Are My Plants On The Small Side?

Well since spectrums are going to be brought up, what do you think about using 3000k bulbs vs 2700k bulbs? What ratio of spectrums should you have during veg and flowering? I am using 2 x 3000k and 2 x 6500k, soon to be 3 of each. Or should I stick with something more like 4 x 3000k and 2 x 6500k?

Bamfriet, i have had some t5 3000k and some 2700k and must say i prefered the 2700k bulbs better and gave me better growth but then again they were different makes so could be somthing to do with it. I see it as a must with flourescents to run mixed spectrum bulbs at all times, it makes it look a whole lot brighter to the naked eye as well. I run a 4 tube lightwave flourescent and run 2 x 6500k and 2 x 2700k, just running the blue spectrum of light will do for veg but you'll get better penetration and growth from a mixed spectrum.

Ok to the people having the light discussion, what can we conclude about this and what are the pros and cons to hps/cfl/flourescent (screw the leds we dont want to know lol) I am still convinced it is all down to the amps that give the same wattage lights different lumens?? In plainish english could the physics guy give me an answer to this amps question as i will take his word on it if he is that good. Its not a light war but call it that if you want, sounds fun.

Bamfriet when you gona have some real problems dude?lol.

lol, I don't mess with my plants much. I check in on them twice a day usually. First thing when I get up and then at night. It feels like im only watering them like once a week if that. I just go by the weight of the pots and drooping leaves. These plans are much more resilient that I thought they would be lol.

Kingrow1 said:

I am still convinced it is all down to the amps that give the same wattage lights different lumens??

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I know I'm not the one you wanted to answer this but oh well. At a constant voltage, two lights of the same wattage will have the same amp draw. What gives the lights different lumen outputs is the type of bulb and ballast, as well as any coatings on the bulb. It's a matter of efficiency and how a given type of bulb makes light. And why don't you want to hear about leds? I've seen a lot to show they are great for veg, and a couple of pretty convincing flowering examples as well. The thing for me with them is the price, same as induction lights. Once costs come down people may be a bit more interested in them. Links below are how watts/amps are related, how mh lights work, how hps lights work, how cfl lights work.

http://www.powerstream.com/Amps-Watts.htm
http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/programs/nlpip/lightinganswers/mwmhl/work.asp
http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4731120_sodium-street-lamps-work.html
http://www.ehow.com/about_6545526_do-cfl-bulbs-work_.html

hope ur feeding and watering more than 1 time a week atleast 2-3x a week

brock271981 said:

hope ur feeding and watering more than 1 time a week atleast 2-3x a week

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Why would you feed/water more than needed. If they aren't taking in the water there is no point.

Yer 3x3 waterings a week in soil is too much.

KawiZZR i thank you for the links but the only one that is relevant (and the second one was too long to finish after 20 pages) is the first link at the bottom which seems to explain what i was saying -

''Amps are how many electrons flow past a certain point per second. Volts is a measure of how much force that each electron is under. Think of water in a hose. A gallon a minute (think amps) just dribbles out if it is under low pressure (think low voltage). But if you restrict the end of the hose, letting the pressure build up, the water can have more power (like watts), even though it is still only one gallon a minute. In fact the power can grow enormous as the pressure builds, to the point that a water knife can cut a sheet of glass. In the same manner as the voltage is increased a small amount of current can turn into a lot of watts.''

Im gona have to look myself so maybe ill find a link but yours dont explain it for me.

Just found this-

Perhaps the greatest confusion arises due to the fact that early in our science educations, we were told that the formula for watts was amps times volts. This formula, watts = amps x volts, is perfectly true for direct current circuits. It also works on some AC loads such as incandescent light bulbs, quartz heaters, electric range heating elements, and other equipment of this general nature. However, when the loads involve a characteristic called inductance, the formula has to be altered to include a new term called power factor. Thus, the new formula for single phase loads becomes, watts are equal to amps x volts x power factor. The new term, power factor, is always involved in applications where AC power is used and inductive magnetic elements exist in the circuit. Inductive elements are magnetic devices such as solenoid coils, motor windings, transformer windings, fluorescent lamp ballasts, and similar equipment that have magnetic components as part of their design

Says its to do with the power factor and amps and ballasts can pull different amps and different power factors especially if comparing the same wattage flourescent to a high pressure sodium or cfl. Does anyone with a good electrical, preferbably industrial and commercial electrical background wish to shed light on this? No way do my cfls cost the same as a same wattage hps or flourescents. Even the manufactures claim they are more efficient so there must be some truth to it electricity wise! Some one help!

I think that it kinda evens out with HPS or Floros. HPS you use more direct energy per bulb. With Floros you use less with each bulb, but you use a lot more bulbs to get the same results. Im not knocking CFL or t8/t5's or anything, since I am using t8's.

Just an FYI for anyone reading this, if you have willow tree's on your property or anywhere around you. I strongly recommend making some willow water and using that on your seedlings or any plant that you want to get a little bit better of a root system.

I got a hand full of new growth (the greenest parts of the tree) and cut them up into 1 inch pieces and smaller. Either use cold tap water or boiled water. Put the pieces into a mason jar or something with a top on it. Shake it up nice and good and put it in the fridge. Leave it over night, then strain out the plant material.

I put it on my seeds that I just planted and with in 2 days the roots were coming out of the bottom of the pots I planted them in. The pots were out of a Herb Growing Kit I got from Home Depot. The ones I watered with regular PH'd water have only cracked after 4 days in soil. The soil was MG Soil Starter.

I strongly recommend using it. Why waste money on root extract when you can get it for free in your front yard lol.

KawiZZR said:

Shall we see how deeply we can delve into this? Wanna do spectrum as concerns only kelvin rating or wavelength as well? This thread has been entirely derailed haha.

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il go as deep into lighting as you like

Ok so hps uses more electricity per watt but you need more flourescent watts to equal hps. Is this right bamfriet? I just want to know if it is cheaper to run 250watts cfl/flouro than hps? I was under the impression that cfls per watt and flourescents use less electricity??

I have a willow in my local park, dose the willow water do anything for plants in veg and flower? I have heard how it is amazing for plants. I could easily obtain some and make this no problems. As long as it showed good improvement for the plants i would always use it, do you think it might replace my maxicrop which is seaweed based or dose it have little nutrient value?

As for light spectrums i have never had much issue with flouros and find them very accurate, cfl's really don't impress me unless mixed spectrum and even then the flowering is slower. I have heard that the hps produce a lot of wasted light in the colour spectrums that it dose not use or absorb??

When you make willow water, you are extracting a rooting hormone out of the plant. Willows have a very high level of this rooting hormone. You can take a cutting from a willow tree and stick it straight in the ground and water it and it'll root it's self in a couple days. So I am guessing it can help plants that have had root damage due to transplanting accidents (like my plant that half the rootball got ripped). Or just any plant that you want to have a stronger root system. It seemed to work wonders on my seeds, sprouted with in 2 days and the roots were poking out of the bottom of the pot. I also put it on my plant that had half the rootball rip off during transplanting. The plant has grown almost an inch over night, so I recommend it.