Growing with CFL

mattyferris · Nov 3, 2011

Hi Guys,

Nobody seems to want to answer my questions,

1: I have a 250w and 125w CFL. How can i make my plants bigger quicker its been 3-4 week and they are around 8". Started from seeds.

2: Should i move my light away to stretch them for a little while then place back close ??

PLEASSEE HELP!!!

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billcollector99 · Nov 3, 2011

Short internode spacing is good. Keep those cfls close as they lack penetration. Dont worry so much about vertical growth right now, you will get plenty of that when you switch to flower.

Gastanker · Nov 3, 2011

Dial in all settings to make plants grow larger faster. Make sure temps are ideal, CO2 is ideal, light is ideal... You don't want to artificially encourage stretch by withholding light from your plants - hurts the plants, nothing else.

Keep in mind that plants get much much larger when put into flower - 4" plants can easily grow to 4' once put into flower.

mattyferris · Nov 3, 2011

Gastanker said:
Dial in all settings to make plants grow larger faster. Make sure temps are ideal, CO2 is ideal, light is ideal... You don't want to artificially encourage stretch by withholding light from your plants - hurts the plants, nothing else.

Keep in mind that plants get much much larger when put into flower - 4" plants can easily grow to 4' once put into flower.

So Keep the light as close as possible, how many weeks should i wait before putting into flower then ??

billcollector99 · Nov 3, 2011

mattyferris said:
So Keep the light as close as possible, how many weeks should i wait before putting into flower then ??

That is a hard question to answer without knowing what you are growing...

maximum · Nov 3, 2011

I let mine touch just barely too. Stick a fan in there. I grow hydro with less lights and mine explode See how close I put them
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mattyferris · Nov 3, 2011

billcollector99 said:
That is a hard question to answer without knowing what you are growing...

White Widow and Big Bud

billcollector99 · Nov 3, 2011

maximum said:
I let mine touch just barely too. Stick a fan in there. I grow hydro with less lights and mine explode See how close I put them
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Thats a little too close, and you can burn the plant if they touch the bulb.

White widow can be a stretchy strain, don't know about big bud. Are you planning on flowering with cfls too?

mattyferris · Nov 3, 2011

billcollector99 said:
Thats a little too close, and you can burn the plant if they touch the bulb.

White widow can be a stretchy strain, don't know about big bud. Are you planning on flowering with cfls too?

I think so yeah or i may switch to a 400w HPS

billcollector99 · Nov 3, 2011

Gonna have to make your mind up quick, dont want them to get too big to flower with cfl's if you decide to not use the HPS

buzn · Nov 3, 2011

hi there,your doing fine my friend as it always seems to go slowly from seed in the first 3to4 weeks,keep em close as u can as i tried lifting mine higher up to get em bigger&yes they got taller but straggly too!!they look fine for3to4weeks!!

mattyferris · Nov 3, 2011

billcollector99 said:
Gonna have to make your mind up quick, dont want them to get too big to flower with cfl's if you decide to not use the HPS

I have decided im going to use a 400w HPS to flowerr.. So what should i do and how big should i get them before flowering ??

billcollector99 · Nov 3, 2011

They can get decent sized if flowering with a 400.

I just noticed you got two plants in one container. I would suggest seperating them because they wont grow well in the same container.

mattyferris · Nov 3, 2011

billcollector99 said:
They can get decent sized if flowering with a 400.

I just noticed you got two plants in one container. I would suggest seperating them because they wont grow well in the same container.

Ahh maybe this is why they are not catching up as quick, my pot size is 11L so should this be fine?

mattyferris · Nov 3, 2011

Also,, how big could i get them if i went for a 150w HPS ??

phx · Nov 3, 2011

you're already using 375 watts, why not just get a 400w hps?

phx · Nov 3, 2011

hah my bad, there was only 2 posts when i posted that, i should've refreshed

phx · Nov 3, 2011

i wouldn't bother with a 150. get that 400 and hang it ASAP, veg with that instead of the CFLs. use the CFLs for mothers and clones later. you're still not gonna get tons of penetration with a 400 and big bud will stretch a lot when switched to flower, just fill out your canopy under the 400 and switch to 12/12. try to fill like 6-8 sq ft of canopy, 2.5' x 3' or slightly less imo

phx · Nov 3, 2011

top and/or LST for sure, especially the big bud

Gastanker · Nov 3, 2011

Blurb of mien from another thread. Should apply to a 400w hps as well

I was pulling an oz a week with 388w of CFL here - First CFL Grow - Help appreciated

Keep them small! CFLs/lower wattage HIDs don't do nearly as well with large plants unless you keep a clean scrog or LST. I started flowering at this size -

Dropping bulb between plants maximizes plant absorption without the loss of restrike like you would have with a reflector. I tried to cover the canopy in smaller bulbs and submerge larger bulbs between plants.

I would yield ~ 1oz per plant. With 6 in full flower at a time and two others just rotating into the flower box I was able to harvest a plant per week.

This took place in a 2x3x3.5' area of a small closet.