light on seedlings

how much light should you have on 1 and a half old seedling

use a 23 watt CFL on them, depends on your pot size and how many seedlings you have as to how many CFL's youll need. Id say for every 1 square foot you should have 2 23watt cfl's and hang them about an inch over the seedlings leaves... You cant really overdo it with CFL light so dont worry about burning them, but you dont want them to stretch so dont under-do it. if you have a MH than its different and you have to keep the light far enough that you dont burn them. CFL's are good for the first week and then MH works better to get them growing good.


btw you could always go with a large wattage cfl if you have them handy, I only suggest the 23 watters cause they are usefull for around the house just for general lighting anyways so its not wasted money if you only use them for a week on the seedlings. If you go real big on the wattage youll want to check if theres heat coming off them and not let the seedlings touch the tubes.

good luck, and dont let them stretch, try to keep them under 2 inches, though I may be a little too late in suggesting that as they are already a day and a half old. I hope it works out for you

here is a pic of my one plant in flower using cfls. I have 8cfl but my plant is bigger now. one as new as yours maybe 2cfl but be prepared to buy more. you can never have enough light to mimick the sun
also you want daylight 6500K bulbs for your veg state

well put dill. the biggest problem i see is people not having their cfl or t-5,t-8 or t-12 flourescents close enough causing major strecthing. you will notice a big difference in just a few days. .the leafs will get fatter and bushier. If your plants have already stretched and are top heavy and possibly bending over from the weight and lack of strong stem? I have used paper clips by straightning one end and using the loop to brace your plant for 2-3 days until healthier and stronger. hope this helps and goodluck