Enough CFL? Are my plants weak?

Most people say that for MAX output... You need your CFLs an inch or less from the plants. I am no expert... But the amount that the lumens dissipate over a 3 inch distance has to be trivial. I agree, you can't place them a foot away... because that is a significant distance. But a couple inches? To stop burning? I feel it would be beneficial.

wut ph level is ur water at when u feed? they look green and bushy, rilly short tho. im thinkin its a ph problem. i never have grown with cfls so im not sure if they are short jus they dnt have to reach cuz they wnt burn so easy

Mysticlown150 said:

Question how many cfl did you use? Also in the past I've had cfls close to my plants and all it did was dry out the soil and the plants. Last time I kept it 4 inches away and my plants came out nice and big. I don't agree with that cfl sitting on top of the plant thing.

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I actually have them sitting past the tip of the plants so they dont stretch. Cfl lights have most of their light output through there sides of the tube, NOT the tips. And the closer the better. I dont use soil, I have in the past but had limited success. I have a 20 gallon hydroponic ebb & flow system. Works awesome! Alot better than any soil I have used before, but its ALOT more work than soil but also you have more control. Also I found a way to actual "cool tube" cfls so I can actually have a few lights inches WITHIN the foliage so buds in the middle of the stalk fatten up. If you know how to use cfls you can get just as good as a yield as HID lamps. I use 26 cfls. Just might post up some pics of my setup soon.

I'd say pH problem locking up nutes and halting growth, but they do look very healthy...

Ok, my main problem was the heat, it was around 35 to 40 degrees celsius. Now I have taken the heat down, with a water based A/C unit. The plants started growing. My soil is around 6.5ph and I am giving them TNT complex from hesi but in very very low doses. The temps are now 29c with lights on and 25c with lights off, here is the latest pic


They are in a hombeox small, the pots are big enough for the plants, as I do not want them to be bigger than my grow room. There was a pest problem once but I made an organic mix and spareyd them off and installed a peststop after that which gives ultrasonic sound and electromagnetic waves.

If I started the flowering cycle in 4 days at 10th of July, do you think my yield will be little or would my plants double up in size, I can wait longer, but I would be really happy to get to flowering

kodomo said:

Ok, my main problem was the heat, it was around 35 to 40 degrees celsius. Now I have taken the heat down, with a water based A/C unit. The plants started growing. My soil is around 6.5ph and I am giving them TNT complex from hesi but in very very low doses. The temps are now 29c with lights on and 25c with lights off, here is the latest pic

They are in a hombeox small, the pots are big enough for the plants, as I do not want them to be bigger than my grow room. There was a pest problem once but I made an organic mix and spareyd them off and installed a peststop after that which gives ultrasonic sound and electromagnetic waves.

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hey my dude,you need to lower the ph PRONTO get the ph control kit from general hydroponics and lower the ph to about 5.8 AFTER you put the nutrients in,then i suggest using some aerogarden nutrients tabs to lock the ph in at 5.8 that way your plant absorb ALL of the nutrients....peace and smoke on

looking good man- but yes- if going to hydrop. then the ph should be around 5.5 and between a lil lower or higher.and if going to a flower stage then depending on your strain, your plants will grow 25-50 % bigger, so no worries, theyl all grow a lot bigger when flowering.

here is a photo of my setup from top, you can see 9 cfl s are now installed and 4 fluoros, I think its enough, I wont put 4 more fluoros, I believe it will be overkill...

why are you scared to move the lights closer?

they are close actually to the middle row, my cfl s are really long, there is max 4 cm s to the plants and I guess that is enough.

Ok, here are the latest pics
Any recommendations about flowering time, I am thinking of end of next week,
there are some yellowing of leaves but they are the ones below so I dont have to worry I guess?


top to bottom: special bagseed, white widow feminized, blueberry


top to bottom: blueberry, strawberry cough feminized

top to bottom: special bagseed, strawberry cough feminized, white widow feminized

nice what kinda soil?

jestacrazy said:

nice what kinda soil?

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It is Gartengold soil, the green pack, it is ph adjusted to 5.5/6.5
It is good soil, but next time I will put some small roks or perlite in it for the roots to have more oxygen.

what do you think I will end up with, if I started flowering tomorrow?
I would be happy to hear from experienced people, do you think I can get around 30 to 50grams per plant?

Try transplanting.
I see some bottom leaves turn yellow, this is a sign that you need to transplant

MaxBud said:

Try transplanting.
I see some bottom leaves turn yellow, this is a sign that you need to transplant

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You mean transplant to bigger pots?
Why would I need that?
I dont want to stress the plants and I dont have bigger space, do you mean the soil does not have the quality to sustain them anymore, or is it to make them bigger?

Ok at last a better photo

I have taken the lighting up so it wont effect the photo, lights are normally on top of plants

From other cfl grows your plants look normal. They will shoot up another foot in flowering. Every cfl grow I've seen has small plants. So I don't know what exactly you are expecting. Only thing I can say is try foxfarm next time around and see if that makes a difference in vegetative growth. You can put them in flower right now if you want.

I was expecting at least a meter long
If they grow a foot more they will be roughly 60cm
That would give me what? around 30gr?