I used CFL’s until 10 inches high. Switched to full spectrum LED. Germinated in water (took 7 days to sprout). Planted in 5 gallon fabric bucket; in Fertilized Miracle Gro soil. Have watered with tap water that has been declorinated by sitting out 24 hours.
Stretching and long nodal spacing like that is indicative of inadequate light.
What light are you using?
Cfls are great for seedlings, but after the 3-4th set of true leaves it’s time to up the light intensity.
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Thanks; I used cfl for the seedling until it got about 10 inches high. I had it about 3 inches off the plant but raised it to about 5 when one of the leaves looked like the tip was burning. I switched to the LED at about 10 inches and have kept it about 20 inches above the plant. The canopy of the plant looks and smells healthy. I feel like I should just keep going to see what happens? What do you think? My first of 10 seeds. Should I use LED on seedlings? Thank you so much
@jacquelu how old is that plant .My girls are about 4” taller and they are 8 weeks old. Also what’s the model of light you have.
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Thanks for your time. She was planted 5 weeks ago. The LED lamp was purchased via a web link from this site. HydroFarm agrobrite. FLF27DFLED
That light is only 14 watt. Not nearly enough for growing. Most everyone uses hlg lights or does some kind of diy build.
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That light is not enough. It may be fine for seedlings, but one typically needs 30-50watts at the wall per square foot of plant canopy for an effective grow. You can get away with less during veg, but not that much less.
You don’t have to go crazy and buy an hlg (unless you want to), but you will need more light.
Also, unless the plant is an auto, it will need 12 hours of 100% darkness each day. No ambient light at all.
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Thanks all. Will get a light with more watts and give it a go!
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If you want to run your light options by us we’ll be happy to offer input.
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Nice! I’ll go to a hydro shop tomorrow and see what I can find. Thanks again all.
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You need 100W- 150W true watt light ( watch out for mislabeled lights read the tag ) make sure it’s white light (3500k) ,blurples are old tech.
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By blurples do you mean the LED lights that have different colors lights in the strip? Visited the hydro shop; the lamps are huge with ballasts to hang over the plants. I was hoping I could find a floor lamp with enough watts. I am only growing one plant at a time. Online I can find 150 watt LED white lightbulbs. 5000k. Would this work?
5000K is higher than you want, especially if you’re going to use it to flower. 3000K or 3500K would be a lot better. When you say a 150w led lightbulb, do you mean 150w equivalent?
Look at the Mars Hydro TS600, HLG65, HLG100, and Spider Farmer SF1000. Those are the cheapest LED quantum board lights I feel comfortable recommending. The HLG65 AND MHTS600 are basically going to be the bare minimum for what you’re wanting to do. The HLG100 and SF1000 are a little more expensive, but almost double the output of the cheapest ones. Mars Hydro also has a TS1000.
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Thanks again. MarsHydro. They have a tent that the TS600 fits. I don’t need a tent but it will be a great alternative to hanging from the ceiling. 
Let’s be careful with claiming mars hydro is running quantum boards… They are running boards byt definitely not quantum boards.
Mars hydro is cheap for a reason, suggest you stay away if your looking to grow quality bud.
It will grow bud and decent byt nothing like true Samsung boards / strips.
Uh… What…?
Have you ever grown with a Mars light? I’ve seen great looking grows under Mars lights.
The light snobbery around here is real and really irritating at times.
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No I haven’t because I look at specs before I buy lights so I run kingbrights and HLG’s.
If you want to compare autos or have a grow off though ide be more than happy to battle it out in the garden with your mars hydro
So you don’t really know. I’m not looking for a “grow-off” and I don’t have a Mars. Never said I did. What I want is for people to stop trashing a light without actually knowing about it and telling people who are on a tight budget that they have to spend $250+ on a light to grow decent weed.
They were asking about using a “150w” screw in led bulb. You don’t think a Mars would be better than that?
Go look around the forum a little. You night be surprised at who uses a Mars.
Of course some people use the lights, otherwise they wouldn’t be in business, and of course I don’t actually know the specs on a specific light off the top of my head that I don’t use…
The reality is if you want to grow cannabis indoors you need to invest in the process and that includes the light.
Otherwise your better off saving your money and attempting outdoor.
I was correcting you that mars hydro is not a quantum board, which it’s not.
It’s not a Samsung board and it’s not ran by a meanwell driver, it’s not on the same level as a hlg or a king bright or heck even a spider farm.
So don’t side track the conversation just because I called you out on your bogus claim.
That being said to the OP @Jacques you need to analyze your realistic wants and your realistic budget a Spider farmer SF1000 LED is about as cheap as you can go for one plant, then you need to include all the other things… It adds up quickly.
I don’t use spider farm personally but I know they work, what’s their quality and longevity? Not sure but better than mars hydro according to many including my local hydro shop guy.
HLG is some of the best lights you will get for quality and longevity but they cost.
I roll the dice a bit and go with Chinese knockoffs hence the kingbrights.
Seriously, if you are going to grow dope, get a decent light. Hlg are good lights. What are reasons for spending a bit more on light?
The right color spectrum
Natural light color, better for you and the plant
No cooling fan in the power supply- on cheap lights a fan is always part if the equation, if it breaks very soon after the light is dead.
Better form factor - light covers intended grow area
Better service life… obvious needs no explanation
Power from wall not being wasted on a fan or crappy spectrum.
Why waste your money? Buyers remorse sucks! Spend right.
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