CFL White Rhino + Northern Light Grow

You can always try some t-5 floros. They have higher lumen output with around the same amount of heat as the cfl's.


you could also use the t5's with the same reflector idea. lows sells 2 footers pretty cheap I think arround $20 not sure the wattage or if that includes the bulbs or not.
 
...alright so more light it is, ill add some more CFL's this week...

Keep an eye out for coupons in the junk mail and Sunday paper. I've got a couple coupons right now for $1-$1.50 off packs of CFL bulbs (doesn't specify what qty packs either)...every little bit helps.


...CFLs are OK but far from the best and i'm realizing that right now...

Yeah, they're great for supplemental lighting or for small grows although you might check out Boss' grow (I think that's the person's s/n) that he did with CFL's. I'd post the link if I had it...amazing yield but he was using some of the 42W bulbs too iirc.

...and when should i be able to determine the sex of the plant roughly? 2 or 3 weeks?

During veg or flowering? In flowering, yes, definitely in that time frame if you didn't notice any preflowers during the veg cycle which usually show up around week 4 or so iirc.

... i know that MH is best for vegging and HPS is best for flowering. is it common to find light systems that can take both MH and HPS bulbs? or would i have to buy separate light systems for each types of light?

I don't use HID lamps but afaik you just need to swap the bulbs out under the reflector hood, shouldn't need to change the ballasts but double-check this.

any tips on homemade reflectors? i've seen aluminum soda cans being used attached at the base of the CFL. would that be worth it?

I made a few of the soda can reflectors during my first grow but wound up throwing them away after I realized that by the time the light leaves the bulb, bounces off the reflector, and gets to the plant it's not worth the effort. Fluorescents do not reflect well due to their inherent lack of ability to "throw" light very far, at least not intensely enough for our plants to make good use of it. That's not to say they don't benefit from it but imho I doubt that it's enough to make cutting the cans and taping the edges (I found them to be quite sharp and remedied it with electrical tape) worthwhile much less spending $5 or whatever on some premade reflectors at a retail store. But again...just my humble opinion. Make one and see what you think. I didn't do the dimpling and thought the interior surface made for a relatively poor reflecting surface.
 
The t-5 i was taking about where some ppl-55 55 watt t-5 with 5000 or 5500 per bulb i think. Don't want to post the dealer's name for them cause it would be rude to the sponsors since the dealer isn't a sponsor. If your really interested pm me and i'll tell ya.
Also, with HID's if you get a magnetic ballast you need two different ballasts one for the mh and one for the hps. (I think it is possible to use a mh light on a magnetic hps ballast but i can't remember.) However if you get and electronic ballast you can use either a mh or a hps bulb with them. Hope this wasn't info overload.
 
oh that's 5000- 5500 lumens per bulb at 6500k which is much bluer then a mh which burns at i think 4000k or 5600k unless you spend the $90+ for high kelvin mh bulbs
 
here are some pics....
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the CFL's output 1800 lumens per bulb
i'm not sure about the lumen output on the 2 walmart grow lights in the back of the closet but the plants like them, they are easier to work with cause the light is dispersed evenly
the plants are currently on a 20-4 light cycle too as of Saturday night

let me know what you think
 
The stretching seems to have slowed when you transplant you can bury the stem almost down to the leaves. What kind of temps are you running in the closet? The plants look like they might be suffering from a little heat stress.
 
i thought they might be a little hot...so we turned up the fan a two days ago and just by feeling the closet air it seams to be a bit cooler, but we still have to invest in a cheap thermometer
should we also purchase something to test the humidity?

I like to have one just for peace of mind. even if the cheaper ones are not the most accurate i think it still gets you in the ball park. The one I have in my journal was around $15 It does temp and humidity.
 
i see yellowing (maybe burnt?) leaves. check to make sure the lights arent too close by holding your hand between the bulbs and the ladies for 60 seconds. if its not that hot, consider nute burn, or a nitrogen def.

how old are they? 3-4 weeks? if so, you can start with nutes (if u havent already), and make sure u drop some nitrogen and superthrive in to the mix. then just be patient. exercising patience truly is the hardest part while dealing with issues, so best of luck! :nicethread:
 
so i bought a digital thermometer that also reads PH and put it in the closet
surprisingly is really hot in there, it read 89 F! not good, i know. i heard it should not be above 78 F.
so we moved some fans around and positioned them to blow the hot air out under the door.
this only dropped the temp to 83 F.
so tomorrow we plan to remove the door and build a makeshift door with fans built into the door. the large white window fan will be located at the bottom blowing out warm air and the square fan will blow cooler room temp air in from the top of the door.
i hope this drops the temp cause i think its so hot in there the plants can are barley growing at all.
tomorrow ill take pics of the new door
here are some current pics from today
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Awesome! Your plants will be much much happier and you will notice the benefits very very soon.:thumb:

I don't know that the yellowing is from being too warm, usually yellowing is a sign of a nutrient deficiency (nitrogen usually). If a plant is too warm it will curl and/or cup its leaves a lot and begin to wilt. If it gets burned the affected area turns brown, dries out, and usually dies (the burnt area, not the whole plant) in my experience.

I saw you are using MG soil until you can transplant them in to the five gallon buckets. I know that MG has time release nutes in it and I'm sure you've been told that too already in this journal. I'm wondering if your soil is running low on N between the timed releases, seems a bit early for that to be happening though. It looks like an N deficiency from the pics with the yellowing of the older leaves and the way it appears to be starting on the outer edge of the leaf and moving inward. I suppose if they are hot enough and get stressed enough that it could cause yellowing on their way to wilting and dying. That really is a lot of yellow for being that young, hopefully you figure it out and can fix it.
 
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