Keeping plant alive during vacation

C

Cincinnati11

Member
Hey guys,

I am going out of the state for 7 days next week. My plant is only two weeks old but very healthy and I would like to keep it alive instead of starting from the seed again. I am going to use one of those water globes at lowes that keeps your soil moist for up to two weeks. However, I would like some suggestions on the lighting. I am currently using 23 watt CFL's and I'm not a big fan of leaving lights on while I am away for an extended period of time. Do you think it'd be safe (for the plant and house) to use just one light and raise it a few inches in order to keep my plant alive? I'm open to suggestions/comments/ideas. Thanks for all your help RIU!

-Peace :joint:
 
cacamal

cacamal

Well-Known Member
Cincinnati11 said:
Hey guys,

I am going out of the state for 7 days next week. My plant is only two weeks old but very healthy and I would like to keep it alive instead of starting from the seed again. I am going to use one of those water globes at lowes that keeps your soil moist for up to two weeks. However, I would like some suggestions on the lighting. I am currently using 23 watt CFL's and I'm not a big fan of leaving lights on while I am away for an extended period of time. Do you think it'd be safe (for the plant and house) to use just one light and raise it a few inches in order to keep my plant alive? I'm open to suggestions/comments/ideas. Thanks for all your help RIU!

-Peace :joint:
Click to expand...
How tall is your plant? 1 23 might not be enough. It might shock it if it survives. There is now way you can just leave 3 or so on a timer?Raise them a little so plant doesnt grow into them.You should be fine
 
Supgee3

Supgee3

Well-Known Member
Just get 2 26 Watt CFLS, and 2 42 Watt CFLS on it man... and get a timer to automatically control the lights.... trust me it won't burn anything unless the bulbs are touching eachother or something else.... the only problem is how would you position the lights? you couldnt put the CFLS like 2" away from the plant cuz in 7 days it would grow right into the bulb and be all burnt and even then might start a fire.... and too far away and the plant will stretch and be useless anyway.


find someone to look after it for you :joint:
 
C

Cincinnati11

Member
Supgee3 said:
Just get 2 26 Watt CFLS, and 2 42 Watt CFLS on it man... and get a timer to automatically control the lights.... trust me it won't burn anything unless the bulbs are touching eachother or something else.... the only problem is how would you position the lights? you couldnt put the CFLS like 2" away from the plant cuz in 7 days it would grow right into the bulb and be all burnt and even then might start a fire.... and too far away and the plant will stretch and be useless anyway.


find someone to look after it for you :joint:
Click to expand...

Well from the responses so far it seems like leaving the CFL's on won't be a problem considering they stay fairly cool. Now my problem is to prevent them from growing into the light yet keep the light somewhat close to prevent a major stretch. Perhaps I could get some type of mesh grill going in there to temporarily stop them from growing above it. FYI, I plan to top this plant and do some LST so that might be a good start. What do you think?
 
C

Cincinnati11

Member
cacamal said:
How tall is your plant? 1 23 might not be enough. It might shock it if it survives. There is now way you can just leave 3 or so on a timer?Raise them a little so plant doesnt grow into them.You should be fine
Click to expand...
Right now my plant is only a few inches high but is growing very bushy. I could leave a few more on but I wasn't sure if that'd be the safe route to go when no one would be here to check on them. They are CFL's and those typically stay fairly cool. The problem is that its hard to predict how high the plant will grow during that 7 days in order for me to estimate where to keep my lights
 
cacamal

cacamal

Well-Known Member
Cincinnati11 said:
Right now my plant is only a few inches high but is growing very bushy. I could leave a few more on but I wasn't sure if that'd be the safe route to go when no one would be here to check on them. They are CFL's and those typically stay fairly cool. The problem is that its hard to predict how high the plant will grow during that 7 days in order for me to estimate where to keep my lights
Click to expand...
Youre right got to watch that growth spurt. You can always supercrop it which will keep it low and put it back a week or space your lights more on the side. How do you have them hooked up Ys and recpt?
 
D

daevtron

Member
if it has enough nodes you can top it right before you leave and then leave a little space for it to grow, this would probably delay any sort of growth spurts for a couple days then leave some space say like 4-5 inches and pray it doesn't grow into the lights
 
C

Cincinnati11

Member
cacamal said:
Youre right got to watch that growth spurt. You can always supercrop it which will keep it low and put it back a week or space your lights more on the side. How do you have them hooked up Ys and recpt?
Click to expand...

Right now each light has its own individual socket extension. I might stop with either the topping method or supercrop, and in addition create a grill that would prevent it from growing into the lights yet still let plenty of light get through to the plant. Thanks for your help.
 
blade9z

blade9z

Active Member
Depends if you want it to keep growing while you are away or just keep it alive, 2x23w 6 inches away should be enough to keep it alive and with some grow. I have a plant on a corner with 1x20w CFL on the ceiling, temp about 7-8 degree C and its has been alive for like 2 months.
 
B

bigwheel

Well-Known Member
Sounds like you fixing to go into the SCROG business. Put the lights about 2 feet above the plant. No way it could grow that tall in a week to get too close. Invest in the timer like the man say. I have tried the 24/7 deal and have yet to meet a plant which seems to enjoy the experience. I'm dedicated to 18/6. Walmart is stocking some very good timers for nine bucks. You can get the exact same one at Lowe's for twenty bucks.

BW
 
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