flourescent lights

[blue_lighter]

Starting the beggining stages of my grow and i have settled on using flourescents, still debating on what straing to get so if anyone has any suggestions on strains or tips on this method let me know. also i am going to use a net basket dro system

 

[exploziv]

keep them close to the plants and it will be ok.

 

[Oregongrow]

yes, very close, like 1 inch

 

[blue_lighter]

inches eh? so do i just hang the lights over and raise them as the plant grows?

 

[TurboFish]

yes, I like using flourecents for veg. I find it to be a "soft" light for them and will not burn your plants or give them light bleeching or burn spots ect. Ive tried HID lights in veg and flouro always seems to work better for me. I find strains like soft light and no added nutrients for a while..but in your case your doing hydro so an extreamly week nutrient mix would be good.

 

[alwaystoned_1]

ive just started using t8 fluorescent tubes for vegging my freshly rooted clones seeing decent growth to say there only under 2 x 18w tubes keeping plants as close as i can

 

[Jellyfish]

CFL's have many of the same pluses as fluoro tubes (cool, cheap), but plants like them better than fluoros for VEG imo.

 

[blue_lighter]

im glad that always stoned1 posted pics of his clones because i have a question when it comes to using rock wool. i read a post about putting the germinated seed directly into the rw. i have looked for better explanations, but i cant find out how to do it in simple man terms.

 

[Phaeton]

Over the years I've alway's tried to make my clones bigger faster stronger, etc, we have the technology.

The list runs HID, ceramic HID, HPS, T12, T8, T5, Halogen, CFL, and mixes of the forgoing.

I like TurboFish's word, "soft" light. I ended back with T8's, 5000K works best with my mostly sativa strain.

All the lights worked and grew clones, the T8's just seem friendlier to me, have more give when I screw up temps or water or have the lights too close or too far.

The ceramics did have the fastest growth, but needed constant babysitting to keep things right. I smoke too much for that kind of schedule. :kitty:

 

[blue_lighter]

and one other quick question, i want to do 6 plants in dutch master 5 gallon buckets with net pots, can someone explain what type of air pump i need for this set up por favor

 

[paladin420]

im glad that always stoned1 posted pics of his clones because i have a question when it comes to using rock wool. i read a post about putting the germinated seed directly into the rw. i have looked for better explanations, but i cant find out how to do it in simple man terms.

Yeap put them right in the small cubes. not to deep, I just kinda pinch the hole lightly closed.

 

[WelderDan]

and one other quick question, i want to do 6 plants in dutch master 5 gallon buckets with net pots, can someone explain what type of air pump i need for this set up por favor

I'm cheap, so I use plain old aquarium air pumps from Wally-Mart (or any pet store). I prefer the two outlet pumps. I use 1 pump per bucket, but I use a "T" fitting and combine one outlet from one pump with one from another pump using the "T". That way, I have a backup if one pump fails, I will still get output from one pump. It works out well IMO.

That's the el-cheapo way. You could always get a big high volume commercial type, and use a manifold for as many air lines as you want, but at ~$12 for the Wally-Mart pumps, it's cost effective, and Wally-Mart is open 24/7.

I also use the cheap .50 cent stones. Buy 'em in bulk since the stones clog easily. Why drop a lot of money on the big fancy ones when they just clog up anyway? Just change 'em out when they start clogging.