Leaving my girls un attended for 5 days

So... Next week i have to leave my girls while i leave the country for 5 days... Its my first propper go at griowing and its been going so well!!! I have 4 plants in in wardrobe (650mm x 650mm) under 4 x 35 watt and 12 x 20 watt cfl's... I have the cfl's really close to the plants and my question is... over the last week the plants grew roughly 2 to 4 cms in height so to be safe i was thinking of kepping the lights 8 or 10 cm above them... but will this cause them to grow (strech) even more than they did last week.. they have been flowering for 10 days now and are budding like mad... i just dont want to come back and there damaged (burned) by the lights... Thanks > Chris

I think you'd be OK. 5 days isn't a lot and you should be watering it like every 4 or 3 days anyway. Extra day or two shouldn't really matter to a mature plant.

Nusky said:

I think you'd be OK. 5 days isn't a lot and you should be watering it like every 4 or 3 days anyway. Extra day or two shouldn't really matter to a mature plant.

Click to expand...

Thanks Nusky

10 cm is 3.9 inches which seems like a reasonable distance to me assuming your plants grow an inch to an inch and a half in the week your gone. My understanding is CFLS" have to be really close to burn and yours are very low wattage. What are you going to do about watering?

Water really good before you leave and I'd say when you get back it'll be dry but the plant shouldn't mind if its mature. Seedlings might wilt but might still be OK.

bullwinkle60 said:

10 cm is 3.9 inches which seems like a reasonable distance to me assuming your plants grow an inch to an inch and a half in the week your gone. My understanding is CFLS" have to be really close to burn and yours are very low wattage. What are you going to do about watering?

Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply Bullwinkle... Like Nusky sugested... I will give them a really good wattering just before i leave and i just went and bought an additional "desk" fan to have on with the lights to lower the overall room temperature which i hope will help the pots retain moisture...

when I left for two weeks I kept the air on my room and when I came back the land lord at the apt shut my air off and about $2000 of guitars had been warped by the flux in temps to 50 at night to 120 what ever in the day. All necks bowed! I had insurance tho...
Thanks!!!

itsaplant said:

when I left for two weeks I kept the air on my room and when I came back the land lord at the apt shut my air off and about $2000 of guitars had been warped by the flux in temps to 50 at night to 120 what ever in the day. All necks bowed! I had insurance tho...
Thanks!!!

Click to expand...

Not much chance of that this side of the planet!!! i think the hottest day of our summer so far has been like 24 degrees c (74 degrees f)!!! The extra fan is just to circulate the small amount of heat from the lights!!!

Has anyone ever used water globes (those upside down globes with long spouts on them) for watering when not around? They are supposed to allow water out only as the soil dries.

They could work and I've thought about getting a couple.

It my opinion they'll be completely fine. Once I put into a somewhat good size pot and water decently I may leave them 4-5 days just to let it dry out, even when I'm still seeing them twice a day. They may be somewhat droopy when you get back and you'll be like "OHNOOOOOOO" BUT literally hours after you put water on them they will puff back out to exactly as they were (or bigger).

Sounds like a good idea and your welcome.

water globes kick ass.

I was using water globes a while back...but my plants must have been really thirsty because i had to fill them like everyday???

I am away from my grow as we speak and I have a new batch of clones that concern me. I just filled the tray with coco and watered them real well. coco holds water like a mofo so for the three days I'm gone I think I'm ok good luck with yours. I think water is a bigger issue than the lights.