1 plant 1 box 5 bulbs

spineshank

spineshank

Active Member
i have 2 sq. ft. box 3.5 ft. tall. whole interior (top, bottom, and all sides) lined with 2mm foil tape (its almost like im growing in a box lined with mirrors), with 1 intake and pc exhuast fan. i have 5x 23w cfl bulbs 800 lumens each. SO... is 4000 watts enough for my one plant it seems to be growing really slow its been 8 weeks since i started germination and my plant is 8" tall and 8" wide very healthy and very stinky lots of branching. please help. thanks
 
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bigd921

Well-Known Member
some pics would help but how far away are your lights? what are you growing in ?? soil? hydro? need more info to give you any help.... it sounds very small for 8 weeks tho
 
spineshank

spineshank

Active Member
lights are 1.5 to 2 inches above plant on y adapters (sorry no pics yet) they are in a halo like pattern above the plant so that tops and sides and all recieve good light. and im growing in soil using liquid miracle grow for nutes it mixes with the water. i dont know what im doing wrong
 
spineshank

spineshank

Active Member
lol i have them in the light 24/0 at constant temp of about 73 with about 40% humidity but i leave a little cup of water in my grow box at the hole where the intake fan blows in. hope that helps
 
itsgrowinglikeaweed

itsgrowinglikeaweed

Well-Known Member
spineshank said:
i have 2 sq. ft. box 3.5 ft. tall. whole interior (top, bottom, and all sides) lined with 2mm foil tape (its almost like im growing in a box lined with mirrors), with 1 intake and pc exhuast fan. i have 5x 23w cfl bulbs 800 lumens each. SO... is 4000 watts enough for my one plant it seems to be growing really slow its been 8 weeks since i started germination and my plant is 8" tall and 8" wide very healthy and very stinky lots of branching. please help. thanks
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What are your bulbs REALLY? 23w CFL's are more than 800 lumens (usually). How did you come up with 4000watts? lol And what is the color temperature of the bulbs. A lot of CFL's that I see in stores are 2700k. 2700K is a good bulb for flower but you really want a blue spectrum of light for vegging and growth. Vegging under 2700k bulbs the growing will be slow. Also these plants grow slowly or not at all if the temps are too high. Otherwise 5 bulbs should be adequate.
Good luck! :peace:
 
spineshank

spineshank

Active Member
the box the bulbs are in says the are really 23 watt and are 800 lumens each. 800 lumens x 5 bulbs= 4000 lumens (sorry i typed watts in my previous statement). they are soft white is that not the cfl desired for indoor cfl grows? 73 degrees is too hot?
 
itsgrowinglikeaweed

itsgrowinglikeaweed

Well-Known Member
Nah 73 is not too hot. I didn't see that lol
1st 800 lumens is pretty poor for 23 watt bulbs
2nd lumens don't add 5 x 800 lumen bulbs put out....800 lumens only.
3rd they are probably 2700k then and would explain the somewhat slow growth.
But those bulbs should do you justice when flowering.
Also, It might not even be that slow if you've got good branch developement.
It will get a lot bigger during flowering. How long untill you go 12/12?
 
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bigd921

Well-Known Member
itsgrowinglikeaweed said:
Nah 73 is not too hot. I didn't see that lol
1st 800 lumens is pretty poor for 23 watt bulbs
2nd lumens don't add 5 x 800 lumen bulbs put out....800 lumens only.
3rd they are probably 2700k then and would explain the somewhat slow growth.
But those bulbs should do you justice when flowering.
Also, It might not even be that slow if you've got good branch developement.
It will get a lot bigger during flowering. How long untill you go 12/12?
/quote]

lumens do indeed add my friend

https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/83378-16k-lumens-hps-vs-cfl.html
Click to expand...
 
spineshank

spineshank

Active Member
i thought more bulbs equaled more lumens anyways its only 8 inches tall and 8 inches wide probably 15-20 branches 7 blade leaves dont think i have any preflowering no sacks and i little 1/4 hairs growing where branch grows off main stem very sticky and skunky smelling. when should i flower. i dont think i would get harldy anything right now but i know im not supposed to go over like 12 inches cause cfl only penetrate 12 inches of foliage and flowering they grow 12 inches right?
 
