experimental first grow

[/jaybe420/]

this is my experimental first grow, i planted them about 7 days ago on my window sill (i wasn't done constructing my grow box.) just had a few questions before i plant my official first grow.

Grow Box Details


Dimensions: 13.5x20 2 feet tall
Fans: 2 4inch fans
Lights: 3 1600 lumens 23 watts=100 watts
Temp:75-85

i'm just looking to grow a few small plants before i invest in some HID lights and a bigger grow box/room.

1. would i be able to get a plant to yield 7+ grams in a grow box like this? (how many nodes before 12/12)

2. do the seedlings look healthy in the first picture for being 7 days old? (2nd set of jagged leafs are sprouting)

3. since i left the seedlings in the window sill for about 4-5 days should i start over. (due to stress to the plants, lack of light for 5 days) or should i stick it out since i'm just trying to grow a small plant?

thanks to anyone who helps

 

[Muffy]

They're fine but your math is wrong. 3x23=69 Don't get confused about what you're putting into them.

 

[frmrboi]

you need back reflectors for each bulb the majority of your light is just radiating off into space.
an aluminum pie plate strapped to theback would be a cheap start.
you never mentioned what spectrum your bulbs are, 6500 K (daylight) are best
you really only need one bulb for seedlings and much closer than you got them now, when they get bigger you can fire up the rest.

 

[/jaybe420/]

They're fine but your math is wrong. 3x23=69 Don't get confused about what you're putting into them.

23 watt cfl, but they are 100 watt equivalent (straight off the package)

i think the lumens are more important than the watts anyways, from my understanding watts are just the amount of energy used.

thank you for your input tho

 

[/jaybe420/]

you need back reflectors for each bulb the majority of your light is just radiating off into space.
an aluminum pie plate strapped to theback would be a cheap start.
you never mentioned what spectrum your bulbs are, 6500 K (daylight) are best
you really only need one bulb for seedlings and much closer than you got them now, when they get bigger you can fire up the rest.

I have foil on the roof and walls do i still need reflectors? (no wood showing)

The light in the middle is 1 inch horizontally from both plants. Dose it have to be directly above?

I'm about to re-pot the plants in to bigger pots. Would the new set up work? (details below)

Re-potting set up

Middle light at plant level in between both plants.

1 outer light directly above plant, 2/3 inches above.

1, 4 inch fan blowing air up (on the ground in photo)

1, 4 inch fan blowing air down (by the base if the light source)

thanks for the help man

 

[frmrboi]

I have foil on the roof and walls do i still need reflectors?

yes, by the time the light travels back from the walls it's lost most of it's energy. Most of the light comes off the side of the bulb. new setup looks ok.

 

[Muffy]

23 watt cfl, but they are 100 watt equivalent (straight off the package)

i think the lumens are more important than the watts anyways, from my understanding watts are just the amount of energy used.

thank you for your input tho

What bulb does the package say they are equivalent to? It should mention incandescent as that's what they replace. It's not HID. A 100 watt incandescent will put off the same quantity of light as a 23 watt cfl and the extra watts are heat. The quality is much different too. The portion of radiation a plant can use is measured in watts whereas the light a human can see is measured in lumens.

 

[Vindicated]

23 watt cfl, but they are 100 watt equivalent (straight off the package) i think the lumens are more important than the watts anyways, from my understanding watts are just the amount of energy used. thank you for your input tho

Hi buddy. Your right, lumens are important, but you want around 8,000 lumens which is what you get from 100-150 watts (true actual wattage, not equivalent). And that's per cubic feet. Everything else you have is fine. Just get more lights in there. See if you have room to fit six more of those same bulbs or buy a single 125 watt CFL for $50 off Amazon.

Your off to a good start. Your seedlings look fine. They are a little bit stretched out, but you can fix that with better lighting and transplanting it into a bigger container. I would maybe add some dirt around the base to give it support. Other then that it's looking good.

 

[Muffy]

Big cfls aren't as nice as more of the smaller bulbs at the same total wattage. If you hang them vertical and surround the bulb they do alright though.

 

[/jaybe420/]

What bulb does the package say they are equivalent to? It should mention incandescent as that's what they replace. It's not HID. A 100 watt incandescent will put off the same quantity of light as a 23 watt cfl and the extra watts are heat. The quality is much different too. The portion of radiation a plant can use is measured in watts whereas the light a human can see is measured in lumens.

thanks i already know this. i know im not putting 100 watts of a HID light in to my plants.

 

[/jaybe420/]

you need back reflectors for each bulb the majority of your light is just radiating off into space.
an aluminum pie plate strapped to theback would be a cheap start.
you never mentioned what spectrum your bulbs are, 6500 K (daylight) are best
you really only need one bulb for seedlings and much closer than you got them now, when they get bigger you can fire up the rest.

i made some reflectors out of cardboard and tin foil a few days ago, i have seen more growth since doing this. thanks good tip

 

[Xcon]

thanks i already know this. i know im not putting 100 watts of a HID light in to my plants.

You're off to a good start man, you'll be DIYing your eyeballs out once you catch the bug (if you haven't already). Anyway, your lumens, watts, spectrums, and footprint are good things to get familiar with.

Growers don't use equivalent wattage because nobody uses incandescents to grow pot. That's what they're equating them to, a CFL puts out 70 lumens per watt = ~1700 lumens for a 24w. Incandescents puts out 17 lumens per watt, so a 24w CFL = a 100w incandescent. Which is useless for our purposes

 

[/jaybe420/]

You're off to a good start man, you'll be DIYing your eyeballs out once you catch the bug (if you haven't already). Anyway, your lumens, watts, spectrums, and footprint are good things to get familiar with.

Growers don't use equivalent wattage because nobody uses incandescents to grow pot. That's what they're equating them to, a CFL puts out 70 lumens per watt = ~1700 lumens for a 24w. Incandescents puts out 17 lumens per watt, so a 24w CFL = a 100w incandescent. Which is useless for our purposes

thanks, i guess it was useless info.

i actually i have 26 watt cfls i made a mistake in my 1st post.

i just went to walmart and seen they have 55 watt cfl that they didn't have before.

do you think 3 55 watt cfl would get me threw flowering? (room size: width 20 inches, length 13.5 inches, height 24 inches)

thanks again for the info

 

[Xcon]

thanks, i guess it was useless info.

i actually i have 26 watt cfls i made a mistake in my 1st post.

i just went to walmart and seen they have 55 watt cfl that they didn't have before.

do you think 3 55 watt cfl would get me threw flowering? (room size: width 20 inches, length 13.5 inches, height 24 inches)

thanks again for the info

Sure would, I saw me some 40 or so wattages at the home depot and I thought about picking up a few, but I've already got 10,000 lumens per sq ft under my CFLs (check out my sig). Wish I saw them when I was building my cfl board, hang onto whatever you make this round and use it to supplement your next grow when you get your HID. Could make a good mother/clone light, you know?

edit: you need mostly 2700k for flowering

 

[Muffy]

Good job Xcon.

 

[/jaybe420/]

Good job Xcon.

he did do a good job