What the heck?

[Mole2k4]

Ok guys, the newbster again, my plants are virtually dying left right and center! :(

setup some lil rods, come back, they have over stretched the rods and bent where I tied them up, and one of them has shrivelled up and burnt while I was at work.

So, I leave the light where it is, the flowers overstretch, and burn themselves.
I remove the light, they overstretch too much and the stem crushes under its own weight.

WHAT THE HECK CAN I DO?

Some new ones are growing, from the last of the seeds.

They are under a 60w bulb (strongest I have) the lamp was like 6 inches above the tops of the plants, I've moved it up now just in case.
I know the light I'm using is crappy for growing, but I'm broke till next thursday, any ideas ? :confused:
cheers guys
Saw I know your online!
HELP MEEEEEeeeeEEEEe :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
lol :p

[sawleaf]

Okay, give us some info. How old are the plants? How many plants are there? How often do you check up on them? What type of bulb is that 60watt? Also list the pot size, soil, fertilizer used, location specifics, temperature. From what you have posted I gather that there are a few plants getting almost nothing for light so they are constantly trying to get near it and are screwing themselves up. You need to upgrade your lighting ASAP. Those new seedlings are going to stretch again for the weak light source and fall over.

[Mole2k4]

plants are less than one week old, there are currently 6 plants there,
although im sure 2 are pretty much now dead, the top fell off one (no leaves and snapped stem near enough)
so there are 4 under the light
they are constantly checked except when I am at work / asleep, as they are currently based in my living room.
the 60 watt bulb is unfortunately a standard light bulb, the 30w fluro i had was useless.
the pots are 3 inches high, by 3 and a half wide, soil is miracle gro potting soil, no fert used, as there is 4 weeks worth of food in the soil apparently.
location : on a shelf, now about 12 inches from the light source (60w bulb) which is directly above it. temp is about 30c roughly, as I dont have a thermom right now.
I'd say your guess-timate (cross between a guess and estimate) is spot on, the lighting is SHITE, and the heat was making the soil bone dry!

[DirtyLinus]

the flouro would be far better than the normal lighbulb

[sawleaf]

Okay it's good that you read the soil/fert bag, a lot of people will add fertilizers to that mix and burn the plants. A real quick, but only temporary fix would be to go to the nearest hardware store and buy a 42watt or higher compact flourecent or a circular flourescent tube to screw into that light socket. This will imediately improve the lighting and should stop the stretching, you will be able to get it closer, because the flouros put off a lot less heat, but it will still burn the leaves if it touchs directly. You must work fast, because those seedlings grow pretty quick as you have already seen. Once you have the lighting fixed for now, you will want to plan on an upgrade, because the larger the plants the more light they will need. :)

[Mole2k4]

when you say circular fluroscent, do you mean an energy saving bulb?
I'm not sure what you mean by this, unless you mean a fluro, that is like a big circle or an energy saver.

buying a normal flo, is out of the choice, I don't have any money for the fitment until next thursday, which by then I'll be gettin a HPS lamp.

So for now should I leave it under the 60w bulb?
put it under the 30w mini fluro?
or put it in a windowsill?

[HobbsifeR]

buy an actual grow bulb, their at like hardware stores i got one for 5 bucks
but my plant hasent really grown much over the last week its stayed the same size hasent streched at all and i was usin a normal light bulb untill yesterday but im hopeing for an improvement

[sawleaf]

I meant the actual round floro light and an energy saving one. Don't buy a grow bulb, they are not very good. They may have certain spectrums, but the lumen output is very weak. Get a full spectrum compact flourecent. Or just a standard 42watt or higher compact energy saving flourecent will do the trick. :)

[Mole2k4]

well I'm screwed, no money till next thursday.
might be able to borrow some cash, i dunno, but I dont want some 4/5/6 foot fluro light just for this, bit of a waste if you ask me.
unfortunately saw, dunno where I can get a fluroscent that goes into a normal bulb based lamp, maybe its a us thing?
:(

[sawleaf]

Try the spiral energy saving bulbs, they are the same size as regular bulbs pretty much, but the light output is much greater. I'm sure they must have them there also.

[Mole2k4]

only energy saving ones I can think of are like
_____
I I <------ top bit
I----I
II II
II II
II II <------ long bit
U U

OK crap drawing, but the top bit has a screw attachment on, and plugs into a normal socket.

the 2 long bits are tubing, that curve down from one side, then up, so in essence is a semi circle or a loop or something.
would that be suitable?

[sawleaf]

Sorry I am lost now. lol

[Mole2k4]

heres 2 pictures of the lamps I mean.
Searching google. I saw a pic of what u must mean, and this is pretty similar, except it doesnt have that wiggly bit, instead it goes up and then repeats.

[Mole2k4]

put 2 of the new seedlings under the 30w fluro for the time being.
we'll see how they look in the morning
although am sure they will have stretched as well.
:(
ones tied up under the 60w an looks alright i guess, but basically im fucked till i get some proper lighting.
someone said to me than HPS cant be used for the veggin stage, is this correct?
heres what I was planning on doing in my closest, when I have the cash.
I'm guessing the basics can be bought this month (600 HPS + possibly a 400w fluro)
the smaller HPS wouldnt be till the month after at the earliest.

[sawleaf]

heres 2 pictures of the lamps I mean.
Searching google. I saw a pic of what u must mean, and this is pretty similar, except it doesnt have that wiggly bit, instead it goes up and then repeats.

Yeah those pictures are compact flourecents, but the ones here screw into lightbulb sockets.

[Mole2k4]

yeah, those are bayonet fixings.
pretty certain we can get them in screw caps as well
saw, do me a favour, check out this site.
http://www.growshopalien.com/onlineshop/
planning on getting the 250 + 600, 250 for vegging / growing
600 for flowering.
what you reckon, the plan for the designs are the last picture I upped.
look forward to your opinion mate.
thanks for the help by the way
Moley.

[sawleaf]

Wow looks like you have everything seriously planned out! Sounds like a good plan with the lighting and those prices on the website seem pretty cheap, but I am not really a lighting expert. I grow with special compact flourecents, becasue of the heat and ventilation factor. How many plants are you planning to grow with that setup of yours?

[Mole2k4]

well, was planning 10, now 2 are dead, so 8.
obviously one will be a mother and in constant vegging stage.
so I will clone from her.

will probably have 10 plants on the go during one period. meaning a constant supply of fresh herb, rather than one big harvest every 2 months or so.
I know vent will be a problem, but got some big fans to help with that.
I am quite compitent (sp?) at stuff like that, just lighting is a major pain in the bum to me.

[sawleaf]

Yeah it can be a pain in the ass, but it is very important, you know this. Good luck with your setup. Keep us posted on your results. :)

[Mole2k4]

ok bought a energy saving bulb, looks like the wiggly one, but its encased with softened glass.

"Warm white" 2700k
1151 Lumen
20 Watt -<power of 100w though>
To be honest, its pretty damn bright! gonna need to get me some cool looking sunglasses when I get a 600w! :cool:
Also, got home, and SOMEHOW some greenfly was on my smallest plant :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: so I killed it!
but now that part of the plants yellow
:( what the heck?
then again, it could of started to get burnt by my 30w fluro, although I doubt it.
On a side not, 4 didnt seed at all, major pain in the bum, seeing as I have to pray that these 4 I have left will survive, seeing as from 10 seeds::

2 are dead.
4 didnt grow.
2 are stretched
and 2 are really over stretched!
great grow! :D