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my first post here, and my first grow of lowryder #2.
I read a good few guides, but would like to be able to get some advice on my set up and how would it work out. at the moment the light a at a low height, as you see in image below. they seems to grow very quickly, the 5 plants that are 3 inches high, 2 of those plant are 7 days old and the other 2 are 8 days old from the day they are put in the soil.
the 2 small ones are 5 days in soil and the other 3 thats are just showing up can't even see in the pic are 4 days in soil. I'm watering once day and pour out the excess water that drain back out after 5 mins. water mixed with Super Thrive.
the ones that are 3 inches from now on now I will only water them when the top of the soil starts to dry, that helps the rooter grow faster I read somewhere on a guide.
should I start to water them once a day again or just keep it this way?
I've only just got the lights setup so they all been on 24hrs light started 3 days ago. before that I had a few lights stand sbove them till I got the box set up. no lights gets out the window in the room
when they get bigger I will have a bigger home for them ready with stronger lights
but when the front is closed up, it is very bright and warm even inside, I have 2 skyline window in the hall so once I day I open the front and the door for the room, with the skyline windows open, say for about 30mins, then I close the front and the door, but close the windows when it gets dark, since its been warm laterly, with the windows closed it feels very hot inside.
I have 2 12" twin 75w fluorescent bulb set up evenly right under the box, the whole box is covered with foil to reflect the lights, its very bright in there
I will be adding a big 220w fluorescent in to the center when they get bigger in a bigger box, space them out a bit for flowering, hopefully as little male as possible
today I'm adding 2 fans on the low left for intake and 2 on upper right for exhaust to give better airflow.
they got taller again today, 7 plants are about the same now, and the other 3 are over 1cm tall.
I read somewhere saying a 65w fluorescent 12" tube is around 300w to 500w depending on brands.
anyway, I added a intake fan on the lower left, I can feel soft air flow through the box from left to right, and 2 low speed 12" exhaust fans, so air now floating through constantly.
room was warm like yesterday when I walked in, soil still damp so I didn't water them.
so what actual wattage do I have and how much will the actual wattage will I be adding with the 220w fluorescent?
That setup looks ok to get them started, the only thing i will say is remove the tin foil and either paint the inside with flat white paint or cover it with white paper, it will reflect the light more evenly.
With tin foil it can cause heat spots on the plants.
nevermind...you already replaced the foil (which is not good for our purposes)
flat white paint is best, followed by mylar. paper will not last and can hold moisture causing mold while paint is easy to keep clean and offers the 2nd most reflection behind mylar...but mylar is a bitch to work with and must be kept clean to optimize reflectivity.
yea the paper will draw in moisture and can cause mold but if he changes it regularly it will be fine, if he paints that cardboard box if might just go all floppy and collapse
I changed the foil to white paper, and I will keep an eye on the paper condition.
I added 2 lamps and have them hanging down.
is that distance ok for them? the lights are not very hot, warm enough to keep the box warm even the room is warm after a day, but never hot inside the room or the box.
I move the pots around everyday so they all get even lights.
I water them today as it feels like its starting to get dry on the first half inch deep soil.
is this going to be ok from now? I have another 220w fluorscent to go in when they get bigger if needed, whats 220w fluorscent is in actual wattage?
I wouldn't butt in but you were asking for advice...in my humble opinion (which is open for correction if anyone has further knowledge) is that any time you see stems that far stretched, they're reaching for more light. They are becoming unstable by the long length and the bulk of the weight so high. If you had started them in smaller pots and had them almost touching the flourecent (sp) they would be shorter and more lush. (and you would use less lights and therefore less heat). You make it sound like you are going to use FL lights to flower..have heard nothing but bad news about trying to do that...you need a HPS (high pressure sodium) to flower or you will be disappointed...I have always wanted to try lowryder but haven't had a chance yet...best of luck to you Dude!!!
ok tonight I will make another change since I can see that there is really a lack of light problem, the fluorescent are not seems to be useless.
I have one normal bulb at 75w hanging low close to the plants in the center of the box, later on I add 4 more CLF, they are 100w each actual wattage, plus those 2 strip lights on the 2 sides of the box, 2 CLF on the left between the striplight and the normal bulb, same on the other side, I will up an image later for you guys to see if its going to be ok this time, these are as much as I can get my hands on locally without a 3 hours drive. I don't have enough time to go that far for the HPS
thanks
Last edited by lowryderrocks; 08-22-2008 at 05:59 PM..
4 23w CFL across the center with 2 60w strip lights one on each side, 23 was the highest I can get. they are 1500Lumens each, don't know about the strip lights, there's no info at all on the pack.
better?
how long is this set up good till? after I find out which are female, hopefully 7 or more, anyway if 7 or below I will put them together in circular. and get enough CFL's one for each plant.
should I use 2 of those CLF for each plant or will one be enough?
a little bit of update to my first grow, after adding the CFL lights and re locate the fluoro's and the plant's, they are now all striaghten up all 9 plants got 2nd set of leaves coming and fast only one still trying for first set, I think that one was dying but slowly coming back I added soil to bury the tall ones so they not as tall as they were before, but 2 or 3 of them are still about 3 to 4 inches tall but growing nicely.
Since I have a few tall ones, I'm thinking start LST those 3 on second set of leaves, would that do any harm to them, when I do LST them, they will be bend to the side of the pot, and I will turn the pot around so the leaves are only couple of inches from the CFL, temp isn't hot on them, just warm, I can hold the bulb and just feel warm, so they won't burn the plants I'm going to add more CLF's so they will have a bulb each.
OK..first I am going to tell you what many have heard before..you need to start reading everything you can to educate yourself...many won't go too far out of their way to help as they had to learn (sometimes the hard way) and might feel like you have to pay your dues as they did..yes it's passive/aggressive but that seems to be human nature! I am not an experienced grower by any means..just dabble..you can find a great deal of info on MariHemp forums..they have a grow section with many experienced growers and lots of info, but expect to have to answer most of your questions with your own research. It wouldn't hurt to make tin foil "funnel" reflectors to maximize the light intensity. As for getting HPS a little later, can't you go to someplace online like discount hydroponics and have a light delivered to you?? Or at the very very least (not suggested but better than nothing) you can go to Home Depot or Lowes or a hardware store and get a HPS street light..they are the ones that are orange in color they're like $65 a peice..really not worth it when for just a little more you can get a real grow light the street light is only like 175-250 watts...not a respected way to go by those that know, but you HAVE to have the right light frequency to get any results, or look
