Hey man, your plants look like theyre growing pretty healthy. Your lighting situation needs some help though. Is privacy an issue at home? If it isn't, I would consider using your boxes as a supplement to the natural light in your area. Im not recommending you do anything illegal either- but I am recommending (for the sake of the plants) that you get them out of that box for some time throughout the day to let them breath. The lights create negligable amounts of heat on their own but if you stack them all real close in a poorly ventilated area, they can produce alot of thernal energy. The pics look like youre running alot of the "warm light" bulbs... use a more even ratio of cool blue to warm. I would try to use about 70% blue and 30%warm lighting for veg. and then use a little more of the warm for flowering.
Lighting experts- please correct me on the correct blue-warm lighting ratios.
What sucks about the fluro lighting is that you have to get the lights reeeeally close to the light to get all the lumens you need. The light is spread very widely in fluro lighting and the closer the plant is, the more available all that light energy will be. You also gotta be careful not to get the plants too close.
I would say just to get rid of the reflectors altogether. If I were you, I would just hang those bulbs, at varying heights, all around the plants. I've seen this done with great success in grow boxes similar to your own.
Judging by the quality of seed youre planting, you not only have exceptionally good taste, but you probably also have the cashmoney to buy some higher quality lighting and ventilation. If DIY is something you take pride in (as we all do) then just buy yourself a bulb, socket, and ballast (unless youre some kind of electrician) for less than $100 and put it all together yourself and fit it with a nice DIY refelctor. You would then need some serious fans to cool this all down but you would be growing with a greater yield of product for your time.
Another lighting alternative that you should def look into is LED lighting. With a circuit board, some leds and a little know-how, you can make your own led lighting system. You can get the plants right up the the led and not burn the plant cuz led produce no heat. Using different ratios of blue:red leds, you can stimulate veg or flowering stages.
Youve got all the right moves you just need to change your dancing partner.
Youve gotta get rid of the box or the lights or the ventilation.
Check out my grow room. Tell me what you think.
https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/66250-first-time-growing-400w-hps.html
