a new lighting question

question. i got two 25 watt compact floresent spiral lights. one with a big metal reflector around bulb ( aiming the light down). the other light is in a smaller reflector, also pointing downward at the plant. Will This be enough light for my buddie????? also my temp. is around 70. maybe a tid bit lower than 70? is that ok? please help me

" Cause once in awhile you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right.."

With lights the more the better (especially cfl's). Temp high 85. Low 60.

thanks alot for the info. but i recently got a 100w cfl, but i wasnt sure if it was the right bulb; because of its blueish color when lit), ne ways my buddie said it was fine.
what im wondering is if it is ok to still use both types of bulbs? the bluish one and the orangeish. i currently have both in use. the blue right over the plant, and the orange off to the side, w/ the reflector pointing at plant. so is that cool?? thanks

For veg you want to have mostly light with the blue spectrum, which is a higher color temp like 5000 K to 6500 K. For flowering you want light that has a lower color temp like around 2500K (soft white), which is more of the red spectrum. But to answer your question, its okay to use both at the same time.

As far as how much light is enough, pay attention to lumen output that is on the packaging that the bulb comes in. As a rule of thumb you want about 5000 lumens per square foot of grow area. 7000 per sqft would be better though.

thanks for the info. next question> i currently only have one clone under the lights its a white widow/ ( he said white russian), buda i have never heard of the russian. neways so for just one plant, do i need as many lumens?

also do clones grow slower than normal? shes about 4-5 inches high, i have had her for almost 3 weeks under lights. and shes on a 24h constant light cycle. there hasnt been much main stem growth, but the small bud sites have new nodes slowly coming out? she looks healthy tho. any help would be great thanks,

OhIo GrOwN SAYS: Karma....its a bitch

You should change the light cycle for the clone. Try 18/6 or even 16/8 will give it better root growth instead of 24hr light which only focuses on veg growth.

You might not need as many lumens right now while the plant is still small, but eventually you will need 5000 - 7000 at least. I learned the hard way that clones need at least 6 hours of dark. My clones didn't even start to root until I started giving them a dark period. Once they are fully rooted I think they should grow like a normal plant.

splifman said:

You might not need as many lumens right now while the plant is still small, but eventually you will need 5000 - 7000 at least.

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You only need about 400 lumens per square foot for seedlings and clones, 2,500 lumens per sq foot for vegetative growth and about 10,000 lumens per square foot for flowering, so you're a little bit out on all of them. Good advice generally though.

Use all the lights you got. As close as possible without stress on the leaves. Touch the bulb with your hand. Take ur hand back slowly til it just feels warm and thats the distance between light and plant.

babygro said:

You only need about 400 lumens per square foot for seedlings and clones, 2,500 lumens per sq foot for vegetative growth and about 10,000 lumens per square foot for flowering, so you're a little bit out on all of them. Good advice generally though.

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i was just speaking generally. 7000 lumens would do the trick. It all depends how seriouse you are. Do you have any links or sources of this info that you have mentioned. I have read that 8000 lumens is ideal; so I would like to get some info from other credible sources that might differ in content.

how many hours of dark would be better? 6 or 8 ?
i already have a timer, so it will be easy to hook up.
thank you all for the info, its helping alot.

splifman said:

i was just speaking generally. 7000 lumens would do the trick. It all depends how seriouse you are. Do you have any links or sources of this info that you have mentioned. I have read that 8000 lumens is ideal; so I would like to get some info from other credible sources that might differ in content.

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Speaking generally? Depends how serious you are? Huh? You either know and understand what plant light requirements are at the specifc times in their growth cycle or you don't and spew out an arbitary figure you think 'would do the trick'.

Other creditable sources? Those figures come from 'Indoor Marijuana Horticulture - The Indoor growers bible' by Jorge Cevantes 2001 edition page 29 on a table headed 'Light requirements for plants'. Is that a creditable enough source for you?

OhioGrown said:

how many hours of dark would be better? 6 or 8 ?
i already have a timer, so it will be easy to hook up.
thank you all for the info, its helping alot.

