's produce more lumens per watt than any other light. A 400w HPS produces 90 lumen per watt. A 1000w HPS produces 140 lumen per watt. A 28w T5 produces 104 lumen per watt. I'd say the T5's are way better and produce less heat. Meaning that they can hang just above your plants.[/quote] Hey Charon, No doubt that T5s are efficient, and kick out a ton of light. While I think there are too many variables to generically state the number of lumens per watt, based on light type, I will say that T5 light is spread out over a very wide area, and is only effective at a close distance from the bulb. HID/LED systems with. An equal to or similar light output will be more concentrated in one area. Therefore, the plant is capable of using more of the available light. For instance, I have an 8 bulb 2x2 Hydrofarm T5. I love it, but one clone underneath this is only going to absorb a small amount of available light. The same seedling under an HID, will receive a much higher concentration of photons. There's no question about it, with all things equal, plant growth under a high intensity light will far outperform T5. If not, why would anyone use HID?
One last note, Cannible, are you comparing your soil grow to other people's hydro grows? Hydro will grow much quicker than soil. Additionally, temp, co2, and proper ph/nutrients all play a vital role in your plant growth. And we won't even get into genetics! I'd focus on maintaining proper health of your plant, and growth rate won't be such an issue.
It's also worth noting that plants from seed will grow at slower rate than clones. A two month old seedling will be MUCH smaller than a two month old clone.
Thanks for all the help guys! I just transplanted my plants into bigger pots today. The roots were breaking through the bottom if the cardboard pot. So that will probably help with the growth too. But I have such a small T5 light :/ it's only 22 inches. So hopefully upgrading to a bigger T5 light soon will beneficial. Since I doubt this one would barely support even 1 plant to go over 2ft. Any suggestions?
Not enough light , T5s will veg effectively , I'be been utilising them for quite some time and like the results better than halides , saves quite a bit on the power bill too. But then I'm running 4 2 bulb 4 footers and 2 2 bulb 4 foot T8s for veg and then 2 1 foot T5s over each clone dome. And I run 18/6 in veg and overall get better results for what I'm doing than 24/7 gets me. But then too I do some things a bit different than some folks , I also finish out well under 12 , sometimes as deep as 10.5/13.5. A word of advice that highlights a factor that *some* ignore as regards outdoor , look folks it's relatively speaking a fruitless proposition to attempt an equatorial landrace Sative in say....the pacific northwest. Match the strain to the environment , along with the potential weather and other associated environmental factors i.e. it would be a real BAD idea to grow a strain susceptible to mildew and mold in an environment where you get 80- 100 inches of rain a year. These factors surface indoor in other ways , ran across a guy recently doing his first thing , one light three different strains , Kandy Kush , a Silver Haze and GDP , now how many of y'all really think that's going to come out optimally? I mean really? If you're going to do a combo run , then pick compatible strains height and growth wise...........
[quote name='"Cannible"']Thanks for all the help guys! I just transplanted my plants into bigger pots today. The roots were breaking through the bottom if the cardboard pot. So that will probably help with the growth too. But I have such a small T5 light :/ it's only 22 inches. So hopefully upgrading to a bigger T5 light soon will beneficial. Since I doubt this one would barely support even 1 plant to go over 2ft. Any suggestions?[/quote] I currently have a 2' 4-bulb T5 that houses 2 mothers and 6 clones. It'll get you further than you think.
I sold off a couple like that and wish to hell I hadn't . they're seriously versatile , some can be daisy chained together too.