Pineapple Express auto indoor

[golfer420]

Sorry if I confused you.

The CFL'S that I used were 23w CFL's. Three of those equals 69watts. The label on the carton says that each light represents 100w of the old incandescent light. One could incorrectly assume that three 100w equivalent CFL's that use 23w would mean the plant gets 300w. That would be incorrect.

When you said you were using 75w - I wanted to know what type of light. Is that a 75w CFL (which would be a rather large bulb) or a 75w equivalent CFL - which only uses 20w of energy.

Another example are LED lights. When I look up 75w LED, you will get results showing a 75w equivalent that uses only 12w. You would need 9 of those bulbs to have 100w of LED's.

Hope that makes more sense.

 

[Major PITA]

Well, I've seen many people in forums and many of them have lights less than 200+ watts so i don't think than lights are the biggest problem i guess that i used more nutrient than i should. My pot is almost 1,5 gallon and yes i think i've made a lot of drainage wholes in bottom.I don't know about fingers on leaves i was surprised too!!

I don't mean to say the light is the only problem, but I do think it is limiting in this case. On that I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. Remember, not all lights are created equal. You can grow a nice plant under 200 watts from a quality HPS or LED light. Since I don't see many CFL grows - other than micro grows - I believe you when you say CFL growers are getting good yields.

Excess nute's will burn a plant - even kill it (been there). But your plant doesn't appear to be that heavily fed. I can see the burnt tips and excess 'N', but there is something else. It's like the roots are not happy, yet when roots are damaged from excess nute's, the leaves look a LOT worse. Dunno.

 

[ganjafarmer7]

Look guys...in the same grow box i've got 2 plants.A pineapple express auto and a northern lights auto.They're both indica i just mentioned only PE cause i think that northern lights is doing well. You can see my lamps in the photos i think they are considered as CFL's. I keep thinking that the lights are okay cause if you look at those new Northern lights photos which life started the same day with PE you can see that her buds are much more fatter with more orange and white hairs.So i believe that lights are not the problem.In the seeds banks info though, is written that NL needs about 6-8 weeks for harvest and PE needs 8-10 weeks.That's why maybe the first ones buds are fatter.In the info is also written that PE is susceptible to over-nutrient use so that's why maybe her leaves got those yellow tips and her buds are not so fat...i don't actually know.What do you think guys?

 

[golfer420]

Ganja - those lights don't look like CFL or LED lights. They look like incandescent. Here are some images of difference sized CFL lights (compact fluorescent).

Here is a 100w equivalent with 23w power:

Here is a 500w equivalent with 100w power:

The results you've gotten so far are descent, but to get tight buds, you need better light. Not trying to criticize - but the lights are not the best grow lights.

 

[ganjafarmer7]

so do you suggest me to buy new CFL lights now or it's to late? is there any chance to save them now?
(and if i add 1 CFL lamp to those 3 i already have how many watts you think would be enough ?)

 

[Major PITA]

That explains a lot. Those are not CFL lights. NL does look a little better, but not what it would look like under HPS or LED (or even CFL). The light a plant "sees" is in the PAR spectrum. For any amount of wattage, your lights have much less PAR than the other light sources. One CFL won't make a difference at this point. It won't hurt, but it is too little too late, IMO.

Your plants' burnt tips do indicate over-feeding, but that isn't why the yield will be low.

These graphs may help you see why the lights you are using don't let the plants reach their full potential. The first shows the light spectrum plants use to grow. Note the two peaks. A broad peak in the blue spectrum, centered somewhere around 450 nm. The other peak is sharper, in the red, and centered around 660-670 nm. The second graph shows the relative output from various light sources. I think your bulbs will most closely match the red line of the "Tungsten Lamp" spectrum. They output plenty of red (the heat-end of the spectrum), but are VERY low in blue (the energy-end of the spectrum). Your plants get plenty of heat, but very little usable high-energy light.

 

[ganjafarmer7]

well i just bought an 100w led light 2700K and i added it to grow box with the other 3...i hope my yield is not already destroyed

 

[Major PITA]

well i just bought an 100w led light 2700K and i added it to grow box with the other 3...i hope my yield is not already destroyed

100 watts of actual power, or a 100 watt equivalent light?

 

[ganjafarmer7]

this one

 

[Major PITA]

It won't hurt anything, but since it is only 13 watts, I'm afraid it isn't going to help a lot either.
It doesn't matter if the light is CFL, LED, HPS, MH or whatever, always go by the actual wattage they draw from the electrical outlet. Never go by that equivalent rating. Hopefully you live in an area where 230V is the standard.

 

[ganjafarmer7]

could you explain me why do we actually care about the actual wattage they draw from the electrical outlet, and not about the wattage on the output which is 100w and it's the light that affects the plant?

 

[Dwight Monk]

could you explain me why do we actually care about the actual wattage they draw from the electrical outlet, and not about the wattage on the output which is 100w and it's the light that affects the plant?

It isn't 100W output, they are using it as a "comparison", like this bulb is equivalent to a 100W Incandescent bulb. Illumination or brightness for usable light for the eye to see and useful light for a plant are different things, graph major posted shows the different light spectrum's and the differences in those different types of light. Until I got used to using CFL's around the house the light just wasn't the same to my eyes, that and early technology in lights was different than now as they have made leaps and bounds in lighting technology now. I don't know all the technical stuff so maybe I'm off, just way I understand it in more "layman's terms".

 

[golfer420]

I'm not that technical. I created my own light with those lightbulb sockets. Looks like this below. 2 lights were 2700 and 2 lights were 5600 to cover the spectrum. Just about 100watts of CFL lights (or the equivalent of 400watts of incandescent).

Get the better bulbs for the next grow. Search the internet, you'll find many options. More smaller lights can be positioned in different spots where as getting just one 150w CFL will just shine light down on one area.

 

[golfer420]

btw - we haven't really mentioned LED or HPS lights because it doesn't appear that would be in your budget. There are some inexpensive options there and each has their own pro's and con's. Plenty of info at 420mag!