This is my first ever grow! So any help, input or any thoughts will be appreciated!

I got five snowryder (snow white x Lowryder) feminized seeds (used four, 1 in the fridge), 2 didn't germinate the others are in 6L pots whit standard compost. This all is in a boxroom. I have a 250W CFL running on 20-4, a small fan, temperature meter/hygrometer.

The girls are just 2 weeks old. The first week was not so ok, the girls were looking shy, purple stems, kinda greyish small leaves. I read somewhere that CFL's have to be very very close to the plants, so I did. The plants were very happy about this, turning to a much greener and vibrant color. The problem was that by lowering the 250CFL the heat has really turned up.

When I lowered the CFL's, the meter by the plants indicated about 30C and room temp around 26C. For this I got a 10" fan. The fan has lowered the temp to about 27C near the plants, while room temp is about 23C. The fan and the close lights has also lowered the humidity from 50 to 30%, which i thinks is way to low. What do you think of this? problems with the Temp and humid?

I have also started to put 1 drop of Hessi super vit on 3L of water. BTW, I'm watering one day on-one off, to allow it to dry up a bit. Also, one of the plants is trying to grow sideways, which I had to correct by putting a small stick to keep it upright.

Any thoughts are most welcome!

hmmm... if they are still seedlings I would suggest keeping them covered with a clear humidity dome for a little while longer, has worked well for me in the past. Also, the purple stems I don't think is a problem, all of my plants had that trait and turned out fine. You also may be watering a little too much. When still small the plants should only need water about once a week or so, a good way to tell is to pick up the container and feel the weight. When they are dry enough to water they will be considerably lighter than when they don't need water. Also, in a couple weeks you will need a lot more light if you plan on staying with the cfl's. personally I would suggest getting a 150watt HPS fixture (about a hundred bucks at a hydro store). That should be enough for the two plants you have growing at the moment. Good luck to you though, hope it turns out well.

__________________
When true patriots become labeled as enemies than you can bury my corpse right beside lady liberty's.

How large is this "box"? Does it have any intake or out flow holes for fresh air? Can you get us pix of your set-up. Sorry I need more info to really help. I can say, humidity is way too low for seedlings and vegging plants. Sorry, GL HH

Hi Humboldt!

it's a typical small, no holes room where you'd stash a couple boxes your suitcases and then it's all full. I took everything out and hung up the CFl "powerplant system" from the ceiling. The room has a door (that's it for ventilation + regular house fan pushing air from the apartment into the boxroom). It's a rental so can't change it too much.

Typical temps for the apartment are 23 during the day, 16 at night (but not the boxroom). The boxroom temps are about 27 during the day and 23 during the night, and the temp measured on the top of the pots are round 28C-30C whit the lights on. What I do to prevent heat buildup during the day is that I'll leave the door wide open with the fan point near (but not directly) to the plants and CFL. At night I have to shut the door almost completely so that light won't leak out into the bedroom, so the fan must remain on at this time.

So there are two things lowering the humid: The open door ( If I shut it during the day the temps at the pots can shoot to 32-34C) and the fan (also to lower the temp). Given operator's advice, I will start spaying water on the leaves regularly and reduce the amount of watering until they grow a bit more (but not sure how much) since I can't fix a humidity canopy given the size of the pots.

So, what is actually limiting humidity is in fact the measures I've taken against heat. I don't know if I should compromise on one or the other, and they are still little babies.. Maybe I could rise the lights a bit more (but it's a CFL, and I've read that it's crucial for it to be very near) but since they are dwarfs, I wouldn't want to halt their development due to the lights being far from them (That's what seems logic to me, but I could be wrong)..

Any thoughts on that?

Maybe I could put some long tupperwares over the pots to keep humidity higher?

Thanks man

Sorry I had to convert your temps to fahrenheit to know exactly where you are. Some might say 16 C is even a little low for night (60.8 F). Day temps are 23C (73.4F) This is OK, I actually like mine up around 78-80 F(27C) during the day (lights on). 28-30C (82.4-86F) is what your running during the day with the lights on. These temps aren't bad but if they get up another degree or so (C.) you could get into trouble or you could add CO2 to decrease heat stress as well as increase your yield and that would buy you a bit more leeway. So from what I calculate as long as you stay where you are temp wise your most likely OK albeit on the edge. However the humidity is a far more worrying prob IMHO. I would not raise the lights if they're cfl's unless all else fails. You might try old cookie sheets or Kitty boxes with 2-3 inches (10-15 cm) of perlite or rocks in the bottom and then add 1-2 in.(5-10cm) of clean water and set your pot on top being carefull that the pot bottoms aren't sitting in the water to soak it up. You just have to be careful not let them get dry. This will raise the humidity directly to individual pots. Also if you have the cash you can get humidifiers at a pharmacy for around $20. (The kind you get for sick kids.) One of those keeps my room up around 50% to 70%. Anyway, hope this helps some. You are on the right track, keep up the good work. GL HH

Thanks and sorry bout the temps (jejje used to celsius!!!)

What I actually did ( at least today) was to get some kinda conical tupperware over the two plants, and it amused me that in about 20 min there was condensation on the inside, so there was indeed a lot of moisture lost by heat-ventilation! I also read on utube that when the leaves start to get edgy-pointy it's most likely a sign that the plant is transpiring more H2O than what it can absorb from the soil, and the leafs were indeed very edgy! So u were right about the humidity!

Thanks a lot!! I'll keep on with the light cycle and get myself a humidifier to help the plants out! There's still a long way to go but I have high hopes on it!


I hadn't thought about the humidifier, but I'll go get one ASAP.

BTW humboldt, I saw your album and your 1 week girls look like my 2 week old one; maybe you are using a different non dwarf strain? as I said, wekk 1 wasn't all that good!

Thanks and peace!

A cheap cheap way you could try to keep temps down is to place contaners of frozen water in your garden.

careful of the extra humidity from the condensation from the frozen containers though... never done it but it seems like it could be an issue.

__________________
When true patriots become labeled as enemies than you can bury my corpse right beside lady liberty's.

Thanks all for the reply!

The ladies are growing ok, but not great. I think that's the way it's going to be, since first time is all about learning (but not good for them, since I know they could be doing better). Though I do treat them with a whole lotta love!

As you know, there are 2 growing. They are a week apart (The second seed took almost a full week more to germ). So one is big, the other is actually lagging compared to the big one for her age.

I am starting to see some of my mistakes. Overwatering, humidity and temp. And a couple more..

The CFL's were marketed as THE option if the setup is very confined, space-wise. SoI thought a 250CFL would do the trick. By now I can see that it's not a so good option.. huuummmm... wondering if I made a wrong investment there, since heat output is generous, given the distance they must be set up for them to work (Temp problem I had-have). The lowermost leaves are so sad and depressed, where the uppermost leaves are thriving! Not a good thing, since these are responsible for energy conversion! So I am considering putting some lowlight to compensate this lack of penetration. Haven't done it yet for lack of money. But I'm no longer a fan of the CFL concept...

On humidity, that's good for now. I got a humidifier (pharmacy style) and it has upped the humid from 30% to the 50-60% range. Thanks to HH for the idea.

On temps, the fan is working 24/7 (gotta get myself a timer for that one). So I get those around 24-28C, with peaks that go up to 30C (not prolonged, though). Not ideal, but it's the best I can do right now. Though nights can get cold..

I'll do my best to post a new Gjournal so that everyone can check them out. Haven't done it yet, but definitely will.

Thanks all for your input!! Peace to all!