So I started my first grow and it didn't seem like I was getting results with flouros and young sprouts so I put them under my 1000w MH.
Your pictures don't show that. Looks like they were doing ok.
I'm able to maintain a good temperature however the humidity is at about 30%. My question is - does this effect the plants in an adverse way?
Yes it does. You are trying to make teenagers out of newborns man. You would not put a newborn baby in the desert with a fan running would you?
In the pics you can see the leaves are fairly large and seem to be curling down (maybe they are too large)?
No I can't se that from these pics. The leaves look about normal for undeveloped leaves. The babies just can't quite get their arms all the way out yet. They are not curling they are getting ready to grow.
Several. You are asking questions and that is good!! The investment you have made in the 1000watt ligh shows you are serious about growing.
Remember what is going on here and what your seedlings need, kinda like a mother with a newborn baby. They need a warm, moist environment, a little sun light and some time to develope. They are trying to get legs (roots) strong enough to support some tremendous growth while trying to stretch there arms (branches) out to embrace the warm sunshine. They need to be able to retain some fluid and yet pee(transpire) to get rid of some things they have in them that they don't need, at least they don't have to shit.
At an rh of 30% their lungs will dry out, they will have trouble breathing. Their brains will tell the body they are not getting enough water, so shut down the peeing (transpiring) until we get more water. This can result in toxic build up and kill it which will really piss you off
. Maybe you are using a humidity dome and took it off...no you can't be our the rh would be higher than 30%. Young seedling need rh in the 70% range or higher msot say close to 100%. You can tell if its moist enough easily. Spray water on the dome and place it over them. If the water doesn't evaporate its moist enough. Or buy a humidifier.
The 1000watt light over five seedling with an air cooled fan is overkill. Most of the information I have read says to start with that light about three feet above your plants. The intensity of the light which comes from a bulb one foot long could kill them. Move it down an inch or so a day. Within a few weeks, not days, you should be able to get it down to the right height as the plants grow up to meet it. With the money you would save by not burning that monster for five seedlings, you could get a couple cfl's to supplement what ever floros you are using. If they aren't giving you the results you want you will want to supplement them when you need the monster for you two week old moist, warm, healthy seedling that are now teenagers.
You will need to cover the cubes to keep light from hitting the roots when they come out the sides and the tops to retard any algae build up.
Thanks!
