Noob seeking experience and advice

This is the first time I have seriously tried to do this. I have a 5 day old seedling sprout (from bag seed...wanted to get the technique down before moving on to some good stuff)in fox farm ocean forest. I water every other day and put it in the saucer at the bottom of the pot. It is a grow box with 4 100w cfl and and an intake and exhaust fan. I have also read that I should keep the plant about 2-3 inches from the light. The round leaves on the plant are singed and seem a little shriveled. Am I not watering it enough or too much? Should I pour the water directly on the soil? Is it too close to the light? or is it normal? The larger pointed leaves are green and seem healthy. Any input would be much appreciated. Thx!!

the round leaves die off eventually. everything seems normal

Those first sets of leaves that grow that don't look like weed leaves always die and fall off. Usually not so soon but if the leaves closest to the lights aren't burnt i would worry about the distance, but you do have it right with CFL's you want them CLOSE. Watering is the hardest part of growing, there is no set regiment. As long as you let the soil dry a little but in between watering you should be fine. That watering technique sounds fine as long as you see the water seep to the top of the soil ( the top of the soil is wet )

Argentino619 said:

the round leaves die off eventually. everything seems normal

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Thanks, good to know instead going nuts trying to figure whats going wrong and do something stupid and screw it up.

I'd switch to watering from the top as its much easier for a new grower to do. I use the weight method myself, soak it till it drains a little then lift the pot and feel how much it weighs. Wait a few days till the top inch or so is dried up and lift it again and you will feel the difference. Then just lift it once a day or so and see where your at and water again when it feels too light.

I would also recommend watering from the top. Leaving them sit in water too long, can lead to root rot.

yeah just water whenever you can feel an inch deep down into the soil and not feel water or moisture, and do that in a couple different places, and thats when you know its time to water. cfls should be as close to the plant as possible. keep them about an inch to two inches from the plant, and the more the better just watch the heat.

Thanks for all the input, I appreciate it. My other question is, I currently have it on a 24hr cycle, with soft white 100w cfls, should I put in daylight bulbs, and does the wattage matter? I have 4 cfsl in the box, and it seems to be growing pretty fast, its day 6 and this morning I saw another set of leaves forming at the top. Also this may be a dumb question but because I have it on a 24 hr cycle will need to be watered more?

Another question that has been bouncing around my head, is it more important to have the spectrum or wattage? I was looking to get some daylight cfls, and there are 40w daylight bulbs @ 6500k, will it make a difference with 100w daylight bulbs @ 6500k. I am currently using 4 soft white 100w cfls (which if i am not mistakened is between 2700k and 3000k). And I have read that this is ideal for flowering, so which brings me back to the question...wattage or spectrum? Thx RIU for any help or input.

6,500K is for veg
2,700K is for flowering

alot of people like to mix and match them while useing CLFs

2 to 1 lighting depending on the stage

Edit -

- Water your plants from the top and not the bottom
- Never start giving your plants plant food till they are at least 3 - 4 weeks old and when you do only give them 1/8 strength and if your going to feed them every watering just stick with 1/8 strength
- Always do a soil rince once a month (take the medium size of water and slowly poor it on top of the soil, let it sit for 3 to 5 mins then take the same amount of water and poor it over the top again) the first water is to let the salts in the soil desolve and the 2nd water is to help wash some or alot of the desolved salts.
- When growing with CFLs always have the lights 1 to 2 inches from the tops to ensure they get alot of light.

your fine, looks good, try and keep our lights within a couple of inches... so your plantita doesnt stretch too much...Keep posting pics...

I can see the new leaves begining to sprout, I am so excited. Again thanks for chiming in and hooking me up with some knowledge. I am going to pick up some 6500k cfls tomorrow. I have come to a consensus with what I have read and with advice i've gotten on this thread that this is best for the Veg phase. And the lights I have now are better suited for flowering. The question that I seem to get mixed answers to is wattage vs. Spectrum. So any input here would be helpful (even if its a link to an article or something..don't mind reading)And the of course I have a bit of a noob quesiton. I have the baby under 24hr lighting, and I had read in one of the threads that during the dark phase alot of growth happens, so should I switch it up to a 18/6 cycle or keep it on 24hrs? Thx

Seraph said:

I can see the new leaves begining to sprout, I am so excited. Again thanks for chiming in and hooking me up with some knowledge. I am going to pick up some 6500k cfls tomorrow. I have come to a consensus with what I have read and with advice i've gotten on this thread that this is best for the Veg phase. And the lights I have now are better suited for flowering. The question that I seem to get mixed answers to is wattage vs. Spectrum. So any input here would be helpful (even if its a link to an article or something..don't mind reading)And the of course I have a bit of a noob quesiton. I have the baby under 24hr lighting, and I had read in one of the threads that during the dark phase alot of growth happens, so should I switch it up to a 18/6 cycle or keep it on 24hrs? Thx

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ok here's a little some thing that might be able to help you out

here's 2 6,500K CFLs that I can buy. I will show the watts and the lums

15w CFL = 900 lumes = 60 lumes per watt
45w CFL = 3,000 Lumes = 66.66 lumes per watt

as you can see the 45w CFL is the better one out of thoes 2 for the highest lumes per watt.

If your gonna have a bunch of plants and your strapped for cash try to get a pack of 6500K CFLs since its cheeper that way and you don't realy need the power till flowering but I would highly recomend to get the 45w CFL

and get a fan blowing on your seedlings as soon as they brake the ground. This will help strengthen their stocks and will pervent you from having to find a way to fix the drooping problum

Thanks for the info on the lights I'm ordering the daylight bulbs, couldn't find them in the stores. But things seem to be going well. I have taken it off 24 and put it 18/6 cycle. So tell me what you think, any input is welcome or advice or words wisdom. Thx

First and foremost, thanks for stopping by my thread. All the info has been a great help. Things seem to be going well, but the tricky part is soon to come...giving nutes and not burning the crap out of it. I am going to order the Fox Farm 3pk of Tiger Bloom, Big Grow, and Big Bloom. But I was wondering, do I use them all together all, or do I use them only in a specific phase? Please chime in with any thoughts or recommendations. Thanks again from the ever grateful noob. Peace.

Thank you all for checking me out. And
i can say last night was a very impressive growth spurt. I guess she (i hope) likes the dark time. But please by all means leave any comments or recommendations.Peace.

The baby's roots were growing out of the drainage holes so I put it in a nice long box. The leaves are really green, and look large and sort of droopy...maybe I over watered. I am actually pretty amazed at how fast its growing. Being that it is growing so fast, should I give nutes earlier than 3-4 weeks? Again any input is welcome, Thx.

I am a little concerned because my leaves seem to be drooping, they still green though. I have not added nutes yet, I have been hearing to wait 2-4 weeks before adding nutes. I have looking at pic of other grows at about the same age and the pants leaves were straight. Fortunately the leaves don't look shriveled. Please take a look at the pics let me know anything I am missing. Or let me know that this normal...Either way I would like to know if I should change something or do something before it is too late. Please feel free to comment or recommend anyhing, I hope this is normal, but I am not a trained eye..so please RIU community let me know. Peace.

I have not watered her yet, gonna wait til the soil is nice and dry. But it is perking, up and my daylight bulbs should arrive tomorrow. So I will keep updating, for anyone who is following this grow...if any at all. Thanks

The soil is pretty dry now, I will water it tonight and also install my 6500k bulbs. The last time I watered it was 3 days ago. I will be sure not to drown it this time.