First time grower with red stems/yellow/spotting leaves

[The Silver Bullet Special]

Yes; use a T5 light, they offer about the same lumens as a MH bulb but WAY less heat. I'm going to be using two of these lights hxxp://www.htgsupply.com/Product-HTG-Supply-2-Foot-4-Lamp-PL-55-Tek-Lamp.asp

They put out 20K(200W) lumens each. My veg area is 2'x4' and 40k (400Watts) lumens is killer for it. You want a base minimum of 3000 lumens per square ft.... more is always better when it comes to lighting.

With t5's you can put the light 1-3inches away from the plant and not have it burn. Make sure you have ocsillating fans to move your air good.

 

[growgreen420]

Sweet thank you I will look into that.

What about this as well?
hxxp://www.htgsupply.com/Product-HTGSupply-400-watt-Metal-Halide-Grow-Light.asp

I see that the T5's are about the same price as the one I posted here.

 

[The Silver Bullet Special]

Remember no live links here, just replace the http on the end with hxxp... with those MH bulbs you cant get your light as close to your plants and you might have heating issues with your tent. T5's are the way to go. You might wanna check out plantlightinghydroponics.com they have a bunch of T5 fixtures.

edit:
hxxp://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/grow-lights-fluorescent-c-321.html

 

[growgreen420]

Remember no live links here, just replace the http on the end with hxxp... with those MH bulbs you cant get your light as close to your plants and you might have heating issues with your tent. T5's are the way to go. You might wanna check out plantlightinghydroponics.com they have a bunch of T5 fixtures.

edit:
hxxp://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/grow-lights-fluorescent-c-321.html

Oh sorry about the link I fixed it.

I don't mind having them higher in the tent at all. I was reading about them and over time they actually have a greater lumens/watts than t5's and cost less in the long run?? This true?

 

[The Silver Bullet Special]

They're about the same because they generate more heat(you need to use more power to keep the room cool than you would with T5's) you have to keep them farther and they recieve less lumens.

In physics light has the inverse square law. For example: if you had 1 lumen at 1 foot away.. at 2 ft away you would only have 1/4th of that lumen and at 3 feet you would only have 1/8th-1/9th of that lumen.

T5's literally can have the plant touch the bulb and not burn them. So they will recieve all of the light that the bulbs put out. They also dont need to be changed as often and would wouldnt have to battle a potential heating problem.

 

[growgreen420]

But don't the t5 put out way less lumens than the mh of the same watts? That was one tgibg i noticed when I was looking these up?

 

[The Silver Bullet Special]

Nope, the one you linked me too puts out about 38,000 lumens and for the same price and lower heat and closer lighting an 8bulb 4ft 400W T5 fixture puts out 40,000 lumens and the plants will get the full 40k lumens because the light is right on top of the plants.

Whereas the MH light the plants wont be getting that full 38,000 lumens because it will need to be further away to avoid burning up the plants. You will be using more power combined to cool the MH light and run the MH light than you would be if you went the T5 route; bucause, T5's dont need to be cooled other than the oscillating fan that should already be moving air around in the tent. You will also have a more even light spread with T5's than with MH.

Theres also do fussing with the ballasts because they're built in to the fixtures with T5.


Edit:
This one is a little bit more expensive but heres the link to this 4ft 8bulb T5
hxxp://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/hydrofarm-flp48un-4ft-lamp-t5-fluorescent-grow-light-p-2710.html (8bulb model)

OR for about the same lumens and still lower cost to run as the MH
hxxp://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/hydrofarm-flp46un-4ft-lamp-t5-fluorescent-grow-light-p-2713.html (6bulb model)

Of course different brands might be cheaper these are the first ones I pulled off the site

 

[Hick]

t5s are fine for vegging, but "most" ppl like to step up to a HID for flowering. Far far better penetration.
You should ALWAYS have ventilation/fresh air coming in and being exhausted.

 

[growgreen420]

The only thing is my grow tent isn't big enough to hold 4ft t5 tubes.

 

[The Silver Bullet Special]

hmm Then you can either go with a few 2ft ones and just angle them or to get better penetration like Hick said, go with the MH bulb in a air cooled reflector hood.

 

[growgreen420]

hmm Then you can either go with a few 2ft ones and just angle them or to get better penetration like Hick said, go with the MH bulb in a air cooled reflector hood.

This is why I was leaning towards the MH because of space constraints. Does it really put off that much heat?

 

[4u2sm0ke]

yes they do put out more heat..whats the size of the tent?..can ya not hang the t5 virtical?

 

[growgreen420]

yes they do put out more heat..whats the size of the tent?..can ya not hang the t5 virtical?

The tent is 3ft x 2ft x 6ft

 

[growgreen420]

Here is a little update of the garden. Some of the leaves are looking kind of weird around the edges.... yellowing/fading? What are your thoughts and what should my actions be?

Can the *** of the plants be determined this soon, as well?

See pics, please. Thank you

 

[growgreen420]

Also some of the leaves are "clawing" a bit. Does this mean they need water? I haven't watered for about 4-5 days cause the soil is still a little damp. What should I do? I know, in time, I will be able to "read" the plants more with what they need. Just need a little help here getting going.

 

[growgreen420]

Anyone want to help me out with why my leaves are looking the way they are?

 

[The Silver Bullet Special]

I believe thats just nute shock because mine are doin the same thing and are about the same size and they're in ffof the roots probably just started tastin the new soil.

You could hang T5's vertically (as mentioned by 4u)or at an angle in the tent theres members here that do. With a space that small an MH bulb will make it hotter.

Your 4th pic is just the new leaves coming out still and reaching towards the light.

 

[HemperFi]

Do you have another tent? How will you vedge clones while these beauties are flowering out? I would set up a vedge area and use the tent to flower -- works for me....


Peace

 

[growgreen420]

Okay I will just let them be then and see what they decide to do.

And once they get a little bigger we are going to set up another tent for a mother plant.

 

[growgreen420]

What is a "rule of thumb" for watering?