I have several of these, can I use them for my seedlings for a week or two? I have both 6500 and 2500, I've used one of each in the past for vegetables, but it sounds like 6500 should just be used for veg cycle. I have a 1,000w MH light, but if the fluorescents would work for a couple weeks I'd prefer to use them. Thanks for any tips. 4 of my 6 seedlings popped up today.
Putting them directly under a 1000w hid is going to cause them to stretch too much though imo. He cant get that light close enough to prevent stretching without it being too hot for them. Go for fluorescents till they beef up a little first op
Thanks so much, this is great, and just what I was hoping to hear. And all 6 of my seedlings have germinated now. They do look like they're stretching under the tubes already but I can't get them any closer. I'll try and get a pic.
Well try and keep the stretch to a minimum...it can be addressed during transplant by burying some of that stretched out stem. The T5's are pretty underrated. Watching a grow right now that consists of (3) sets of four foot eight bulb arrays arranged in a dome over a table, which replaced a pair of 400w bulbs. If I showed people here the plants ill bet 99% of them would say there is no way they were being grown under floros...if I told them how far awah those bulbs were they would call shenanigans in a heartbeat.
Dunno about lumens as he measures light in plant terms, but he's got about 1000w between veg and bloom and holy shit....seeing what he does completely smashes everything you learn on canna forums concerning lighting.
What really blows your mind when seeing his setup is how far they are from the canopy... the first thought is "but they're so far away" lol. Total blasphemy according to forum rhetoric. When I get the space I'm going to run one of his "tanning booths" as he calls it.
haha they do look like tanning beds..I see people with hps far away too with huge buds and im in a 2x3 with a 600w like 8 inches away and dont see much difference in the lower buds with it close..they say you cant have too much light but i wonder
There's a saturation point that once you hit it, anything more is useless. Do a search for "light stress in plants" or somethkng similar. Was reading about "programmed cell death" the other night, and while some is natural (and necessary) some is caused by stress. I know I've had my lights too close and while temps were fine, the girls weren't happy. After joining up with another group of growers ive learned that a lot of the stuff I came across on canna forums are simply notions that have been handed down and accepted as fact without anything scientific to back it up. These notions have been handed down and multiplied like the plague. While some hold true, there's a lot of myths that when researched are just that. I could go into a rant about AN and how they are taking advantage of unknowing newbies who are convinced that MJ is some alien mystery weed but I'm stoned and dont want to ruin my buzz. Lol. In short....you shouldn't need a suitcase full of shit to grow good flowers. Its a ploy to get people to buy bottle after after bottle and if something goes wrong, well hell...we have the solution....in another bottle! And dont get me started on that "ph perfect" horseshit. Just makes me want to kick someone. Lol.
I don't know why they're stretching so much. Here's a couple of pics. The one where you can't see the top is how they've been since yesterday. Any suggestions? Should I just leave them like they are for now or raise the light? I could add more soil but not sure I should mess with them this early.
I raised the light a little, like in the 2nd pic. This is the first time I've used a fan, it's set so the seedlings just barely move, I hope that's right. Thanks.
I just figured out I have the old lights, the T12. So can that be why they're stretching so much? They're right back up under the hood again, even tho I raised it a bit yesterday. They have their 1st set of leaves. Any advice on what I can do to stop the stretching?
The only reason plants stretch like that is lack of light. Personally i would quit screwing around with the floros and use the 1000w. Yes, its over kill for small plants but you shouldnt get any stretching as long as the heat is controlled enough to get it within a reasonable distance.
okay, i've turned on the 1,000w mh light, left the tent door open a bit. turned on the adjustable fan. off to study how close i can put the light. i've read a bit on it but can't remember. so if you could tell me how close i can put the light, i'll lower it and check the temp before i put them in there. my room is set up with (6) 5 gallon smartpots in noobs sip setup. should i just set the seedlings on top of the pots or bury them so they can take advantage of the moisture? so much to study, thought i was a step ahead, no such luck.
Here you go. Keep in mind this chart is in regards to light toxicity, not heat. High heat is most often the reason people have problems starting plants under hid. They cook the plant, then blame it on too much light. If youll notice, at 30" away the plants are hardly getting too much light, though you can still fry them if temps arent under control. Even at 24" away though your plants will get better light than those floros. I have a t5ho setup but all i use it for is clones and starting ornamentals for the garden, even in veg hid beats the floros imo.