Couple of questions (cfl grow)

So I messed up by germinating too many seeds (first timer) and my problem is I don't have the lighting to properly grow what I've germinated. Basically I'm using 6 (total) 27 and 42 watt cfl's and that's just not going to cut it for the 9 seedlings that I have that are now about 2-4 inches tall. I figured that since the mistake was made already I'd go ahead and keep them until I could properly sex them and then pick the strongest healthiest looking females and scrap the rest.

What should I expect in terms of having too many plants with not enough light? Are they going to eventually turn yellow and wither because of the light/plant ratio? Or are they just going to be smaller and take longer to grow as opposed to if I only had 1 or 2?
Is it even worth keeping all 9 (only until properly sexed) or should I try and pick 4 or 5 and hope that 1-2 are female out of what's left?

Being my first time I'm not expecting anything amazing, it's more or less to work out any mistakes that I'll make this time around and hopefully the next time I do this, things will go much smoother.

Also, would I be better off keeping the lights on 24 as opposed to 18/6 because of the lack of lighting?

Im sure they wont yellow but they might STRETCH alot (grow to the lights) since they have less light they will try to get to the light by growing up.keep the lights close as possible check to make sure you dont burn them

HghFlyrJD1 said:

Im sure they wont yellow but they might STRETCH alot (grow to the lights) since they have less light they will try to get to the light by growing up.keep the lights close as possible check to make sure you dont burn them

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Will do. Right now they're about 2 inches away so that should be good.

I don't feel like going through all that other shit..

however, I will tell you this much.. when you got your plants in veg cycle, use the 18/6.

I know some people use the 24/0 light cycle.. but its just not adequate time... with not giving the plant ANY 'sleep' or down-time.

The plant actually NEEDS some 'sleep'.. in order to properly process photosynthesis.

So again, use the 18/6 and you'll have a much happier plant.


peace.

HghFlyrJD1 said:

Im sure they wont yellow but they might STRETCH alot (grow to the lights) since they have less light they will try to get to the light by growing up.keep the lights close as possible check to make sure you dont burn them

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Stretching isn't caused by low wattage.. stretching is caused by simply having the plants too far away from the actual light source. Or vice-versa..

peace.

cannabisguru said:

I don't feel like going through all that other shit..

however, I will tell you this much.. when you got your plants in veg cycle, use the 18/6.

I know some people use the 24/0 light cycle.. but its just not adequate time... with not giving the plant ANY 'sleep' or down-time.

The plant actually NEEDS some 'sleep'.. in order to properly process photosynthesis.

So again, use the 18/6 and you'll have a much happier plant.


peace.

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Thanks, I'll keep it on the 18/6 then. Appreciate the replies.

Here's a pic of what I'm working with. First time posting a picture so hopefully it comes out ok.

Why scrap em. Just buy more lights.....

if possible, depending on space, you should organize those lights.. looks like there just clashing into each other ...

r8rdrew said:

Why scrap em. Just buy more lights.....

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i second this. for 12 bucks you can get several more watts, and it's not going to jack with your electric bill. you can still keep only the best plants to flower, but the better you treat them in veg the more they will reward you in flower. i don't know if it's your camera or what but that pic looked awfully dark for having all those bulbs on. you should get at least another cfl or two.

Yeah you can get a 4foot flourescent ballast for like $10 at walmart or hardware store. Then grab some aquarium/plant bulbs, or sunshine bulbs, and have those cfl's be the under/side lighting.
OR you could just pick up a used 400w or 600w setup on Craigslist for $100. THEN YOURE SET

r8rdrew said:

Why scrap em. Just buy more lights.....

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I've thought about picking up a couple more but the space is limited. I'll figure something out.

gilbert90605 said:

if possible, depending on space, you should organize those lights.. looks like there just clashing into each other ...

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The picture is awkward, they're spaced out a couple of inches and seem ok, they're not touching or anything.

Total Head said:

i second this. for 12 bucks you can get several more watts, and it's not going to jack with your electric bill. you can still keep only the best plants to flower, but the better you treat them in veg the more they will reward you in flower. i don't know if it's your camera or what but that pic looked awfully dark for having all those bulbs on. you should get at least another cfl or two.

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It's the camera, I didn't know it would dim the pics quite like that. The room is actually very bright and takes some time to adjust if you're going in or out.