I'm in an interesting situation, my particular apartment is in a basement. The walls are about 18 inches thick of stone foundation (yea, this one's built like they used to) so I have seven very deep and convenient window sills in which to place planting troughs. (the bottoms of the windows are at ground level, so I guess it's more of a half-basement) My wife started a couple of trough pots of flowers, a couple weeks ago. They sprouted fine, but are having trouble transitioning to photosynthesis and are starting to look unhealthy. I think the reason is the house overhangs my windows by about three feet, and while the windows are very bright with light all the time, they get very few hours of direct sunshine. We did pick 'partial shade' seeds but it just doesn't seem to be enough UV.
What are some cheap, easy solutions? Where do I get grow lights, what kind of light do I look for, and what's the best way to go? By the way, I don't have to pay utility. So leaving them on all day is an easy option for me ; )
What are some cheap, easy solutions? Where do I get grow lights, what kind of light do I look for, and what's the best way to go? By the way, I don't have to pay utility. So leaving them on all day is an easy option for me ; )
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Salt Lake City
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Re: Grow lights?
Fri, May 16, 2008 - 7:54 PMmy first question is if the utility bill goes up 40 dollars will they notice? how about 300 dollars? if no one will say anything to 300 more in electricity then you could grow a whole hydroponic garden but if 40 is all you can squeeze without trouble i would suggest compact flourescents. i have successfully grown weed with just compact flouro with some cardboard covered with tinfoil as a reflector, i have also seen a 10 x 10 grow room with 2000 watts of high pressure sodium lights for about 300 in elec. some basics to help you:
12 hours light and 12 hours dark will flower a plant
16 light and 8 dark is for vegatative cycle like 4 inches tall to whatever height you want
i used 4 of those energy saver flouro lights to veg and flower a 1.5 cuft bud plant
i also used 2 x 50 watt hps light to grow 3 cuft of plants
seedlings usually need a humidity dome until over 4 inches in height
if the lights are too far away you will grow a tall weak spindly plant
if they are too close its bbq city
if you grow in a room or box do not use tinfoil for anything it makes hot spots on the plants
use mylar or even better flat white on all the walls
would mirrors reflect the sunlight to where you would want? thats cheap. could you set the plants in the yard 4 feet from the window so they are not overhung by the house above? cheaper still. compact flouro are good for vegatative growth, so are metal halide, hps or high pressure sodium for flowering if yo want fruit or in my case free buds. tell me more and ill try to help you my thumb is quite green in the closet or basement.
