Cheap light for early growth! Seedlings

[cajun79]

Im in the middle of germinating a few seeds, all I have is a 150w hps which isnt gonna be to good to place my seeds under one they are in there little pots.

Im almost broke but does anyoe have a suggestion on a cheap light that is good for getting the babies to break the surface.

My hps basically has none of the blue kind of light seedlings love so im unsure its gonna be more harm than good.

I only wanna spend a few quid/bucks

 

[Dr Dog]

couple 23 w cfls would do the trick

 

[FreezerBoy]

A 150 won't hurt them. These girls are designed to deal with the Sun.

Plants under HPS will be more stretched out than MH but, HPS can be used for the entire grow. I did it for years. Many still do. Using a weak light at birth will only make them stretch more.

What's it cost to run a 150 for a week? $5? How much are you saving by growing your own? $500, $5,000? Sounds like a good trade to me.

 

[Knives]

You can use the HPS with some CFL's to add that extra spectrum of light if you want. Dont think it would hurt. I started a seed under my 150watt and its getting nice and strong.

 

[Hazeseeker]

20w Energy Savers

20w Energy Savers

Been using 20w Energy Saving Bulbs for the early part of the plants life since i started growing (using 3 inch pots i can fit 5 pots under a single 20w bulb), great for the seedling to early veg stage, usually use them until the young plants are around 12-14 days old then transfer them to the MH or HPS

 

[habeeb]

yep some 2 foot T-5 bulbs will be fine, or 4 foot if that's your thing.

 

[MHHSP]

I would go with a minimum of 4 ft CFL bulbs maybe HO.

Say hazeseeker...what's the light output on those 20 watt savers?

 

[steppinRazor]

i dont see how 150W HPS could possibly damage a seedling. its been a while since ive grown from seed but i usually use 2 1000 MH to veg. and have never had a problem.

To go off topic (sorryy) my buddy had the same gens. as me last time around and used only HPS (i use MH to veg and switch to HPS to flower) his little girls where Short and Stout! looked like a fucking cabbage to me! and kinda a Really DARK green that wasnt to my liking.. anyways during flower both ours seemed to even up surprisingly.. both rooms had plants around 4 and 1/2' to 5' tall.. kinda weird seeing the same strain grwn under different regimens..

i think it really goes to show that Marijuana is such a versatile and resilient plant.


anyways srry to hijack

but i think you'll be just fine with you 150W man!
keep the temp around (your plants) 70-80 deg. F and you'll be worry free!

 

[green_grow]

my first grow was 150hps from start to finish. as luck would have it, it is the largest crop i have harvested so far.

 

[2Supra4U]

Just use 1 or 2 30w cfls....ones I use are 30w 6500k 2000lumen....get a cfl reflector for them and you'll be fine.

 

[1stimer]

Stick em under the 150W. No extra money spent and no worries.

They will do great under that light.

 

[Rainman]

Either way works since they dont need the extra light thrown by the 150 so early in life but it also doesn't hurt them either. I think you would have stronger stouter plants under the 150, but the Home Depot energy savers in 100w=23wt work well.

 

[HOODOOBLUESMAN]

aroud here---wally world--lowes-home depot
for about 10 usd you can get what they call a utility lamp
some folks call it a clamp lamp.....

the one im referring to has like a metal [aluminium] mixinig bowl---
with lamp socket in center bottom....
this has a sring loaded clamp attached---[adjustable]

if you get the big one of the 2 choices--[10.5 inch vrs 8.5 inch]

you can get a y style adapter[2 usd] to put 2 ----
-- 25 watt cfl's in--[6500 k]---this costs about 9 usd per pair

that will easily give you 32oo lumens in a foot square----
the penetration will go about 7/8 inches.........

in these parts the 6500k---25 watt are sold in pairs...

the 2700 k are sold in 4 packs for 9 usd---

i m o ---use 6500 k for seedlings--internodes will be closer than 2700k...

useing 150 watt flower lamp will show you how to be conservative

 

[HOODOOBLUESMAN]

huh???

huh???

whats a cajun fella talking about quid????

 

[reefa cheefa]

id go with the floros man. their just babies, give them the spectrum they need, cool white floro. u always hear horror stories about the guy with the hps on seeds, dirt dries too quick, wrong light spectrum, and hps streach. not to mention u can get cfls for less than $10

 

[straight reggie]

ive never heard the horror stories about this guy with his hps on seeds lmfbao. some of yall a trip. ive used a 400hps on seedlings with no probs. seems cajan is set on buying something though just for the sake of buying something for the grow. trust i know the feeling lmao. go with some floros, imo cfl's get to hot

 

[Hammerhead]

If you are going for long term perp harvest. Save and get 2x4 54w= 432w of T5. This is what I use and they are awesome lights. The internodel lengths on all plants even males seem to be much shorter then with any other light even HID. very efficient lights

 

[Slaythe]

And plz, if you use cfl, use coolwhite cfl, not warmwhite. (unless you mix the 2).

 

[b52]

$10 4 foot shop lights from Home Depot... WORK INSANE for vegging... mix your tubes cool and warm...... Cant flower wiht em..N ya cant take the plants out into direct sunlight to flower wihtout letting em harden up some in a partially shaded outdoor location...but those cheap ass flouros doo the trick ABsolutely!

 

[luvtogrow]

Shop lights have worked excellent for me ove the years. Start from germ under your 4' shop light and attach 2, 4' cool white, "day light"(high blue), floro bulbs. You can allow the leaves to touch these bulbs without harm. (Though wouldn't let the growth tip touch any light)-Usually go 2 weeks under the shop lights and move to Mh to finish veg. I've used hps, large and small for veg and they are inferior and even somewhat stress a young sprout if not careful with height adjustments. The floros are much more forgiving and the undergrowth development superior. Obviously the much cheaper way to start the grow.