Too much light?

D

Drunon

New Member
Hey all, just a general question. Can my plants be getting too much light? My set-up is 6 23watt cfls at about 1400 lumens each. Right now I have two, month old, NL moms who were doing well until I flipped on some more light. I doubled my light to 12 23 watt cfls at 1400 Lumens each putting about 16,800 Lumens in my grow area. My square footage is roughly 6 square feet and my lights are well above my plants, about 2 feet (trying to stretch for an experiment). My plants started to droop pretty bad, they were a great color imo, maybe a little dark. So I had guessed over watering, so I let my soil dry a little to correct it, went 3 days without watering to no avail. If a simple solution isn't the case, I'll reply with pics and more info about my grow... but just a simple... Did I give em too much light?

Thanks,
Drun
 
My temp did get up there one day, my thermostat said the high was at 91 at one point, but I had been in the low 80's since day one, and I had very good looking plants until I flipped on another 6 cfls, I added more air flow and untwisted two of my lights, brought the temp down to 84 where it sat, which was what I was to begin with when I had no problems

oh, and I was using about 6oz of water or solution every day
 
My nutrient solution is testing in the 6.2-6.5 range, I alternate feeding/watering every other day i water with R/o water which i suppose is 7.0... although I havn't tested it because its store bought and I trust it. I have no good way of testing my soil PH... Its been about 2 hours since I turned the extra lights off and finally gave them some water (they must have been dying of thirst after 2.5 days), and they appear to be perking up again (fingers crossed)... Here are some picks, also found a badly curled leaf... maybe its related?

IMG_0040_1_.JPG

IMG_0042_1_.JPG


I really hope its not over watering because I will feel pretty dumb, I don't understand how it could be after going so almost 60 hours with no more water or feeding
 
Drunon said:
I was using about 6oz of water or solution every day
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's the problem right there. Use the lift method for soil grow. It may take up to a week to dry out a bit with 6oz of water daily. Since you've let it dry for 3, go for another 2 then check on them by lifting the container. If they are heavy then no need to water, if they can be lift with ease (like you have superman power) then give them some. Remember the weight after you add water so next time you think it needs some, just lift. By the end of harvest you should have some biceps muscle, oh yeah!
 
Thanks 12, I guess since I'm new to this I havn't really experienced over watering before. Hard to imagine taking that long to dry to a normal level I guess...
 
Twelve12 is right on about that lift method...but its a good idea to know what your soil and water ph is...u never know...i've been using rain water...had a lot saved up..decided to check it...so many guys were having problems..my ph was 4.0...but back to the water issue...you should'nt water everyday..definately a watering issue
 
Root Bound for the win Alex! ;)

They need bigger pots! They are showing the classic signs of being root bound. Transplanting into a known quality soil like Happy Frog or Fox Farm Ocean Forest would not only stop the drooping of the leaves which is a typical symptom of a plant that has outgrown it current digs, but the larger volume of soil with fresh nutrients already in it would resolve your cal/mag at the same time.

You may as well give them what they are going to ultimately need anyway and that would be a transplant into your final sized pot. I try to go with something in the 4-5 gallon range as the last stop.

Really surprised that everyone else missed something so blatantly obvious! :hmmmm:

Sent from my iPod touch using Forum Runner
 
Are you adding cal-mag? RO water has NONE and nutrients usually dont have much.

adding some tap water to the RO water can help. Depends on what the ppm is of your water and if they use Chlorine or that other chloride stuff that doesnt go away. take a look online what your water district uses. PH test your tap. figure out a ratio to make 100PPM out of your RO water. Or add cal-mag.

Now I dont believe anything I have stated deals with your issue. Just an observation from your post to avoid future deficiency

You really should pick up ph testers of some sort.
 
A root bound plant will show cal/mag quickly if not allowed to stretch out into a larger soil volume. The roots have probably circled those tiny little pots several times and are sucking on the plastic pot wall looking for some food!

Ok... I've done all I can do here. I'm out!

Good luck, and don't waste your time trying to pH your soil. That isn't the problem.
 
Seems like a slight over watering issue, & maybe they are rootbound as well. Seems like that would be hard since I have some girls that are around 2ft in 1 gallon pots, but it is a must anyways so you should get it done now before flower !