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6. 18 hours of light, 6 hours of darkness for vegetative growth and for rooting cuttings and clones.

first of all splifman is making perfect sense to me. i understood every word he said.
but yea which is more effective 6 or 8 for the dark period ?
also whats a good light cycle for veg. growth? 12/12?

sweet thanks, im going to set the timer for that now. but yea when my clone is bigger...like a foot. what light cycle do i want?

also my clone is already rooted in soil..in case anyone was wondering

OK, you want 18/6 for veg. growth which has been stated at least 3 times in this thread. When you want to start flowering you switch to 12/12. It is also a personal preference when you want to flower as well as height restrcitions. Remember, the plant can double - triple in height depending on the strain and a few other factors. Hope this helps...

babygro said:

Speaking generally? Depends how serious you are? Huh? You either know and understand what plant light requirements are at the specifc times in their growth cycle or you don't and spew out an arbitary figure you think 'would do the trick'.

Other creditable sources? Those figures come from 'Indoor Marijuana Horticulture - The Indoor growers bible' by Jorge Cevantes 2001 edition page 29 on a table headed 'Light requirements for plants'. Is that a creditable enough source for you?

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lol! you're one of those defensive types eh? Always think people are attacking you? What a joke... I wasn't implying that your info was incorrect by any means. I just wanted to see what source you got it from, so I could read further on the topic.
And yes, how serious you are! Does that phrase confuse you? Let me explain (try not to get mad baby boy), I have seen plenty of people on this site that have grown with a hell of a lot less light and still have decent results. So yes, that kind of lumen out put can DO THE TRICK!!

OhioGrown, I apol0gize for babygro's little outburst. He tends to be somewhat volatile, as you can see from several of his other posts and interactions with other people on the site.

Peace.

splifman said:

I have seen plenty of people on this site that have grown with a hell of a lot less light and still have decent results. So yes, that kind of lumen out put can DO THE TRICK!!

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Did I say you couldn't grow it with less light than the optimum levels I gave? No. What you and so many people on here fail to understand, is that guessing (because that's all you're doing) what levels of light are required for growth will not give you OPTIMUM growth levels, yields and economy.

By understanding what the optimum light levels are for each growth phase you can maximise your yields and how much it costs you to produce those yields. Correct me if I'm wrong, but is that not what this board is about? Is it not about helping and advising and educating people to maximise their plants potential for the least amount of dollar outlay?

You've seen people on here grow with less light than the optimum and still have decent results, I've seen plenty of people on here spending a fair amount of money on this and not maximising their yield potential.

If my efforts to help people maximise their results hurts your pride a little bit - tough luck.

babygro said:

Did I say you couldn't grow it with less light than the optimum levels I gave? No. What you and so many people on here fail to understand, is that guessing (because that's all you're doing) what levels of light are required for growth will not give you OPTIMUM growth levels, yields and economy.

By understanding what the optimum light levels are for each growth phase you can maximise your yields and how much it costs you to produce those yields. Correct me if I'm wrong, but is that not what this board is about? Is it not about helping and advising and educating people to maximise their plants potential for the least amount of dollar outlay?

You've seen people on here grow with less light than the optimum and still have decent results, I've seen plenty of people on here spending a fair amount of money on this and not maximising their yield potential.

If my efforts to help people maximise their results hurts your pride a little bit - tough luck.

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Did I say that you said that you couldn't grow with less light than the optimum levels that you gave?!?! No. There you go being defensive again and reading crazy things into what I'm saying. You really need to back off and relax. Congratulations, you are as informed as God now that you have your little Cannabis Bible.
So you really think that I and other people on this site just guess what we post on here? We just pull shit out of our ass just to post something right? You are a troubled individual with an obvious inferiority complex.
I was going on what I've learned so far from reading and growing. The question arose from him asking if two 24 watt lights was enough for his grow. I gave him a range of Lumens that would be more sufficient to get him on the right track... thats all... I apologize for not having my Bible up my ass as well.

Pride has nothing to do with it. If it did I wouldn't regularly post questions, that some might think are dumb, on this board. That being said, before you reply next time, please read over this several times so you don't get confused between what I'm saying and what your defensive little mind thinks I'm saying.

Cheers Mate.

oh shit, holy shit. im so pissed. i just got back from canada today, and i went and checked on the plant. fuckin mice attacked it. leaves were bitten off, theres bites out of some leaves. the whole plant was sideways, dirt missing, really all screwed up. shes still green, i sat her back up in dirt, no bud sites were harmed. she lookes really screwed up, but i think she will be fine. Please let me kno if you think she will be ok !!!! she was never unrooted. im seting up a mice mine feild tonight. its going to be fort knox.
if it helps ill post a picture tonight if someone responds. thanks guys, and pray for my girl