Cfl Proximity To Foliage

dragonofweed

dragonofweed

Active Member
Yes, and keep an eye on it daily. It's not uncommon for a plant to grow a couple inches in a 24 hour period. That is one of the drawbacks of CFL's. You have to keep them close and if the leaves touch the bulb, they will scorch. It isn't going to do much more than disfigure the plant, but with a little care, you can keep it green, and not burnt.
 
misshestermoffitt

misshestermoffitt

New Member
When they are just tiny sprouts how close should the light be? Mine just popped out of the soil today, I"m putting them outside during the day and bringing them in for some additional CFL in the evening.
 
dragonofweed

dragonofweed

Active Member
I've always done my sprouts the same way, one inch away. If you don't have the lights close it encourages stretching, and you get weak stemmed, top heavy plants. Again, it is critical to observe the progress daily, so you don't have your leaves burned (especially crucial with your first sets of leaves, as they are the building block for your plant's progression, and if they get burned...you're screwed.
 
misshestermoffitt

misshestermoffitt

New Member
I've been keeping the lights about an inch away. I check them often, they are right here in my office. They seem to like the 6hrs per day they are outside, but as soon as they get a little bigger and it becomes more obvious what they are they won't be going out anymore :(
 
inforce

inforce

Well-Known Member
Yah I just finished a CFL grow, all males, but grew em to 36 inches tall. Put on 250 HPS for flowering but I do still have the CFLS and I like the way they vegg the plants. 1 inch is perfect. They will stretch easy under cfl's if you dont keep an eye and the right distance away. They grow alot too.. inches a day is possible, I've seen it!

I may use my CFLS in addition to HPS during flowering to see some more lighting. Come by and check my grow out and keep stoppin' by.
 
inforce

inforce

Well-Known Member
CFLS should be around the plant, 1 -2 inches away from leaves. For up to 42 watters.. I dunno about anything above that. Just speaking from experience. And you do need to adjust em like mad.. I am talking maybe 2-3 times a day even. Rotate and adjust for optimal lighting!
 
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chrome9k

Well-Known Member
What is the best way to construct a hood, or structure similar to the lighting system on the first page...

u think i can just get some 2x4 dril some holes, then attach a power strip to the 2x4 and suspend it on top of the plants.... or

should i contruct(or attempt to construct) the type of system that LastFrontier has in his avatar in the other sticky threads?
 
ritual

ritual

Active Member
I had my 42 watt CFL about an inch away from the tops of my plants and scorched them both. Backed it up to three inches just to be safe. Check em twice a day, so adjustments can be made.

You can see this is where I just noticed the burn and lifted the lights a hair. Sorry for the crappy pics, iphone ain't the best camera but it's easy and fast...
 

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Dr.Chronic

Dr.Chronic

Well-Known Member
ritual said:
I had my 42 watt CFL about an inch away from the tops of my plants and scorched them both. Backed it up to three inches just to be safe. Check em twice a day, so adjustments can be made.

You can see this is where I just noticed the burn and lifted the lights a hair. Sorry for the crappy pics, iphone ain't the best camera but it's easy and fast...
Click to expand...
If i were you i would get that foil out of there. You dont even have the light close enough to burn the lpant. I have a 105 Watt CFL sitting less than an inch away from my plant and its not burnt. Replace that foil with mylar and you wont see any more burning. The only way a cfl is going to burn your plant is if its ACTUALLY touching.
 
ritual

ritual

Active Member
So it was a heat problem caused by holding the heat in with a cone of foil, rather than the direct heat of the lamp? Interesting. I'll revise my hood embed a pic or two in this post.

Alright, I revised the setup and added pictures. Instead of a cone of foil, I now have a 'tent', with each end open. If the problem was heat getting trapped, it should breath a bit easier. I lifted the rig to make it easier to take pics, and lowered the bulbs right down "within centimeters" after I was done.
 

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chrome9k

Well-Known Member
to be honest with you i would eliminate the entire aluminum foil deal....

in reflectiveness, the aluminum foil lags far behind white plastic and way far behind reflective mylar

my cfl setup for my seedlings was almost identical to yours and i put mylar on only half of the structure, allowing an entire half for ventilation...

u cannot enclose the entire perimeter of the grow space in aluminum foil... its still going to be way to hot....

just have lights + alot of ventilation = happy.... dont even worry about reflectiveness just yet till your plants look better
 
Dr.Chronic

Dr.Chronic

Well-Known Member
chrome9k said:
to be honest with you i would eliminate the entire aluminum foil deal....

in reflectiveness, the aluminum foil lags far behind white plastic and way far behind reflective mylar

my cfl setup for my seedlings was almost identical to yours and i put mylar on only half of the structure, allowing an entire half for ventilation...

u cannot enclose the entire perimeter of the grow space in aluminum foil... its still going to be way to hot....

just have lights + alot of ventilation = happy.... dont even worry about reflectiveness just yet till your plants look better
Click to expand...
Chrome is right bro. You need to do away with the foil and get some emergency blankets or mylar. Foil will give you and has shown you more trouble than what its worth.
 
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chrome9k

Well-Known Member
lol i love chronic hes such a supporter in my rollitup life haha

i was reading a book a while ago and i just took it out.... some common misconceptions in using reflective materials are 1. mirrors 2. aluminum foil

just to finalize the ruling on aluminum foil
 
Dr.Chronic

Dr.Chronic

Well-Known Member
chrome9k said:
lol i love chronic hes such a supporter in my rollitup life haha

i was reading a book a while ago and i just took it out.... some common misconceptions in using reflective materials are 1. mirrors 2. aluminum foil

just to finalize the ruling on aluminum foil
Click to expand...
Thanks chrome, you should stop by my journal when you get the chance i could use your 2 cents my friend. Oh yeah, still waiting on updated pics from your hell in a handbasket... what's the dealeo
 
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chrome9k

Well-Known Member
there are no more pics from hell in a handbasket.... thank god


plants r healed... updated pics u just saw yesterday in my cfl hydro thread :)):)
 
ritual

ritual

Active Member
Thanks for the advice, I'll keep my eyes peeled for mylar or some nice flat white poly plastic. I looked in my CRC handbook and it says aluminum is only about 75% reflective to (what it calls) "incandescent" light, I guess they mean visible light. I'll grab some nice bright printer paper until i find something more appropriate!!
 
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