It's been 9 days since i planted im running 2 48" 40watt floros and a 26 and a 42 watt cfl a fan blowing on the plant lightly it's about 3 inches tall and has 3 leaves and the 4th is really tiny....I am having trouble keeping the temp below 85 some times higher...could this be why its growing so slow....I also had a problem with over watering the first couple of days i just got a mostiure meter yesterday and that works really well...The pic is from 2 days ago but i have added the 42 watt cfl since...Any help or comments would be great....the first pic is what the problem was with over watering...should it be bigger by now???

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the growth is slow at the begining, the best moisture meter is your finger...

pics are up now sorry

you need to amend your soil with 30 to 40% perlite it looks like you're growing in mud!

Yeah well those pics were taken just after i watered and i am using a mostiure meter now but do you think the plant would be okay to take out i wanted to put some perlite but im nervous

don't remove the plant, for the future or for transplants make sure to add perlite to the mix.

How far should i keep my CFL's away from my plant

At its current stage, one 1700 lumen CFL four to five inches away.

I have a 42 watt on a 3 way socket with the 42 watt over the plant and a 23 watt on the top socket i have the 42 watt about 8 inches away but i also have 2 48" 40 watt floros im kinda having a problem with heat....also should i keep my fan on 24/7???"

Your 42 Watt at 8" is producing about 68,000 lux. Your 23 watt is producing about 40,000 lux. Exact amount depends on how many lumens they produce.

Those two are enough at that distance to keep your plant growing healthily.

Direct sunlight is 100,000 to 120,000 lux. More lux than that cannot be processed. Somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000 light toxicity sets in.

Symptoms of light toxicity are:
- Leaves turning from dark to light green as chlorophyll production decreases
- Leaves curling, twisting or bending to reduce the surface area exposed to the light
- Plant growth slows or stops, and may eventually die.

It looks like you are experiencing at least two of those symptoms.

I would recommend using just your 23 Watt light at around 4 to 5 inches away from your plant. Which will give you a bit above 100,000 lux, and save you some money on wattage. As the plant gets bigger, you'll need to add back your other lights.


Regarding temperatures:

I would try to keep temperatures no more than 85 degrees, but they should be able to handle up to 90 degrees, maybe a little more. I think somewhere around 80 is ideal.

I keep a small fan blowing on my plants for air circulation (carbon dioxide flow). I don't recommend too strong of a air current from your fan being blown directly on the plants. If they are too agitated, they'll be stressed.

Finally, in my experience, I can keep my room cooler by blowing hot air out, rather than attempting to blow cool air in.


After you fix the light and temperature issues, the plant should recover over a couple days.