Lights too close?

Hey there.. Im using 4- 75 watt CFLs.. 2- 6500K, and 2- 2800K..
Im wondering if the lights are too close, because the perlite is starting to change from white to a golden color..
Its not hot, and the pots with my seedlings are 12 inches away from the light..
Seems far enough, to me.. And from what I know is standard.
Im just wondering if its the heat, or just the spectrum thats turning my perlite goldish in color..
So could this even hurt, or effect my seedlings?
thx

if you got or get a good fan blowing the heat upwards you can move the lights or atleast 2 of them 4-6 inches closer to your plants....the perlite exposed to water and air will turn golden

perlite just does that...

its ok

but i'd get the lights closer... 12 inches for cfls???

no

try 4 for now... =]

take care friend, and best of luck with the grow

ok thx I had them much closer, but I was afraid the perlite was a sign of lights burning..
I thought maybe the 6500 was maybe a bit too far blue, and maybe like UV light.. Thx for the speedy replys

no thats a perfect veg spectrum...

and i like that you have the warm spectrum bulbs mixed in there too

i didn't notice they were 75w cfls though... so i wouldn't recomend 4 inch... 8 would be my suggestion then...

i mean... i keep my 400w hps about 6-8 inches away... its in a DIY cooltube mind you but that should still put things in perspective...

pics of the op would be nice =]

Yeah, well Im in Asia, and found them at a local hardware store.. I was happy, since they were the largest ones I could get, without mail ordering

If they are only 75w output (about 18w in reality), then you could put them much closer (1 to 2 inches away).
I have some seedlings under 2x 175w CFLs (actual 35w each) and they were doing well at 3" away. Yesterday, I lowered the bulbs to just 1" away, and they really took off! They grew visibly in just 8 hours! The soil temps are around 25c with no other heating than the bulbs.

Here's my main plant @ 1 week old (20/12/07)


and again 2 days later (22/12/07) after I lowered the light to 1" away for 1 day:



I wish I'd had the bulbs that close from the start, my plants would have been twice as big by now.

no they are like 3 times the size of a normal cfl.. Im sure they are 75 watts..
Cost me about 17 USD$.. very nice looking sprout.. Mine still hasnt move one bit since it first came up.. IDK wtf is going on.. How often is watering needed?

they like ignoring you i have a 100 watt cfl that things like a foot long prolly like a 12000 w eqiv even thou its useless