First Grow - CFL
- Thread starter 3underpar
- Start date
stumps
Well-Known Member
I was using a 4" flor tube 4" off the top, not so much for the light but for heat. let them go like that for two weeks then moved to the 3cfl lightbar till I have space in the veg area.
3underpar
Member
Day 9:
I lowered the lights per suggestions (about 4" above the tops). I also added a fan to circulate air and work the stems a bits. There is another fan that I've been using to suck the air out of the box (using one of the inlet holes for when I put the big mama fan on during flowering).
Let me start naming my Blue Mountain Jamacian (BMJ) ladies.
Pic 1 - BMJ (big mama jamma)
Pic 2 - LMJ (little ....)
Gary Coleman is my 3rd, not worthy of a picture (very stunted).
I lowered the lights per suggestions (about 4" above the tops). I also added a fan to circulate air and work the stems a bits. There is another fan that I've been using to suck the air out of the box (using one of the inlet holes for when I put the big mama fan on during flowering).
Let me start naming my Blue Mountain Jamacian (BMJ) ladies.
Pic 1 - BMJ (big mama jamma)
Pic 2 - LMJ (little ....)
Gary Coleman is my 3rd, not worthy of a picture (very stunted).
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darkdestruction420
Well-Known Member
ive been hearing lately of new higher watt self ballasted cfls. i think u can get up to like 105 w ones that just need a normal light socket. when i resume growing in a month thats what im gonna use if i can find em.
3underpar
Member
I was about to return an aquarium pH test kit to the store because I have a combo moisture/pH soil meter on order.
I decide to keep the kit (drops) and test my available water: distilled, rain, tap.
To my surprise, the distilled came in close to 6 (I have slight trouble with color matching). The rain water was about 6, and the tap water was 7. This kit doesn't come with a calibration standard, so I may buy one today (could buy a digital pH meter, but as long as I can test my 3 sources of water, that should be enough info).
I was always under the assumption that distilled water (what I was using) was neutral pH (7) and perfect for pH in soilless as the peat moss decomposes to slightly acidic. This would keep me in the 6-7 range. Reading on the web, distilled water is almost always acidic (can get as low as 5.0) because the CO2 in the air combines with the water to form carbonic acid in the steam distillation process.
My plan is to try Brita filtered tap water (should remove contaminants) that has sat and weathered for a day. I could also use pH up solution with my distilled water, but we'll see how the tap water goes.
I decide to keep the kit (drops) and test my available water: distilled, rain, tap.
To my surprise, the distilled came in close to 6 (I have slight trouble with color matching). The rain water was about 6, and the tap water was 7. This kit doesn't come with a calibration standard, so I may buy one today (could buy a digital pH meter, but as long as I can test my 3 sources of water, that should be enough info).
I was always under the assumption that distilled water (what I was using) was neutral pH (7) and perfect for pH in soilless as the peat moss decomposes to slightly acidic. This would keep me in the 6-7 range. Reading on the web, distilled water is almost always acidic (can get as low as 5.0) because the CO2 in the air combines with the water to form carbonic acid in the steam distillation process.
My plan is to try Brita filtered tap water (should remove contaminants) that has sat and weathered for a day. I could also use pH up solution with my distilled water, but we'll see how the tap water goes.
bendavejack
Well-Known Member
Rain water is the way to go man, without a doubt. I have heard nothing but good things about good ole' natural rain water. I've been filling up Gatorade bottles standing my ass in the pouring rain at the end of my eaves troff collecting it. Check out my grow, its been working great so far...
https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/189915-first-time-grow-cfl-monster.html#post2450902
Gastanker
Well-Known Member
Hey man they grow looks great so far! I'de put the lights still alittle closer. Cervantes is good but I personally think he has very little expirience with CFLs - I'de keep lights at 2" while seedlings and as close as 1-1.5" once they are alittle bigger. The closer the lights the shorter and more compact the plants will be durring veg which helps with stretching when you hit flowering. Have you tested the pH of your grow substrate or is it neutral? I was about to adjust the pH of my water and then realized that the soil's pH along with the nute pH required me to use a much more neutral water. Again man, looks awesome, keep it up!
3underpar
Member
Thanks for the support! I will move the lights a little lower (I agree with your assessment on Cervantes - not much on CFLs).
I haven't tested the pH of my grow medium. I used Sunshine #4, with some dolomite, perlite, and worm castings. I believe I read that this mix should be slightly acidic. I'm patiently waiting (for about 2 weeks) for my soil pH meter to arrive from China. I took a sample of the soil, wet it with my distilled water, filtered with a coffee filter, and tested the pH of the water. It was still in the 6 or lower range, which means my soil is probably a little more acidic than the water.
I believe I trust the pH 6 of the distilled water after googling and seeing the same issues elswhere. Do you think I should use some pH up with distilled, or go with my filtered tap water with whatever minerals and heavy metals it may contain (doesn't seem very hard - no scale on my shower head) because the pH is good?
