First Grow

They all also make self ballasted 24" t5s. much better than the 17w light in your link. each one is 24w. 2280 lumens 6400K. also have 3000K bulbs available for flowering. trust me, they are worth the money. I use them as supplementary only, but wow, what a difference over cfls.

I have digitally ballasted t5's, they rock even more, the lumens were rated above 2280 per bulb, its a smart ballast and runs two 24inch 22watt t5's at the same time so you can have one red and one blue flourescent for a mixed spectrum. Buy the bulbs on the internet, grolux bulbs seemed good but found better ones from aquarium stores and the internet. Over here the freshwater daylight flourescent for coldwater fish is perfect for veg and spot on the veg kelvin spectrum and the tropical fish bulb is spot on the flowering light spectrum.

I rucking love flourescents!

risca said:

They all also make self ballasted 24" t5s. much better than the 17w light in your link. each one is 24w. 2280 lumens 6400K. also have 3000K bulbs available for flowering. trust me, they are worth the money. I use them as supplementary only, but wow, what a difference over cfls.

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My box is literally 24" wide. Maybe an inch or two more. I damn near ripped the reflective plastic on the side off when I was mounting the lights. I am just going to use this box temporarily, I'm working on building a much bigger box to use for flowering and shit. I know the 17w sucks that's why I went and bought the new CFLs. I am going to add more CFL lights this weekend and eventually I'll just use this box for seedlings and clones and such.

I'll post some updated pics on the plant in a little bit. Really shows how fast it's grown since I put the CFLs in on saturday

Seems like you might have temp problems with all them cfl's. They make flourescent bulbs for plants/fish in those sizes and wattages. 24inch is 60cm, try having the 24inch flourescents at an angle from one corner to the opposite other, you will find that this is longer than 24inches. Cfl's suck for yeild per watt flowering. Cfl's light little areas wheras flourescents light the whole area. Good luck

Update. This is two weeks from seed being planted:



How's it looking?

Notice the back leaf is twisting weird. I've been looking it up but keep finding different answers. Is it a Mg deficiency?

It is Mg or pH generally, Mg and calcium help buffer pH in acidic soils. Have you got a pH tester? Plant still looks a little small to be Mg deficient but i would administer some cal/mag or epson salts with touch of calcium and see if new growth stabalises. What is the ppm of your tap water or the water you water the plant with? RO water and distilled water contain little calcium and magnesium.

If it is mag the leaves will start to cup, when given cal/mag the purpling on the stem and stalks should disappear and new growth will be green.

Kingrow1 said:

It is Mg or pH generally, Mg and calcium help buffer pH in acidic soils. Have you got a pH tester? Plant still looks a little small to be Mg deficient but i would administer some cal/mag or epson salts with touch of calcium and see if new growth stabalises. What is the ppm of your tap water or the water you water the plant with? RO water and distilled water contain little calcium and magnesium.

If it is mag the leaves will start to cup, when given cal/mag the purpling on the stem and stalks should disappear and new growth will be green.

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That must be it cause I have been using distilled water. I am going to buy Ph test kit tomorrow.

Reverse osmosis water and distilled water are for people with pH and ec testers. I would be sure this is part if not the whole problem. Tap water or mineral water will work better for you. It can't need much else in soil at this stage. RO and distilled water have big pH fluctuations and are not good this way either.

Why the Ro and distilled water? Tap water is usually fine, mineral water better.

Kingrow1 said:

Reverse osmosis water and distilled water are for people with pH and ec testers. I would be sure this is part if not the whole problem. Tap water or mineral water will work better for you. It can't need much else in soil at this stage. RO and distilled water have big pH fluctuations and are not good this way either.

Why the Ro and distilled water? Tap water is usually fine, mineral water better.

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Because everything I had seen up to this point said that tap water was bad... Do they sell mineral water in jugs at most stores?

My grocery list for things this weekend is: ph test kits, ph up/down, nutes, bigger pot, better intake fan, probably 2 more CFL lights. Apparently some mineral water too. You think I need anything else?

Up to you with the mineral water but it is an option over tap and ro water, please read threads and weigh up the pros and cons of it, i can get pH 6.7 mineral water with good cal, mag and potassium in it. Understand that ro water will pull the nutes outa the soil into the water because it has none, this is simple osmosis. I will post a thread on water, it taught me a thing or two and covers ro, mineral and distilled water as well as all tap waters. A pro grower doc started the thread and might answer questions now and again if he is ever on.

Link-

https://www.rollitup.org/general-marijuana-growing/294579-water-most-essential-compound.html

If you haven't read it it should clear some things about water up for you, just read the first few pages the rest is just comments saying how good it is. Good luck dude.

I have never had problems with tap water, but I always let it sit out at least 48 hrs in a bucket to get the chlorine out.