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 ?
cheers guys
Saw I know your online!
HELP MEEEEEeeeeEEEEe
lol

Mole2k4 Reviewed by Mole2k4 on 07-07-2004. What the heck? 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 Rating: 5

[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.