Also, I think you would have to go EXTREME to get TOO much light. I had 26 27w CFL's in my Veg closet & they loved it. Turn the bulbs horizontally because most of the light comes from the side of the bulb, and I read in your first post that you have the lights 2 feet away ? With Florescents & CFL's you need to keep the light within 2-3 INCHES of the canopy. The bulbs don't generate much heat, therefore you need to keep them very close to the plants or you will drastically lose lumens.
 
Bassman59 said:
Are you adding cal-mag? RO water has NONE and nutrients usually dont have much.
Click to expand...

Yes I forgot to mention I do add cal/mag to my water as well as my nutes

PrairiePoet said:
While most likely not the problem at the moment.... You NEED to check pH.
Click to expand...

The only soil ph testers I've found are kind of pricey and I've read that testing run-off in soil isn't a good indicator, have you heard of any decently priced soil testers? I do check my nute solutions, they are in check.

Goldengoose7 said:
Root Bound for the win Alex! ;)

They need bigger pots! They are showing the classic signs of being root bound.
Click to expand...

I think that's the general consensus...

While we are on the subject of rootbound... I was hoping to keep my moms small enough to only take about 5 clones every two weeks. What do you guys suggest in pot size for keeping them that small? They are in 2L pop bottles now. Idk if I have the space to flower them anymore now that they are that tall. Does being rootbound mean that a plant won't replenish anything I cut off of it to make a clone?

Stoned4daze61 said:
Also, I think you would have to go EXTREME to get TOO much light. I had 26 27w CFL's in my Veg closet & they loved it. Turn the bulbs horizontally because most of the light comes from the side of the bulb, and I read in your first post that you have the lights 2 feet away ? With Florescents & CFL's you need to keep the light within 2-3 INCHES of the canopy. The bulbs don't generate much heat, therefore you need to keep them very close to the plants or you will drastically lose lumens.
Click to expand...

Stoned4daze61, I was wondering if you could maybe give me some insight on your set-up? Even if only 6 of my bulbs are on, 2 feet away from my canopy, im hitting 84 degrees. My space is roughly 2*3*4 = 24 cubic feet. I'm sure my heat issue is ventilation which i'm not too familiar with... I'm running several computer fans, 2 exhaust and one in. With one hanging there giving breeze to my plants. They are 4inch pc fans not sure about how much air they move, but noise is already becoming a problem and adding more fans might fix one problem and create another... I know I should aim to refresh the entire cabs worth air about every 5 minutes...

Thank you all for the help, after lurking for a long time, its the people like you all who finally made me take the plunge to join and start growing...

Drun
 
Is your grow a cabinet or tent ? Or do you have any pics of your setup ?

12 23w's should be a nice supply of light for 2 moms, but cfl's have to be close to the plant, you should bring the lights down to 3-5 inches & see how that helps.

You may want to consider putting all your pc fans at the top of your setup for exhaust. If you leave near a walmart, they sell little 3 speed fans like 10" -12" I cant remember for around $15

If you unscrew the little metal stand/feet & drill a few extra holes around the rim. Then cut a small square piece of plywood slightly larger then the fan, cut a circle out of the square piece so it sits flush on the fans metal rim. Then cut a hole in your cab assuming you have one, and mount it in the bottom for intake. It should add plenty of air on low, maybe medium. It might rattle a little if you don't do it right, so add plenty of screws and you might even want to use some kind of sticky insulation tape like they use on window a/c's or some kind of padding to put in between the square piece and your cab so you are sure their won't be any rattling.

Hopefully most of that made sense Lol I'll try to take a pic real quick to make more sense

Heres the hole I made in a shed cab
2011-08-02_16_36_40.jpg
 
Drunon said:
I'm running several computer fans, 2 exhaust and one in. With one hanging there giving breeze to my plants. They are 4inch pc fans not sure about how much air they move, but noise is already becoming a problem and adding more fans might fix one problem and create another... I know I should aim to refresh the entire cabs worth air about every 5 minutes...
Click to expand...

Put the one intake fan up with the other two exhaust fans, increase the intake until your heat issue subsides. Also exhaust the air out of the room the grow is in.

Lowering the lights won't increase the heat in the grow box. And as stated before, CFL's should be very close.
 

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