EdGreyfox
Well-Known Member
Ok, I'm pretty much a noob, but I've just had to deal with the whole issue of light distance from the plant, so I'll relate my experience and you can take it for whatever you think it's worth.
I just transplanted six 2-3" clones into three gallon pots eight day ago. I'm using a good sized house fan for cooling and ventilation, and the temp has been hovering between 78-81 most of the time (top end was 85, drops to about 65 at night with lights off). I'm using a 400w MH for vegging, and I started it off 20" over the plants. After 4 days the plants were showing signs of heat distress, so i decided to raise the light a few inches and see what happened. As of this morning they have all recovered quite well, and the leaves that were yellowing and browning are almost all going back to being dark green.
Now, it could have been that it was just a case of transplant shock, but I really do think that the lights were a little too close initially and needed to be moved, even if that did take them out of the "ideal" distance range by a few inches. I may be able to drop the lights down a bit closer once the plants are more mature, but with younger plants I think heat is a bigger worry then losing a few lumens. Might be one of the best arguments I've heard yet for using CFL's for vegging and saving the HID's for flowering.
I just transplanted six 2-3" clones into three gallon pots eight day ago. I'm using a good sized house fan for cooling and ventilation, and the temp has been hovering between 78-81 most of the time (top end was 85, drops to about 65 at night with lights off). I'm using a 400w MH for vegging, and I started it off 20" over the plants. After 4 days the plants were showing signs of heat distress, so i decided to raise the light a few inches and see what happened. As of this morning they have all recovered quite well, and the leaves that were yellowing and browning are almost all going back to being dark green.
Now, it could have been that it was just a case of transplant shock, but I really do think that the lights were a little too close initially and needed to be moved, even if that did take them out of the "ideal" distance range by a few inches. I may be able to drop the lights down a bit closer once the plants are more mature, but with younger plants I think heat is a bigger worry then losing a few lumens. Might be one of the best arguments I've heard yet for using CFL's for vegging and saving the HID's for flowering.
