Help with Fluorescent Lights - First time grower

Billies4life

Billies4life

Member
Hi guys,

The is my first thread and I hope some of you more experienced growers could pass some knowledge onto a newbie.

My grow is a closet grow about 3ft wide, 1.65ft deep and 5.5 ft tall (sorry tried to convert them all to feet).

The issue I have is with my lights. I'm not to sure as to how high or low they should be. The set up is 4 x 2ft fluorescent tubes. 2 of them are 4000k and the other 2 are 8000k. (1350 lumens each). Right now the plants seem to be doing fine but I was wandering if my lights were too high? I know with fluorescents the light penetration is pretty poor and so they need to be very close to the plants. However I did have them closer to the seedling originally and that almost killed it. So right now for the past 3 weeks the lights have been about 2-2.5ft above the 2 plants.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Billies4life
 
H

highyer

Member
i'm growing with one 6500k 37w cfl and one 2700k 27w cfl. only plant stealth. the lights are on from 6 am to 8 am then 6 pm to 12 am. from 8 am to 6pm i keep the plant in my window under direct sunlight. hopeflly its a female
 
RM3

RM3

Well-Known Member
You could move that light down a foot, no problem. You're gonna want more light to flower with
 
Kenneth ko

Kenneth ko

Active Member
Billies4life said:
What are your thoughts on the amount of light I'm using? Anything I should add in your opinions?
Click to expand...
I'm using the same thing hahaha but currently I'm using 2 5000k and 2 6500k t12 48inch bulbs with 3 23watt 5000k CFLs. More light the better. I would suggest investing in atleast two CFLs for added benefit of light. (Alot of people don't suggest CFLs or fluros for flowering)
 
Billies4life

Billies4life

Member
Kenneth ko said:
I'm using the same thing hahaha but currently I'm using 2 5000k and 2 6500k t12 48inch bulbs with 3 23watt 5000k CFLs. More light the better. I would suggest investing in atleast two CFLs for added benefit of light. (Alot of people don't suggest CFLs or fluros for flowering)
Click to expand...
What would be the best setup without going with HIDs for flowering?
 
whitebb2727

whitebb2727

Well-Known Member
RM3 said:
Pics would help, I grow/flower with T5's and keep em 2 foot off the canopy

post a few pics, happy to help
Click to expand...
I grow with t5. Rm3 is the reason.

If growing with floros, he is the one to listen to. I run mine about 12-24 inches, depending on stage of growth.

Seedlings will be sensitive. A couple feet away will do. As yours are the shorter ones with a little less power you could probably get them closer.
 
whitebb2727

whitebb2727

Well-Known Member
Durolux on amazon has some nice, cheap t5 fixtures. They make the two foot all the way up to 16 or 24 bulb models.

My space is slightly longer than yours. If you could find the three foot model it would be great.

I use agromax bulbs, including pure par and UV bulbs.

IMG_20160511_171000253_HDR.jpg a.JPG
 
  • Like
Reactions: RM3
Billies4life

Billies4life

Member
whitebb2727 said:
Durolux on amazon has some nice, cheap t5 fixtures. They make the two foot all the way up to 16 or 24 bulb models.

My space is slightly longer than yours. If you could find the three foot model it would be great.

I use agromax bulbs, including pure par and UV bulbs.

View attachment 3688080 View attachment 3688082
Click to expand...
I've had a look at your grow and I must say I'm very impressed. I'm still trying to decide which LST I will be using. I'm just trying to get other people's perspective. I'm looking to maximize yield. I will still be using floros for flowering? Any suggestions
 
whitebb2727

whitebb2727

Well-Known Member
Billies4life said:
I've had a look at your grow and I must say I'm very impressed. I'm still trying to decide which LST I will be using. I'm just trying to get other people's perspective. I'm looking to maximize yield. I will still be using floros for flowering? Any suggestions
Click to expand...
Thank you.
How many plants do you or can you run? That will answer the question. If it weren't for it being illegal I would run many smaller plants.

In your case I would go with just topping or fimmimg a couple times and lst. Just tie the baranches down. You could also super crop.

Lst and scrog do maximize yield but only because of the extra veg time. All growth methods will yield close to each other with the same veg time. Just different proportions of buds. Like one big cola and lots of little ones for single cola plant. Topping will give you more tops, slightly smaller. Etc.

As a new grower I would reccomend dialing in environment and keeping the plant healthy. The yield will follow.

I use a durolux light from amazon. I own two models and they both have been working non stop for a year and two years. They make a bunch of different models.
 
Billies4life

Billies4life

Member
I'm also in two minds as to whether I should transplant to a bigger pot or if these will be fine throughout? The one on the left is Purple Bud (indica) and on the right is Power Africa (mostly Sativa). Also is it normal for the leaves to go back to one "petal" after already having 3 in the previous node?
 

Attachments

Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top