1st timer CFL grow journal

Hey-o

this sin't my true 'first' grow, had some failures in the past couple months. Ive been reading you all for a while now, wanted to post and get some input for these plants

first pic is of the setup, got 4 of the 14w on the sides and a 27w up top all daylight style, the other bulb up top is a 42w soft white, had a 27w in but it burnt out and this is what i had. got flat white painted sides, white aluminum gutter made into a hood. its about 83-90 without sun, up to 97 when theres a lot shining onto the roof

the plant (surviving one) is some sort of decent bagseed (got some ADam fems for once I get the hang of it). it been in the soil for close to two weeks. I had started it out in a peat moss pellet buried in some organic soil with organic fertilizers, but then i got keen to nutrient burning at such a young age and pulled the swollen pellet out and out in some organic basic soil mix.

also got Ice seeds germinating right now, should be ready to go under the light in a couple of days

comments?

any ideas to increase reflctivity without making it t

why is there a flashing ad underneath the post?

Looks a tad overwatered, peat pellets are shat m8 , they retain far too much moisture , try coco coir pellets !

Your set up should work... but there are a few things you can do to improve it.

Mylar... line the walls, the table top, and even your reflector with mylar... trust me, with cfls, mylare does make a deference.

Fans.... I don't see any fans... a passive intake with a small exhaust fan will help you control temps, and give the plants fresh air.

More lights.... the more is better... just watch the temps.

And keep us updated =]

good luck man.

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Micro ebb/flow (NOW DWC), all CFL ScrOG, perpetual Stealth locker

sorry to hear bout the bad luck, get your plants in some plastic pots, and try a good store bout soil. and dont over fertilize. nice little plant, air movement is critical.

yeah i got a little desk fan blowing on the lights to fan some hot air away, they also give the plants some sway.

and a question about mylar- will it up the temps greatly? and i've also heard that flat white paint is more reflective than the cheap walmart/ fire blanket style mylar, though i suppose draping it over the gaps and creating better angles would be helpful

emergency blankets are cheap,they reflect 70% of light but it reflects 90% of heat. thats not good, u shud just spend $18 for a roll of mylar. looks good sofar, get lights closer and ur good.
good luck man

where do you get mylar? ive read its not an all too common find

yo my electrical bill just went up about $15. should i be worried? it might raise even more because I wasn't using such a high powered set up for the beginning of july. i don't want the company to red flag me

lol.... no man. You have nothing to worry about.... when you're bill suddenly doubles is when you can worry about being red flaged

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_________________
Micro ebb/flow (NOW DWC), all CFL ScrOG, perpetual Stealth locker

smoke so thick said:

where do you get mylar? ive read its not an all too common find

Click to expand...

hydro shops and party stores. u can also find it online. like htgsupply.com
they got mylar for a good price.

yo yo yo

sorry its been a few days, i went away for a couple of nights

got some definite growth in the original plant. I also planted a germed seed of Ice before I left, it stretched a lot and towards one light, I believe thats because I turned the far light off in my setup, to see if it would make a real difference, but i think itll straighten back out

I also had a few more seeds germing while i was gone, kind of grew wild so i had to plant them in deeper pots from the go in order to bury some stem so they could stand straight. Ill try and get some pics after theyve been under the lights for a few hours later as well as what ive got here.

I have a question as well, does any one in here grow under those reflective hoods? I'm talking about those cheap, metal, circular hoods. or any hood for that matter? I'm trying to think of a more effective way to use the light from the upper bulbs. keep in mind heat can be an issue in my space, its seems to be more stable lately in the mid 80's but thats still hotter than ideal. still gotta get some sort of mylar to drape around too

any rules of thumb for watering? how much/how often

lights need to be closer i'd recommend Arizona cans painted white for reflectors, GL

looks like u need a Bigger fan cuz those plants look like thier in the desert lol lil less water little more love and mybe sum mylar and you'll do great

I just replanted the original Ice, moved it to a plastic pot as recommended to cut down on the heat being absorbed by the clay pot. I also got a lot of the stretched stem buried so that the leaves are closer to the ground for better stem strength.

corester, I like that idea about painting arizona cans, I think what I'm going to do though is cut apart old orange juice and milk cartons that are solid white and use those as positionable reflectors.

I haven't had the fan on for a few days to save some energy, its been chillier outside so the temps have gotten down to around 75 in the grow space, I'm gonna turn it back on for a few days to encourage stem strength. GGT, was the dessert reference to the previous temps? or the thin stems on the young Ice? or something else all together haha

heres a update on the bagplant (almost 3 weeks) and the original Ice (5 days). I definitely have some over watering issues on the bag girl, im going away for two nights, hopefully it will dry out a bit over that time and the leaves will perk up.

Hey man lookin' good!

Yes.. those 2 days could do them some good... keep us updated man.

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_________________
Micro ebb/flow (NOW DWC), all CFL ScrOG, perpetual Stealth locker

what do you guys think about LSTing the bigger one in a few days? Its almost 3 weeks old...

How big is she? any new pix?
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_________________
Micro ebb/flow (NOW DWC), all CFL ScrOG, perpetual Stealth locker