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Hefe said:
Once you flip those bitches in a week or so they will take off.

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Chapter 4 said:

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I like the direction you are going with the way you are setting up your CFL's, spacing them in between plants and on the sides, as well as directly overhead. The downside of CFL's are their low penetration levels, and you'll be countering that by lighting the plants from all sides.

One thing I don't get, though, is why the fluorescents on the back wall are spaced so far over to the left. You have a lot of surface area there that isn't going to be reaching the plants, while you have space to the right where they could be, where the plant would need it to be. The same thing goes for the CFL on the left, the one in the front row of three. If it was on the right side of the big one in the front, the same way the other one is on the left side of the big one, that light would be there for the plant on the right as well.

Also, those two seedlings in that tupperware container in the front, it looks like they won't be getting enough light that far away from the bulb. The plants shouldn't be more than a couple inches away from the bulbs, as long as you're making sure that there isn't any excessive heat reaching them. Maybe that bulb is of a higher wattage and that is making a difference (my understanding of CFL's is only theoretical), but you should definitely make every attempt to keep seedlings, and plants in general, as close to their light sources as possible (without exposing them too much heat). This will keep stretching to a minimal, something that is especially important with seedlings, not to mention when working with CFL's, for the reasons already mentioned regarding the low penetration levels due to their intensity. Also, there is no reason to run anything but 6500k bulbs during the vegetative state. When they start to flower, you can switch all the sockets to 2700k. They love the blue light during vegetative state, and not getting enough of that right spectrum will encourage stretching. What you'll probably see if you stick with them is the plants growing towards the 6500k bulbs.

Finally, the best thing for your plants is to transplant them into containers that are filled nearly to the top of growing medium. Not filling it all the way is only taking away roots that would be there if you filled it up all the way, which means you're taking away from the plant's ability to carry out its processes.

Ahh, also, how will you go about moving the lights up as the plant grows?

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To lower your soil pH, add soil sulfur or an acid forming mulch. To raise it, add lime

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