Submitted for Consideration for FAQ Inclusion: Plant Damage

CFL Breakage Freckles

2 weeks ago, I broke a CFL by dopping it onto the growshelf while dinking with the lights. The bulb shattered, sending glass fragments, mercury vapor, and interior bulb coating flying. I immediately closed the door and switched on the exhaust fan. After letting it suck for an hour, I cleaned up the glass fragments as best I could. Some microscopic ones are undoubtedly still in the soil.

The plant is in week 3.5 of bud cycle, the CFL bulb broke during week 2.

The leaves started freckling the next day. There appears to be no damage to the plant, other than the localized whatever this is, and the plant is budding merrily away. The freckled area is consistent with the "splash" area of the dropped bulb.

scary....i'm sure it's fine....i saw a grow room with some old ass ballasts there was brown goo leaking out of one of them into the 10'x10' bin of soil. i told the guy that the ballasts contained p.c.b's ...poly chlorinated byfeanils.... and the p.c.b's were getting in the soil and ending up in his smoke. the guy kinda shrugged and said he would get some new ballasts after the grow was over...now that is real scary......

Have you washed off the leafs yet with just Ph clean water?

If not it's a good idea to do that soon. You don't want to smoke what came out of that bulb.

Wash it off and show pictures of the healthy plant later in the cycle so they can see that you properly corrected the broken bulb problem.

That would make it an FAQ I would think.