i have 70w 2700k light bulbs total in a small confined space should that be ok to flower the plant. and is it possible for a plant to be female but not bud. like just have the white hairs that grow. cause its about a month into flowering and it just has the white hairs but a good amount.
what happens if i dont have enough wattage during flowering. i have a total of 70w27k
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RockCreekRanger
Well-Known Member
I'm flowering now with an 14 watt LED(red,blue,white), in center top surrounded by three 23 watt CFL at 2700K. The bulbs say they are equal to 100 watt, but... With the entire inside of my chamber lined with the crinkled "dull" side of aluminum foil, the lights placed 4-6" away, my temp is at 84F. I am finishing off some nice little buds from this MI-5 Auto that I tied down to expose the lower branches to light and make them useful. Sometimes I try to take the out and put them into scattered to full window sun when possible. But pictures don't lie, it is possible. Just have to fool around with wattage, temperature, etc. Mine started out with just a few hairs, depending on strain, when it's ready, it will start packing on weight. This is about two weeks from flush.
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aftershock
Active Member
I flowered my first plant with 2 23watt cfls....buds were on the small side and a little fluffy, but the smoke was fine
UncleBuck
Well-Known Member
70 watts is on the short side.
rule of thumb is 100 watts for the first plant, 50 for each after.
the hairs will only be white a month into it. it would help to see pics of how densely your buds are forming.
another important variable is how close those 70 watts fo light are to the plant. light intensity diminishes rapidly with distance.
good luck!
RockCreekRanger
Well-Known Member
Yes, what UncleBuck said. On mine I'm really surprised at how this is turning out. I started experimenting earlier this year with some snowryders, got one good one, messed it up. Blue diesel, impatient. MI-5, thought it wasn't going to do much but damn it's got me! Better is it's still got two more weeks to go. Yeah, if you position the lights right and use reflectives, proper exhaust to reduce heat so to place light closer to plants, then it's ok Will NEVER substitute though for higher wattage lamps on bigger grows.
El Superbeasto
Active Member
One of my smaller grows I had 4X 26 watt CFL, from one plant I got almost an oz of smaller not-so-dense buds, but were otherwise fine and quite smokable.
If I were you I'd still try to add at least another 50-100 watts or so..... 70 watts is not that great, especially with CFL....
If I were you I'd still try to add at least another 50-100 watts or so..... 70 watts is not that great, especially with CFL....
Jogro
Well-Known Member
70 watts of CFL isn't optimal, but it is certainly enough to take one small plant through flowering.
As mentioned, try to keep the bulbs as close to the plant as you can without burning them. Within a few inches is usually OK with fluorescents.
If you can, make sure you have good reflectors on top of the bulbs to reduce wasted light. You can make your own from sheets of aluminum. I've seen it done with opened up soda/beer cans.
Having some side-lighting (ie not every bulb on top) may also help, especially if your plant only has one main top cola. Depending on the space, plant, and light profile, there might be some advantage to bending the top of the plant down so more light can hit the buds. Also depending on the plant and your setup, it might be worthwhile to remove lower branches that aren't getting much light.
In terms of numbers of white hairs, 4 weeks is still relatively early, though by now you could have early flower clusters (ie groups of white hairs) not just individual ones.
Edit: Sorry, to answer the actual question, if you have insufficient lighting, two things may happen.
a. Bud production will be stunted, and you'll have lower yield. Instead of getting lots of dense heavy buds, you'll end up with fewer lightweight wispy buds.
b. Plants may stretch towards the light, creating tall sparse plants. Tall plants may outstretch your growing area or grow into lights, not good. Also lots of stem with few budding areas also may compromise your potential yield.
As mentioned, try to keep the bulbs as close to the plant as you can without burning them. Within a few inches is usually OK with fluorescents.
If you can, make sure you have good reflectors on top of the bulbs to reduce wasted light. You can make your own from sheets of aluminum. I've seen it done with opened up soda/beer cans.
Having some side-lighting (ie not every bulb on top) may also help, especially if your plant only has one main top cola. Depending on the space, plant, and light profile, there might be some advantage to bending the top of the plant down so more light can hit the buds. Also depending on the plant and your setup, it might be worthwhile to remove lower branches that aren't getting much light.
In terms of numbers of white hairs, 4 weeks is still relatively early, though by now you could have early flower clusters (ie groups of white hairs) not just individual ones.
Edit: Sorry, to answer the actual question, if you have insufficient lighting, two things may happen.
a. Bud production will be stunted, and you'll have lower yield. Instead of getting lots of dense heavy buds, you'll end up with fewer lightweight wispy buds.
b. Plants may stretch towards the light, creating tall sparse plants. Tall plants may outstretch your growing area or grow into lights, not good. Also lots of stem with few budding areas also may compromise your potential yield.
RockCreekRanger
Well-Known Member
Yeah Jogro. I had to tie down mine due to it having an optimal mature height of 2 1/2 ft.