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1. What is the best light to get for around 6 plants
2. How far do you want the light from the plants
3. Don't understand the PH balance at all, please explain. What level should you keep it at?
4. Whats the best way to start the seeds?
5. How to transfer into bigger pots?
I appreciate the time to answer all these questions. You all kick ass
1. To get anything decent, you want a min. of 50W per.sq.ft of light. I don't know your space though, so you'll have to do the math :)Quote:
Originally Posted by dingobaby
2. Depends on the lights. Hps bulbs give off heat, big time, so you want to keep them about 3ft, or more, from the tops. Mh, I'm not sure, never used one. CFL's/floros give off very little heat. I use them and I get them as close as an inch to the tops(with a fan blowing on there).
3. I don't mess with PH, never had the problem actually, but nothing over 7ph, nothing below 5.5ph.
4. The best way? There are a few way. I use the paper towle method. Out of all the 12 seeds I've sprouted over time, only 1 has not popped. Take a small dinner plate, or saucer plate, then take 2 layers of paper towels, soak them good. Put your seeds on the wet PT, take one more layer of PT, place over top of the seeds, soak again. There should be no sitting water, but the PT's should be soaked to the bone. Put them on top of your fridge, or in a room at room temp. Light or dark, doesn't matter, but they don't require any light for sprouting. Check on them every 12hrs or so and re-wet when needed. The key to getting a seed to sprout is to always keep the PT wet. NEVER let it dry out, that will kill the seed. The seed needs moisture so the embryo can swell up inside of the shell, eventually cracking the seed open and growing.
5. You transfer into bigger pots when your plants have a strong, healthy root system. One way to transplant, is to let the soil dry out, and GENTLY pull up on the stem, and if it is a good enough root system, the whole dirt piece should come out in one big clump, roots and all. If the soil crumbles, the root system wasn't strong enough yet. No big deal, but your plant will go through some shock. The less, the better.
Good luck.
You da man. Say you have 6 plants all in little pots, do you transfer them all into 1 5 gallon pot? or seperate pots?
1. You shouldn't go by number of watts per square foot, but rather lumens per square foot. I've heard around 2,000 lumens per square foot minimum for decent growth. You may want much more than that for optimal growth. Be sure to check the number of lumens (amount of light) your bulb will put out as well as the wattage and adjust your ventilaton accordinly to avoid overheating your plants.Quote:
Originally Posted by dingobaby
2. A simple way to check if you have enough distance between your plant and your light is just to stick you hand where the top of the plant is and see if the light burns, if it does, the light is too low! raise it. What burns you will burn your plants as well.
Hope this helps.