Help! My seedlings got light burn what can I do?

[shane369]

Hi everyone! It's my first time growing my own cannabis, as of now I'm using a BESTVA 800W dual chip LED grow light in a 2' x 2' x 5' grow space. I worried that the light's too much for my plants. For my very first grow, I fitted 3 plants in my grow box, of which are 2 Royal Dwarf Autos, 12 days old and a 9 days old, and a landrace from my country, 15 days old. I started it on a 16/8 light schedule but on the 12th day of my landrace I changed it to 18/6 because I've read online that 18/6 is best for autoflowers. The temperature fluctuates around 27 - 38 degrees celsius and the humidity is from 38 - 70%, it depends on the room temperature outside the grow box.

Now, it turned out that my grow light's too much for my seedlings! My seedlings are showing light burn symptoms and they grow very very slow, they are probably stunned. What can I do about this? As of now I placed the grow light furthest possible almost touching the ceiling of the grow box, the light is around 4 feet away from the seedlings. And I covered some of the LEDs with cloth. Will this work? I'm really worried that my very first grow is a failure.

[SinsemillaScientist]

I wouldnt cover any light source with something flammable, believe me the only thing worse than not making it to harvest is losing your home and possesions to last minute DIY interventions. Does it have a dimmable option? If not try a fan below the light moving the air between your canopy and light, this sometimes causes enough disruption in a still room to help prevent light burn. But at 4ft away i would think your dealing with heat stress as autos are more inclined to handle cold weather more aptly. Refer to GWE if all else fails, good luck and happy growing friend.

[Potted]

If your auto seedlings were or are stressed, what’s done can’t b undone and if thay continue to grow slowly that’s what happened, if thay were mine I’d cut and try again with the light higher 👍

[SinsemillaScientist]

shane369 if you do remove the mylar it will need to be put back up before you switch to flower, possibly sooner depending on the extent of your veg cycle. But i agree with Potted, most the time when a auto is stuntwd or slowed it never fully revovers, id give it a week to week and a half and if no progress chop and start with the light as high as possible and only lower after the plants take off.

[shane369]

Ohh is that so, as of now I switched to using my spare 15w LED grow light bulbs, around 7cm away from the seedlings. If still there's no progress in a week and a half, I'll cut and try again. Thanks for the advise Potted and SinsemillaScientist.

[Greengringo]

Maybe good idea to switch the light with cfl's untill there's some sign of recovery?..maybe next time you should try starting your plants with cfl's untill there's strong enough to handle that much light.potted might have a point.

[shane369]

I've switched to 15w LED grow light bulbs. I hope this'll work!

[shane369]

Is CFL better though?

[Potted]

Yes, CFL’s and floresents are best fo seedlings, thay run very cool and can b brought very close to lights ( I’m talking inches ) away,without harm. My .02 cents

[shane369]

I set my LED Bulds around 7cm away, is that good? For CFLs, around how far?

[Greengringo]

Again agreeing with potted..if the 15w leds are not dialed in properly they could still do damage to your small plants if left to close try cfl's or florescent bulbs can be kept inches away but you need to read up on this there's tons of posts involving light toppics. Try posting some pics of your seedlings.