First Grow CFL..Help!

Hello fellow smokers, I have been browsing this forum for about a month, and have decided to start my own grow. Currently my setup is rather cheap, but within the coming week(s) I plan on moving it entirely into my closet. Right now my seedlings are about 4 days old and are in a 3.5'x1.5'x10" speaker box.

Here is my problem, I had about 5 seedlings going fine in there for about a day or two now I only have two left. The others have just gotten really droopy and shriveled up to nothing. I have a soil moisture meter and have been testing the soil daily. It keeps getting BONE dry, so dry that when I put the meter in it damn near pulls the entire thing of soil out of the small 2 1/4" jiffy pot. The last two days I have been putting anywhere to 2-4 TSP of water in. I have a small fan going in there aswell. The light I am using is a CFL 27w 5500k. I had three in there before but it just got too hot in that box. So right now I just have 2 plants one is 4 days old and the other is 2 (hasn't lost its shell yet).

My setup I plan to have done within a week or two, after I clear out my closet, is as follows:

6'x2.5'x2.5' with exhaust fans at top.
FOR VEGGING
3x 27w CFL 5500k
4x 40w 5500k T12 shop lights
FOR FLOWERING
2x 42w CFL 2700k
4x 40w 3100k T12 shop lights

Please tell me what you think of my setup, and please any light on what may be wrong with my seedlings? Thanks a lot!!

2-4 TSP? pour water into the pot unitl it drips out bottom and dont water until its not too moist like 2 inches under soil just stick your finger i in. Jiffy pot half to be a little moist for the roots to break through them too. You should of just used some pots and dont use clay they dry out soil quick.

Cool, thanks for the tips. I'm going to go add more water now! I was just afraid of over watering them so soon. I cant put them into pots yet, because of my current setup is not big enough for them. Thanks again though!

Hello everyone! I'm new here. I usually post over on google groups.

Anyway... Is it cool to break into any thread as long as I remain somewhat on topic?

If yes,

What I think you should do is place a jar over them or put the jiffy's in a clear container (from cookies or donuts) and then cover the container with a clear plastic wrap. Of course leaving enough clearance for the little babes to grow. Let it air-out about 1/2 hour twice a day. The sides of the container will get droplets of water built-up. That's ok. It's sorta like a humidity chamber for the babes - but don't drowned the babe, love it. Once they are somewhat strong - 2/3 inches - poke holes in the plastic wrap with a tooth pick. Once they begin hitting the top of your container, toss the wrap. Don't take this too serious until after you get more practice. You'll freak yourself out. If it dies, it dies. You got more experience.

I just started five clones in a similar way. I lopped the tiny branches off momma, dipped them in clone powder, and then placed them, each, into 16OZ clear plastic cups. The dirt in the cups was pretty soggy. (Like 25% water and then I filled the cup up about 2/3's of the way with seedling soil and stirred!) LOL I covered the cups with clear plastic wrap using rubber bands. After a week, I pulled the plastic wrap and they are still growing nicely. They are pretty small at this time but that's ok. I don't need them to start super growing yet. Momma is still in the cage and will be there for 7 more weeks.

For light, during the day I place them in the west window and sorta crack the blinds so they don't roast. At night I put them in with momma.

The first batch of clones I ever did was a complete loss. The second batch of clones worked great (practice). I gave them to a friend because we were rotating grow locations. He had to kill them so I had to start from seed again. This is my 3rd clone batch.

I'd like to ask...

I have 1 plant growing under a New Wave Fluorescent T5/28 - 2 Ft/8 Lamp - 16,000 Lumens.

The closet is mylar lined. It's about 2 feet by 6 feet by 8 feet high. I taped mylar to 2 edges of the lamp fixture. So basically, if you can picture one edge of the light resting against the wall which is mylar'ed. And now taped mylar onto two sides. So basically a 3 sided "light chamber" has been created. I have mirrors on the 4th side.... which is somewhat open for air exchange. Momma seems to enjoy this arrangement. It's a sunny 79F 12 hours of the day. My question is... The branches are really beginning to grow and the leaves are crashing into the mylar. Is it ok to let the plant grow crashing into the mylar on the 3 sides? The mylar is flexible. It's just taped up at the top and freely hangs down.

If no, sorry I bothered you and I'll need etiquette trainging for the forum.

Anyone have any tips/information on my future grow setup? Thanks again.

Here are some pictures finally of everything. I just got a new Kodak Easyshare v803. The plant is now about 4-5 days old. Thanks..

lights look way too high keep them about 2 to 4 inches away

Im just afraid of burning/fucking up the plants some way. I had them closer and thats when they started turning to shit. But that may have been caused by the underwatering. I also would like to get all 3 lights on in there but it gets so damn hot. Any tips for cooling in that little box? It is a speaker box so the front of the box (where the mylar is) has the holes from speakers...

move that shit close,BEFORE its 2 late ,like johnny said 2-4 inches

if itshas 2 speaker holes i would get 2 fans that will fit in the holes and have one bring in fresh air and the other one exhaust the hot air

watch out those things dont get real hot but they do burn the plant easy. I keep mine like 4 inches away and now that they in 12/12 and i dont get to see them for almost 24 hours i half to keep them further. Fan should keep them even cooler too. Good luck

Yea my lights are now about 4-5" from the plants and I decided to turn the second light on. I need to get more ventilation in there to setup all three lights. I also need to get them into bigger pots so the soil can stay moist/wet longer. When should I start adding C02 with my grow? Do you have C02 setup yet?

With my new setup of being 6' tall by 3' wide and 2' deep, I would like to have 2 separate rooms. One for 1-2 vegging mother plants and clones, then the other, well obviously for flowering. I would keep the current vegging light setup. Maybe throw in a few more CFL. And the flower room would stay the same also for around 1-2 grows so I can save up to get a HPS, about 150W. Would there be any successful ways of doing this and getting about a QP every 30-45 days? I will also after 1-2 grows buy some good strain seeds. Right now Im growing bag seeds. Thanks all!