It was only for about an hour...

[Beautifulkayos]

First time growing and I think I screwed up.

My setup is a basic, simple, stuff from walmart type.

I started with 4-150W CFL's on 4 plants

They were growing healthy for about 2-3 weeks.

I upped it to 8-150W CFL bulbs and within an hour my plants were wilted and curled.

Did I over expose them? Too much light? Too much heat?
Is this heat stress? Does anyone think they will recover?

Any suggestions or comments will be helpful.

Picture's are included

Beautifulkayos Reviewed by Beautifulkayos on 06-22-2010. It was only for about an hour... First time growing and I think I screwed up. My setup is a basic, simple, stuff from walmart type. I started with 4-150W CFL's on 4 plants They were growing healthy for about 2-3 weeks. I upped it to 8-150W CFL bulbs and within an hour my plants were wilted and curled. Rating: 5

[CovertCarpenter]

...as someone who has been the victim of some unfortunate gardening accidents of late, yah, it kinda looks like you cooked 'em, or at least some of 'em.

Get a nice fine mist of distilled water on 'em as soon as you can*, make sure they're watered, but not over-, and keep a normal lighting cycle as well as some air circulation (but not too much!), if they're still 'in there', they should show new/green growth soon. If not, they're now visiting that Big Garden in the Sky.

There looks like at least one that might make it, mon. Baby that one, and whichever ones show any hope.

Mehupe. I feel for ya, bro. the little ones can be soooo delicate.

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* Some might also suggest the addition of Sup3rThr!v3 or one of its knockoffs, as well as a wee bit o' wetting agent, buuuut, be gentle... Sometimes a plant one thought was dead comes back unexpectedly...
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[THContent]

I have a good feeling he will be alright, the parts of the leaves if any that haven't been cooked, will help with producing new growth, just make sure you keep your lights a good 6 inches away to be safe. Airflow would not hurt either in your case. Get a small fan in there to help circulate. Too much light with CFL's is not even close to likely, heating, of course is the problem. get a hygrometer in there too to help you regulate and maintain humidity and temps.

[MRDiff]

Although I agree you cant have too many lumens, I vegged for the first 2 weeks with 3 26 watt bulbs during my CFL grow for 3 sprouts, and they grew perfectly with them at 6 inches away.

Part that worries me is you say these plants are two to three weeks old. They dont look nearly that old at all. More like one week at most. So obviously something is stunting their growth. What kind of soil is that? Is that foil in there (if so remove that). I would also move the CFLs a little further off.

[Beautifulkayos]

Man, that was more of a response than I thought I would get.

I put a few spritzes of distilled water on them right after I removed 4 of the 8 bulbs.
Not over-watering them at all.

I am keeping them on the same light cycle per Carpenter's suggestion.

As for the soil that I am using, I am using Miracle Grow moisture control, which I have recently found out is not what I need to be using. I know now that I need an organic.

And yes, that is foil. Around where I am, mylar is knda hard to come by. So I have to make do with what I have. If you have any other suggestions, please let me know.

And I misjudged the age. They are roughly 1.5 weeks old.

[MRDiff]

Well foil is worse than nothing as it allows for heat spots, which could no way help your situation. I just painted my cab white. So I would do away with that asap. Good luck

[Rusty Trichome]

It's not necessarily a lumens issue, but a heat issue. However, the more lumens (bulbs) you add, the more heat they'll have to deal with. (It's not the increase in lights that did 'em in, it was likely the heat)

Tiz overkill using that many bulbs for a couple of seedlings. Two would work fine for now.
Usable light from CFL's only extends about 6-8 inches, maximum. By the time the light goes from the bulb, hits the Mylar or foil, and reflects back to the plant...the light has traveled too far, and is powerless to promote photosynthesis. In other words...if using the standard 23w or 26w CFL's, Panda Film, Mylar or similar products are unnecessary and a big waste of time and money.

Yes, you can overdo it with lumens. There is a point of diminishing returns, and damage to leaf tissue is possible.

Organic is way over rated, and usually much more expensive. Almost any peat-based potting mix is fine, including Miracle Grow. It does take a little getting used to, but this is the case with any new product a gardener uses, and any product a new gardener uses. Don't let myth and inaccurate information cloud your decisions.

I'd plant a few more seeds, just in case they don't pull through.

[CovertCarpenter]

...If you can keep 'em green, they should pull thru.

Agreed with the organic thing. Nice if you can get it cheap, but don't waste money when something 'generic' will do. And peat'n'perlite don't git much cheaper.

For little ones, one or two CFLs will do. 6400/6500k is good, but IMHO 4100k totally rocks for seedlings and little ones. Once they're a bit bigger, add some 6400/6500k colour, and see how they leap. And when they're very little, too much light can hurt 'em. They'll let you know when they want you to turn up the light a bit, or start (slowly!) introducing 'em to the sun outside...

Hope they recover!