Help with cfl bulbs! New to growing

[kingmayfair]

Doing my first grow in a small cubboard and have 1 30watt-117watt cfl, 2700k, 1700 lumens on 1 plant
jst looking for some advice on if this will be enough light to grow 1 plant i have another light the same would i be better to put that in with it aswell or would that do

thanks for the help

 

[Lgormley]

Definitely add more light. 1 light won't be nearly enough to finish out with. I would say use AT LEAST 4 of those bulbs

 

[kingmayfair]

Cheers for that lgromley will add the other one and will defo be gettin more soon as ha

 

[Hosebomber]

You didn't mention how much area your grow space has, so I can't give you an exact number. However, you should probably read over the link in my signature. It will give you some basic info on lighting and how much you need.

 

[kingmayfair]

it is in a 1ft by 1ft n hight is about 3ft i can make it longer to about 2.5ft x 1.5ft could you tell me if you think i could top this plant the now as well lol nobodys answering my post about it ha

 

[Hosebomber]

You are very early in the veg stage. First change that 2700 Kelvin bulb out for the highest Kelvin rating you can find. The highest you will find for general house lighting is around 6K. If you look at fish supply places you might be able to find a 10K. The kelvin system works like this. The higher the number the more blue the light. the lower the number the more red. red causes stretching in plants. It's a shade avoidance response. You have a very low ceiling so you wanna keep your plant as short as possible. For the next few week while you veg 30-40 watts will be fine. Once you change over to flower stage you want to go back to the 2700K bulb and have at least 65 watts. I can't see clearly from the picture, but it looks like you have 3 sets of true leaves. You could do it now or wait until you get the 4th or 5th set of true leaves. I would suggest FIMing rather than topping to get the most out of your area. If you are unsure of how to FIM, just do a search there is a very good tutorial on the site. Keep those CFLs about 4-5" from the top of the plant too.

 

[kingmayfair]

okay thanks tryin to find those high kelvin bulbs is a night mere i stay in scotland not sure if this is how i have another piic thats a bit clearer i was jst gonna top it 2 or 3 times

but do you fink fiming is better and meny times can you do that lol

 

[Hosebomber]

Fiming simply doubles the number of "top" colas. Where topping will give you 2 colas, FIMing will give you 4. You can do that as many times as you would like, but with your limited space I would say a max of 2 times. The 26 watt CFL bulbs are actually the most effecient CFLs. 2 of them would work nicely for the veg stage and are generally able to be purchased at any home supply store, grocery store, wal-mart type establishments.

You may also want to consider LST (Low stress training). This sis basically tying your plant down lower as it grows to make it wider vise taller.

 

[kingmayfair]

i have 2 30watts on it the now a no ther not the ryt kelvin but they will do jst now lol and good to no it perfect for veg as for cheep lights ha i was thinking about that as i seen something on main-lining the plant was thinking about topping and doing a bit of that to kkep it lower and would it be ok to top/fim the now ?? thank again lol

 

[RLK3]

You want to reflect as much of your light as possible directly onto the leaves. If real reflectors are out of reach you can make them out of any number of reflective materials. My new favorites are made out of good old American garbage. 7-eleven's Double Gulp cup lined with inside out Dorito bags fit over 23watt CFLs to make a great $2 aimable floodlight. Other reflectors could be made out of tin-foil and pizza boxes. Just clean everything! Make the most out of what you have available. For comparison, our electric company gives away CFLs if you trade in incandescent bulbs sold at the $1 store. Good luck.

 

[dutch dragon]

hello king mayfair,
Im also a european grower strugling to get hold of 6500k cfl's. I got mine off ebay, I had to import mine from england, but for you the postage will be much less. If you go for the 2 bulbs youve got and 1 30 watter in blue that would see you out till the end and should give you an ounce of bud. The cfl's should be kept not more than 2 inches away from the top of the plants. Reflectors will help, but are not esential. I wouldnt top it cause she wont grow for a while cause of the shock, try tying her down so the top is low and the effect is the same as topping without the extra week of veg to make up for the topping. search for lst on this forum, its very easy as oposed to fim techniques, which are prity hit and miss.
good luck from a welsh man in holland

 

[Lurch Farmer]

lst all he way

3" tall 21" across