3underpar
Member
Looking very nice! I am under the same impression about good ol' rain water (MJ should grow without human intervention in nature, right
). We had a bit of rain this week, and I collected a couple of litres. However, I'm also concerned about this whole pH issue (6.2-6.8 range is ideal). Maybe I'm too worried, but after I start adding nutes the rainwater (and distilled) would make it too acidic.
Gastanker
Well-Known Member
Could always just give the plants time and see how they respond to the curent set-up. Change things later if you see an issue. I"m guessing rainwater or distilled would be better for now but once you start adding more nutes you'll probably want to switch to tap. For flush you might want to go back to distilled or rain - I'de warn again collecting from your gutter/drainspout though unless you know they are real clean. For instance I have an oak tree over my place and the water out of the gutter is saturated with highly acidic oak leaves.
3underpar
Member
Good plan. Since this is my first grow, I'm not sure if my plants are reaching potential or if I'm holding them back because of pH. They look healthy though. I think I may go with a 50/50 of distilled and tap, just to add a bit more pH.
I had the same concerns with my gutter water. Surprisingly, it rained considerably this week, but my ice cream pail only filled up a couple of liters. The gutter sure has a lot more volume, and it was tempting.
bendavejack
Well-Known Member
I did make good and sure that my eaves troff coming down the house was good and clean (as clean as it can be) when I did my spring clean a couple of weeks back. Different strokes for different folks really, just don't worry too much about ph levels and stuff like that dude. The water you have access to is perfectly suitable for your plants unless your town is known for having horrible water. The biggest mistake I think first growers (which includes me) is that we worry too much about things like that and stress for no reason. Just don't over water and let nature do its thing.
3underpar
Member
You're right. I'm like a new father, worried about everything. I didn't have a chance to clean out my gutters, so that's why I don't feel comfortable using that water. I will gradually switch to tap water, and kick back and watch 'em grow!
Gastanker
Well-Known Member
Amen - Time to sit back and have a good time
3underpar
Member
Summary of what's changed:
LMJ is tall and the leaves haven't developed as well.
BMJ's leaves are almost touching the grow medium (curling down). Is this an indication of a problem, or is it normal? Her stem is still pretty short.
Pic 1 and 2: BMJ
Pic 3 and 4: LMJ
- I've dropped the lights down to 2-3" above the tops today.
- I've mixed a cocktail of water: distilled, rain, and tap - with a combined pH of 6.6 in an effort to get the pH up. Just watered the girls with this.
- I've put Gary Coleman down. He was stunted, deformed and took up valuable room. RIP Gary.
LMJ is tall and the leaves haven't developed as well.
BMJ's leaves are almost touching the grow medium (curling down). Is this an indication of a problem, or is it normal? Her stem is still pretty short.
Pic 1 and 2: BMJ
Pic 3 and 4: LMJ
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3underpar
Member
Now that I'm down to 2 plants and there's a bit more leaf development, I'm kicking it up a bit.
I've now got 2 6500K 42W CFLs on each plant (2600 lumens each). There's 1 2700K 42W CFL to fill out the spectrum (it's not directly on the plants).
I changed the PC fan that was sucking air out of the box to a circulation fan. I've got the 4" Vortex (connected to the scrubber) now exchanging air. The Speedster is used to control fan speed for temperature. I'll try to keep the temps 75-77F. The 5 CFLs surprisingly heat up the box considerably (with the Vortex on low speed, the temp was 9F higher than the bedroom).
I've now got 2 6500K 42W CFLs on each plant (2600 lumens each). There's 1 2700K 42W CFL to fill out the spectrum (it's not directly on the plants).
I changed the PC fan that was sucking air out of the box to a circulation fan. I've got the 4" Vortex (connected to the scrubber) now exchanging air. The Speedster is used to control fan speed for temperature. I'll try to keep the temps 75-77F. The 5 CFLs surprisingly heat up the box considerably (with the Vortex on low speed, the temp was 9F higher than the bedroom).
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3underpar
Member
OK. So I've been worried a little about pH as you've seen in my postings. I got the water side figured out, I think. Somewhere between a 50/50 of tap and distilled (or rain) gives me ~ 6.5 pH.
I finally got my 3-in-1 soil test meter from Ebay after 3 weeks. It wasn't worth the wait. Even if the meter worked perfectly, you can't decipher where the numbers are. It was showing somewhere above 7 (I think) which doesn't make sense. If you find a meter for <$10,, DON'T BUY IT.
I got a soil test kit for $15 which provides 4 pH tests, and NPK tests. It is a color code, and it's somewhere between 6-7 (I would say 6.1) I've included the picture so you know what I'm looking at. So, I think this will be fine if I start feeding more tap water (pH 7).
I finally got my 3-in-1 soil test meter from Ebay after 3 weeks. It wasn't worth the wait. Even if the meter worked perfectly, you can't decipher where the numbers are. It was showing somewhere above 7 (I think) which doesn't make sense. If you find a meter for <$10,, DON'T BUY IT.
I got a soil test kit for $15 which provides 4 pH tests, and NPK tests. It is a color code, and it's somewhere between 6-7 (I would say 6.1) I've included the picture so you know what I'm looking at. So, I think this will be fine if I start feeding more tap water (pH 7).