itsgrowinglikeaweed

itsgrowinglikeaweed

Well-Known Member
bigd921 said:
itsgrowinglikeaweed said:
Nah 73 is not too hot. I didn't see that lol
1st 800 lumens is pretty poor for 23 watt bulbs
2nd lumens don't add 5 x 800 lumen bulbs put out....800 lumens only.
3rd they are probably 2700k then and would explain the somewhat slow growth.
But those bulbs should do you justice when flowering.
Also, It might not even be that slow if you've got good branch developement.
It will get a lot bigger during flowering. How long untill you go 12/12?
/quote]

lumens do indeed add my friend

https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/83378-16k-lumens-hps-vs-cfl.html
Click to expand...
wow this discussion has been soooo done lol
It depends on how you look at it. But basically its like batteries. 5 1.2 volts batteries together put out....1.2 volts.
just like 5 800 lumen bulbs put out.....800 lumens. they will just put out 800 lumens over a LARGER area. But will still be only 800 lumens. Lux is what will increase when you add bulbs together NOT lumens.
Click to expand...
 
spineshank

spineshank

Active Member
thanks for that bit of info that is good to know i have a grow book but it was written in early 90's i think and it only covers growing with halogen bulbs but does not talk about adding lumens and stuff. so i need a more blue spectrum is what you are saying?
 
itsgrowinglikeaweed

itsgrowinglikeaweed

Well-Known Member
spineshank said:
i thought more bulbs equaled more lumens anyways its only 8 inches tall and 8 inches wide probably 15-20 branches 7 blade leaves dont think i have any preflowering no sacks and i little 1/4 hairs growing where branch grows off main stem very sticky and skunky smelling. when should i flower. i dont think i would get harldy anything right now but i know im not supposed to go over like 12 inches cause cfl only penetrate 12 inches of foliage and flowering they grow 12 inches right?
Click to expand...
Those "hairs" at each node going up the stem are stipules both male and female plants have them. If you've been vegging that long (8 weeks is it?)what are waiting for flower that baby. If it gets too much bigger you're going to need more light to flower it.
Check out the growth on this plant > https://www.rollitup.org/cfl-growing/91452-1-plants-life-9-pictures.html it got big quick after flowering.
 
spineshank

spineshank

Active Member
i know about the hot spots but i do heating and cooling and have access to aluminum foil tape it is super reflective and i applied it with a squeegee there is no wavy effect it is flat and smooth like a mirror. so this is still bad you are saying ill post pics of my plant and box tomorow for sure.
 
Wolfman Zen

Wolfman Zen

Well-Known Member
That reflective tape is good for now, but you may want to invest in mylarfor next time... it won't be a huge investment since
mylar is cheap, and if you can't find any... just go to walmart and pic up a couple emergency blankets, you'll find them in the camping section. They are made from mylar
​
It sounds like your problem is your lights.

but the damage has already been done.... I agree with every one else, you should flower now.. just set your timer to 12 on/12 off

But...
before you do, now is a good time to take clones if you are interested in easy future grow.
​

Also.. for your next grow.. instead of leaving the lights on for 24/7, you should give them at least 4 to 6 hours of darkness.... trust me, you will get better growth that way.

good luck
 
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spineshank

spineshank

Active Member
thanks for all the help everyone. i did cut 3 clones the night b4 i posted this thread, so that i can grow them a lil flower 2 and grow a new mom (hopefully). i will definately get some mylar, change the lighting cycle, and upgrade to 4x 2700 lumen cfl's (i think thats what i saw at wal-mart) with a higher blue spectrum.
Will the 5x 800 lumen soft whites be sufficient for flowering or should i get some with a more red spectrum? or red and blue mixture?
 
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bigd921

Well-Known Member
itsgrowinglikeaweed said:
bigd921 said:
wow this discussion has been soooo done lol
It depends on how you look at it. But basically its like batteries. 5 1.2 volts batteries together put out....1.2 volts.
just like 5 800 lumen bulbs put out.....800 lumens. they will just put out 800 lumens over a LARGER area. But will still be only 800 lumens. Lux is what will increase when you add bulbs together NOT lumens.
Click to expand...
so humor me... you have a device that takes 5 1.2 volt batteries evern though each only puts out 1.2v and you clam they dont add, then why cant I power the device with just one battery? because it takes 6 volts to run the device and 5X1.2=6?? doesnt that make sense, if the volts didnt add or the addition of more made kno difference then you could run it on one battery...and if you take 5 800 lumen bulbs granted each bulb only puts out 800 lumen if you combine the 8 bulbs to an area isnt the area receiving 800 lumens from each bulb thus 4k lumens in the given space??:confused:
Click to expand...
 
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