California Orange Bud CFL grow

[syde00]

So, i orignally started this grow log over here: http://boards.cannabis.com/indoor-gr...li-orange.html

but i realized it was in the wrong place and the mod i asked to move it never answered :wtf:

so i just thought i'd start a new thread here and link back to the old one.

today the 4 of them are on day 10 and things are going pretty good except a couple minor things... probably do a pic update tomorrow!

:jointsmile:

syde00 Reviewed by syde00 on 04-26-2009. California Orange Bud CFL grow So, i orignally started this grow log over here: http://boards.cannabis.com/indoor-growing/170218-first-grow-cab-cfls-cali-orange.html but i realized it was in the wrong place and the mod i asked to move it never answered :wtf: so i just thought i'd start a new thread here and link back to the old one. today the 4 of them are on day 10 and things are going pretty good except a couple minor things... probably do a pic update tomorrow! :jointsmile: Rating: 5

[BeFree]

Looking pretty good. Got any kind of fan circulating air, or are you just moving air through atm? careful on the CFL's, you may end up spending more on little lights than you could have on a single 250hps. CFLs also add a little length to the flowering. HID's just promote flowering and growth altogether much quicker.

beSafe:jointsmile:

edit:: get paper plates, cut holes in the middle of them. Cut 1 slit from the edge to hole and slip it over the top of the pots upside down. Should reflect well and keep moisture retained in the pot.

[syde00]

Looking pretty good. Got any kind of fan circulating air, or are you just moving air through atm? careful on the CFL's, you may end up spending more on little lights than you could have on a single 250hps. CFLs also add a little length to the flowering. HID's just promote flowering and growth altogether much quicker.

beSafe:jointsmile:

edit:: get paper plates, cut holes in the middle of them. Cut 1 slit from the edge to hole and slip it over the top of the pots upside down. Should reflect well and keep moisture retained in the pot.

yep, there is a a 5 or 6" diameter fan in the ceiling of the cab with some ducting attached to it at the moment to pull air from a little closer down near the plants, i have a few more of them, i;m thinking about adding a second one... it was very out-of-season warm here today and i noticed the temp inside the cab went up quite a bit with that... gave me a bit of an idea as to what to expect in a couple months when its like that everyday

I hear you about the CFLs... i think it probably would of been cheaper for me to go HPS... but i;'ve got too much invested in it now, and at least i can use the CFLs around the house later on when they are not in use.

as for the paper plates... that is an excelent idea! my dryness problem hasn;t been much of a problem lately... but i was getting a little pissed lately when i noticed some algae growing on the perlite... the paper plates should help kill that off

[syde00]

Alright heres a Day 11 pic update.. cab arrangement has been changed again a bit... liking this alot better.

I also added the paper plates on-top of the soil that BeFree suggested :thumbsup: this should actually do alot of things:

1. keep temps around the plants down a bit (white plates reflect light, instead of the black soil absorbing it and converting to heat)
2. help keep moisture in the soil
3. reflect other-wise wasted light back up at the plants

win-win-win :jointsmile:

plant #2 (pic 2) still looks a little crappy from when i think i scorched it a little being too close to the lights, new growth looks good though.

i've noticed a couple of small spots on some of the leafs like you can see in pic #1... is this something i need to worry about? i don;t see any other signs of pests anywhere so i;m not sure what could be causing that?

[BeFree]

Looking good. Nice green growth. :jointsmile: But the small yellow/brown spots could be from a little splash of water or just because it's the second set of true leaves and just die off as -hopefully- she matures. Like getting your adult teeth, first the young ones must fall out. The upward leaf taco'ing means something, I'm just not too sure. But I am certain it's not too good. Downward taco curled leafs means salt build up. Hopefully someone can help ya out.

beSafe:jointsmile:

[syde00]

ah the water spots totally explains it!

i know i have seen them with big drops of water on the leafs after watering them and i didn;t really think much of it to get that off... but now that you mention that, i realize the drops of water was focus'ing the light like a magnifying glass and burned a hole in them! oops! probably happened when i took them out of the cab and put them on the inside of the patio door to catch some intense afternoon sun... i hope they'll forgive me

[jakezking]

syde00, your plants look really good. Cali Orange - I can't wait to see the hair! How many CFLs do you have, and have you noticed any heat associated with them? As all of my grows have been outside, I'm not nearly as familiar with indoor growing; 1 day when I have a bit of cash, I want to move indoors - at least during the winter months; and, when that day comes, I hope to know more of what I want/need. I've always read CFLs eliminate much in the way of heat issues, but wondered if that was tempered by the number of CFLs.

Take good care.

[syde00]

hey jakezking, thanks for stopping in :jointsmile:

for the lights... right whats in there is:

6x 23watt (1600 lumens @ 6500K) - these are the ones in the parabolic refelectors
4x 29watt (2200 lumens @ 2700K)

they are arranged that each plant is basically dedicated a 6500K bulb + a 2700K bulb and then there is 1 more 6500K bulb per 2 plants

I was planning to veg off the 6500Ks on their own, but then i started reading about people mixing it up a bit... i had the parts and the bulbs... so i figured i'd give it a try.

when i move onto flowering i'll be switching to 6x 29watt 2700K + 4x 42watt 2600 lumens @ 2700K bulbs

this has been working pretty well so far.. i keep the lights as close as i can, and this seems to be helping with keeping them bushy even though its a sativa dom hybrid... i haven;t measured but i'd say they are still under 6" in height and i can see the some leaf growth already that is the start of the 5th node.

edit: i totally forgot about the heat issues you mentioned lol... there certainly is some heat build up from the CFLs... i couldn;t compare it to a HPS because i've never used one... but considering from what i've read you need to keep an HPS about 20" away from the plants otherwise you'll burn them... well my heat problems seem pretty minor in comparison as my CFLs generally sit around the 2" away mark as best i can.

i do have a 5 or 6" industrial fan in the top and passive air intake at the bottom... i think i'll be adding a second fan to the roof though as I know heat is going to become a bigger problem in a month or 2

[syde00]

as for a day 12 update...

plants seem a tad on the droopy side today, not sure what the deal is, the soil still feels moist so I don;t think they are in need of water...

i added a small desk fan into the cab about 30 minutes ago to help get the air circulating inside

[syde00]

hrm... this droopyness seems to be getting worse.. some of the leaves look like they are curling under themselves. i popped the paper plates off the top to check if they needed watering and they still feel moist, certainly not dried out... i've been trying to find some information as to what it might be and it seems it could be:

1. under-watering
2. over-watering
3. magnesium deficiency (but i don;t think its this one)


the pic is of the one that is the worst, which sadly is also my favorite one!

I have not watered them since Friday afternoon... and they were fine up until sometime today... i had been watering every other day before... but Sunday they just didn;t feel like they needed it... and they don;t really today either... i think maybe just the paper plates are making the water near the top evaporate much slower than the water gets sucked up from below by the plant... so logically i am thinking under-watering... but the fact that the soil still feels most also makes it seem like over-watering?

anybody have any thoughts? it isn;t a huge problem yet, so i don;t really want to post about it in the plant problems forum just yet, as i think its something simple...

maybe i should try just giving one of them water and see if it perks up?