18W..now replace it to 20w..the biggest i've got around the house now..
i have a HPS 250W but it's too eraly no ?
That's entirely due to the lighting. - Nothing else -
If you're going to use fluors to start them off, get a 6700k (kelvin scale) light bulb (I use 3) then when they're about a week and a half old I switch to MH then finish off with HPS. This is the absolute best combination of light. Hps will burn your little seedlings even more than MH would but since it's a 250W... I'm not entirely sure how you'd go about it since I've only ever used 400W HPS/MH with conversion bulbs so I don't have to get a new fixture.
The 6700k 21 watt lights go for about $10 each at home depot and it's worth it.
Again, make sure it's 6700k above anything else. Get at least 2 of them... that's how I started, I just added a 3rd 6700k fixture to my baby grow box to help em pop up a little faster.
Using only MH or only HPS through the entire grow won't get you the highest yield but regardless... it can be done.
Make sure they are 2-4 inches from the fluors at all times. (with 6700k 21W CFL lights)
Price - $20 (for a bundle of 2)
Remember though... every dollar you spend you'll be tempted to spend another 50 cents on something completely useless when it comes to growing :] But with me... I spent over $1,500 my first grow... now I grow better with under $200 worth of equipment.
I have had the same problem when I first strted with seedling first off I found when there's allot of static electricity in the air it tends to make them lanky and stretchy, secondly u have to make sure your using cool white colour cfls it realy makes a big difference and get the light no less than 2 inches being furthest I kept mine at about 1 1/2 inches from the cfl at all times. Also if they keep stretching and none of these tricks help u just use thin metal wiring to hold up the seedlings untill they get sturdy enough to transplant deeper and just burry some of the stem to shorten it.
