My seeds were planted on Saturday afternoon and these pics were taken just now. I have a couple of questions. First of all, I have read the closer the lights the better as long as your hand can handle it. The problem I noticed is that it dried my soil out very quick. Is that ok? Should I water every other day? These lights are no more than 3 inches away. Second thing I'm wondering is if this will be enough light. These are 8 26 watt CFLs. I have 4 more that I was thinking about putting in there if I need to, as soon as I figure out how I will go about placing them. By the way, these are feminized Lowryder 2.

Attached Images

	lights.jpg (34.8 KB, 47 views)
	lights2.jpg (30.9 KB, 62 views)
	lowryder2 (1).jpg (49.4 KB, 45 views)
	lowryder2 (2).jpg (56.2 KB, 63 views)

water them girls just not to much cause then you overwater them

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my plumber asked me if i'm growing? and i said huh, what do you mean?he said your looking taller.weird huh?this is a true story!it scared me a little.

I've grown many different lowryder hybreds, dont worry about the cfl's drying out the soil you can always add water as long as the heat isn't damaging the plants your not to close. the lights you have will grow them but don't expect a good yeild, you need better lights, the ones you have probably will get you less than 20 grams per plant and adding more of the 26w bulbs wont help. your thinking of light in the wrong terms, you can add all the bulbs you want and still will only have 26watts just spread out more. to increase the lighting you need higher watts and/or higher lumens in other words 1 26w cfl puts out around 1700 lumens, if you have 8 26w bulbs you still just got 1700 lumens its just spread out over a bigger area. To increase your yield per plant you need higher lumen bulbs not more bulbs ( 1 42w bulb puts out more lumens than 8 26w bulbs )

The best cfl's i've found for the auto's without going to a mogul base is a 55w cfl that puts out 3600 lumens of 2700K light for around 18 bucks
55 Watt Compact Fluorescents
55 Watt Compact FluorescentsCheck Out



55 Watt - CFL - Compact Fluorescent - Spring Lamp - Warm White 2700K - Energy Miser # FE-US-55W-27K

Manufacturer: Energy Miser
Manufacturer's Part #: FE-US-55W-27K
CFL Spring Lamp
Non-Dimmable
Wattage: 55 Watt
Incandescent Equivalent: 250 Watt
Voltage: 120 Volt
Initial Lumens: 3,600
Life Hours (Avg.): 8,000
Base Type: Standard Medium Base
Color Rendering Index (CRI): 80
Warm White 2700K Click Here
Overall Length: 8.39 in.
Overall Diameter: 4.45 in.
Case Quantity is 20
Price Shown is per Bulb
See Video

Catalog Code: FC55-FEUS55W27
1 to 11 = $18.09 Each 12+ = $15.31 Each Qty

Or if you not dead set on cfl's heres a good deal on a 150w HPS

E-MT6H151G
Vapor Tight Fixture, Pendant Mount 150-watt HPS. 120-volt Reactor ballast (NPF). Lamp included.

Applications - Non-hazardous industrial uses, including environments with dust or high-moisture, such as cold storage, harbors, railway depots, tunnels, foundries, bridges, manufacturing and residential uses.
Lamp Output: 15000 lumens
Lamp Color Rendition: 22 CRI
Everyday Low Price
$20.00 Quantity: Features:

• <LI type=disc>Heavy-duty die-cast aluminum housing and adapter with grey polyester powder-coat finish <LI type=disc>4-kv medium-base porcelain socket <LI type=disc>Easy-install, screw-in, clear glass jar <LI type=disc>Threaded 1/2-inch conduit entry point <LI type=disc>UL Listed for wet location
• 1-year warranty

13-1/4-in H x 7-1/4-in W x 7-1/4-in D

More Specifications Instruction Manual Download Transferir el manuel de instrucción Extra Lamp - 150W HPS Lamp Accessories

By the way the 150w hps i put in my last post does include the ballast!

Earnie, thanks for the information. Sounds like at a minimum I need to get a stronger CFL. I'm out for personal smoke only this first grow. I picked Lowryder and a smallish grow area on purpose to get the hang of this. At the same time though I don't want to short the potential of my plants too much. If I'm understanding that the most important aspect of lighting is the lumens, then I will have to make a change. Didn't realize that me using multiple lower wattage bulbs wasn't achieving this. How is everyone getting around the big gap in lumen output between CFL and HPS and still achieving great results with CFLs?

it's really 20$?

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Grow tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere.

damn those are cheap as fuck.. lol
hmmm

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Grow tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere.

The lumens and kelvin temp are the most important, for vegging stage you want 5000k or above best is 6500k, for flowering you want 3500k or below best is 2700k. For autos u can and is best to use 3500k and below from start to finish.
At the very least go to the site i gave you for cfl's and look at 42w bulbs, they give the most lumen output without getting into high dollar cfl's but for about $5 more you can get the 55w 3600 lumen they last a year at 24/0 and are the right K-temp for autos. But you really should think about the HPS for 20 bucks, their perfect for auto's since they really dont have a vegg state and are easy to convert into a remote ballast system ask anyone in RIU thats cheap as hell.

Right on. Didn't realize I should be using 2700k. I thought I read someone with the auto flowering strains 6500k would be good from start to finish. I'll start thinking about what direction I'm going to go. This HPS you speak of, do they run a lot hotter than CFLs? I have a small grow area, I mean I can always make it bigger if I need to, I'm just wondering if they are going to be putting out a lot more heat, where it will become a concern. Either way, I'm set on getting a light that puts out more lumens.

It does put out more heat i keep mine about 12 inches from my plant tops.