Ok I have a seedling that stopped growing at the 2nd node for the last two weeks.
I first transplanted it from a water bottle I put the seed in. The water bottle was cut in half and did contain soil. I moved it to a 2 gallon pot and watered. I have 4 1600w Cfl in a 2x2x4 box with one plant till my tent is complete. I am very limited on seeds and space also I have no access to a seed bank for refills. This plant has slowed down growth and yellowed. I moved the light to the top of the box so it’s about 3.5 feet from the top of the plant. The plant seems to have a little 3rd node coming out and has been paused for two weeks now. The total height of the plant is about 1.5 - 2 inches from the soil. Leafs are half inch big. So it’s tiny and has not grown for a while. What could be or have happened? Thanks again for the help.
Four 1600 watt CFLs? 6400 watts of flouro light in a 2x2 footprint?
First, figure out actually how much light you really have. Then you/we can begin to figure out where the issues lie.
Off the top, though:
Don’t germinate or grow in clear plastic. Light should not reach the root zone. This alone will stunt growth.
If it is any reasonable amount of flouro light (say, in the 35-40 w/sf range), your lights should be much closer, within 6-12 inches max.
Plant description sounds like damp-off (root and/or stem rot) from too much moisture.
If you can receive mail, you have access to seeds. We have an active seed swap thread at OG, and many fellow OGers are happy to pay it forward. Check it out.
A picture is definitely worth a thousand words in this case. Got any?
My question is… When he had the lights 6 inches above the plant is when it yellowed. I thought that the lights could have been to close and heat may have been involved. So he moved the lights and now it’s been 2 weeks and he says there maybe some new growth. Could the cfls have been to close? Or could the transplant have been to early and the growth slowed because of rooting?
Ok, tomatoes then. I’m going to presume you are referring to “100 watt equivalent” CFLs which are actually common 22-23 watt bulbs that put out around 70 lumens/watt, or 1610 lumens per bulb. Yellowing is not from too much light. It’s from too little. Or from too much wet dirt. Often, the two conditions go hand in hand.
22 watts X 4 bulbs = 88 watts divided by 4 s.f. of canopy area (your 2 x 2 foot “tomato” tent) = 22 watts/s.f. of light. Not enough light at any height, certainly not 3.5 feet. Have your friend buy four actual 55w CFLs, like these:
Now you’ll have +50 w/s.f., which will grow great vegetables of all types…
Then go pick up a good book on growing vegetables indoors in a tent under fluorescent light. I can’t think of any, but this one helped me out in the early days: http://www.lycaeum.org/~sky/data/mjgrowers.html
Thanks man I’m working on the watts per square foot. I’ll have some pics of that guy’s grow soon. Then y’all can tell him how many cheese burgers it needs lol
The “equivalent” ratings are meaningless. Ignore them. Look for actual watts. Its there on the box. You need a total of 160-200w for your space. Warm white bulbs if you can find them, cool white if you can’t. Then read Ed’s book. And google “space buckets”. Come back in a week and let us know how it went.
